The Nation Newspaper

Category: Society

  • Jamaican queen Chanel Chin savours elevation to royalty

    Jamaican queen Chanel Chin savours elevation to royalty

    Life is a basket of surprises. As the wheels of fate spin forth and back, a mighty man somewhere is toppled from his high pedestal and left to bite the dust, while a commoner in another place is elevated beyond her wildest dreams into the rarefied air of royalty.

    A few years ago, Jamaican beauty, Chanel Chin, nursed modest hopes of accomplishment in her chosen field, but fate had other ideas. While in Canada, she met with then Prince Adewale Akanbi. The two hit it off before long, and when her Prince Charming ascended the throne of the Iwo Kingdom as the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Adewale Abdul-Rasheed Akanbi, the black beauty became his queen.

    Chanel, daughter of reggae artiste Ludlow Chin a.k.a. Bobo Zaro, has not let her descent prove a stumbling block to her reign. She has immersed herself in the life of her subjects, acquainting herself with their language and culture.

    The gist in town, however, is that the leggy queen is now spotting a baby bump. This is good news for her husband and inhabitants of Iwo Kingdom who are set to witness the birth of an heir.

  • Dayo Bush set for father’s 80th birthday

    Dayo Bush set for father’s 80th birthday

    As one moves from the inexperience of youth to the sable maturity of age, life transforms from quest for excitement on the fast lane to a school where lessons are dispensed to the younger generation. From the life of Otunba Bushura Alebiosu, who recently turned 80, is a plethora of lessonsthe importance of hard work, the need for passion and diligence in one’s callings, the benefits of constant self-development and the power of love.

    The prominent politician, who holds two chieftaincy titles in Ijebuland, has proved his mettle in various capacities throughout his storied life. The father of former House of Representatives member, Dayo Bush, and his wife Ekundayo, the Otunba Fuwagbuyi of Ijebuland, are well respected in traditional circles.

    In a display of rare, undying love, the Otunba Gbelegbuwa of Ijebuland, whose 80th birth day this year coincided with his sojourn abroad, has decided to hold the celebrations in December alongside the celebration of his wife’s 70th birthday. Otunba Alebiosu, fondly called Bush from a contraction of his first name, is the first Vice-Chairman of the Ijebu Council of Otunbas. The upcoming birthday party is sure to attract his fellow chiefs and other prominent personalities.

  • Aisha Babangida’s new move

    Aisha Babangida’s new move

    Aisha Babangida is one woman who has seen the eye of the storm and lived to tell the tale to enraptured and attentive audiences throughout the length and breadth of the country. The delectable daughter of the late former Nigeria’s first lady, Maryam Babangida, has weathered many storms, especially since her mother departed the planes of existence. She was married twice, but each time, ‘Hurricane Misfortune’ visited her shores and left her devastated in the ruins of divorce. Undaunted, Hajia Aisha picked up the pieces of her life each time and strode confidently forward, secure in the knowledge that her mother’s foundation still provides her with something to live for.

    Having grown up watching her mother Maryam pilot the affairs of Better Life for Nigerian Women programme, Hajia Aisha was nurtured from a young age to understand the value of service to humanity. She has since taken up the reins and is determined to take the foundation to greater heights.

    In pursuit of her noble goals, she recently founded a microfinance bank opened mainly for the lower class to ease the economic burdens on their sagging shoulders. Aisha, daughter of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Gbadamosi Babangida, has developed into one of the foremost advocates of women rights in the country.

  • All set for Awujale’s daughter’s wedding

    All set for Awujale’s daughter’s wedding

    After the successful hosting of the Ojude Oba Festival, the household of the paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, is once again in a festive mood as they prepare for the wedding of one of their youngest daughters, Adetoun.

    Being the daughter of the Ijebu monarch’s youngest wife, there is no doubt that he dotes on Adetoun as much as he dotes on her mother, Olori Kemi Adetona. Society watchers, therefore, expect him to pull all the strings to make the wedding slated for November a day for Adetoun and her fiancé, Olanrewaju Daramola, to remember.

    Olori Kemi, the mother of UK-based Adetoun, is not left out of the preparations, as the owner of the highbrow food spot, K-Royal, is expected to ensure only the very best of delicious cuisines are available for guests.

    With the pre-wedding ceremonies out of the way, invitations for the grand occasion have already landed on the laps of the select guests. Captains of industry, celebrities and other bigwigs from all spheres of life are expected to grace the occasion.

  • Omosede Igbinedion dazzles at sister’s wedding

    Omosede Igbinedion dazzles at sister’s wedding

    If there is one thing the Igbinedions are famous for, it is their bevy of beautiful daughters who have captured the hearts of many men and the imagination of others. Among them, few are as famous as dazzling Omosede whose every public move is a source of gossip for the rumour mill.

    Last week, she was the cynosure of all eyes as one of her younger sisters tied the nuptial knot in a spectacular ceremony. Omosede dazzled watchers at the event with her composure and glittering attire as she went about to make sure everything went without a hitch. The way she carried herself during the event sent tongues wagging and left many wondering if wedding is still a part of her own future.

    Although she is currently unmarried, Omosede, daughter of the Esama of Benin Kingdom, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, is very much in demand. She was once happily married to Prince Aven Akenzua, son of the Enogie of Obayanfo, but the marriage crashed like a house built on sand. Since then, the mother of one has been rebuilding her life and rebuffing all offers of a romantic nature, perhaps wary of being burnt again by the fires of ill-fated love.

    The ex-paramour of Liberian ex-soccer star George Weah is now focusing her energy on her business. Though some little birds have intimated that she’s into a new sizzling romance, no one seems to know anything for sure.

  • Nigerian people are daunting, flamboyant, aggressive– Burundian ex-beauty queen Carmen

    Nigerian people are daunting, flamboyant, aggressive– Burundian ex-beauty queen Carmen

    Beautiful Carmen Nibigira (PhD) is a former Director-General of the Burundi National Tourism Office and currently the Coordinator of East African Tourism Platform (EATP). She has travelled extensively in and out of Africa for work and leisure. The ex-beauty queen spoke with OKORIE UGURU about her life, her impression of Nigeria, Nigerians and tourism in general. 

    carmen1WHERE did you grow up?

    I am from Burundi. I was born there. I spent between 18 and 20 years of my life there. I grew up in a family of four.

    What were your growing up years like?

    My father was a medical doctor. When I was eight, nine and 10, my father used to drive me round for vaccination campaign because my country is a small one. So, in the summer, doctors and nurses used to go to the villages because the hospitals were not enough. He used to take me there with a team of Russian and American doctors who used to come during summer.

    I was fortunate to tour the whole country for three years consecutively, including the national parks. We used to do camping there. My last trip happened a year before the civil war broke out. I left the country and returned years later. When I went to see the places I had visited before, my heart sank. They had become refugee camps.

    Since I had gone to school to do tourism, I said this I needed to do, not just because I love it. My academic background from master’s to PhD has been in tourism.

    You have travelled extensively. What is your impression of the Nigerian man?

    I will go back to when I was in school in England. We used to see the typical Nigerians as interesting people. You hustle. You wake up in the morning with a purpose. Luckily for me, the Nigerian friends that I have had are core professionals. They have never shown to me that they are crooks or steal money. I tell people that whenever you see a Nigerian in a room, you will know he is a Nigerian. Their presence is different. They are more extrovert than the normal extrovert.

    More than the normal African?

    Yes. Everything for them has to be in terms of size; being big is better. They expect more than other Africans. They hustle. They expect people to do things differently. In the tourism sector, they can also come out as very arrogant. They are very hard to please.

    Nigerians?

    Exactly. What you want is not in terms of petty. You will hardly see any one in East Africa going to a hotel and saying I want two bottles of champagne. But for Nigerians, it is normal. For me, they are an interesting people, very daunting and very aggressive in everything they do. I like the fact that when you set out to do something, whether it rains or shines, you go out to do that thing. You channel that into tourism and be the leading destination in Africa, and you have the money.

    You seem to believe that there are two kinds of personalities: the lively, sociable one and the introvert who would just stay in one corner…

    Yes, you know in our industry the two have to go together. Anyone I know in tourism, you have to have that personality of going out to people, welcome them and give them the best you can. The knowledge is the anchor.

    How did you win the pageant that made you a beauty queen?

    It was a normal thing for me. The day of the contest was a Friday. My friends were like, ‘Wow! This is happening!’ But I never acted as if there was something. After the contest, I was back to my natural self. I was like that was one event; let us go to the next chapter.

    How do you relax?

    I am so blessed when I look at my life. I stay in hotels. People save money to go on holiday but that holiday destination is my office. This is where I spend most of my life. I host events. I travel. When I want to relax, I spend time with my children; two of them.

    I don’t really go out. I am not a night person. On Saturdays, we go for the normal stufff—ice cream, movies and so on. I love reading. When I have time to travel for leisure, I like to go to places where I have never been before and spend time with myself. I take time to invest in myself, go back to the core of who I am.

    In terms of tourism, the East African sub-region is doing better than West Africa. What do you think the West African sub-region should do to build tourists traffic? Nigeria, for example, is more of a business tourism destination than a leisure destination despite the abundance of huge tourism assets. What do you think should be done to improve the tourism traffic in the region?

    I will pick on the key words you used. You said East Africa is doing better, and then you said Nigeria, and then West Africa. Let me reverse it. East Africa is not doing better. We were forced to work together and find solutions together. So, when you talk about East Africa, it is five countries looking for solutions when we know very well that we cannot work in isolation. As individual countries in East Africa, we are too small, too fragmented and too small economies to stand alone. So, we are interdependent. We need each other. We cannot survive unless we work as a regional block.

    Looking at the size of Nigeria with a population of about 170 million, this is the population of the five countries in East Africa. The scale and the size matter. If you look at the geographical position and the population you have, you now go beyond borders. You cannot solve the issue by just looking at Nigeria. Of course you have your domestic issues that you have to resolve, but you will be doing more if you go beyond the borders.

    I salute the fact that in Ghana I don’t need a visa before coming. I can apply online and also at the airport I can get my visa. My visa is $150 for 30 days, for just one country when in East Africa we do three countries for $100 for working on borderless borders principle. Do we see the business of tourism not only for the trade or tourism or travel but connecting Africa? That is the bottom line.

    I like the conversation of Africa for Africans. No one else is going to build tourism, bearing in mind that tourism was not designed for us as Africans. Look at any major hotel which has been done in the last 30 years, the local market was always ignored in the design of the product. So, if we really want to change the narrative, we need to change the conversation. It is not about Nigeria; it is Nigeria within a bigger geographical group, because as long as you still need a visa to enter Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, as long as I still have to fly from Nairobi to Addis Ababa or anywhere and the price of the ticket is just ridiculous, as long as the hotel doesn’t really give value for money, and we are not competitive in terms of price and products, we still have a long way to go.

    It is not about East Africa doing better, or Nigeria or West Africa, it is about the conversation of how do we position ourselves as a destination, whether on a small scale of a small country in Africa, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, or Nigeria as the biggest economy in Africa?

    The African Union met to discuss the issue of common visa. What is your opinion on that?

    First, I think what is being discussed is the e-passport; that number one, they are going to issue, by 2018, an African passport. The idea is great. Two things which are still of concern to me are the cost of the visa and the bilateral agreement. Some countries are still reluctant to enter into agreement with other countries. Two, the cost of travel. For me, the passport is a tool. It is an enabling factor. What now is of concern is why should I now come from Burundi or Kenya and pay $150 to enter Ghana for 30 days. When I get to Nigeria, it is $290 for one month seven days. Those are the things.

    We need to understand that it is not just about the passport or visa. When we lock ourselves in and say we cannot come to this country, what are the things preventing people from seeing our country? A typical example: three days ago, I landed in Ghana and paid $150 to the immigration at the airport, $I50 plus one night stay in the hotel. That one night stay would have created a job for a waiter, someone working in the housekeeping. I could have created six jobs. I spent $250 on souvenirs; $150, for me, should be a deterrent. I hear from you that Nigeria is simply different, but the daunting experience from your airport is something else. We need to make it that what we sell and the message we package is a whole seamless experience.

  • My most memorable experience as an Islamic preacher —Sheik Muyideen Ajani Bello

    AS a little child, popular Islamic preacher, Sheik Muyideen Ajani Bello, had his first experience as a public speaker at the age of 10. The son of an Islamic scholar, young Muyideen grew up living with his parents and learning the Koran from the day he was able to tell his right from his left.

    More than six decades after that eye-opening experience, the popular Islamic preacher has grown to become one of the nation’s prominent scholars.

    His quest for knowledge increased at the age of nine when he requested to live with his uncle, who at the time ran an Islamic school in Ibadan.

    “My father was an Islamic cleric. Though he was from Ibadan, but he lived in Agberire, an Iwo farm settlement. One day, my father’s younger brother who was also an Islamic cleric came from Ibadan to meet us at Iwo. He spoke at a public lecture that was organised in the town.

    “I remember that I was nine years old at the time, but when it was time for him to go back to Ibadan, I told my father that I would love to live with his younger brother in Ibadan, and he obliged me my request.”

    At Ibadan, young Muyideen attended regular school in the morning and returned to study the Quran after school. And within a short period, he became the favourite of other young pupils and the teachers who viewed him as the master’s child. “At Ibadan, I joined my uncle’s Quranic school once I came back from school. He also had many young men who went with him whenever he had to deliver a public lecture.  The young men and all the other students viewed me as the master’s son and treated me as such,” he said with a tinge of satisfaction in his voice.

    With plenty of time dedicated to learning the Quran, the boy soon mastered the contents of the holy book and became very adept at delivering sermons, using the Quran. And when he turned 10, an age most of his mates were still grappling with understanding the minor stories in the Quran, he was carried on his uncle’s shoulders to deliver a public lecture.

    “When I arrived in Ibadan, my uncle enrolled me in school. While I spent my day in school, the rest of the day was spent studying the Quran. My father was the first Islamic cleric in my family and his younger brother was the second man. This really got me interested in studying the Quran.

    “Exactly one year after I got to Ibadan, which meant I was 10 years old at the time, my uncle took me to a public lecture. He carried me on his shoulders, and I was the one that delivered the lecture. Surprisingly, the crowd that turned out was huge.

    “On that particular day, people gave me money that was carried in a bag. And from them on, whenever I was taken out by my uncle to speak, the crowd was always huge because the people wanted to see and know who the little boy was.”

    Ironically, while the Sheik is globally known today as a cleric and a prominent Islamic preacher, but as a young man, what was uppermost in his mind was to become an electrical/electronic engineer.

    And unlike most Islamic clerics of the period, young Muyideen was not averse to acquiring formal education. After his secondary education, he went on to acquire a National Certificate of Education (NCE) certificate.

    Asked why he was interested in getting educated, while at the same time growing stronger in religious matters, Sheik Muyideen smiled, with a look which meant to say ‘you think I didn’t go to school?’, and said: “I come from a family of very educated people in Ibadan. Even my father had a standard six certificate and he always insisted that his children must go to school.”

    “But my immediate elder brother went on to study Electronic/Electrical Engineering. And whenever he settles down to work, I was always enthralled by how he joined those wires. So, I got interested in the job.

    “Even at that time, I knew I would one day become an Islamic cleric. But, I also wanted to make sure that I have a job that would put food on my table. So, I decided to work with my elder brother. Staying with him availed me the opportunity to learn a lot about electronic/electrical jobs.”

    On why some Islamic clerics are seemingly uninterested in formal education, the Sheik said: “It is not that Muslims don’t like formal education. The story is that, in those days, our fathers feared that the lifestyle of educated people is not in consonance with what our religion requires. They feared that it will damage whatever they have been taught by Islam.

    “But we have realised that it is very important that our children are educated. It is important that Islamic clerics are educated and informed about their surroundings so that they can rub shoulders with their peers whenever any matter or issue is being discussed.”

    While he continued to grow deeper in Islamic religious matters, and indeed craved the idea of becoming a cleric, his first job as an adult was as a teacher in a college. He was indeed among the pioneer teachers of Ansa-ru-deen College, Shaki, Oyo State.

    The young teacher was enjoying his job until he was told a story about how ghosts come to the night market in the town.

    “I was enjoying the teaching job until some people in the town told me that ghosts normally came to the night market in the town. I couldn’t stand it, so I went back to Ibadan to report that I could not cope with living in the town.”

    His request was granted and he was redeployed to Abeokuta Grammar School, where he taught Islamic Studies and Biology.

    But his stay in Abeokuta was also short-lived, as he became very uncomfortable with the daily sightings of corpses dumped under the popular Lafenwa bridge on his way to school.

    For him, the experience was a sign that it was time he heeded the call to take up cleric job full time. At the time, his elder brother had relocated to Kano.

    Interestingly, at the time, the Sheik’s best clothes were a fitted shirt and suit (which he called coat), with a bright coloured tie to go with.

    “At that time, I was so much in love with fitted shirts. I would wear my shirt, with tie and trousers. My belief at the time was that it didn’t take anything away from my ability to take matters of Islamic religion seriously.”

    But, all that would change when he relocated to Kano after quitting his teaching job in Abeokuta.

    “After I quit the teaching job, I went to meet my elder brother in Kano. He worked with the government and also had his workshop. But whenever we went to the Mosque to pray and read the Quran, I would join. The people would look at me with surprise because they didn’t know that I understood the Quran that much.

    “One day, they approached me and asked why I was wearing shirts and trousers despite my understanding of the Quran. Even at the time, my hair was always long, because I would comb it that way. They told me that I was behaving like an unbeliever by dressing that way. And truly, whenever I see my old photographs, I simply laugh at the way I looked.

    “One of the leaders of the in the Mosque, who was also a family member of the late head of state, General Murtala Mohamed, later invited me to his office. He wanted to know why I was always wearing shirts and trousers. He also asked me to return to teaching.”

    While he agreed to go back to teaching, he soon encountered a problem with teaching the children because the children didn’t speak English, while, he on the other hand, didn’t speak Hausa.

    “I agreed to go back to teaching. But there was a snag, because I didn’t speak Hausa. The man advised me to stay with the people. He said I would learn the language that way.”

    Asked to explain the reason behind organising public lectures, he said: “It is the teaching of God’s words and only those chosen by Him can do it successfully. It involves reading the Quran and to explain what it contains, the way God wants us to understand it and to make use of it.”

    He, however, insisted that he is particularly obsessed with the truth. “From my childhood, one thing that I had always been particular with, is saying the truth, no matter whose ox is gored. As a child, I was noted for one thing, and it was that I would say the truth if anything happens. So, whenever anything happened in the house, it was from that they would seek to know what happened from me.

    “It is with that understanding that I came to believe that truth is God’s words. And that it is with utmost truth that we should speak those words every day. That is the way I approach my sermons whenever I speak to the people.”

    What makes the Sheikh happy the most? He didn’t think twice before he shot back. “Speaking to the people about the Quran. “

    According to him, giving public lectures is like a dose of medicine against any form of sickness. “I am happiest when I speak to the people about the words of God. Believe me, even if I was sick, and I was asked to come and speak at a public lecture, the sickness would immediately fly away and I would become strong,” he said smiling.

    Speaking about the most memorable public lecture he ever had, he held his hands to his head as if trying to recall a particular incident. “On that fateful day, I delivered a lecture at a function in Lagos. But I also had another lecture billed for Ibadan that same day. But on our way to Ibadan, our car was involved in a ghastly accident. The car fell off a bridge, leaving all of us with varying degrees of injuries.

    “We were all rushed to the hospital. But a huge crowd had gathered, waiting for us. Soon after I was attended to by the doctors, I insisted that we should go for the event. Interestingly, that lecture turned out to be one of the best that we ever had. And all through the lecture, I was on my feet. That day has remained memorable with me until now.”

    From his childhood till now, the Sheikh said only one thing has changed. According to him, aside from his transformation from a young man that was always suited up, with tie and to an older man that wears nothing, but sparkling white agbada, everything else about him has remained the same.

    “Nothing has really changed about me, except for the way I dressed in those days, you know, like an educated young man, always dressed suited up with my hair glowing, every other thing is the same,” he said with a sense of fulfillment.

    But, one other thing that has changed is his menu. In his younger days, the Sheik’s favourite meal was akara and eko. (bean cake and corn meal). But, with age, his favourite daily meal is never complete without a cup of tea.

    “I loved to eat akara and eko when I was a young man. But today, I love to enjoy my cup of tea. I drink tea every day.”

    Though he is from Ibadan, a city noted for its love for amala, Sheikh Muyideen confessed he hardly eats the delicacy, saying the most he eats it is once in a month.

    “I hardly eat amala. Sometimes, I eat it maybe once in one month. I don’t really like it that much,” he said.

    For the Sheikh, in his 70s, the day starts with a visit to his gym at home. “You’ll be surprised if you visit my gym. I have all that a man of my age would need.”

  • My failure to become Ooni was an ACT of GOD

    My failure to become Ooni was an ACT of GOD

    Dr. Ramon Adegoke Adedoyin is a renowned educationist and founder of many institutions, including Our Saviors University, Delware, United States of America; Oduduwa University, Ipetumodu, Osun State; Unique Citizen University College, Ghana, and The Polytechnic, Ile-Ife.  In the build-up to the appointment of a successor to the immediate past Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, there were speculations in some quarters that Adedoyin would step into the shoes of the deceased monarch. Things, however, did not go the way many had speculated as the lot fell on the present Ooni, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi. For the first time since the appointment of the new Ooni, Adedoyin speaks on why the final selection did not go in his favour and his relationship with the late Ooni and the current one. He spoke with GBENGA ADERANTI

    WHAT prompted your deep interest in education as the founder of tertiary institutions like Oduduwa University, The Polytechnic and Our Savior’s University, among others?

    I read education in the university. That could be one of the reasons I am into education. I have said it many times that while I was an undergraduate at the university, a professor in the university, the University of Ife then, now Obafemi Awolowo University, in the Department of Mathematics, identified me among the students and asked me, ‘Can you assist our children in Mathematics?’

    It was the belief in those days that Mathematics was a difficult subject. Every parent was always desperate that they gave good education to their children and knew fully well that Mathematics was the basic subject. It was the basic science to become anything in life. I believe that if you are good in Arithmetic, Mathematics or whatever, the sky is your limit. I read Mathematics in the university and the professor told me to teach the children while I was still in Part 2. As I was doing this, the other professors saw this, because it was in one of the classrooms in the university, and they started bringing their children. This was precisely how a student became a teacher in the university.

    Immediately I graduated from the university, I was no longer interested in doing any other business. So I established a remedial school, which I called Universal Tutorial College. How did I start? My mother had a beautiful house in those days. The only thing it could cost me was a single sign board. It was only when you got to the back of the house that you would see that all that was called a school were just some planks joined together. Because my mother gave out the rooms to tenants, definitely there was no way I could have turned the rooms into classrooms. As a matter of fact, she saw it as a child’s play. I started renovating this into a normal classroom. Each time a tenant left our house, I would turn the room into a class room. Before you knew it, I took over the whole house from my mother and so a good school started as the Universal Tutorial College.

    In those days, so many people attended free school. There was the need to go to school after passing their school certificate, their GCE O level, but there were no schools as we have them now. They wanted to go to tertiary institutions.

    Another thing came to my mind. I could still establish another school, but it was still Universal Tutorial College. There was no law for polytechnic or whatever. I now went to the University of Benin where they were offering diploma. I started offering diploma to these people. As God would have it again, the Federal Government promulgated a decree, Decree 9, in January 1993, on the establishment of private universities, private polytechnics and so on. I applied and changed the name of Universal Tutorial to Universal College of Technology. It later metamorphosed into The Polytechnic, Ife, which is what you are seeing today. If I am not making a mistake, it was the first private polytechnic in Nigeria. Later, the concept of the university came in, and by the special grace of God, I have what is called Oduduwa University today.

    If anybody gets to Oduduwa University today, they will begin to wonder if it is a state-owned university or a federal-owned one. We keep expanding every day.

    Establishing a university requires a lot of money. How have you managed to cope?

    Like I said, my own case is exceptional, unlike nowadays when you see a motor dealer saying I want to go into school business. A contractor would say I want to go into school business. A politician who is in government makes a lot of money and decides he wants to establish a university. Which is also good. In my own case, I started from the scratch. The buildings were already there as tutorial centre, polytechnic and so on. It was just a kind of metamorphosis. I just graduated into the university system.

    Apart from that, I have some other businesses that are doing well, and with the growth, we were able to finance the university.

    You mentioned other businesses you used in kick starting your university. What are these other businesses?

    Yes, I had other businesses. In those days when we used to run remedial school, it was just remedial school. Look at what is happening now. If you go to any corner, you will see a remedial school. But if you don’t diversify a bit, your base will suffer. Today, I can boast of other businesses which are mostly educational, like The Polytechnic Ife; Our Savior’s University in Delware, USA; Unique Citizen University College in Ghana; Oduduwa University; International Secondary School. I still believe that all the businesses I am doing are one business, because 95 per cent of them are educational.

    The businesses you venture into are usually risky. What is it that that gives you the push each time you want to start?

    I am an optimistic person. I always believe that whatever I do must succeed. Anytime I intend to invest in a thing, I don’t normally doubt. When we were to get our licence and Professor Julius Okogie was there, we went to him and he said, ‘You want to establish a university? It is only wasteful people that establish universities. You have started building, you have started buying things, you are not sure whether they will approve it, you have started spending your money.’

    So I agree with you that it is a very risky business, because you invested so much and the government keeps telling you that it remains this or that. The process of accreditation is not a joke. Before you get a licence to operate a university, you have about 11 steps to take, and I’m sure that each step is not a joke. So if you look at the steps you have to take to get to the approval stage, if you look at it critically, you may say I don’t want to continue with this business. But if you are sure that this is what you want to do and you are determined, I think that success will come.

    Was there a time you felt discouraged that the business of education is not worth the hassles?

    There was a time at the polytechnic level when I had not got the accreditation, some students rioted, destroyed the school building, destroyed the school bus and burnt everything down. I was not happy. One iron bender came to me. He did a lot of work inside the school and he said, ‘Oga, I don’t think this thing can succeed again, I advise you to start another business.’

    I looked very well. It was a sober reflection. And I said this guy is making sense. Later, something again came to my mind. I told myself that was what I would pursue. I pursued it and later got the programmes accredited. Look at it today.

    As that happened, I used to have a hostel, that hostel was like 10 rooms. And I said if this polytechnic should fail, just as the guy suggested, let me try a hotel business. That was how Hilton Hotel came into existence. I turned the hostel of the school into a hotel because of the problem I had at that time. But again, look at Hilton Hotel, it is one of the biggest hotels in Ile-Ife. I am always optimistic in whatever I do that success will come and success has come.

    About 70 per cent of your businesses are located in Ile-Ife. What could have been the reason?

    When I got to Jarusalem, my wife took me to the place, we slept in one hotel there. Around 5 am, I heard ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.’ I told my wife that could not be Jerusalem but she said it was Jerusalem, Allahu Akbar in Jerusalem? When we started moving round, I listened to the way they talk about Jesus. The way we talk about Jesus here is deeper than the way they talk about Jesus. I think when you establish a business in your own town, if care is not taken, people who knew how you started, they will want to pull you down. That is why when people establish businesses in their town, such businesses hardly survive.

    Apart from this, I believe that there is a certain force which I don’t think I understand myself. I have houses in Ghana, Lagos and the USA. When I travel and I tell myself that I’m going to spend three days in my Lagos house, before the second day, I would want to return to Ife. That force, I still don’t understand it up till now. I believe that there is a force that keeps bringing me to Ile-Ife and says keep on doing this. Honestly, by the time you pick seven Ife sons, you will be making a mistake if you don’t know one boy, Ramon Adegoke Adeoyin.

    A professor, Professor Eyindero, once said, ‘Give me an Ife son, dead or alive, who has contributed immensely to the development of Ile Ife up to this moment.’ I cannot answer your question very well because I do not know myself. Because I don’t know the force that says sit down and keep doing it and I’m doing it and it is successful. You know that they say we have 401 deities in Ile-Ife, and there is no day in Ile-Ife that they don’t worship one god or the other. And people believe that there are many witches in Ile-Ife and that if you try anything in Ile-Ife, so and so will happen. We thank God we are here and instead of them attacking us, they are encouraging us.

    Since you have done businesses and succeeded, why is it difficult for you to persuade other Ife people to establish businesses in Ife?

    I have told you that my experience when I contested the position of Ooni of Ife has really made me to see that notion about Jerusalem and Jesuism. If you start business in your town where they know you well, they will likely pull you down instead of encouraging you. Each time we encourage people to come, they would want to come, but they will start thinking about other factors that could hinder them. We will keep encouraging them to start something in Ile-Ife. I’ve chatted with a number of them in the United States today to come and start something in Ife. I even encouraged one who has now settled down inside my university. How? He said he wants to start doing something in Ife just like I did. I said okay, what is your profession? He was a pilot in the United States, married to a white woman. He is now in Oduduwa University. Instead of continuing with his pilot job, he abandoned it. He came to this place and I asked him to start something inside Oduduwa University. He was able to set up something which he called Institute of Aviation, Oduduwa University, just like I encouraged him. When people like us were young in this business, attempt to get affiliations with big schools were frustrated. I just gave this thing to him on a platter of gold. If I had wanted to frustrate this my brother, I would have said go and bring $25,000 so that he can have affiliation with Oduduwa University.

    Except for the faith-based universities, it is difficult for individuals to manage private varsities and succeed. How have you been coping?

    People have said several times that the Federal Government should give money to private universities. Currently, they give money to state and federal universities. But with what happened many years ago when federal and state governments took over schools from their owners, even if you had invested all your life and the government gives you so and so money, then it is possible for them to take it over, even when you have spent your money. That will be different from when they say they invested their money into this. So, each time we talk about inviting government to give you money or whatever, I have a different concept on that. I feel that so many people have seen the importance of private universities and I begin to think that very, very soon, you will see that people will not go to government schools again.

    It is happening at nursery and secondary levels. No reasonable person who is earning a good salary will send his child to a public school, except for what the governor of Osun is doing which I quite appreciate. Because if you see the type of buildings the man is constructing in Osun State, it is highly fantastic. Forget about politics and sentiments. The man has got 100 per cent on the building of schools. So if you look at the general attention to public schools and so on, riot and other problems, have you heard something  about that in our school?

    Every day, every time, the system is running. Before you know it, students have graduated.

    What is your vision in the next 10 years?

    If I tell you that I don’t go to the university, you will not believe. I just go to the university to sit down for two hours in a week. I also do that at the polytechnic. If you look at it critically, you will say two hours? How do you then manage the university two hours in a week? I think if you have done the system very well, the system will organise itself. You will see that everything will work out very well. When I go to the university, I just go there to attend to people and talk to them. At least, let them see my face. If not, there will be no need to be there. That is to tell you that everything about me is organised. That is to tell you that I have removed myself from the system. With the two hours, if I don’t go there at all, the school is going on by the special grace of God. I believe that what I have done, what God has made me to do, is for generations and generations to come. If I’m not there, I want the system to continue. I believe there is a system of doing it. That is why the place is running.

    At a point, everybody thought you were going to emerge the Ooni of Ife when the race was on. And you said you had never failed in anything you put your hand on. At what point did you get it wrong?

    If you look at Ile-Ife today, I still believe that a lot of people love and appreciate me. I still believe that the kingmakers in their inner mind will know that this is a material. I believe that the present Ooni knows that this is an Ife son, but you know that everything now is about politics. I’m not a politician. Honestly, I don’t pray to go into politics. I’m not a failure. I’m still relevant in Ile-Ife. What happened was the way God wanted it. Because if what you want is going to affect you, God may say, ‘Shift this way.’ I believe that what has happened was the way God wanted it. Man proposes, God disposes.

    I’m happy and friendly with the present Ooni. We are from the same house. He sat beside me here. He is a peaceful person. The way some people wanted it was to allow commotion and violence, but I did not do it. When the Area Commander, the Assistant Commissioner of Police came to this place and said, ‘Chief Adedoyin, they said Ife is going to burn tomorrow, so many people will be killed and so many houses will be burnt. That is the message from Abuja. That there is a rich man in Ile-Ife. He has a university. He has security. He has guns.’ I don’t have a gun. I assured him that there would be no problem. When the people came to my house here, saying ‘we no go gree.’ I said you are not going to agree about what? I gave them what I could afford and told them to go.

    Me, who you say you want to fight for, don’t fight for me. The second day, I called my wife and children and I I travelled out. You want to fight for someone that is not around? When everything had cooled down, I came back and congratulated the the Ooni of Ife. We are very close. We are always chatting. We were born here. We are succeeding here and the Almighty God is helping us in Ile-Ife. How can we imagine Ile-Ife burning? Ile-Ife will never burn, by the special grace of God, and we will continue to succeed in Ife, by the special grace of God.

    You were very close to the late Ooni. What are your memories of him?

    One thing that I’m going to miss is his disposition at things. There was a time a high-ranking civil servant needed my assistance. He wanted the late Ooni to give him a letter for an appointment. Since I was close to the late Ooni, the big man wanted me to help him get a reference from him. In my usual characteristic, I went to the Ooni. When the late Ooni wanted to do something for me, he would be restless until he did it. But whenever he was not disposed to doing something for me, rather than discuss my request, he would say something else.

    On this our Oduduwa University, he handled it as if it was his own. He gave me 25 acres of land, and the land was his own personal land. I remember again that there was a problem with a piece of land at Parakin, Ile-Ife here. I gave N2 million to somebody for the land and the land became a controversy and I insisted that I would not allow those contending the land with me to take it over. They knew the person they could talk to in Ife that I would always listen to, so they went to the late Ooni.

    When they got to him, he said, ‘Leave those people, leave the land, I have so many lands. I have land at Parakin, come and take the papers.’ Somebody who just gave me 25 hectares of land, I should go and take it again? Somebody who just gave me 25 hectares of land, if I’m not a foolish person, I think I should use my common sense not to take the land. I left the land. I don’t want to say the man loved me more than his son.  He also created a town in the name of Dr. R.A. Adedoyin to be called Maye town. I have the letter surely signed by the chiefs. The man was God-sent for all the success that I have, and I believe that his contributions must have brought me to where I’m today.

    Again, before he died, each time he was travelling, he would send a text, saying, ‘Take good care of our people. As you continue to do this, the Almighty God will continue to bless you.’ The last time he did that, I think it was the second day or the third day that he died. Prior to his death, he told the left chiefs and the right chiefs, ‘Do not make a mistake when I die. This is the man that will carry the luggage of Ile-Ife. Gbogbo Ife lowa nibi loni yi ooo. E ma se mistake o. Ti oju ba ye oju, ki ohun maye ohun o (the entire Ife people are here today. Do not make the a mistake). They are still alive except the Obalufe (one of the kingmakers) that is dead. All of them are still there.

    There was a time I was chatting with Ooni Ogunwusi, he said the load was enormous. I told him that we will all carry it together. I reminded him of what Baba (the late Ooni) said. He is carrying the load. Look at what he is doing to that. All the 401 spiritual centres in Ife, he is remodelling them just so as to make Ife a place where we can invite people, just like we saw in Jerusalem where they took us to where Jesus was born. That will be good. What people should do now, because the luggage on his head is not a joke, is to support him so that he can succeed.

    Was it the passion you have for Ife that made you think that even if you didn’t get the Ooni stool, life continues?

    There was this kingmaker that called me. He said, ‘Adeoyin, be careful. We know you very well. You are the one that has the largest property in Ife. If you want Ife to burn, burn it and let’s see.’ Even if they had come to cane me inside my house because I want to become the Ooni of Ife, I would still say sorry to them. I will be the last person to fight. Some people invited me that these are the secrets of the present Ooni of Ife, let us go to court. I said this man is already the Ooni of Ife. We are from the same place. Even if I fight him and remove him as Ooni of Ife, can I still be the Ooni of Ife? Because it is going to go to another ruling house, so why am I fighting?

    Apart from the fact that it was reasonable that I should not fight, because if you look at the largest investor in Ile-Ife, it is Dr Ramon Adegoke Adeoyin. I will never fight. Instead of that, if there are things I should tell him, I will tell him. He knows that I don’t need chieftaincy title. I’m not interested in becoming king. I don’t need money from him. He knows I’m not a politician. Whatever I tell him is the bitter truth. I know if he looks at it left and right, he will think twice before dismissing it. I know we can make Ife great and I will never be a party to destroying Ile-Ife.

  • Acting as counsel to sacked 49 UNILORIN lecturers was a like suicide mission –Olushola Bayeshea SAN

    Acting as counsel to sacked 49 UNILORIN lecturers was a like suicide mission –Olushola Bayeshea SAN

    Six years after the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement of the 49 lecturers sacked by the authorities of the University of Ilorin, John Olusola Bayeshea, SAN, who acted as counsel to the affected lecturers, has opened up on the undercurrents that governed the celebrated case. Speaking with our correspondent, ADEKUNLE JIMOH, in Ilorin, the legal practitioner likened his experience in the said case to a suicidal mission in the mode of putting one’s neck in a guillotine.

    CAN you give us a bit of your background?

    I am a reverend and Senior Advocate of Nigeria. I am a native of Ole in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, Kogi State. I attended Saint Barnabas Primary School, Ilorin from 1966 to 1971, and Fatimah College, Ekan-Meje near Omu-Aran from 1972 to 1976. I attended the then Kwara State College of Technology for Cambridge A-Level exams from 1976 to 1978. In 1978, I was admitted into the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) for a degree course in Law, and I graduated in 1981 with a Second Class Upper division. About 16 years later, in 1998, I proceeded to Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) for master’s degree in Law and I emerged as the best graduating LLM student in 2000.

    Before then, between 1981 and 1982, I was at the Nigerian Law School. I was called to the bar in 1982 with Second Class Upper division. In the same OAU in 2009, I got a second Master of Philosophy in Law. Then in 2012, I graduated from the United Mission African College here in Ilorin with a master’s degree in Divinity. I did the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kaduna. I was at the Kaduna State House of Assembly from July 1982 to July 1983. But while I was at the House of Assembly, I was also teaching at the Kaduna Polytechnic. I taught the likes of former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye. I taught him Company Law in his Higher National Diploma (HND) level.

    I also worked as counsel in the Chambers of Chief Bayo Aluko Olokun, who is now late. During the elections of 1983, I was posted as a young counsel to be the lawyer for the National Peoples Party, led by the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, in the whole of what has now been broken to Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi states. After the elections in November 1983, I returned to join the Kwara State Ministry of Justice as a state counsel. I was with the Ministry of Justice from 1983 to 1986. It was in November 1986 that I set up the Chambers of John Olusola Bayeshea and Co. I have been in private legal practice since then. In 2008, I became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), by the grace of God.

    What was growing up like?

    At age eight or nine, I was brought to Ilorin to live with an uncle. My parents released me to him to train me. Growing up was okay except for the challenges of a youth living under somebody. I was well trained but it was tough. I remember that I had to do some hawking with groundnut oil, now modernised and called vegetable oil. They would put it in bottles and I would go round Ilorin, especially the old GRA. I also worked a lot on my uncle’s farm outside Ilorin; a place called Adio after Alapa. All this prepared one for a very challenging and tough life ahead. I don’t have any regrets at all.

    That means you were not born with a silver spoon?

    Far from that. It is by dint of absolute and total hard work and the grace of God that I have been able to get to where I am today. There is no godfather. I have always been on my own. God has been the one leading me, helping me, teaching me and upholding me.

    How did you come about reading Law?

    We were the very first set of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board (JAMB) in 1978. In the secondary school I attended, I was the best student in History, Literature in English and Geography. Naturally, those were the subjects I went to offer at the Kwara State College of Technology. When I got there, I was also the best student in history. Our teachers are still alive. When it was time to fill the JAMB form, the teachers in the Department of History then counselled me to choose History and Philosophy. I picked History and Philosophy with the University of Nigeria Nsuka (UNN) as my first choice of university.

    Before I could submit the form, the immediate younger brother of my father, who was then in the United Kingdom for a study and was registrar of the Federal Polytechnic, Yola, encouraged me to put in for Law. That was when I changed my course and university of choice. So I picked Law and chose the Ahmadu Bello University.

    What is the difference between life in the courtroom and outside of it?

    Life in the courtroom borders entirely on professionalism. You go to the place, ply your trade and practise your profession to the best of your ability. People are chained, oppressed, depressed and suppressed, and you need to go to court to seek justice, freedom and liberty for them. I have practised from the lowest to the highest court of the land. It is always a joy and a delight if you are able to do it. It is just like a doctor who has a patient that is terminally ill, and through the doctor’s service, God is able to make a difference and the person gets well. He will be very delighted and happy.

    Sometimes, you also have cases that are too bad. A turnaround may come and at other times there may be no turnaround and you lose them. That is not the end of the world. You win some and lose some; that is the joy of the profession. It is also a joy to practise against other known and notable legal practitioners, as we do it in the spirit of friendship and fellowship, because we call ourselves learned, noble and honourable people. Everything we do must reflect those traits, especially if you have additional responsibility as a senior advocate to show others the way to do it, how to do it and do it well, and to maintain integrity and honour.

    On life outside the courtroom, the society looks at you expecting certain minimum standard of civilised behaviour from you as a lawyer. As morally decayed as the society may be now, with corruption, loss of values and the likes, they still look up to lawyers with some reasonable level of expectations that they can make a difference in the society. So I also try to maintain that in order not to disappoint people, not to disappoint my God in particular, and also to maintain the good name of my family.

    I also have an additional responsibility as a reverend that not only is it that I am representing my family, I am representing God. It is not the title that God and people are interested in, they are interested in your Christ-like behaviour; a behaviour that will encourage others to say ‘I want to know his God and religion, if he can be of that status and still serves God.’ That is a very big mission that I strive daily to achieve so that God Himself, who called us into the ministry, will not be disappointed in us. Sometimes there is a clash between certain issues and your profession, and even in calling in the ministry of God. That has never been a problem for me because God always gives an escape route.

    Why did you quit the justice ministry for private legal practice?

    When I was in the ministry, my horizon was limited. I love to identify with people in their problems and find a way to improve on my profession. Even the calling that came later was also borne out of identifying with people to solve issues. Mostly people have problems with government, especially the down-trodden. You know the Nigerian society is an oppressive capitalist one. It is a society where those who have do not want others to have. There is too much gap between the rich and the poor. Those who are influential are there lording it over the rest. So when you stay in the ministry, your horizon is limited and even your earnings are limited. The people you are supposed to help financially and also to use the profession to assist to deliver them from bondage, oppression and suppression, you are not able to do it. Your potentials are curtailed or limited. That was why I opted out of the ministry to establish my law firm, having done three years.

    Of course, during those years, I put my best to the service of government and people of Kwara State and my country. Even then, life outside as a private legal practitioner is also a service to God, humanity and one’s nation. I am a kind of person who does not allow service consideration to becloud my own sense of judgment and service. That was why I did not find it difficult taking up the case of the sacked 49 University of Ilorin lecturers. We fought the case from 2001 to the Supreme Court until the final judgment was delivered in 2010.

    What were the challenges that came with being the lead counsel of the sacked 49 UNILORIN lecturers?

    For the nine years the case lasted in court, the challenges were many. I remember at that time, virtually everybody in the Nigerian society was against the lecturers. Parents, in any case, were not concerned about the genuineness of the cause that these 49 lecturers stood for. Some of the things the lecturers stood for are coming out now—improper funding of the university, nepotism, oppression, corruption and all of that. Those were the things the lecturers were asking questions about at that time, and they were sacked. I remember, sometimes on the eve of each time we were going to court, because many people also intervened to ask the government to call them back as the educational system was also dislocated then, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo would be banging his hands on the table, saying that the lecturers would not go back to the university again. In fact, it was against all odds that we did the case. We were literally riding against the storm. It was tough.

    And the lecturers did not even have money to prosecute the case. For nine years they were not paid, except that some of them got menial jobs here and there. You can imagine a whole professor doing menial jobs in some other universities, being paid stipend on hourly basis. But these lecturers stood for integrity and honour, so I did not find it difficult standing with them in that struggle. It was tough. It was turbulent. In fact, it was deadly. It was a suicidal mission. But God helped that we won at the High Court. We lost at the Appeal Court, then eventually, we won at the Supreme Court.

    How did you feel when the Supreme Court delivered judgment in your favour?

    Of course, I felt a sense of fulfillment. First and foremost, I gave glory to God. It was absolutely God that made it possible. The bible says nothing is impossible for God to do. That was a critical and life example of it. Even though they had no money to pay, God compensated me in another way, because it was in the course of the struggle to secure justice for them that I became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in 2007. You cannot put a price tag on the attainment of the highest level of professional excellence in this country. The challenges were there, but God helped us to have victory. Not only that, God also decorated and rewarded me for that exercise.

    There was a time you said you never expected the SAN award…

    It is not just meeting the criteria in terms of the number of cases you have done or your professional excellence. You know this is Nigeria. There are so many factors coming into play. So many connections to be made and all of that. I knew if they were going to follow the other criteria, oh, why not, we would be eligible. It was very tough anyway. I think I shouldn’t go farther than that. If you look at my background—a village boy and son of a farmer and all of that— it is a pedigree. I am not from any of the renowned Nigerians. God has also helped me to create a niche, because if I was lacking in that background, my own children cannot say they are lacking in that regard. God has elevated me, and my own children will take off from where I am and do better than me.

    I thank God that He has helped me to get better attainment than my father who is just a cocoa/coffee farmer in the village. He is still alive and I thank God for him as he is always happy and pleased with me. I also thank God for all that he did for the realisation of that rank.

    On the contradictory judgments by some courts in the country, it is very bad. Of course, the Chief Justice of Nigeria spoke about it when they were doing the swearing-in for the new Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), and that is the highest authority that can make a pronouncement on it. Everybody knows that something is wrong. And when those kinds of conflicting judgements are coming, they give the impression that the judges who are giving them have forgotten their primary assignments and duties and oath of office as judicial officers. May be they get carried away to get into the political arena or maybe they exert pressure on them. There is no reason for such conflicting judgments. Even Nigerians themselves cause the problems. They file the same matter in Abuja and the same parties will go and file the same case in Port Harcourt, Kano or Maiduguri. Given a normal situation devoid of abnormalities like corruption tendencies and influence peddling, they would be giving contradictory judgments like that. Often times, you find that maybe there is compromise somewhere whereas the justice system must not be compromised. When justice is compromised, the society is completely destroyed. People say that the court is the last hope of the common man. It is no longer the hope of the common man. Even the common man in Nigeria cannot go to court. The gates of the courts are virtually shut against the common man because litigation is very expensive. Even to pay the court fees is a big issue. From what we see now in Nigeria, is it not the big men that are there? You see them in court everyday fighting for their lives. That is why a common man is taken to court for stealing a goat and he is sentenced to 15 years jail term. Look at these high profile politically corrupt people having the money to hire the lawyers and pay expensive fees for the lawyers who do those cases. Our justice system is being manipulated every day to defeat justice. The CJN said so in his address. How lawyers get involved in unethical practices to frustrate cases from being prosecuted.

    Conflicting judgments ought not to be happening, but it is happening every time. For followers of history, it happened in the Babangida era when he started his endless transition programme. Since then, it has been on the increase. It ought not to be so if things were normal.

  • Dare to Dream?

    A few years ago, I made a presentation at an entrepreneurial workshop. Among other things, my task was to help the participants see possibilities that had erstwhile eluded them. So, I decided to engage them in a little exercise. I gave them the following instructions: “I want you to close your eyes and imagine the story I’m about to tell you. If at any point you find the story unrealistic or stupid, open your eyes.” Of course they agreed to the “Simple” activity.

    I said, “Imagine you are riding a bicycle down a familiar street. You are waving at friends and acquaintances. Suddenly, you find yourself riding at the top of trees, and then you find yourself riding on the water in a swimming pool. Now you can stop riding and open your eyes”.  Guess how many people still had their eyes closed by the end of my story? You got that right! Very few! As can be expected, some of the participants opened their eyes when I mentioned cycling because they had never cycled. Quite a number of them understandably opened their eyes when I got to the part of riding at the top of trees. However, by the time I got to the part of riding on water, almost all the eyes were staring at me as though I had gone insane. I’m sure you are also wondering how I came up with the “silly” story.

    My purpose was to find out how many of the participants were inhibited in their minds. Think of this. How much does it cost to dream or imagine? Nothing right? They couldn’t have been injured by riding a bicycle for the first time in their minds could they? Since they controlled the pictures in their minds, they could ride a bicycle on water and not drown couldn’t they? Why then do people find it so difficult to dream or use their imagination? According to Albert Einstein, “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world”. Imagination is our only connection between where we are and where we want to be. If we cannot travel in our minds, we will never take a step in reality.

    When I coordinated that activity at the workshop, I identified three categories of people:

    • Those without imagination: ok, technically, there is no one without an imagination but there are people who would rather die than use it. I noticed that some people didn’t close their eyes at all. I guess they thought the activity was childish. Perhaps that is where children are better than adults; they are willing to live in a world of fantasy. Every great achievement was first an imagination.
    • Those whose realities controlled their dreams: according to Dr. David Oyedepo, “Whatever is too big for your mind is too big for your hand”. I noticed that some people were willing to dream for as long as it was “safe”. Most people have a “safe zone” in their minds and would not venture beyond it. For instance, if you were to tell a security guard to imagine himself as a millionaire, he might quickly dismiss the idea by saying “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride”. Whereas, great dream can turn a person’s life around.
    • Those who dreamt freely: at the workshop, I still found a few people who were willing to dream no matter how stupid it seemed. It was Pablo Picasso who said “Everything you can imagine is real”. Einstein also said, “Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere”. Only those who have dared to imagine the unimaginable have done the seeming impossible.

    Imagination is a “free” component of the human mind. It can take us anywhere we want to go, that is, if we wish to go anywhere. Several of us have built a protective wall in our minds. Unfortunately, the wall that keeps us safe inside may also keep good things out. The kind of information we store in our minds can determine how far our imaginations can go. If we believe anything is possible when we have the right information, we will release our minds to run wild with creative imagination.

    We must deliberately monitor the kind of information we expose our minds to because they form our beliefs and our beliefs create the boundaries of our lives. According to Sarah Vowell, “The only thing more dangerous than an idea is a belief”. Peace Pilgrim also said, “If you realise how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought”. Do you want to be a leader, an influencer or an achiever? Free your mind to dream freely about what you desire for your future. That doesn’t cost you a thing! After you have created a solid vision of your future, the vision will pull you towards that future as you work diligently to achieve it. Dream big, reach far and break boundaries.