As Our Intellectual Being Atrophies…

The recent WASSCE revealed that only about 32% of the candidates had five credits that included Mathematics and English. It means a portion of the remaining candidates had less than five credits, some had five credits without Mathematics and English, and the rest had their results withheld due to varying cases of examination malpractices. This result has revealed the extent of our intellectual decay. Sadly, this calamity is wounding us bad with no counter action from us. We can argue that these tenth grades are but a minimal proportion of our populace, but realistically they display the core characteristics of the rest of us – as our society largely reeks of our undisciplined inputs, and these students are a true picture of our society.

Currently, our adolescents and youths have their minds wandering nakedly between the brick walls of ‎ extreme showbiz, instant wealth, uncontrolled tech exposure, and ignorance, yet we crassly move on in social bondage.

However, in the face of this seemingly disguised catastrophe, we gradually tend towards advanced intellectual colonialism. Meaning sensitive societies with robust intellectual balance shall ‎exploit our sorry state in whatever direction their needs drive them. Like it’s already happening and we are insensitive to, we would on a rather pitiful level sell our birthright for a distasteful and emaciating mess of pottage.

Moreover, it is said that we only copy the eccentricities of the western world and we ignorantly by-pass the ingenuity of their innovations and social advancement. And that’s the reason most of our youths are clones of Hollywood, showbiz and the entertainment world. I can recall a thought leader warned that “Life is more than sports and entertainment. Life is serious business”. It is purely a very serious business, I add! This is because the so called

It is therefore the responsibility of the discerning ones amongst us to forcefully guide our youths rightly on this path of advancement. Again, only those with firm grasp on their emotions can assume the guidance role‎ in this present state. Teachers, leaders, role models, public figures, parents, and peers with disciplined thoughts and effective management of their human excesses must rise up to the task of guiding the susceptible ones amongst us to a productive path.

Lastly, waking up to this position of consciousness is major among other solutions to our knowledge, originality and innovation sickness. So, for the sake of our advancement and that of the African society at large‎, retracing our steps to correct our information usage pattern as well as taking responsibility for our education are key measures to getting it right. We have to keep learning to consciously manage useful information in order to create outputs our society can be grateful for. Live, learn and have fun.

God Bless Nigeria
 

The writer tweets @abdulrazarc
Razaq ‘Gbenga Adefiranye

 

MY CONFESSION

WAIT!: This piece is just to confess and appreciate the love and support I’ve received from God and people till date. It’s not intended to blow my trumpet in any arrogant way.

In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Munificent.
All praises and thanks be to God, the Lord of mankind, Jinns and all that exists.
On the occasion of my birth anniversary today I can’t but make viral my profound gratitude to all the forces that have moulded me into the humble  entity I’ve grown to be. Upon now I’ve witnessed two decades plus some years more, though I’m still far from where I’m going but it is apposite to say that I’ve consumed some notable miles that have gulped nothing but sheer resilience. And each time I review my experiences all I see clearly are worthy contributions from my environment which is primarily governed by my family, friends, acquaintances, colleagues, groupies and admirers.

From whence I was too feeble to grab and record parental care and guidance, to the matured time of subtle demarcation between influences that were hurled to make or mar me.  With God’s permission, several positive additions have been made by close and distant family members to carve out a responsible being out of me. My mother, father and lovable siblings have been critical to my arrival here today. I acknowledge your unflinching support and guidance till date. May God be with you.

To those who have reached far beyond blood ties to contribute to this great voyage; the moments, love, experiences, lessons, gains and pains we shared have largely accounted for my balanced mind. Here I refer to all those I’ve met, loved, befriended, and peered with from all walks of life till date. Thank you for sharing those opportunities that have catalysed our sojourn till date, and for your perseverance at those times I stood on different grounds with you. I appreciate you for clearly discerning that our differences could birth great opportunities that would catapult us to the grateful stage we are now. Let us continue in our best capacities  to deploy noble services that our society can be grateful for. Keep being the best you can be, may God continue to guide us through the right path.

Of course it’s not only bread and butter that have brought me this far; wisdom, guidance, knowledge and information from mentors and role models have been invaluable. To those that fed me these mind nutrients consciously and unconsciously, may God continue to increase you in knowledge and understanding too.

To me and those adding another year on this great day, I wish us a Happy Birthday and More Prosperous Years Ahead.

And to God again, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.
Thank you for giving me this great opportunity to begin another journey of a new 365. I beseech your continuous guidance towards the straight path.

I am Adefiranye Razaq ‘Gbenga, and it’s not a mistake that I’m a year older today.

Drop your remarks and wishes in the comment boxes below, I’ll be around to cart them away in their big sizes.

Sharing is caring!!!

@abdulrazarc

Why Our New Year Resolutions May Not Hold

It feels great to be back on this platform again. I had a wonderful holiday.  I hope you did too? Usually, the start of a new season uncannily earns us loads of wishes from friends, well wishers and even enemies. I apologise for not being able to share my good wishes and prayers at that moment; God understands.

Nonetheless, I want to gladly welcome us to this platform once again, I’m strongly convinced it’s going to be wonderful season. To every one of you my distinguished readers, I formally extended my compliments and I wish us the best of this new time. And to my imposing cohorts (@jossef69, @victoroladosu, @abasebudy, @homobah, @rotimifemi3, @Bishop, @Ebe, @kryptoneyo, @Hennygee and so many more…) thank you for being you. Let’s do this again!

Yes!!! I perceive most of us find today’s theme not caressing. Well, more of such feeling might be squeezed out because that is the purpose of this meeting /encounter. It is a common behaviour for us to immediately draw up lists of resolutions on the commencement of a new year. It is now so popular that I’m guessing those in the grave will have started making New Year resolutions too. New saving habits, new investment habits, improvement in our relationships, moving closer to God, quit smoking, quit drinking, and spend more time with loved ones, daily routine exercise and so many more. Please permit me to say here that it is not a bad thing to make a New Year resolution at all, after all we all work towards being better than our pasts. I make resolutions too, but like I did some time ago, take a more critical look at your resolutions, are they really distinct from the ones you made last year? Huh?!

However, since this platform is not a place where we just massage our problems and make them more intimidating, I shall examine a few basic faults and try to correct them with the hope that we would be able to apply them as we begin a new season. It is a season of responsibilities. A season to work changes and here is a place of responsibility.

Firstly, most of our resolutions are wishes and not things we are ready to unbendingly bring to reality. So with this, nature automatically erases the word ‘resolutions’ and replaces it with ‘wishes’; since the former does not aptly represent the conviction for the intended action. There has been a wrong identification of reason from the onset, of which nature had to adjust whether we are conscious of the correction or not. Like the common saying “if wishes were horses, even beggars will ride”. So since wishes are not things we are determined to work at and bring to reality, they remain wishes and they appear in our resolutions list in following year again. So a simple remedy to this is that we should ensure to only put down those things that we will strictly work at in order to get results we are ready to have no less of, no matter how beautiful other desires appear to be.

Secondly, most of our resolutions are not result driven. Since there are no courted results in view, we lose the charge to carry on the planned actions and inconsistency set in. Though we might have started well at the beginning of the year, then we start to falter and finally discontinue those action before the middle of the year. There is no fuel to carry on. Only the consciousness of the benefits of the target results will keep us going- that is the fuel. And let me add here that the process of achieving a goal is more important than the goal itself. These processes are called systems according to James Clear.

Thirdly, must we wait till January to begin a new act towards a desired result? I make resolutions too, but I don’t necessarily wait till January before I make them. I make resolutions at the speed of concern. Once I’m convinced there is a need to begin something new, I start right away. To explain better, if a corporate executive in the middle of a business year perceives the need to incorporate or fan out some policies in order to get better results, should he/she wait till next January before making that decision? The moment we delay the commencement or discontinuance of a major action in order to add it our new year’s resolution list, we might most likely mix it with the trivial ones by then and we end up doing nothing about it.

Due to time and time, I’ll round up with these quick shots on planning new resolutions. It is critical we reflect on the past as this will help us discern new actions and inaction. Like someone opined- “a new encounter or knowledge or experience should generate curiosity for it to be worthwhile.” Also, we have to limit the options of the desired results to have more focused goals; break larger goals into everyday processes, and be determined to have no less of the results we have set to achieve. All these will guide us to a position of discipline and responsibility. We know the surest way to predict the future is to create it. We have to rethink and reposition ourselves to take responsibility for the outcomes of our actions or inaction. After God’s help, this is about the surest way to create the future we crave.  Once again I wish us the best as we begin this season of responsibility. Cheers!!!

I dedicate my first post this season to my late grandma, may the almighty God forgive her sins and ultimately grant her paradise.

Adefiranye Razaq ‘Gbenga
@abdulrazarc