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  • You, the prophets, the stars and 2019

    Welcome to 2019.This column will veer somewhat this month from its tradition of projecting herbs and food supplements which may make and rule the waves in the new year. That would come later. The pendulum has swung to some of those questions we take for granted or give little attention in our thoughts but which, nevertheless, rattle our brains and our health. One of these is suicide. We hear the news, shrung our shoulders and move away from it because we think it does not directly concern us. But I observed that the suicide of AISHA ABDULGANIYU last week touched many people, perhaps because it bordered on PARENT-CHILD relationship. Aisha was a third year student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, when she took her life last week by drinking sniper, an insecticide. She left a suicide note which accused her parents of denying her their love, and said some other things. My maternal extended family witnessed three such incidents between 1970s and 1990s. The second question, which will be addressed today, so that a suicide is not the first foot we are putting forward in a new year, is the horoscope.  This is the season star gazers,  like palm readers and church men who anoint themselves as prophets make all the money they need in a whole year. While the prophets often claim they have been praying and fasting for about 40 days and 40 nights on a mount which they tell their followers make them hear the voice of the Lord loudly and most clearly , and to see visions without any interferences prevalent on plain terrain, the star gazers inform us they have seen all the crystal balls there are to peruse, checked the movements of the stars and come up with the finest or fool proof horoscope readings of all times.

    I remember that my generation of young adults was easily hoodwinked by the horoscope. Every comic journal, every newspaper, every magazine at that time had a horoscope section or corner which exerted a heavy reader traffic. It did not matter much to anyone that the predictions of these horoscope columns often conflicted, and that,thatwas a good reason to doubt them. This should be enough. Rather, everyone searched for, and found the publication which he or she could best trust, and stuck to it.

    But, somehow, something in me always thought the horoscope readings couldn’t be right even if astrology, the art of following the stars and predicting what they would bring  could not be thrown out with the bath water. I believe it was about the age of 18 that I began to ask some serious questions. Those star columns always spoke of good days and bad days, days business would boom, days to expect money gifts, days favourable for making love proposals and so on. But for many people, many of these predictions hardly clicked, although there could sometimes hit home now and then.

    I was born on August 23. So, I always wondered how reasonable it was when I read of a prediction that one thing or the other, favourable or otherwise, would happen to everyone born on a particular date. I reasoned that it would then mean the personal efforts and struggles of everyone did not matter if there was a cosmic power which compelled everyone born on that day to experience the same fate. If I studied hard and well for my examinations but I was to fail in those examinations simply because all of us on who were born on that day were to experience examination reverses, what justice was in this? I was to learn by the age of 30 that my questions were, indeed, intuitive, that astrology was, indeed , a royal art but that it was not being practised the way it ought to be. I intend to share some of my experiences today on my discovery.

     

     The prophets

     

    The rank of this class of Christian leaders is growing and mushrooming everyday. You must concede a point to them. They have a vast knowleldge of the bible verse to verse. And they thrive by exploiting the emotions of fear, especially of the enemy. They have overwhelmed almost all radio stations in Lagos with early morning advertisments which are made to appear like the call-to-prayer programmes of these stations. Some of them have all day appointments in no fewer than three locations in Lagos to which they invite their listeners for “annointing” and “deliverance”. You do not hear them say to the audience that…” as you call it, so it echoes”, another way of saying everyone is the foundation or architect of whatever he or she experiences. That is why many churches thrive on what has now become known as the cross over night, that is December 31 midnight. Everyone who has not been in church since January is there, to ask his or her creator and Lord to run errands for him or her in the new year, smashing the ranks of “enemies” who made the previous year unprofitable experiences, asking for money, romance, political power and sundry base gifts, without any thought for what this creator and Lord would want them to do… Submission to his will, which is the foundation, really of peace and happiness. Talking of the enemy culture, if everyone has enemies, and every one is the enemy of everyone, who would be unsmitten if the Lord vanquishes all enemies?

    It is in this season we would have all sorts of stupid predictions about Nigeria, especially in an election year when the political athmosphere is already supercharged. This is the season of strikes which the opposition may pray for, work for and manouvre to its advantage. Already, the militants of the Niger Delta have served notice that they would resume hostilities against government interests, claiming their interests have not been well taken care of as the government had promised. There is war in the northeast, which is gulping money every day, leaving little or nothing to spare for a N30,000 national minimum wage which organised labour is demanding, or for the investment in higher education which has led to the shut down of academic activities in public universities. Kidnapping and demand for ransom in the value of millions of naira is raging on inter city highways, with maiming and killings. No one is thinking that the time may have become ripe for a highway police force which may be funded by widow’s mite levies all passengers should pay for their safety and, indirectly, ease the unemployment crisis with the creation of jobs in this sector nation wide. About 200,000 vehicles are said to move on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway everyday. If every vehicle pays N100 for highway police services, that would put N2 million everyday into the budget of a highway police in this axis alone. Vandalisation of the crude petroleum and refined petroleum pipelines, which may further bring the government income down on its knees, is also, not addressed on this model. If petrol consumers pay N1 per litre for a pipelines police, will this not create jobs, protect the pipelines and stabilise the government income from this resource? The picture gets larger still when you think of other problems plaguing Nigeria at this time to make January prophesies or predictions fertile mark grounds for these prophets. No government can stop them from exploiting this market. Many people are at the level of submitting themselves to other people for solutions to their self imposed challenges. They recognise no more that they were created to have direct links with their creator. I will mention one or two prophesies by three prophets which somersaulted.

     

    The Bush prophesy

     

    One scraggy looking yet popular fellow said during the American presidential election that the candidate would lose. But the opposite happened. Shamelessly, this man turned around to explain that this happened because the Lord changed his mind mistream, after previously speaking with him. He had to save his face, otherwise he should have known the creator is perfect and that perfection permits of no alteration, and that in christiandom, he is spoken of as “…the same yesterday, the same today and the same eternally”.

     

    The Obasanjo prophesy

    The prophesy came from a well-educated, polished gentleman with the gift of oration. I do not remember the issues he had with the then president Olusegun Obasanjo. But I recall him saying Obasanjo, as a presidential election candidate, would not be victorious. Obasanjo won. Rather than hold his peace, this gentleman thought he needed to save his face before his congregation. So, next time he spoke on this subject, he said it had been revealed to him that the presidency would be aborted mid term. His listeners thought he spoke of a coup. The state security went after him, but left him soon after. Obasanjo successfully completed his tenure and even attempted to run a third term.

     

     Other prophets

     

    At this time you would hear of many predictions which purpotedly come from the same source, the Almighty Creator. An alert spirit should wonder if these people received their annointments and their messages from a lying creator or a truthful creator. We would be told such obvious prophesies as… 10 prominent Nigerians would die in 2019. How would 10 prominent Nigerians not die this year? We would be told that…”more jobs will be created this year and the economy will improve”. Isn’t this our hope and prayer and what we are working for? We should be told that…”Nigeria will soon overcome Boko Haram”. But how “soon” is “soon”? We would be told other vague predictions. Many of these  predictions would be published in pamphlets and sold to the teeming followers of these prophets who, we should know, do not keep all their eggs in one basket. They are professional mount visitors or pilgrims, and collect from wherever they go all sort of pamphlets of predictions. When you give them a literary analysis of a situation, they flip out their book of predictions to argue against infallible logic. When their prediction fails, they do not have the humility to act in childlikeness to accept that they were wrong. And even when at the end of this year, their world would have crashed yet again and fallen flat on their faces, you would find them scouting the mounts again next year for more predictions and prophesies. These people will be helped only by the bitter experiences which will be their teachers. For these people who on December 31 cross over date abused and even cursed the pitgping year for their woes, 2019 may not be a new year because it is the newness of a person which makes the year a new year.

     

     Astrology, the Royal Art

     

    Astrology appears to many people as mysticism. Yet, it is not. Indeed, the concept of mysticism has been long demolished. For only what is unknown, unclear appears mystical. Does an aeroplane flying over a village where inhabitants are seeing this flying object for the first time not appear mystical? But to the pilot and the flight engineers, is it? It is in this light that REVEALED KNOWLEDGE on the face of the earth today has given deep insights into astrology.

    Astrology remains a royal art because many people do not understand it and the few who have one inkling or another about it are like peacocks and gigolos in a garden of chickens. Astrology is the study of the movements of the stars, the channels which their radiations form and direct upon the earth, and the impact of these channels of radiations on individuals and peoples and nations from time to time.

    To have a little glimpse into star gazing, it is important to first appreciate that all the stellar bodies, be it our earth, the sun, the solar system, the galaxies of solar systems and the stars, to mention a few are not in the cosmos for the fun of it or as decorations. They form a system of complex communications which no human intellect can ever fully appreciate. On December 31, many people in Nigeria gathered in churches to observe the cross over to 2019. Some moslems, too, wished to observe it at the mosques. But some Islamic organisations quickly advised them that the Islamic calendar was different from the Christian gregorian calendar. What the observers of cross over night may not have appreciated was that what they were observing was an infinitesimal or pin point head of what was going on in the universe and affecting their health, work, prosperity, families, nations and the entire earth. They were merely observing the movement of the earth on its axis, on one hand, and the movement of the earth around the sun, on the other. The earth moves around the sun once in 365 or 366 days at a fabulous speed to bring about the seasons. On earth this complete cycling is called one calendar year. When the earth rotates on its axis to produce day and night effects in various parts, this movement around the equator line may sometimes be at speeds up to 1,600 kilometres an hour (kph) or 1,000 miles per hour (mph). Who can travel at such a speed in a car, motorcycle, a bike or an aircraft and not know that something is going on. Yet, we do not feel anything. To appreciate the majesty of this event, stand in your bedroom or sitting room and do what children do… swing yourself around in cycles while standing in a small circle.  When the earth travels around the sun, it speeds at about 107, 000 kilometres per hour (kph) or 67,000 miles per hour (mph) for one year non-stop. These were stupendous events which brought us from 2018 to 2019. What would determine the fate would befall everyone of us, good or ill, as individuals, peoples, nations and humanity as a whole goes beyond them,with larger impacts coming from the stars. We see them as little and twinkling only because they are vast distances away from us. Some of them are hundreds or thousands of times larger than our sun and they are far luminent than it is. In their vicinity, the brightness of these stars may make the sun invisible.

     

     The astrologists

     

    Just as our earth and the solar system planets are moving,the stars are also moving around their own central figures. Astrologists monitor these movements to and their effects upon the earth and its inhabitants to make their forecasts.

     

     Are they correct?

     

    From the stand point of logic in these matters, it is now revealed that, while  astrology may, indeed, be a Royal Art, it has been given to no one, or rather no one, has been called for this task who can make a flawless prediction. The simple reason is that many factors are involved in the making of a flawless prediction which no person at this time can fully grasp. For stellar radiations alone are not enough for this project.

     

    Radiations

     

    Everything radiates. The earth, the sun, the stars, the rivers, seas and oceans, the rocks, underground earth water, nature … all of these do. Man stands in the midst of it all as though he were in a sea of radiations. To these radiations must be added those of the world beyond which also affect life on earth. To these, too, would have to be added radiations from thought forms. Many people say thoughts are free. But,unknown to them, every single thought generated takes on a form of the nature of the thought. Many thoughts forms of like nature congregate in a community which becomes a power centre (principality) of their kind. Just as thoughts are formed into thought dorms, the spoken word and the deed also end up in forms pf their nature. No human being today can accurately survey all these activities from the deepest depths to the highest heights.

    What the radiations of the stars do is that they form channels through which all the influences that are to reach the human soul are to be concentrated for full effects. Stellar radiations are alternating all the time, sometimes favourable, at other times unfavourable. When the stellar radiations are favourable, the rewards, so to say, or harvest of the good works of a soul which have matured for reaping flow into these channels to the individuals concerned. Everything about and around them bring joy and happiness. When stellar radiations are not favourable, the flow back to the soul of the harvest of the fruits of all deeds are restricted or held in abeyance until the favourable radiations have run their course. Even when the radiations are favourable but there are no favourable reactions for them to bring to the soul, unfavourable reactions are still not permitted to flow to the soul. When favourable radiations block unpleasant reactions, it is an opportunity to prevent continual bombardment of the individual with unpleasant harvests so that, in the interlude, he or she may gain strength and develop endurance for future hits. For there is no way anyone can escape the harvest of the seeds he sows…what a man sows, that shall he reap many times over!

    Astrologers may base their calculations only on imperfect knowledge which bears imperfect fruits. For example,there are still many stars which are yet to be discovered and whose radiations are not factored into the reckoning.

    These yet unknown stars may actually strengthen, weaken , cross or even displace the effects of the radiations known today.

    aura may protect him against the strike of unfavourable, returning reactions. These may glide off the shield or may be whittled down in symbolic redemptions. The yorubas say this…ti iku to ye ko pa eni ba si fila l’ori eni, ki a maa dupe(we should offer gratitude when death is meant to strike but merely succeeds in removing our cap).

    Where a human soul is surrounded by darkness, no luminous events will approach him even if the stellar vibrations are favourable where the soul is surrounded by light, the return of the harvest of his dark seeds would not seriously affect him to the point of harming him, as said.

    This was the position I adopted towards astrology when I was 18 and could not fathom a just God who would bundle everyone together for the same fate , whether they were good or ill natured. So, I have discovered that, while the astrologers may be right about stellar radiations and the channels they offer for karmaic returns to flow to individuals, nations and the entire humanity, they did not factor the human soul as a crucial element in their calculations. Infact, they cannot know what one soul would do tomorrow or the day after.

    The bad news astrologers disseminate may cause disquiet in the human soul, and this may weaken the defences of the soul and expose it to danger. Similarly, unqualified good news may lead to the lowering of the guards which may lead to carelessness or slothfulness, which would bitterly avenge itself.

    Thanks to revealed knowledge, I no longer study star signs to relate with fellow human beings. To those who still do or who may be searching for spouses whose star matches theirs, or who have to consult the horoscope before they embark on a journey or discuss business with any one, I say what should be most important in the reckoning of anyone this year is the effort to understand why we exist, why we are on earth, the laws which governs or regulates the universe and, then, to adjust unconditionally to them.

  • ‘We’re proud of you’

    ‘We’re proud of you’

    Principal of The African Church Model College, Ifako-Ijaye, Lagos, Mr. Olanrewaju Ogunkola, has expressed confidence that the this year’s outgoing students of the college will be worthy ambassadors of the school.

    “We are graduating another set of students today, and I have full confidence that they are going to become worthy ambassadors of this great school and faithful leaders in the future,” Ogunkola said while expressing his confidence.

    Ogunkola, who is the college outgoing principal spoke at the school valedictory service and prize giving day which held at the college auditorium. The event was to celebrate the Senior Secondary School (SSS) III class.

    Decked in their beautiful sparkling white on black suits, the graduands gracefully stepped into the hall amid loud ovation that heralded their arrival. Parents, family members and their junior ones struggled to catch a glimpse of the outgoing seniors.

    Ogunkola explained that the ceremony was a celebration of the success of the children entrusted and nurtured by the school on the completion of the second stage of their academic pursuit and towards creation of a new future for themselves.

    He advised them to brace up as the next four to six years of their lives would be critical as they attempt to fashion out a new direction of careers.

    “Do not engage in anything that could truncate your dreams and hopes for the future. Remain focused and always ask God for guidance. He alone decided how you would be born and you must realise that the He has a purpose for your life.

    “We plead with you to remain ambassadors of the school as well as your home. Shun all those paths that are all over the place today which the devil has created for the destruction of the unwary youth. As you go out and as you prepare to make God your focus, we pray that the moral, spiritual and academic baptism you have received from us will guide you in your choice career. It shall be well with you,” he added.

    The outgoing senior prefect, Opeyemi Ekundayo in his valedictory speech, said he had learnt a lot of lessons and roles expected of a leader amongst which are discipline and proper courtesy as a reflection of proper upbringing.

    In the same vein, the Head girl, Oluwatomisin Shonde, advised her junior colleagues to eschew discipline and keep their imaginations and creative instincts alive. She admonished them to go into the world and showcase what the school had taught them and strive hard to be better Nigerians.

    Highlights of the ceremony include rendition of beautiful songs, thanksgiving and cultural displays by the college cultural group.

    Also prizes were awarded to the students in various categories. In the best student award for the Junior Secondary School; Ibilola Damilola, Fashola Similoluwa and Olayinka Tobiloba came first in the JSS I, JSS II, and JSS III respectively.

    In the Senior Secondary School categories, Ruth Nwarueze topped SSS I with 10 distinctions, while Emmanuel Gbadamosi emerged winner in the SSS II class with a total of 9 distinctions and one credit.

     

  • Look within you

    You’ve got greatness within you!” These are the words of Les Brown, one of the world’s leading motivational speakers. But before you dismiss this statement as another sugar quoted, empty, and make-people-feel-good speech, you need to read the story of Les. One of my most revered mentors says that the secret of people is in their stories. So, let’s find out if Les has the right to tell us to look within.

    Leslie Calvin “Les” Brown was born in 1945. Les and his twin brother, Wesley, were born on the floor in an abandoned building, in a low-income area of Miami, Florida. They were later adopted at the age of six weeks by Miss Mamie Brown, a cafeteria attendant and a domestic assistant. In the fifth grade, Les was labeled “educably mentally retarded” (EMR) and he became a child no one thought could amount to anything.

    One day, Les was in a class, waiting on a friend who was to rehearse for a play. The teacher told him to go and write something on the board but he declined. When he was asked why, he explained to the teacher that he was in a special education class. The teacher asked him what that meant and insisted that he should write on the board. Still, Les decline. Again the teacher asked him why, then he said he was educably mentally retarded. The teacher came from behind his desk and said, “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”. That statement changed Les’ life forever.

    Les Brown never had a college degree, never worked for a major corporation, and never had any MBA or Ph.D; yet, he became one of the world’s most renowned motivation speakers and a highly-sought-after resource for Fortune 500 Companies. What happened to Les? Was there a magic in what that teacher told him? I don’t think so. What happened was that the teacher redirected his attention from outside to within. He had previously been confused by people’s opinion about him that he never looked inward to discover himself.

    Several people are too focused on external factors that they think very little of the internal factors. How can we believe other people over our own mind? How can we accept external verdict that we are a failure when our hearts are screaming that we can make it? When it comes to our personal success, majority does not carry the vote. We as the minority should determine the outcome of our lives. This is particularly important when it comes to public speaking or communication generally. We need confidence to perform excellently.

    There is something very interesting about opinion; people state what is on their mind, but we are left to act it out. If we are called a failure, it is required of us to fail for them to be correct. The fact that they said it does not seal our fate; our action or non-action is required. So, our action is what either proves people right or wrong. If we are called a failure, but we live out success, we will find people changing their minds.

    Les Brown was labeled EMR. For as long as he convinced himself that he was not good at anything, even something as simple as writing on the board, the label remained with him. He had to change his mind before he could change his life. Supposing someone meets him now and calls him EMR, won’t the person look like a fool? Of course. Les’ life has proved the person wrong. In the same way, what people say about us is not what matters; it is what we think, say and do about ourselves that makes the difference.

    It is very important for us to look within us. We have a lot of potentials that we are not bringing out. Why should we deprive the world of our skills as among the most outstanding speakers, business person, inventor or influencer that the world has ever known? According to Les, “Most people fail in life, not because they aim too high and miss but because they aim too low and hit”. The only reason we aim low is that we fail to have confidence in our abilities.

    Some people’s disposition to life can be summarized by this statement, “Blessed are those that expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed”. A lot of times, the reason we play safe is not because we are being strategic but because we don’t think we have what it takes to succeed. A proverb says, “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm”. It’s time to deal with the enemy within. Let’s face our strengths and weaknesses with courage. Why run away from ourselves. It’s time to look inside us and explore the resources that God has planted therein.

    Les Brown says, “Feed your faith and your doubt will starve to death”. Faith is an inside force that manifests on the outside. If we look within, we will discover that there is more to us than what people say about us.

    In this series “Look Within You”, we shall explore how we can become less distracted by outside noise and how we can bring out the best in ourselves. I believe you will find this journey a worthwhile experience. Let’s make it a date next week, by the grace of God.

  • Look within you

    You’ve got greatness within you!” These are the words of Les Brown, one of the world’s leading motivational speakers. But before you dismiss this statement as another sugar quoted, empty, and make-people-feel-good speech, you need to read the story of Les. One of my most revered mentors says that the secret of people is in their stories. So, let’s find out if Les has the right to tell us to look within.

    Leslie Calvin “Les” Brown was born in 1945. Les and his twin brother, Wesley, were born on the floor in an abandoned building, in a low-income area of Miami, Florida. They were later adopted at the age of six weeks by Miss Mamie Brown, a cafeteria attendant and a domestic assistant. In the fifth grade, Les was labeled “educably mentally retarded” (EMR) and he became a child no one thought could amount to anything.

    One day, Les was in a class, waiting on a friend who was to rehearse for a play. The teacher told him to go and write something on the board but he declined. When he was asked why, he explained to the teacher that he was in a special education class. The teacher asked him what that meant and insisted that he should write on the board. Still, Les decline. Again the teacher asked him why, then he said he was educably mentally retarded. The teacher came from behind his desk and said, “Don’t ever say that again. Someone’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”. That statement changed Les’ life forever.

    Les Brown never had a college degree, never worked for a major corporation, and never had any MBA or Ph.D; yet, he became one of the world’s most renowned motivation speakers and a highly-sought-after resource for Fortune 500 Companies. What happened to Les? Was there a magic in what that teacher told him? I don’t think so. What happened was that the teacher redirected his attention from outside to within. He had previously been confused by people’s opinion about him that he never looked inward to discover himself.

    Several people are too focused on external factors that they think very little of the internal factors. How can we believe other people over our own mind? How can we accept external verdict that we are a failure when our hearts are screaming that we can make it? When it comes to our personal success, majority does not carry the vote. We as the minority should determine the outcome of our lives. This is particularly important when it comes to public speaking or communication generally. We need confidence to perform excellently.

    There is something very interesting about opinion; people state what is on their mind, but we are left to act it out. If we are called a failure, it is required of us to fail for them to be correct. The fact that they said it does not seal our fate; our action or non-action is required. So, our action is what either proves people right or wrong. If we are called a failure, but we live out success, we will find people changing their minds.

    Les Brown was labeled EMR. For as long as he convinced himself that he was not good at anything, even something as simple as writing on the board, the label remained with him. He had to change his mind before he could change his life. Supposing someone meets him now and calls him EMR, won’t the person look like a fool? Of course. Les’ life has proved the person wrong. In the same way, what people say about us is not what matters; it is what we think, say and do about ourselves that makes the difference.

    It is very important for us to look within us. We have a lot of potentials that we are not bringing out. Why should we deprive the world of our skills as among the most outstanding speakers, business person, inventor or influencer that the world has ever known? According to Les, “Most people fail in life, not because they aim too high and miss but because they aim too low and hit”. The only reason we aim low is that we fail to have confidence in our abilities.

    Some people’s disposition to life can be summarized by this statement, “Blessed are those that expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed”. A lot of times, the reason we play safe is not because we are being strategic but because we don’t think we have what it takes to succeed. A proverb says, “If there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm”. It’s time to deal with the enemy within. Let’s face our strengths and weaknesses with courage. Why run away from ourselves. It’s time to look inside us and explore the resources that God has planted therein.

    Les Brown says, “Feed your faith and your doubt will starve to death”. Faith is an inside force that manifests on the outside. If we look within, we will discover that there is more to us than what people say about us.

    In this series “Look Within You”, we shall explore how we can become less distracted by outside noise and how we can bring out the best in ourselves. I believe you will find this journey a worthwhile experience. Let’s make it a date next week, by the grace of God.

  • Makeup and you

    Makeup and you

    For most ladies, applying makeup by themselves is a constant K to use the calculation term. It is only occasionally that the service of a makeup artist is employed. When you first start to do your own makeup, it isn’t a taboo to commit certain errors, especially as regards eye shadows and lipsticks, but refusing to learn, improve on yourself and cease to commit such errors will only bring you ridicule.

    Makeup is as easy as painting and sketching. Below are a number of misconceptions people have about lipstick and eye shadow application:

    1.                     That your makeup must be the same colour as your clothing(s)

    2.                     That your natural look must be completely altered when you wear makeup

    3.                     That your beautiful only when your makeup shouts

    To start with the first, it is not a compulsory affair that your makeup must be the same colour as the cloth you’re wearing. It may simply just agree with what you’re putting on. The consideration of the colour of your skin, ‘what colour(s) suits you’ should come first in makeup even before what you’re putting on. Then, from the colour(s) that suit you, you get what matches what you’re putting on. For instance if you’re wearing blue and pink is the colour that suits you in terms of lip stick and eye shadows, they match even though they are not the same.

    It is very wrong to think you are only beautiful or you have done a perfect job when your makeup shouts. In as much as the occasion determines what you wear; the occasion also determines what type of makeup you put on. A natural or cool make up will do for a formal look, while for a red carpet event, it is a different story. Certain makeups (mostly the loud ones) are made evenings.

    Also note that when you have bright colours as eye shadows, you should use a cool colour lipstick and vice versa.  The two shouldn’t be dull at the same time neither should they be bright at the same time. These are rules that can give your personal makeup a professional touch.

  • Jeans & You

    Jeans & You

    It’s hard to find those perfect jeans that make you look and feel so good, you want to wear them every day. No matter what size and shape you are, our simple style tips will help you select the pair that is just right for your body.

     

    Skinny Jeans

    This model is precisely the choice if you have slender legs. But for those who have big hips and big thighs, they should avoid wearing  this kind of jeans because your body will look shorter and not proportional.

     

    High waisted

    This model is suitable for you who has waist with a long torso. But for those who have  straight waists and short torsos, this jeans is not yours, because it will make you seem to be sink.

     

    Boot Cut

    The shape is similar to the bell widens at the bottom of the pants to disguise the excess curves. This jean is the best choice for large hips and thighs.

     

    Straight leg

    This jeans is the perfect solution for someone who has short body because it will camouflage short legs. You can also deal it by wearing shoes with high heels of approximately 7 cm so that the body looks taller.

    Some tips which you can use as consideration when you want to buy jeans: Make sure the length of jeans that you bought really fit with your height. In addition, it will make the appearance look proportional also to make it easier to move on your feet. If you must cut your jeans because the size is too long, make sure the thread that will be used is the same as the original. Choose jeans that are soft and not rigid for more comfortable  wear.

  • From you to me

    Yes, you said it all last Saturday. And I agree with you, but the truth is that most us have become victims of our own religions, not only the witnesses, and that is why many believe that religion is a sign of mental disorder. – Gabriel, No 1 Hearts Fan (08073518704).

    •Dear Adeola, I am indeed appr eciative of your contributions to humanity. Thanks for the 10 points on  how to be romantic. Kindly print my name for a female friend. 080631324 73. Age 30 to 35. – Barrister Abraham, Kaduna South.

    •I’m Israel Nwosu. I’m a teacher and a poet. 30th May will be my birthday. I just want to b your friend. Your piece of March 2013 was a classic. 2. You are good. (07081650926).

    •Your advice on mixed status was not good enough, pray that the young 20 year old girl is not infected, if she is lucky quit the relationship and look for healthy man. Reverse the case, the man would have sent the girl packing, no question on love at all. A lady did that but very sorrowful they died one after another. By the way if the girl is one’s daughter what will be the reaction to this? I say QUIT. 08032069635.

  • What do men think about you?

    What do men think about you?

    WHEN a woman projects a low self-esteem, has poor moral standards and serves as drinking well to every fellow she meets, she is generally treated with very little respect.

    Unfortunately, we live in a society that does not vilify men as much for being irresponsible as it does women.

    The nickname “player” for a man does not carry the same stigma as the word “slut”.This probably stems from centuries of victimizing the female species.

    As a result more ladies are under pressure to go the extra mile to appear ‘sexy’ by being as generous as the women they see on television, a vast contrast from what most men want.

    David Ochonogor, an Infotech expert gives a male perspective on how the average man rates a woman.

    “What girls do not know is that guys talk a lot. If a chick is lazy or does not know how to behave in public, a dude will spill to his boys while hanging out and nothing the girl says will prove him wrong. But if she’s the type who has her head in the right place, everyone will want to roll with her.”

    While some are more liberal in separating loose from wayward, others, like Bayo Esho, are only interested in how proportionate the face and waist-line are with other parts of the body.

    “It’s not hard to size a babe up. If she looks good, smells nice and takes care of herself, she’s good to go!

    “Because if she is fine” he said, “you will be happy every time you see her and you can take her anywhere because she will not have all those inferiority complex issues.”

    Airing a slightly different opinion, Obi Uchendu shares, “A woman’s mind is her treasure.

    “There are women everywhere like pure-water. If I am feeling funny I can just go outside and pick one as long as I throw enough money around but to find a sensible woman is very hard. That is why men like us are afraid to get married, nobody wants to enter one chance!” he finished.

    Although there are general assumptions on how a woman should comport herself, these are a few more to help keep us on the right track;

     

    a) Become busy

    An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Learn to enjoy reading. I will expand your mind and help you make good desicions.

    Master a new skill like tailoring, volunteer at a healthy social club. When you have your hands full with responsibilities, there will be no time for frivolous activities.

     

    b) Grow some standards

    Not everyone is allowed to be your friend. If a man or woman talks or tfully walk away and make sure that person never comes within 10 miles again.

     

    touches you in a suggestive manner, you reserve the right to tactfully walk away and make sure that person never comes within 10 miles again.

    If your lady friends at work, school, church or other places live carelessly , carefully break ties with them because your friends are a reflection of you. Friendship is not by force.

     

    c) Act like a lady

    We know a lot of ’21 century’ ministers and evangelists say it is the heart that matters most in the sight of God but the truth is, you will be addressed the way you dressed.

    If you are ever insulted by okada- men who whistle at you when you walk by, it may be a sign that you are not properly dressed and it will help if you stop giving them something to whistle at.

    Cover your cleavage and close-up the slit at the back of your dress. When you sit down, cross your knees.

     

    d) Stay in control

    In spite of what people say, everyone respects a woman who has enough self-control to abstain from leading a promiscuous lifestyle. Diamonds are rare, so are virgins!

    If you have eaten the forbidden fruit, it is never too late to close your legs and buy yourself some dignity.

    The people who turn their noses and smirk at you for choosing to be disciplined are not looking out for your best interest .

  • 2015: So you want to be president?

    2015: So you want to be president?

    Until lately, few of the many puzzles the first-time visitor to Nigeria encounters could have been more intriguing than the warning in bold letters they find on the façade of many homes in many of the bigger towns: THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE.

    “If it’s not for sale,” the visitor must wonder in his or her innocence, “why call attention to that fact? Surely, any person offering to buy a house that is not on the market cannot complain if they roughen him up and throw him into the streets on the perfectly sensible ground that he could well be an intruder with criminal intent on his mind.

    It could be worse, of course. The owners of the property could just as easily – and with greater profit to their own equanimity – hand him over to area boys forever lurking in the neighbourhood and abandon him to their not-so-tender mercies. Or they could march him to the nearest police station, serenaded by the jeers and taunts and curses of passers-by, and turn him in as a burglar caught in the act

    Even in the more genteel section of town, offering to buy a house that has not been placed on the market is a fraught proposition. When it is proclaimed in bold letters on the property that it is not for sale, the contumacy is compounded.

    As if this puzzle was not mystifying enough, a new one that cannot fail to raise questions in the visitor’s mind about the political rationality of the natives has now been added.

    Hardly a day passes without a political figure proclaiming in full-page newspaper advertisements in lavish colour, on radio and television, on billboards and wall posters and in handbills, that he is not contemplating running for higher office (usually for president), has never contemplated such a move, and will never contemplate it.

    To leave absolutely no room for any misreading, the statement usually adds for effect that any person who asserts, suggests, insinuates, implies, or in any other way creates the impression, by word or image or any other means whatsoever, that the declarant has ever harboured, now harbours or will ever harbor such an ambition, belongs in a lunatic asylum and should be rushed there without further delay.

    You could hardly blame any visitor who concluded on encountering such abject disavowal again and again that aspiring to higher elected office is the greatest political crime in this realm. You would have a hard time convincing the visitor that political ambition has not been criminalised – at least, not yet.

    It was not always like this.

    Back when politics was politics and politicians were politicians, you adopted one of two strategies if you were desirous of climbing higher on what Disraeli called the greasy pole.

    You proclaimed your desire from the rooftop and as loudly as possible, thus serving notice on anyone with any eye on the same position that he or she would have to reckon with you.

    This strategy also carried with it the advantage of primacy, which is no small matter in politics. If you were the first to declare, you or your supporters could always label anyone declaring after you a spoiler driven by no higher motive than envy and malice.

    Nor is that all. If you cannot silence them altogether, jumping out ahead of the pack could also be an effective way of serving notice to all those professional malcontents who are forever kvetching about one thing or another to keep their intrusive eyes off you or face the consequences of their temerity.

    The late Godwin Daboh understood this strategy very well. Even while the rules of the game were yet to be fashioned, Daboh would declare that he was going to run for governor of Benue. Thereafter, if anyone wrote or said anything he didn’t like, he would threaten to file a lawsuit seeking compensatory damages on the ground that the speech or publication had ruined his chances of being elected governor. . .

    Daboh had his faults, but you could never accuse him of reticence.

    The second strategy is to keep everyone in suspense, without affirming an intent to run or denying it – the kind of strategy Dr Goodluck Jonathan has been employing with regard to the presidential election scheduled for 2015.

    Those “on ground,” to employ a delicious Nigerian locution, say that his “body language” points powerfully to his seeking a second substantive term in 2015. But the wily resident of Aso Rock has steadfastly refused to be goaded into saying anything remotely definitive on the issue.

    “It is too early to talk about it” has been his stock response when pressed on the matter. He could for good measure add that the whole thing is a distraction when so much that has been malformed, deformed or unformed is awaiting transformation. From this vantage point, he can survey the entire field, identify potential challengers, and neutralise them on the threshold.

    Could this be what has happened to Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, or are their current travails the products of pure coincidence?

    No sooner was it bruited that the one might be running for president in 2015, with the other as vice president, than the political environment began to crackle. Though billed only to play second fiddle in the rumoured project, Amaechi frantically bought acres of pages in the newspapers and large chunks of prime time on radio and television, not forgetting billboards and handbills and social media, to proclaim that he had no plan to run for president or vice president.

    Apparently, they did not take him at his word.

    So, knock him off his perch as chair of the influential National Governors Forum. Failing that, create a separate caucus of PDP governors with a complaisant governor as chairman, to dilute whatever influence Amaechi may still muster. He may be governor of an oil-rich state, but he knows only too well that he can be brought to heel by the Federal Might.

    Did I hear someone just say that the EFCC is waiting in the wings?

    In this political season, fear of the EFCC is the key to self-preservation. Consider the cruel swiftness with which it was deployed against Timipre Sylva, former governor of Dr Jonathan’s home state, Bayelsa. Recall how it was pressed into service to rein in one party in what was essentially a war of words between protagonists of the previous order and the present one.

    After his son was arrested, charged with trafficking in foreign currency and denied bail, Sule Lamido, who had been playing the waiting game, announced that he would not be a candidate for president in 2015.

    In the months ahead, we are likely to see many more political figures declaring in the most emphatic manner possible that they have no plan to run for president, possibly going so far as to echo American Civil War general, William Sherman, who warned those seeking to draft him to run for president, that if nominated, they would not accept and if elected, they would not serve.

    The PDP might well end up begging Dr Jonathan to run for re-election in 2015 because no one in the party currently holding high elected office is willing to risk being smothered in the EFCC’s net.

    But the “No Vacancy In Aso Rock” opera, led by Tony “The Fixer” Anenih, had better not take the curtain call yet. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu for one is not in the least fazed. He says he is not afraid of running for president and will announce his plans at the opportune moment. He has even summoned the audacity to assert that Dr Jonathan, having solemnly undertaken to hold office for just one term, cannot in good conscience run for another.

    Bravo, Talban Minna.

    Expect the EFCC or the ICPC or both of them to come calling shortly.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • From you to me

    •Adeola, my dear, the lady after my heart. God bless you. You don’t know how many lives you touch every Saturday. Your articles make my day. As I was reading your article of 26 Jan 2012, I read the story of Dami. It is not only the women but some men too are fraudsters too.

    Most of them call telling you that they are in the EFCC cell, that you should send recharge cards. Some call telling that their divorce case is in court that he you should provide money for the divorce case and that once that is over then he gets married to you. Further investigations, you discover there is no divorce and the person is happily married. You find someone you have not seen telling you I love you.

     

    •Adeola, I don’t know what the world is turning into. I remember days of pen pals. I have seen people get married through this. There are genuine ones out there also the ones who are fraudsters and more. All you do is if your profile is published be on alert, be careful, be warned, that is just the truth. Most of the men calling may not have genuine interest, all they are looking for is bed partners or to dupe one. Please keep it up. Don’t let these fraudsters kill your vision.

    God bless you. Have a great day. – Onyi, 08028260208.

     

    •Hi Deola, more power to your elbow. My name is Adeyinka Olowoniyi, I’m a reader of your articles because I’m also in matchmaking business and I want to react to the guy who said a girl duped him. Maybe the guy is impotent or how can someone be so foolish that you are in love with someone you have never seen before. I beg continue with your good work. God will crown your efforts.