Category: Inspiration

Change, Inspiration

When Nigeria Happens to You

Jilomes

“May Nigeria not happen to you.”

In recent years, this phrase has become quite commonly used among many Nigerians. To the onlooker, it would seem as if the name “Nigeria” has become synonymous, or worse, eponymous, with “evil”. At the root of the usage lies a deep sense of disappointment, regret, and sometimes bitterness at misfortunes that some Nigerians see as entirely attributable to their being Nigerian or their being in Nigeria. But maybe the tide is changing, howbeit, slowly.

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Inspiration

On Your Marks, Set, 2025!

Jilomes

Here we are again at the start of a new year. Every year is more or less the same length, but some might swear that 2024 was a “fast” year. With a number of upsets at the global and local scale, last year was quite a year. But as we have crossed into another year, it is time to look forward and run a fresh race. So, here are three quick pointers to consider this year.

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Inspiration

A Desperate Search for Peace

Jilomes

Literally all of us, including the famous “Ọmọ get inside” squad would remember a time when we had no care in the world. As children, we had no reason to worry about paying bills or whether Sister Amaka thought our armpits stank, or Brother Paul thought our blouse had one loose stitch. In our carefree world, we believed we could be anything. That belief was what Jesus alluded to when he said that we need to be like children to enter God’s Kingdom.

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Inspiration

The Land is Green; Or Not

Jilomes

The Nigerian singer, TY Bello, sang a hit song asserting that “the land is green!” Interestingly, not a few Nigerians would argue otherwise because as it is commonly said, “the land appears greener on the other side”. Maybe we can say that all parties are both right and wrong, or as some cool Nigerians would say, “1:0; goalless draw!”

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Inspiration

Uncle Wigwe and the Fickleness of Life

Jilomes

“For, All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall”

1 Peter 1:24 (NIV)

On 9 February 2024, news suddenly filtered through that a helicopter had crashed in the distant United States, bringing down with it a Nigerian famous enough to have people worrying and hoping he was not on board the chopper. Sadly, the news was confirmed; Herbert Wigwe, banking juggernaut, had died alongside his wife and their son. Alongside the Wigwes, Nigeria also lost another corporate juggernaut, Abimbola Ogunbanjo. For days, Wigwe was trending on social media platforms, but as certain as life is, people have moved on.

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Inspiration

Of Life, Expectations, and Hopes for 2024

Jilomes

In primary school, we used to sing a marching song: “The day is bright; it’s bright and fair; oh happy day; the day of joy; … mama jollof rice!” Of course the “mama jollof rice” part was arguably not in the original rendering, but it was a testament to the joy that filled the hearts of the singers. Today, those singers are now adults, and for many, the joy has left. But with a whole year ahead of us, being joyful could be the recipe for staying sane.

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Inspiration

A Struggle to Balance an Unbalanced Life

Jilomes

Just around two weeks ago, my birthday came around for the nth time in my short sojourn on earth. While looking forward to spending the day with my family, work had other plans as I would be on an early morning flight that day and work until late into the night. Work just said, “who birthday don epp”. While replying some birthday messages two days later, I would reflect on life and the struggle to balance different aspects of our lives with limited time.

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Inspiration

Pressure Ti Po: When the Joneses Struggle to Keep Up

Jilomes

Growing up, except one was born into an unbelievably liquid family, one would have at some point or the other been advised against trying to “keep up with the Joneses”. Whereas the parochial connectivity of those days prevented many persons from knowing sufficient Joneses to benchmark against, today, social media networks have exponentially multiplied the Jonesian gene pool, such that you can be enjoying a 2G connection under hot sun in Nguru, while some random stranger suffering under a transparent lake in the Maldives would make you think your life is a joke.

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Inspiration

2023: A Defining Moment

Jilomes

“Happy New Year!”

If at 00:01am on January the First, someone had told me it would be three weeks before I get a chance to scribble my first article for the year, I would have said, “all things have become new”. But here I am, finally typing these words after a combination of several factors, ably captained by workplace orders, conspired to keep me on the defensive from the zero hour. So, let me start by saying welcome to a defining year for everyone.

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Inspiration

Grace and Another Birthday

Jilomes

A popular hymn says we should “Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done”. Many Christians sing the words, but I wonder how many of us understand that you can only count as a blessing what you acknowledge is a blessing, or that you can only show gratitude for something if you do not feel entitled to it. With this settled, this birthday article begins.

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