A2D Talkshow

“I love you”… what does that even mean? an expression of our current feeling or a pledge to responsibility, devotion, and honor. Do we throw these words around like they mean nothing, as though we won’t be punished for perjury? Do we ever understand what love is, can we truly express the depth or intensity of the word “love” Do we really have all it takes to love? Do we really think love is just beautiful because of spikes in hormones and the imaginary butterflies in your belly (which in reality, is just a release of oxytocin into the bloodstream)that dies before the setting of the sun? Is love beautiful because of sex, or sexual satisfaction and our hunger to feed this hedonist culture that has proliferated our society, making shame of celibacy and sexual purity? Is love manipulative, where we loose our sense of logical and clear thought to nonsensical behavior and standards. Are we less intelligent or more stupid in love, do our actions in love correlate with actions made in a cogent manner? When in love are we driven to give pleasure ( whatever that means) or receive pleasure? Is love selfless, selfless unto death or are the words “Till death do us part” a platitude to pacify our lover and to keep the wedding ceremony going?

Let’s unpack “till death do us part” for a moment. Death of what exactly? death of love or death of the lover? Can love transcend the living world? Can we only love those who are alive? Is death a reason/ excuse to stop loving? Maybe it is the death of love, I don’t know.

Regardless of the definition of love, why then is the epitome of love crumbling in our generation – Marriage? Marriage is at least one idea that gives us the rare opportunity to show what love is. Two people, driven by love to the altar standing before God and man to make a public case that their love for each other will never die, that such love will remain in sickness, health, pain, sorrow, happiness, and other cliché things people say to not upset the wedding guests. After the ceremony, after the drinks, after the guests have found their way home and the buzz of music in the background has reduced, after the end of the wedding and the beginning of the marriage, the two (the couple), hopefully, three (with love) are left alone, their promises and vows are tested by life only to fail under the least pressure. Love then turns to hate, the sun loses her light, ecstasy turns to pain, day to night-the flower withers, happiness turns to sadness, the priest turns to judge, guest to jurors, husband, and wife to plaintiff and defendant. Family no longer in-laws but outlaws. Children no longer blessing from God but property for ownership. what a shame!! The ideal of love has failed.

Yet, my search for ideal love continues, one that is not fazed by life troubles, but embraces them. I searched for long only to find it on the cross. yes, the old rugged “not-particularly-charming cross” the symbol of shame and reproach bore on it love, the cross defines love. how can the most beautiful thing be found on the cross? how? The love that feared no death nor pain or troubles of life. The more i looked at the cross,I saw a man-a perfect man. what is a perfect man doing on a cross? The paradox of this situation led me to ask more questions than there were answers. How can love hang a man on a cross? not any man but a perfect,upright,sinless man. In my discombobulated state, I found yet another disturbing truth that such man isn’t only perfect He is God. How! I exclaimed, how can love nail God to the cross? the more I searched, I found that he was without sin but bore the sin of all mankind, that through him mankind is saved and freed from the curse of sin. How God leaves his glory above, the creator becomes creature, the divine becomes despise, hung on a tree that he himself,from spoken words,fleshed into being, Christ the master of the universe was crucified! ‘this is love’ I exclaimed, that a man is willing to die for his lover, so that through his death his bride will boast of life and be freed from the wages of sin. How can we then love as christ did? It is impossible for a man to love like Christ. This is love, Christ is love. I found my answer in Christ but perturbed that I won’t see that kind of love in our society. I left my thought sad, but hopeful so I uttered these words; to love is to die, to die willingly.

Africa is painfully lacking in leadership at a time when it is sorely needed. Ever since folks like Mbeki, Ghadaffi, and OBJ left the scene, we’ve been left with a directionless continent. Kagames’ Rwanda would’ve been a suitable placeholder but it simply lacks the population, economic prowess, and capability to project beyond central Africa; plus it’s a landlocked country.

Nigeria used to be the hegemon; the densest black nation with access to the deep blue sea and the capacity to partner with Brazil to police the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic. No foreign power used to move into Africa without first consulting Nigeria. Without foreign interference, Nigeria played a big role in dismantling apartheid far south and stemming civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Nigeria also has 50% of West Africa’s manufacturing capacity and about 1/4th of Africa’s GDP, making it an economic powerhouse. However, recently, we have turned our military from keeping the peace in West Africa and onward to fighting terrorism, our navy hasn’t been the tooled man the regional waterways but reduced to police coastal waters and oil thieves, and our leaders since 2007 haven’t brought Nigerias’ weight to bear in the sub-Saharan region.

This is evidenced by South Africa’s recent repertoire with Russia in the thick of the Ukrainian war, Central Africa’s myriad of troubles, and the several coups across the western region of the continent. This is exacerbated by the consequences of the American adventure in Libya on the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, including the proliferation of arms and extremist elements.

China’s foray into the continent with its predatory loans cannot be ignored or underestimated. Some insist the third scramble for Africa is underway, at the behest of an increasingly polarizing world occasioned by the Russia-Ukraine debacle, and Chinese-American scuffles. These people know the immense wealth that lies below the African soil; they can almost taste the tantalum, gold, oil, and cobalt as they court our greedy African leaders in a dalliance that has the potential to mortgage the future of our continent. We are vulnerable in the face of this covert assault as the Maghrebs are unbothered, central Africa is tearing itself apart, South Africa is dancing with the devil and the Nigerians are too busy deciding if their problem is a power failure or fuel scarcity.

This is why Nigeria must take the next 2023 general elections seriously. We have abdicated our role for too long and the consequences will be disastrous if we don’t seize the initiative and set Africa on the right footing to stem foreign incursions in the continent.
If we miss the next opportunity, we might not have 8 years to fix it. Africa could be in much worse shape by then.

We could further deepen the gaping grave of our dear continent with our own thumbs.
We Nigerians must get it right for the sake of the rest of Africa.

Many times in my Christian life, I continuously pounded if any of these religious dictates were genuine and worthy of believing and following. Who is Christ? where is the Holy Ghost, and how long does it take to find Him? If God is powerful and loving, then why ……..? These questions express my confusion about the vast disparity between the ideal( God, heaven) and reality ( Humans, earth). The contrast that the world in all its sins and impurity somehow works, the rich are not necessarily holy and pious. Most religious countries are usually the poorest; churches are at total capacity in areas where Government fails and basic amenities are lacking. The wealthy are protected from most, if not all, of the hell this world can bring, and they are easily ameliorated when they face some heat from life. Morality is high in places where the one-eyed man is king; immorality is praised where all eyes can see. Western cultural degeneration has yet to preclude it from being the most desired country for the world’s peasants to migrate to.

A view like mine and many others who care to think questions our faith. The question of its necessity and truth. The importance of God is questioned as though one found God and put him on the courtroom stand ( if anyone could even dare). Why do we need the invisible and all-knowing God? Why do I and many others hold on to this enigmatic truth that one day Christ will come for us, and we will see him face to face? Why should we consider earthly desires mundane for a higher course we haven’t experienced? Are we high/ addicted to the narration of hope- hope that tomorrow is bright, that there is more to our pitful state than meets the eye?

When these questions are finely presented in my mind, asked by my darker self. I crumble into denial, denial not that I don’t know christ but denial that i don’t have sufficient answers to these seemingly daunting questions. Denial that I have not, through experience and logical reasoning, confirmed that christ is all and all in all. Denial that my life is not mine but his.

In the epiphany of my denial, I realized that I am Peter, love the lord, and cut the ears of those unwilling to listen to his word. I am Peter, wanting to save my savior. I don’t want him crucified, His name in the mud by unscrupulous, amoral groups. I am Peter, saw my master walk on water, and so did I. I am Peter who, through revelation, knew the identity of my master( Christ the son of the living God). Also, I am Peter, who the devil wants to sift as wheat. I am Peter, who would go back to the fishing business at the slightest resistance to my commitments to God. I am Peter, who denied knowing and working with my master. I am Peter, who christ needed to watch and pray. I slept, unable to bear the burdens of my master. I am Peter, threatened by a servant girl to declare my allegiance to my king. I am Peter, scared of dining with those I consider sinners. I am Peter holier than thou. I am Peter, waiting for the rooster crowed to remind me that I am bought with a price- Price money can’t buy. I am waiting to be reminded that God is merciful and can be trusted to keep his promises. I am Peter waiting until it convenient to tell the world about christ and his finished works. I am Peter waiting to see if my plausible deniability can last a little longer, so I can avoid speaking to the world about the word that came to save the world. I am Peter anointed to walk on water, yet I tremble and sink when the wave rage high. I am Peter, saved by grace through faith. I am Peter, and  I don’t need a rooster crowed to run to my king and plead for mercy. I am Peter, and He is God.

Life in all its beauty can be a living hell, hell in the sense that what you desire (heaven) is distant, unreachable; the closest you can get is by imagining the warmth of paradise. Hell in the sense that there is a path, a journey; one does not arrive at hell suddenly. There is a gradual or even speedy journey to it. Many are surprised to be welcomed by devils when they arrive, not knowing that every step they took brought them to the gate of hell.

Hell is endless because no matter how ominous or hellish your life is, there is something you can do to make it a little worse, to descend a little deeper. Life can seem unfair. Goals and dreams remain as goals and dreams- never actualized. The more you dream, the farther you are from actualization. Then what do you do when dreams seem unachievable? – Give up? Loose faith? What will any of these result in? A life full of dreams is far more meaningful than a life without hope or ambition. Your current state of struggle- The struggle to achieve your goal is far more courageous and heavenly than hopelessness, no ambition, and no prospect.

Aiming for the stars and hitting the star is the most desirable state. However, Aiming and missing is far more glorious than just aiming without shooting. Aiming without shooting is, however, better off than not aiming at all. Having a star and the possibility of aiming is far better than not having a star to aim at. Not having a star to aim at while seeking one is closer to heaven than not seeking a star at all. You see, that is an entire journey from heaven to hell, best to worst, dreams to nightmares. So where are you exactly?

If you have a goal and are struggling to attain such a goal while putting in your best to achieve you should be proud of yourself. At least you have a goal, the desired state, and you know that you are not there yet if it were, it wouldn’t be a goal. Also, you know that to get there, you must try. Let’s say you have given up ( which means a step a little lower). You had a vision, a burning desire, but you are fatigued from failure and rejection, so you give up. At this stage, you understand what it means to fight even though you lost. You know what it means to lose. A man who understands failure is better off than a man who never tried and will never understand what it means to be defeated.

So where are you exactly? Life comprises different domains ( career, love, friendship, health, and family). What are your goals in each of these domains? Are you falling into the endless depth of hell in any of them? At what stage are you? Get back up. The man who fights but gets defeated is a hero compared to the man who fails without fighting.

Rest in peace; the most common phrase on gravestones. Let’s extrapolate that for a moment. The phrase suggests that there is no rest or peace in our current world. What does this world have to offer besides the lack of rest or peace? Are we born into a stage of war and unrest? Is there hope of rest or peace in the most civilized era in human history. One would expect that the advancement of our society and civilization should assure peace and rest but otherwise is the case. First-world countries record higher suicide rate than any other lower-division countries. Creating such juxtaposition suggests that no matter the advancement of culture or people, this world, in all its goodness, can’t guarantee peace, and even if it does, we can’t rest in such peace.

What is peace; is peace the absence of war and trouble or is peace a state of mind regardless of troubles and mayhem. Are the dependencies of peace external or internal.? Do we seek peace in the world or in ourselves, and if we seek peace within ourselves, are we not part of this world? The concept of inner peace suggests one of two things. 1) that all is well within, 2) or the bold acceptance that all may not be well and that is okay.

So which is it? Let’s unpack the former- “all is well within” what does that even mean? You have all you want/need; you are perfect in your ideological concept of perfection. So you need no improvement or correction. I have never met a man needing no improvement or correction. In reality, all is not well.

” The bold acceptance that all may not be well and that is okay” suggests that there is a problem, a defect, room for improvement, and an area needing correction, and that is okay… in short, that is perfect imperfection. There is no problem with being ill as long as there is a willing doctor. Peace comes from the honest evaluation that trouble may abound, and the solutions abound too.

In death, there is no error, no room to improve, no wrong, no defect, and no need for correction. But why should one desire such peace in death where there is no love, no friends, and no fun. Life may not be a search for peace but rather an opportunity to love and be loved, to be understood and to understand. Maybe love is the doctor when inner peace is troubled by an external event or internal conflict. You are not where you want to be but you have friends and family who love you regardless of where you are. love is possibly the greatest path to peace in spite of war; a peace that knows war but has no fear of it, the peace that fills the empty heart and calms the troubled soul.

Love, this is my 14th reason why I must stay alive. I may not love my current state, my stagnant state, a state of no progress, an empty form, but when I see the plethora of love at my disposal, I am assured that even though the war of life may rage, I am not alone. I have friends waring with and for me. When I am weak without strength, I stand, filled with love knowing that I am loved by family and friends, and what utter show of ingratitude it will be to give up on life, what show of wickedness it will be to leave this world by my own hands. This is why I stand. I don’t stand strong, I stand loved. Even when God seems distant and heaven seems to care less, I am loved by those around me. More importantly, I love them, too; they need my love just as I need theirs. It is not a game for peace but a state of love.

In death, I will rest in peace. In life, I rest in love. I choose the latter.

Over the last ten months, I fought and still fighting the greatest battle of my life; the struggle between who I am and who I want to be. I am the war, the conqueror and the devoured, I am the casualty and the hero, the captain and the foot soldier, I win, and I lose.

” Man is a creature with a creator, without which man has no soul, intent or purpose.”

“If the essence of religion is to cure us of spite that this world brings or to give us a safe haven in time of regret, then we have created a grotesque image of the Almighty.”

The utility of religion from time memorial is to create a society or advance our community with the values that such religion exalts. Religion is the acknowledgment that there is more than meets the eyes. There is something higher than us. There is someone we owe reverence and respect.  

Religion is predicated on how a deity rules and controls our lives. This deity determines the circumstances or favors that we experience in life, and it is our duty to ensure that we give Him glory and honor. We are admonished not to make Him angry because he could send down a thousand plagues and when he does, we are to placate him with offerings, worthily offerings. This deity is almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful. This deity is God.

The relationship between an immortal being and mortal humans is the foundation of religion. Let’s talk about the relationship God has with humans. What are the considerations, what is the offer, and who is making the offer? God or Man. If God, what are the details of the offering? Why will God want a mutual relationship with Man? or maybe it is Man making the offer? What can Man give the almighty? What does the almighty lack that He should seek an offer from mere mortals? You see, this is a pivotal question that one must answer to get into any relationship. I mean, if you have nothing to gain in a relationship, why stay in it. So, for the religious Man, I ask: why remain religious? What do you lack that only God can possibly give? At the end of the day, relationships are transactional to be deemed fair. 

So, let’s assume that God gives the offer; what are God’s offers? What is God selling and is it worth buying? Are we humans capable of buying such an offer? I mean, if we are to accept God’s request, can we live up to the considerations?

The second question to the religious Man: what are the considerations? Morality, piety, freedom? Can we get that outside religion? This question on the importance or relevance of religion leaves me, and anyone would care to ask, with the overwhelming evidence of a loving almighty in the Christian worldview. 

Christianity is God making an offer to Man, which Man dearly needs but can’t accept because Man is unable to pay for such offerings. However, God accepts the offer as Man and pays the price on Man’s behalf (in the person of Jesus Christ). Man is left to enjoy the offerings of God because the fee has been paid for. This is quite amazing.

Having this understanding, I then lay up the following questions. These questions do not intend to misrepresent God or undermine his power, but rather answers to these questions should draw us close to God and better understand Him if it is possible to truly understand God.

I have observed that the most religious group or the most Christocentric groups are not the most successful in society; in most cases, they are impoverished and helpless. These observations beg the question; is poverty, lack of money, and resources the lot for spirituality and religiosity? is the importance of God and his power more effective in the helplessness of Man. Africa is an example of this premise. Africa is the most religious continent, yet the most impoverished, and churches are in total attendance in communities where Man’s everyday needs are scarce and luxurious. Is religion truly the opium of the poor? Why will the “Most High” servant be the “Most Low”?

My second Observation: I have observed that when religious African people leave for a better and more fulfilling environment, there is a significant drop in their spirituality, and transcendent submissiveness is nowhere to be found. Perhaps God is replaced with the Government. Maybe the need to worship God is founded on the lack of basic amenities that the Government or society is expected to provide. In Nigeria, for example, we pray for visa approval to other better countries. On arrival to these first world countries where basic human needs are met, God becomes secondary. Why? Maybe God expects too much from his servant and the Government too little from her citizens. Is there anything attractive about God or religion when all our needs are easily met? Why do we have a thousand miracle services in Africa and very few hospitals, more churches than schools? Religion is a beacon of hope, hope that our needs will be met.

Third Observation; faith, hard work, and Success. one thing that binds us all together is Success. We want to be a successful person, group, or race. The human race strives on the will to power. It is an intrinsic desire that we all share; believers and non-believers alike. I have observed that the most successful amongst us are not usually believers, the people who strive to make the world a better place have no relationship with God of the bible. The heathen believes in their ability to make things happen and succeed at what they do; the world is better off. 

Do we sacrifice our hopes and dreams to follow God and are left with no goals and aspirations? Is letting go of one’s hopes and dreams to follow God part of the consideration when accepting God as the author of our lives. Does God care less about our vision and hopes? Therefore, heathens are more likely to achieve their dreams and goals because they are not religious? 

Finally, is there a unique benefit to following God? When I say “unique,” I mean, is there a benefit that only believers enjoy here on earth? Are we in, for a living hell?

” Sometimes you must hurt in order to know, fail in order to grow, lose in order to gain because life’s greatest lessons are learned through pain.” – Pain (Nagato)

Hope and expectation are predicated on the fact that we have paid our due diligence today to secure the freedoms of tomorrow. “the light at the end of tunnel” is an ideology that if we go through darkness, the end result will always be light. A better tomorrow lays its foundation on the idea that today isn’t as we hoped, and if we go through the hassle of today, tomorrow for sure will be great and better; what a partial truth. There isn’t always light at the end of the tunnel; tomorrow isn’t always promised because today’s sacrifices were well made. Hope isn’t a strategy for survival or faith an instrument for battle. They both play their role; of delusion and transcendental submissiveness, placating the helplessness of the mortal being with the idea that something or someone higher than us will deliver us from our current plight and bring us to the desired tomorrow.

What then shall we do when hope and faith seem to fail or fail? What shall we do when the gods fail to attend to our needs, and we are left naked without help? What shall we do when the pain becomes our closest companion and the future is bleak? – what should we do when we are at the end of the tunnel yet gazing at the abyss of darkness.? I don’t know. Should we still rely on faith and hope or embrace our current friend and partner, pain? Is there anything worth learning from pain? Yes, there is. Pain teaches us peace and the value of peace. Peace is not the absence of trouble but its tolerance, peace in knowing that tomorrow may not be blissful as hoped but the assurance that whatever tomorrow brings, we can handle. Peace: not in hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel, but peace in being accustomed to darkness and confusion, knowing that to see through life, one doesn’t always need light, for one could be light themselves.

Pain is the crossroad between meaning and nihilism. Meaning in this sense that one may wish for a thousand miracles and get none, but in the lack of one’s desires, one begins to see that surviving lack is in itself a miracle. A blessing not prayed for but highly needed. Meaning; that going through the dark tunnel may not necessarily give light at the end but create in us the ability to navigate through the darkness.

Nihilism; when one becomes too afraid to face pain, one chooses a path without meaning; for the path to meaning is paved by pain and suffering. One meets a more distasteful fellow in one’s avoidance of pain: void, nothingness, emptiness. Then one recognizes that pain becomes “the half bread,” which is better than none.

Nihilism, in this sense, that all that is good becomes valueless and, to the extreme, values will be deemed as evil because why should the path to good be paved by stress, tears, agony, and even death. In nihilism, everything of real value is replaced with decadence; one seeks extreme pleasure, which leads to moral decline and the end of one soul.

“ To be strong is not to avoid pain, but to feel it, understand it and accept it.“

” the image in the mirror has been and will always be by your side from the birth  to death, forgiving oneself is the best long term strategy.” – Kelechi Oji

In life, we make mistakes as children, and as adults, the former is easygoing; the problem is in the latter. Growing up as kids, when we made mistakes, we were reprimanded and disciplined by parents, teachers, and other adults in our lives, yet we moved on quickly. We moved on to commit other errors requiring such sanction as the first, but we still moved on. We grew up looking back at those whimsical days of error with a smile and pride of maturity. Now we are all adults, with a thousand free choices and no one watching our every move. The responsibility to succeed at anything lies in our hands and our abilities to see it through. When we fail, we are left with no one but ourselves. Who will reprimand us? Where is the penalty for error as it was in the good young days? Who will rule over us and tell us to be right and correct our wrong? No one emerges to take responsibility for the question asked. Just before we think we are alone, the man in the mirror appears as the ideal perfectionist, criticizing our very existences, lacerating our errors, and degrading any success we may have achieved. This puritanical reflection condemns us in the most deconstructive manner. Then we are left alone with two parts of ourselves, the “oppressed self” and the “oppressor of self .”

The question is, who will save us from this distasteful version of us? Who will redeem us from our oppressor? Well, this is a one vs. one battle, and whatever the outcome is, you will be both the winner and the loser—the contradicting duality of oneself. The struggle never truly ends. If you win, your life improves, seeing your error as a lesson. If the other side wins, you will become resentful, hateful, and depressed. There is more to this ongoing battle. Who is the judge to declare the winner? I mean, if the judge doesn’t end the battle, then there isn’t a winner or loser, and if the judge concludes the war, he would have to declare who the winner is based on specific criteria. So, in short, this is not a duality but rather tripartite(the good, the evil, and the judge).

How can we forgive friends, family, and colleagues yet find it difficult to forgive ourselves? This unforgivable mistake you committed if an external person committed such an error against you, how long will you hold a grudge? How long will you need to forgive this loving friend? Not long, I guess. Forgiveness is essential for the reign of peace and harmony. You have to move past the current circumstance, so you are left with no option but to show mercy or at least ignore it.

Think about any seemingly unforgivable error but change the actor from yourself to someone you love, your spouse or mother. How easy will you forgive them? If you will forgive the ones you genuinely love but not yourself? Then maybe you don’t love yourself, and if you don’t love yourself, how dare you say you love someone else. I mean, you can only pour from a filled cup.

You are the best you got, or at least you should be the best you have. You must love yourself more than anyone else will or can. If you can’t practically adore yourself, then set up a standard of what you define as love, then pursue to meet those standards; this will help you know when you or an external person isn’t giving you what you consider the best version of love.

Forgive yourself, pick your good self and fight the wrong side with love that only you can give. Empower yourself with positive affirmation; condemn anything that condemns you deconstructively. Unforgiveness is the strength of the terrible side. Expose yourself to the possibility of love, treat yourself as one worth respecting and taking care of. Look at the reflection in the mirror and define the image you want to see. You see the image, and you are the creator of such an image. List out things you feel that are unforgivable, make an effort to change the issues that can be changed, for the problems that can’t be changed, write out lessons you have learned from them. Think deeply before writing any lessons down; lessons are essential for growth. Then move on. Speak to friends, and family that genuinely love you, ones you can share bad news with, listen to how they respond to your plight. You can gain one or two from their responses.

In the end, you are the judge; you determine when the battle is over, and you alone can declare the winner of such contests. So don’t end this fight until you stand above all the deconstructive criticism.

To the church in America; Have you lost your eyes for the unseen and swallowed the false hope of the visible. What has gotten into you? Did Christ Jesus die for some groups and leave the rest unsaved? Why have you let political diatribe come between you? Are we not citizens of God’s eternal kingdom? Why have you divided yourselves into political groups? Didn’t Christ die for us all before these trivial political ideologies were established? How dare you separate the body of Christ? What use is the eye to the body if the heart is lost and gone? Why are there churches for people of a particular group – black churches? Did Christ die twice for different groups? Where is the message of love, faith, and hope that binds us all together? When did Christianity become a white man’s religion or a black man’s religion? Thank God that Christ wasn’t black or white. He was a Jew.

To the progressive Christian (whatever that means), what progress do you want to make to the finished work of Christ? Didn’t Christ reconcile us to God the Father once for all time; The scripture says, ” But our high priest (Christ) offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins good for all time.”  Are we not saved by faith in Christ? Didn’t Christ give us all the Holy Spirit as an assurance of our salvation? Why have you fallen into the trickery with which the devil seeks to divide us? Are we not one in the body of Christ?

In your last election, there was so much disunity; when did God make President Biden the Messiah? Is there not one Lord, one faith, and one Baptism? Is your faith not worth more than politics? Is there any political name higher than the name of Jesus? Is there any name aside from the name of Jesus by which men call to be saved? Why do you think Christ is not enough that you need to progress His teachings? Didn’t Apostle Paul say, ” All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto good works.” Was Paul not talking about the bible, or is there another scripture? Why have you let devils disguised as angels into your dwelling place? Did God only die for the vaccinated, leaving the unvaccinated without salvation? You say you want to fight against racism, but you have slowly become the monster you are fighting, full of hatred, resentfulness, and spite. You have supported the killings of the unborn, and you call that progress? If the Messiah were to come again as a child, you would have killed him before He saw the light of the day. Does choice now govern us that a woman can freely kill a child in the womb or by the Holy Spirit? Didn’t the scripture say that children are blessings from the Lord? How dare you support the abortion of God’s gift? May God have mercy on you.

To the Christian nationalist, To what kingdom do you belong? The kingdom of this earth or the kingdom of heaven? are you not likened to the disciples when they asked Christ, ” Lord has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom.” And didn’t Christ reply, saying, ” …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witness telling people about me everywhere.” Are you Christians for America alone or the ends of the earth? Most of you are conservatives. Why try to conserve a nation that can be shaken when you have received an unshakable kingdom. Is Trump now your Lord and savior, or was he the one prophesied to be of virgin birth? Why have you made Him Lord over your heart? Isn’t that where Christ should be? Shouldn’t you care for the other believers who have no freedom to worship God as you do? Are you better off than the Christians in Asia, South America because you live in a better country? Are we not all going to heaven, where Christ is preparing our place of rest? Christ himself said, ” there is more than enough room in my father’s home. If this were not so would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you” will you let politics divide you? are you united by a president or by Christ? Did any Republican die for your salvation? I say again, why fight for a kingdom that can be shaken when you can dwell in an unshakeable kingdom where God reigns and you are seated with Christ Jesus as heir to the throne? Will you despise your royalty in heaven for some political feud? I pray not. Are you saved by grace or politics?

I understand that you are trying to keep America safe from ill ideologies and people hoping to destroy it, but who can save a nation except for by God. If America looks up to God, won’t she be saved? You have tried by your power and political strategy, and they have failed. Scriptures say that “for God watches how people live; he sees everything they do. no darkness is thick enough to hide the wicked from his eyes.”

Since you love America so much, how often do you pray for her and her leaders? Do you only pray for leaders who uphold the same ideologies as you? Don’t you think your prayers are efficacious? You can’t save America from ruin; only God can. See how the prophet Isaiah describes the one you worship?

“For all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.” This is the God you are called to worship; now leave trivial things and follow him and his instructions. You are called for extraordinary things.

Finally, my brothers and sister in Christ, the bible says, ” for Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people, when in his own body on the cross, He broke down the wall of hostility, and together as one, Christ reconciled both groups”. The hatred between us was put to death through His death; let us leave it dead. Treat one another with love and kindness.

Yes, you can and would disagree on political issues, but let love be your lead and firm foundation. Of what use is love if it is only towards those you agree with? While you disagree in politics, remember that Christ is preparing a place for us. This very earth will pass away.

I pray you get along with one another, remembering that many don’t have the luxury of freedom you enjoy. Many Christians in Asia, the middle East, and Africa; where I write from, are persecuted for the same faith you freely express in America. Always put them in your prayers. We are looking forward to the day when we will join the host of heaven to worship our great GOD. Amen

“Treat death not with contempt, for in it the value of living becomes priceless”

– Kelechi .C. Oji

Life is a journey. A journey of birth, happiness, laughter, pain, tears, joy, and ultimately Death. Life is hard and always will be, at least for those wishing to find meaning in life to make it worth living. Nothing in life comes easy, not even the child from the womb during birth or the dirt dugout during the funeral. Life is like a business deal; to get anything valuable out of it, you must be willing to pay the price, whatever it entails.

To become a valuable citizen in the community, you must add value to society or at least to your family. How do you go about adding value? Ok, let’s say you need a decent-paying job to be of value to your self, family or society at large. To get the job, you need a skill. Ok, great, where does one go to learn skills? A university or some kind of college. Alright, fair enough. How do you enroll in a conventional university or college? You need to write SAT or a form of entrance exam. Wait, you need to go through high school before considering a university. How does one get into high school? You need to go through elementary school and  you need someone to make that decision for you; well, that is the role of a guardian or parent who understands education’s value. Well, my point is, to get a well-deserving job, look at the years of commitment, and strive that one needs to go through without the certain hope of the expected outcome.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster” – Friedrich Nietzsche.

“…And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” – Friedrich Nietzsche.

“And He said unto them ‘ I beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven” – Jesus the Nazarene.

Most of life’s pain and sufferings are due to man’s malevolence, Greed, and the lust for power, money, and all what not. We have grown to understand love and hate, malevolence, evil, and wickedness. How did God’s creation become so capable of wickedness and evil? How can slave owners look upon their tinted image and yet commit atrocities against them? How can man develop concentration camps and, within those walls, perpetuate nefarious acts against mankind ( Nazi Germany)? How can a political leader watch millions starve to death due to political feud and power greed? How can Joseph Stalin be born and raised by a woman, cause one of the worst famines in Europe ( the Holodomor of Ukraine)? How can king Leopold II with all his powers and riches in Belgium, yet greed found a place in his heart, and he acted out such greed, killing millions in DR Congo? All for what? How can African chiefs sell their own race for weaponry? How can doctors who swore to protect and preserve lives carry out the Tuskegee experiment? How did the event of unit 731 happen? How did man grow so heartless and without a soul? How can the American Government pass into law the killing of children in the disguise of women’s choice? How can we humans save ourselves from us? How can a man seek to satisfy his sexual desire forcefully on a woman? How can we behold the best man that ever lived  Christ with so much anger and contempt that we went an extra mile to nail him on the cross for the sin he didn’t commit.

Definition, Definition is the answer to the questions above. How we define a thing determines how we approach and treat it. We must be cautious of our definition. We should have ideologies but not let ideologies have us. We must observe ourselves; hence we may become the monster we are fighting.

Hitler didn’t see the Jews as people, as humans. If he did, he would have guilt and shame for his actions against them. He saw them as enemies to be killed, enemies of Germany’s progress. Therefore killing and exterminating the Jews will be for a higher cause than pure wickedness. Same with the doctors that carried out the Tuskegee experiment. Black men weren’t people to them. They were simply lab rats and sub-humans. Once there is an ill-definition of a thing, our approach to it reflects such definitions.

For example, most Americans love dogs. They treat them well. This pet has a place in the heart of all citizens of the west. The dog is considered part of the family and even of society. However, in parts of Africa, the same dogs are hunted and cooked for dinner, “what!!’ you may exclaim. The lover of dogs may call such people heartless and without a soul. If you really love dogs, you may sue such persons for animal cruelty. The people who practice the killing and eating of dogs are possibly the nicest in Africa. How can the nicest people kill and eat such an innocent and “cute” animal? Definition.

Don’t be quick to judge; you lover and defender of dogs, you eat beef (cow meat). What do the Hindus think of you? You are literally eating their ancestor, god, or whatever sacred symbol attached to cows. To them, you are cruel, you are not, but you get my point.

The moment we define the baby in the womb as a lump of cells, removing such a lump isn’t murder. The moment black people are considered sub-human, enslaving them isn’t a crime to be ashamed of. When Christ is no longer defined as the son of God, his crucifixion becomes a mere punishment.

We have caused more suffering on earth here simply because of Definition. The devil gave Eve the definition of the fruit (Genesis 3 vs. 1-5), she accepted, and here we are, in this fallen world. We are up against world indoctrination, the media is forcing you to believe or define something. Whatever such definition is, it will affect your approach to such things greatly. Scrutinize every ideology; have an ideology, don’t let it have you.

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here to convince you that we don’t need God – the moral lawgiver. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here to tell you that keeping yourself till marriage is absurd and old-fashioned. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here to tell you that hating men is the right thing to do for the sake of gender equality. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here telling you that respecting and honoring the family structure is ludicrous. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here telling young men that sexual immorality is okay and acceptable. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here convincing women that their body is a product you should sell for fame and money. Hell is empty, and all devils are here convincing us that hating each other because of political and cultural differences is fine and okay. Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.

“So Humble yourselves before God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”– James the apostle

The rain, a blessing to the farmer but a curse to the builder, what then shall God do when the farmer prays for rain and the builder for a bright day

Life is a journey filled with events, goals, dreams, and pain. We are birthed into this very distasteful world with one sure destination, Death. Death provides the value we call life, but then can something be valuable yet hurtful and full of suffering? why do we celebrate the birthing of a child knowing that life isn’t a joyful place, at worst full of pain? Why do we mourn when people leave this ruthless place called life in Death and proceed to rest in peace, the peace that life itself cant provide?

Imagine life as several pieces coming together to make a whole, then appreciate the part that is doing well and great while hoping to fix the other pieces that aren’t so great. Life constitutes family, health, career, love, friendship, suffering, pain, and ultimately Death.

So when examining your life, what appears to you first? Your failures or your abilities to try again? or your annoying parents, or the fact that you have parents that genuinely care for you? What exactly is your focus? The fact that your boss at work hates you or that you have a job that puts food on the table? Let’s step low a little, you have no job, but you got great family and friends, you are in good health; should they all go to hell because you are failing in one domain of life? Is life not worth living?

You set goals and didn’t meet them, and you are sad? It could be worse, man! It is possible not to have goals; you won’t be sorry about not meeting them. Life is hard; if you try to reach your goal, if you genuinely try to reach them and don’t, okay ?? what next? Hate yourself? No, it could be worse.

Your relationship is failing, okay? What do you say to the lady with three kids and no responsible father or husband? “I wish I had a perfect love life.” Okay? Are you in excellent health for anything? Isn’t that something worth celebrating? Will you exchange that for anything?

Gratitude isn’t just appreciating what you have; it is you knowing that it could be worse but isn’t. It is knowing that your life could be worse than it is now. It is knowing that while you hope for great things, you can descend to the valleys of life. Gratitude isn’t comparing yourself with someone lower than you ( whatever that means ); it is comparing the actual realities with a hypothetical feasible disaster. 

Life must be lived with goals and aspirations, as we climb up the ladders of life, the deeper the depth we can fall, so we must look down the valleys of life to remind ourselves that while the peak of life is the goal, the valleys is a place one can possibly be in. 

Maybe the job you so dearly want may take you away from your family; perhaps it will take your time and mind away from friendship and relationships. Perhaps the zenith of life is plagued with loneliness and lack of warmth. 

Maybe the house cat should appreciate the warmth of human care rather than hope to be a lion without love and care and whose life is plagued with hunting. Perhaps there is great utility in appreciating being a cat than wishing to be the king of the jungle. The Lion may scare a thousand sheep, it may rule the jungle, but it is also at risk to be killed by the hyenas and animal’s poachers; it also has to think of the next meal. Maybe the house cat is perfectly fine being a cat. This isn’t to say that one shouldn’t aspire to be the greatest, but there is utility in gratitude at whatever stage in life.

Maybe the rain isn’t a curse for the builder because what strength will he have to build without food from the farm.

“Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? then he is not omnipotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? then why call him Gods.” -Epicurus

Who are you, God? The universe declares an intelligent designer. The detailings of life’s DNA prove the intentionality of a creator. The earth and other planets point to an all-powerful being. History has shown a wise planner, one who is not constricted by time. The making of a child in the womb speaks to the greatest of a supernatural being. The ocean and seas in their different depths show the mysterious attributes of a creator. Philosophers can’t grasp the rudiments of your wisdom. But who are you, God? Many claimed they know you. Many religions claim that their path is the surest path to you. The intrinsic moral law within man speaks of your goodness and judgment. 

Who are you, God? Are you powerful? If yes, then why is there pain in this world, unbearable pain. Are you as loving as people claim, then why is there suffering among those who claim they love you and are loved by you? Are you all-knowing? Then why do we go through mysterious and unreasonable pain and avoidable suffering. who are you, God? Are you a myth like Zeus and Poseidon, or are you real? Are you one to have a conversation with? are you one to hope on and depend on?

Are you without emotions? That you consider our suffering and pain unimportant. Are you seated in the heavens far above us that you are unaware of the happenings on earth? Who are you, God? What is your position on evil and wickedness that has befallen this world? Why do you have natural disasters killing your creations? 

Who are you, God? A king who cares less about the suffering of slaves in Egypt, Europeans, Arabs, and the Americans? Where were you during the horrors of the 20th century that killed 108 million people? Who are you, God? Why do you let the wicked succeed and let the poor die in the hands of the mischiefs? Who are you, God? That we serve and worship you still our lives get undone by people who care-less people about you. Who are you, God? Are you “I am that I am”? Are you the beginning and the end? Who are you, God? That many claim they know you, who are you, God? 

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I am God, the creator of the universe and everything in it. I set the centrifugal force of planetary movement precisely to balance the gravitational forces without which nothing could be held in orbit around the sun.

I am God who creates, then man discovers years after about that creation. I formed the laws of physic. The slightest variation in the speed of light ( 299,792,458 meters per second) would alter the other constants and preclude the possibility of life on earth.

I am God, I created time, I am not constricted by time. If the earth’s rotation took longer than twenty-four hours, the temperature difference would be too great between night and day. If the rotation period were shorter, atmosphere wind velocities would be too great.

I am God. If there were more seismic activity, much more life would be lost; less seismic activity and nutrients on the ocean floors and river runoff would not be cycled back to the continents through tectonic uplift. (yes, even earthquakes are necessary to sustain life as you know it).

I am Love, and you are proof of this great Love. Didn’t I send my son on earth, though a perfect man, He suffered more than you ever will or ever had? He suffered to restore you to me. Through him, there is hope for a better life after this life.

I am God, the first and the last. I see through time. I dethrone kings and crown servants.

I am God. I am aware of your pain and sufferings, but through them, I am making you a better and stronger person, and even in death, I am God. I see all things you don’t but trust me, I do.

I am God; my word doesn’t fall to the ground. If I say, I mean it. 

I am God. I want to have a relationship with you so that through you, many will know me. 

I am God, and pain is real. You live in a fallen world, but I will bring you to glory after a little time here, I will bring you to glory.

Finally, “It is a glorious phrase of the New Testament, that ‘he led captivity captive.’

The very triumphs of His foes, it means, he used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to sub-serve his end, not theirs.

They nailed him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act, they were bringing the world to his feet.

They gave him a cross, not guessing that he would make it a throne.

They flung him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment, they were lifting up all the gates of the universe to let the King of Glory come in.

They thought to root out his doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy.

They thought they had defeated God with His back the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down.

He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.” – James Stewart.

Who are you God?

“God is dead. God remains dead, and we have killed him. How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers.” -Fredrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche declares the death of God in late 1800, the last years of the 19th century. His quote is a prophecy fulfilled during the horrors of the 20th century. The phrase ” the death Of God” is more profound than its literal meaning; if God is indeed dead, who killed him? According to Nietzsche, we did. But how did we kill what was or is the holiest and mightiest of all? The death of God speaks more to the defiance of religion and absolute truth; Truth where all things find meaning. The death of God is the birth of Nihilism (the value of nothing). The death of God speaks to the destruction of a moral standard or ideal, and when standards are destroyed, we can’t know when we have fallen short and how to progress or repent. The death of God is the creation of relativism and radical liberalism.

The death of God means that we have ignored and shut out the moral lawgiver and his laws, and without whom, we are doomed. The death of God is not atheistic as many hope it is.

Every successful civilization is established on two significant pillars Revelation and knowledge. Revelation meaning faith, acceptance, and recognition that there is more that transcends us. There is more to life than what is visible or empirical. Revelation admits that there is a God to be honored and accountable to. Knowledge is logic, invention, discovery, and advancement. Knowledge is the ability to think, solve problems and provide for needs. Knowledge is philosophy, insight. Western civilization was birthed on these two pillars. Without any one of the pillars, our society is destined for doom. A culture that focuses more on revelation, leaving the essence of logic, will be the bedrock of religious extremism, oppression, and stagnation (Africa is a case in point). A society that relies solely on logic/ Knowledge will commit horrible actions without the feeling of guilt or shame (Nazi Germany). The Horrors of the 20th century are a major consequence of God’s death. In the early 19th century, we humans had great works of philosophy, art, and science. We solved most of society’s daring and complex problems, and we felt like God or we didn’t need him. Medical inventions, automobile inventions, and much more result from logical and critical thinking but are no replacement for faith. This single act of ignoring a standard, a moral lawgiver, led to the killing of 43 million soldiers and 62 million civilians (this doesn’t include natural death, only casualties of the 20th-century war).

The death of God and its effect on human reasons is well defined by the quotes of Joseph Stalin; ” a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic.” the death of God is what resulted in Auschwitz, the Holodomor of Ukraine, Unit 731, and Tuskegee experiment.

In today’s world, God’s death is the permissive acceptance of abortion, sexual misconduct, corruption, pornography, rape, and many more.

When God dies, everything dies. When the moral law is no longer seen as canonical, Immorality ensues. When there is no value in life, Mortality becomes numbers. When God dies, man is free, free to be man, wicked, malevolent, horrible, egotistical, and nefarious.

When God lives, we understand and approach life as something valuable, we have a moral law to adhere to, we have a standard to align ourselves with, we have a check to ensure we are on the right tracks of morality. When God lives, we see ourselves as his creation ready for use for his purposes. When God lives, our society understands the importance of family, love, friendship, peace, humility, and unity in diversity. When God lives, we live.

God isn’t dead; we are.

Life is suffering. Life is punctuated by pain and suffering from birth to dust. We have been set up for a time of long-suffering unless you are born into a wealthy family, even in that case, life has a way of showing us how mortal and susceptible we are to pain regardless of wealth, riches, and fame.

Every individual is fighting a battle, one that losing isn’t a great option; It could be a failing marriage, natural disaster, lack of money, sickness, country’s economy, and much more. There is an existence of a pain in all domain of life. We are to face each suffering as it comes. Most times, the cause of such suffering is way beyond our control. What can you do to stop an earthquake or a child been born with down-syndrome or terminal disease? Life presents to us not only suffering and pain but uncontrollable suffering and pain.

Examining the horrific events of the 20th century (world wars, unit 731, the Holodomor in Ukraine, the H1N1 pandemic, the Korean War, Vietnam war, and so many infamies), we can have a clear definition of what horror is. There are writings by first-hand witnesses of these horrors; people suffered and died for no rational cause or due to the inflated egos of megalomaniacal bigots. Life is hard and may remain so. Dwelling so much on the sufferings of life can make one nihilistic. 

The suffering of life didn’t start today or during the 20th century; it has always existed. Humans have dealt with suffering in many ways to ameliorate pain, one of which is religion. Humans have come to believe and possibly understand that there is an afterlife, a place we go after living on this miserable earth. Most religious rhetoric professes the afterlife as a place we go based on how well we lived on earth. Suppose you are a good person – whatever that means- in that case, you will go to “heaven.” and if your actions reflect evil, you will be doomed for “hell”- not a good place to be in. Such rhetoric places a higher value on the afterlife than the current life we live in. people can endure the suffering of life hoping to be rewarded in the next life or afterlife. Devaluing this present life may be somewhat nihilistic.

We will be looking at some world religions and how they approach life suffering.

Buddhism:

The Buddhists believe that for one to conquer suffering and pain, one must practice the four noble truths (1) Humans existence is pain which (2)is caused by desire, and (3) can be overcome by victory over desire (4) by means of the noble “eightfold path” (more on this later).

Buddha believes that all human suffering is caused by desire; this statement is somewhat true. The Holocaust or the Holodomor of Ukraine is an example. However, these sufferings are not due to the victims’ desire; these suffering are due to the desires of megalomaniacal and maniacal human beings. In a situation like a holocaust, conquering one’s desire does nothing to alleviate such suffering. In our current world, the statement of the Buddha can lead to nihilism. 

If Human existence is pain caused by desire, then should we stop desiring? Should we be without hope of a better life in this world? Should we not want to live a proper healthy, and wealthy life for a good cause?

The eightfold path consists of (1) Right knowledge of the four noble truths (2) Right resolve to curb malice (3) Right speech, true and kind (4) Right action, meaning to refrain from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct (5) Right livelihood which means one cannot earn a living from a trade which by nature involves bringing harm to others, such as trade-in weapons, poisons, slaves, livestock (6) Right effort (7) Right mindfulness, or keeping the mind at all times serenely focused on the present moment; and (8) Right meditation, which consists of four steps: isolation resulting in joy, meditation causing inner peace, concentration producing bodily happiness, and contemplation rewarded with indifference to happiness and misery.

Hinduism:

Like Buddhists, Hindus believe that suffering and pain are due to inappropriate actions committed in a former life. The Hindu perception of pain is “I deserve whatever hell I am going through because I am paying a debt of sin I committed in my former life”. This idea is profound because you no longer look for external parties to blame for your suffering; you look within and accept them for what they are. As deep as this ideology is, it demands questions. What do you mean by a former life? Can we observe the former life? Do we have memories of them? If we committed sins in the past life that we must pay for in this current life, what are those sins? is there room for forgiveness?

We are not perfect humans. We will make mistakes no matter how trivial they may seem to us. The Hindu ideology assures pain and suffering.

“Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it” -Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941), Indian mystic philosopher.

While pain and suffering are the consequence of ill actions in the former life, Hindus believes that death and rebirth can be endless but not the goal;

 “those who have prepared themselves by the loving attitude, a study of the scripture and devotion to lord Krishna may free themselves from an endless cycle of death and rebirth, eternal life is granted to devotees who at the time of death give up their physical bodies with only thought of lord Krishna on their minds” -Bhakti

One must be in bondage to be free and eternal life is a place you go to be free. There is a bit of nihilism to explore in this ideology. There is no value in this current life and the next, so why bother to make any good use of life? Why toil in something as valueless as life?

Christianity:

“But we’re looking forward to the new heaven and new earth He has promised a world filled with God righteousness” 2 Peter 3:13.

Christianity presents the idea of suffering in a way that assures us of life’s pain and mishap but also assures us of a new heaven and earth: future glory.

“Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He (Jesus) will reveal to us later.”  –Paul to the church in Rome.

Paul himself suffered like many of us will or have. When life gets hard, and the future seems bleak, what hope can one really hold up to? The Christian worldview points to the afterlife as an assured glory for those in Christ.

The origin of suffering and pain can be seen in God’s curse on humanity. God gave man (Adam and Eve) a command not to eat from a particular tree, but they did. Their action brought curses to humanity when God said to the woman,

“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain, you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”

17And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life, you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

18It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains.

19By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust, you will return.”

God presents to Adam what we can call the foundational stage of all life’s problems – life in itself is suffering – to live is to suffer.

If life is suffering, then death may be a cure to this curse called life. Wrong.

As presented in the Christian worldview, life is suffering, but God provides a solution to enduring the suffering that life may bring, the Holy Spirit to comfort us, and hope of a new heaven and earth.

The most profound idea of suffering from the Christian worldview is that Christ, the head of the church, also suffered. God became man to restore man back to himself as it was during the primordial time. He became flesh in other to experience life as a human. No other religion presents an idea of a god living among men in the limitation of man. Christ’s experience on earth was not all blissful- Christ suffered for no reason of himself. He lived a perfect life, and yet somehow, life’s sufferings didn’t elude him. In the peak of Christ’s suffering, he uttered what may be the most relatable words anyone could utter during a time of sorrow and grief. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When life hits hard, and all hell breaks loose, you will lose friends, family, and possibly yourself, you may be alone, and death may look like the only solution to life.

Remember Christ (100% God 100% Man) was in your shoes. (However, this may help you).

Life is hard and will always be, being hopeful during life’s sufferings is one gift that only God can possibly give.

The sermon on the Mount may be a solution to our ever-dying and hostile society. On the Mount, Christ presents what may become the antidote to everyday societal problems. In a society plagued with the diatribe of political and societal differences. A world of group identity or collectivism, where the value of the group is placed higher than the individual. A society where Evil is praised as Good and Good is criticized as though it were Evil. How do we fix a community as complex, flawed, and arrogant in its flaws? Maybe our rules and laws can longer breed peaceful coexistence. Maybe our leaders need the war between groups for their political benefit. Perhaps the beatitudes can help us fix this deranged and belligerent society.

The Beatitude is the first idea or truth that Christ shared on the Mount. The Beatitude describes the character of an ideal society and culture. Now the question is,  what is an ideal society? Well, we will never know (practically), but we know we are far from the perfect society. However, We have improved over the years. The fact that sane humans still exist after the horrors of the 20th century is a miracle in itself. In the 21st century, we have a seemingly stable society. We still have broader lines in this seemingly stable society. One may hope and think these dividing lines will get blurred as we progress. You are either black or white, left or right, liberal or conservative, rich or poor. We have too many battlefronts, and in the end, we all lose. Yes, we are different, but what happened to unity in diversity.

The beatitudes are impossibly hard to fulfill but set the standard that we try to meet. Christ presents this standard with nine pillars.

“3“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,a

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

4God blesses those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5God blesses those who are humble,

for they will inherit the whole earth.

6God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,b

for they will be satisfied.

7God blesses those who are merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

8God blesses those whose hearts are pure,

for they will see God.

9God blesses those who work for peace,

for they will be called the children of God.

10God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,

for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. 

12Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.”

Blessed are the poor in spirt for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

The poor in spirit understand and acknowledge how malevolent they can be. They realized that they are capable of evil and wickedness; this realization begs for a savior,  moral lawgiver, someone with a higher standard; a pure and holy standard. These two attributes (purity and holiness)  for sure cant be founded amongst men or women. It can only be found within the concept of a God. In our society, where arrogance and hubris thrive, leaders cannot accept their wrongs or incapability and seek help to fix them. Humility in our society is considered weak. Accepting one’s flaws helps us to understand and be patient with others when they fail.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

When you hear, mourn what do you envision? We conventionally think about evil happenings impacted by an external force (e.g., the death of a loved one). I believe Christ spoke not only about the bad experiences by external forces but also about people mourning their evil deeds. You see, the beatitudes is a hyperlinked text. The first Beatitudes speaks to recognizing our faults, the second Beatitude speaks to grieving the manifestation of these faults. Without the emotional blessing of sadness over our actions, we would probably never muster the gust to admit our mistakes.

Blessed are the meek for thy will inherit the earth. 

We misconstrue meek as weak, tame, or deficient in courage. Meeks simple means power under control. Power under control practically is the refusal to inflate our own self-estimation and reticence to assert for ourselves. Most time, we hope for success in other to fulfill our vindictive thought. Are you genuinely humble? Well, you may say yes. If you had no person to answer to if you are under no instruction and if you have all you need and hope for, will you remain humble? The true test of humility is when you possess power, and it doesn’t possess you.

We have so much to learn from these three beatitudes. Imagine a society enacting the words of Christ on the Mount. What a great world it will be.

“ It came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.“

The story of Cain and Abel is archetypal to our current society. Abel offers a far greater and better sacrifice than his brother Cain. God honors the offering of Abel while rejecting that of Cain, then Cain kills his brother out of spite, jealousy, and envy. Spite, jealousy, and envy, this trio-nemesis brings out the most malevolence in any man, woman, or child. The story of Cain and Abel present Cain as the villain and Abel as the martyr. Due to this representation, we are more likely to attribute ourselves to Abel than Cain, but that is not true in reality.

We are more likely Cain in today’s world than Abel, but we have the most stable society since the beginning of man. This society of laws and culture over the years has suppressed the expression of Cain. Still, Cain is very much alive in us in the forms of malevolence and waiting for a suitable environment and reasons to express.

One of the leading causes of envy and even depression is comparison, but we are sociological beings. We interact with each other, and with interactions come many things; conflict, love, friendship, rage, envy, war, etc. we want to be top in every domain of life ( career, marriage, health, wealth ), and most times, we are not. Not because we are not conscientious enough to be at the top but because there is someone more willing to work harder or present a better and more acceptable sacrifice than we can, or it is just fate – the gods smile on them more than they do on you. Not being top in most domains put us immediately in Cain’s position and above us in Abel’s position. 

For example, you graduate from college with your mates at the same time, possibly from the same field of study; life seems fair at this point. So did it for Cain; he had the same opportunity to offer sacrifices to God as his brother Abel. In six months, your peers are doing well career-wise (just one domain of life ) and you are not. Maybe you are doing great in other aspects like family, health, and all worth not. You may be doing well career-wise, but the main issue is, someone is doing way better than you while having the same college degree and opportunity as you did. You cant make sense of it.

The pivotal moment in Cain’s story is when he felt Abel was responsible for his mishap. If Cain and anyone in his position for a moment thought, what if I present a better sacrifice? what if I go to Abel asking how he did so well in his career? Maybe a simple act of self-responsibility will have change the story of Cain and Abel.

” 6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” 

The offerings of Cain and Abel. Duncan Walker/ Getty images

We wonder why Abel has a better outcome within our hearts and minds while ignoring the obvious fact; we can do better for ourselves.

To paint a better grand picture of the Cain role, when we read about world war II ( one of the deadliest wars in history ), we may picture Hitler and Nazi Germany. However, 400 years before the holocaust, the Germans had Cain’s feelings towards the Jews. The Jews for a long time in Germany occupied the top class in Germany; due to this collective success, they became Abel. The Germans discriminated against the Jews long before Hitler; it was due to this animosity that led Martin Luther, who was a prominent figure, to publish an article in 1523 titled: “Jesus was a Jew.”. In this article, Luther encouraged Christians in Germany to be affable towards the Jews that Christ, their lord, and savior was a Jew when he was on earth. This collective Cain role poisoned this innocuous mindset that Luther had. In 1543 Luther wrote an article, this time encouraging Christians to be antagonistic towards the Jews. This message and the feeling it brought reached its crescendo in 1940, resulting in the infamous holocaust. Looking retrospectively, one may exempt themselves from playing the role of the Nazis, but that may not be true. At that time, you are more likely to support the Nazis than the Jews; why? Because the Germans felt their actions were just and vindictive, we suffer because of the Jews; hence obliterating them is a good course. There is always an excuse to be vindictive. Cain thought his actions were proper. Abel is the cause of my downfall, so killing him is more of a self-preservation strategy than pure wickedness. 

Back to our current society, which presents a flawed “oppressor-oppressed” idea that the success of a group causes the failure of another; the success of a man is the direct cause of the failure of a woman, or the success of a white person is the downright failure of a black person. We are not far off from the assured disasters that befell the Jews.

Follow this line of thought, if all white people are racist or are presented as such, it ostensibly means that for black people to survive and thrive in a diverse society, the white man must leave the picture ( whatever that means). This becomes a more complex problem to solve because any black person who buys into this idea will have no sympathy or empathy for the white race’s sufferings ( if they suffer).

When life isn’t going well, we must look within first. We are more likely to find the answer within than without, and if we don’t, we must ask the crucial question; What can I do better to change the course of my life? What are successful people doing that I can do to better my life? in these questions lie answers that will make us able to perform better sacrifices 

EUGENICS: The American Human Zoos, with a final focus on Ota Benga.

Eugenics was developed by Sir Francis Galton in 1883 to “encourage the improvement of genetic quality, while preserving the position of the dominant groups in the population”. Racial eugenics was predicated on the scientific and biological belief that some genes were superior to another and some people (Caucasians) were well and purely born, without mixture with other tainted and inferior genes.

He based his theory partially on the work of his cousin Charles Darwin who, through his study of evolution and natural selection, demonstrated that the strongest and best-adapted organisms are more likely to survive, reproduce, develop, and evolve. Galton felt that although natural selection was successful in nature, it failed when applied to humans because people interfered with the process. As a result, the fittest do not always survive. Thus, Galton consciously chose to develop a method to “improve” the human race.

Eugenicists like Henry Fairfield Osborn constructed evolutionary trees that placed the “primitive races” alongside gorillas and chimpanzees in a hierarchy that culminated in the Caucasian “race.” This was the principle upon which the Jewish holocaust was based.

Around the turn of the century, slave trade was at its lowest ebb. Europeans had just started to explore Africa with the aim of trade & resource exploitation in the altruistic guise of bringing the Christianity & civilization to the cannibalistic, Savage heathens of the hinterlands.

Observation of the natives in their natural habitat must have struck their exotic cord, more so because the natives were alienated from westernization and technological advancements in agriculture and science which the West had heralded. To further elucidate their theory of superiority, they exported Africans with the aim of putting them on freak shows in zoos and circuses in the USA and parts of Europe. This was done to demonstrate how close we were to the ape in appearance and behavior. These deplorable shows further served to justify the exploitation of the African continent and demonstrate to their audience that we desperately needed their healing touch of Christianity with a touch of education. Worthy of note is that Africans were not the only race being exploited in this manner; aboriginal Australians, pacific islanders and Indians were also victims.

The most notable and perhaps famous of these was Ota Benga (a 23 year old Mbuti man) who was kidnapped from King Leopold’s Belgium. On September 10, 1906, the New York Times reported on the opening of the “Man and Monkey” show, which put Benga with an orangutan in the same cage to perform.

Visitors would prod the young African with umbrellas and taunt him with bananas; one can only imagine how dehumanizing this was for the poor guy. Other Africans put in these cages were often put on display with their whole families; spouses and children inclusive.

An ensuing controversy emerged, led by African American clergymen, as well as white religious leaders who thought the exhibit was a “promotion of Darwinism.”

Eventually, Benga was removed from the zoo to be placed in the Howard Colored Orphan Asylum, a church-sponsored orphanage, and later relocated to live with a white family in Lynchburg, Virginia. He started working at the Lynchburg tobacco factory from where he plotted his return to the Congo.

Benga’s return became impossible when World War I broke out in 1914, halting passenger ship traffic. With no hope to return, Benga became depressed. On March 20, 1916, Benga built a ceremonial fire and shot himself in the heart with a stolen pistol.

His tragic life is a testament to the violent dehumanization that came with eugenics’ racist misunderstandings of human evolution & difference, permitted & fueled by Western society’s inability to see outside of its ethnocentric lens and recognize humanity in non-white “others.”

Princeton, Yale and Harvard and other higher citadels of learning led the vanguard of the eugenics movement. Princeton and Yale’s presidents at one time or another made speeches that supported and encouraged the purification of the Caucasian race.

The human race has a long and sad history of malevolence and wickedness, usually perpetuated by people who deem themselves inherently superior against those who, by happenstance or design, fall victim. This is always backed by objective science or religion. Sadly, the African seems to be at the butt of every circumstance that aims to stratify the human race.

Several religious rhetoric profess the goodness of God – His power, and never-ending love. Followers of religious sects depend on this God to save their souls and bodies during bad times. It is ostensibly hard to believe in an all-powerful and good God when current events seem to undermine his goodness or even his power to destroy evil. Humans have been around for approximately 300,000 years. We have enough records of evil, infamy, and nefarious act within these 300,000 years. This article seeks to point out a few nefarious deeds and hope to give a suitable answer to the question, “if God is good, why do these events occur?”

When we examine the events of slavery, specifically the trans-Saharan slave trade which existed for over a thousand years and saw over 10 million men, women, and children suffer unspeakable fates and die in the hands of mere mortals, salient questions arise.

This event of slavery begs the question,  “where was God in His power, and might that slavery not only happened but thrived and lasted for a millennia?” , “Did He really care about the suffering of slaves? or did He approve of such actions?”, “If He supports such actions, then he can’t be good, can he?”

True Christians worldwide love the Lord, pray to Him, have faith in Him, and live the faith to please Him. There are undeniable miracles that humans can’t explain outside an all-powerful being. The very existence of the universe points to a creator – an international designer. Jesus Christ was a real man (person); he lived on earth, and numerous historical accounts serve as proof of his existence.

Christ didn’t just live, he performed great miracles that only a god -for these feats were beyond the reach of a mere human – could perform.  This God-man died on a cross to pay the price of the sins he didn’t owe or commit.

You see, the bible is structured to show an all-powerful God in the old covenant ( testament ) and a merciful, loving God in the new covenant.

Back to the subject of slavery, perhaps God is all-powerful but not all-good? Maybe he loves a particular race or group of people and despises the other? Could it be that the slaves deserved enslavement due to their past sins or the transgressions of their forebearers?  Or is there a probability that God’s view of sin and evil is uniform and He doesn’t rank evil like we do? Evil is terrible and unholy, regardless human ranking. Therefore, His approach to sin is uniform such that if He is to destroy slave owners for slavery, He should also kill you for stealing a bar of chocolate.

What if God’s idea of sin is so uniform that all sins are the same in his eyes no matter the level of gravity human opinions have attached to these offenses?

You might say that it is illogical; stealing a bar of chocolate is not the same as killing hundreds or even thousands of people.

Who are you to say that the God that created all things is illogical? What if God is not just powerful and loving? What if He is also patient, so patient that He is waiting for you to turn away from stealing chocolates or enslaving people? What if bad events in our lives are a pointer to the fact that we don’t control the outcome of our lives? What if terrible times exist so that we can appreciate the good times when and if they come?

What if God trusts humans so much that he didn’t stop at giving his only begotten son – Jesus Christ-but he gifted us with free will (the liberty to do what we like and bear the consequences of our actions and inactions).

Many “what if’s” and “maybes” you see, we live in a world where we are 100%  in control of the efforts we put into our lives, but we are not in control of the outcome of these efforts. You work 60 hours a Week and make enough money to feed your family, take care of yourself and do many pleasurable things. However, someone else works 100 hours a Week and struggles to feed the family; They are impoverished and without hope for anything good. What do you have to say about that? Is life genuinely fair? No, it is not. Okay, if life is unfair, what can you do to make it fair? Will you leave your good-paying 60 hours job and work for a less-paying 100-hour job to make life a bit golden in your space? Answer: You will give up your happiness; Leave the beautiful country you live in and go to Yemen or the warzone to make life fair. Will you despise the comfort of having a good family because life isn’t fair to the children without fathers or without a good home.

Why don’t we secure our lives and future in the one and only true God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have peace knowing that God is fair even if life is unfair?

 Well, you can argue about the fairness of God if he allowed slavery, holocaust, unit 731, and many atrocities? Great question. Follow me in this line of thought; let’s say God destroys a group of people for the very evil they committed.  The white race will be obliterated because of their involvement in slavery. Black people will be destroyed for selling themselves to slavery. By the time God is done punishing one evil (Slavery), half of the human race will be done for. Then God decides to also punish the Japanese for their role in the nefarious act of unit 731.

When God is done, what use will remain of the world? You will not exist, neither will I. imagine a world without Great men and women from all races who would have lived positively and affected the world in excellent ways. The technologies we all enjoy, gone. All inventions and inventors will be non-existent.

Before you think that God may be powerful and not loving, remember He is not constricted by time or space; he sees all things ( Past, Present, and Future). Maybe God is way more intelligent than we think, so his ways are mysterious.

Remember, we are human, and He is God.

Slap In The Face : Literal And Figurative 

The month of June 2021 was one of democratic parallels. In Nigeria, the Tech giant Twitter, had taken down a genocidal tweet belonging to the Nigerian president for violating its community rules. This drew the emperor’s ire and within 24 hours his chief executioner Lai Mohammed announced suspension of Twitter services from the national network while the Consigliere threatened anyone still using the microblogging platform with arrest and prosecution. Imagine challenging the word of the Czar whose word is unimpeachable, the temerity! Cut the entire nation off the rest of the world, regardless of the fact that it is a source of revenue for the teeming jobless youth in the country notwithstanding. His sycophants cheered the strong-man emperor, ignoring the fact that a hallmark of the hard-won democracy is strong institutions that provide checks and balances regardless of whose ox is gored.

While the back and forth of this conversation was afoot, President Macron of France was getting slapped in the face. I don’t mean this as the metaphorical insult; I mean the type of hot steaming slap that leaves the cheeks tingling and the recipient thoughtful of their life’s worth. For the alien reader, the French president is leader of world renown, still holding De Facto control in faraway African nations and with influence across the earth. Yet, he was spanked like a little boy. The heavens did not fall. The slapper was arrested whole. No python danced in his hometown. Four days after the slapcident (slap incident), the man was charged with “violence against a man vested with public authority”, convicted and sentenced to four months in prison; democracy and the Rule of Law at its finest.

On 14th December 2015, the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff traveling in Sokoto, was obstructed by members of the Shiite religious sect and purportedly shoved on the chest by a member of the mob. The leader of the sect was arrested and detained up till date, despite court rulings to the contrary. The military has massacred members of his family and over 200 members of the sect in the protests anteceding that incident. Sycophants cheered! How dare they touch the chest of the COAS, a god among men?!

The Deified African Leader

The indissoluble marriage between Africa and strong men did not start with the Nigerian president or the former chief of army staff, neither is it localized to the giant of Africa. The Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, who is up till today celebrated as the ultimate Pan-African, was deified in Ghana. His very title “Osagyefo” was conferred to venerate his victory over colonialism. They regarded him as a messiah, capable of performing miracles. The Evening News on 19th June 1954 proclaimed him “Hope of Millions of down-trodden Blacks, Deliverer of Ghana, Iron Boy, and Great Leader of Street Boys.” From the early morning, citizens would throng his home his blessing on marital issues, infertility, debt settlements and so on. Hymns
were written in his honor, such as “I believe in Kwame Nkrumah“. All these while he ran the
economy aground with ill-thought out policies and corruption.

Mobutu Sese Seko of erstwhile Zaire (today’s DRC) would have his picture descend from the clouds as a god, at the beginning of daily television broadcasts. His adulation was sung in schools and students pledged to his service, not that of the state.

African historical landscape is replete with such strongmen that let the glory of power get into their heads that they elevated themselves to deity status, while the people fawns over them. It is said that “you do not put a person on a pedestal and not expect them to look down on you.” Despite the blood and toil that earned us self-rule and democracy, the average African seems to be stuck in the olden monarchical past. I do not know if this is willful servitude, confusion or some brand of collective Stockholm syndrome; perhaps the Liberians who sang “He killed my pa, he killed my ma, but I will vote for him” on Charles Taylor’s 1996 campaign trail can answer this.

The “Elected King”

We, as a people, must divorce state from the king. The medieval Europeans and Americans made these mistakes on their way to developing Western Democracy, and we should learn from them if we insist on practicing this system of government. What makes for the propagation of the state within the democratic context are powerful institutions, not strongmen. The sovereignty of the state must lie with the people, not with any one person; that is too much power which perhaps only a saint can resist its tendency and temptation to corrupt. African, your leader is a public servant. He is YOUR public servant, not your god or your ruler. His words are not law; he is questionable, and he is impeachable. He should ensure your
welfare, and you do not live by his every whim and by his veritable grace. He is elected and vested with authority to carry out state will for the common good.

Once a year, the ancient Mesopotamians would take their king outside the city gates, strip him of his imperial garb & humiliate him. The priest would beat him with a club and make him confess all the ways he didn’t represent Murdoch (their apex god) well in the past year. After his confession, they’d have this ritual ceremony absolving him of his misrepresentations, forgive him & allow him back into the city expecting him to do better over the next year.

The state must be accountable to the individual, and the individual must be accountable to an ideal.

Transgenderism, you have probably heard of this concept either on TV or social media. A born and possibly fully grown man decides to identify as a woman, and he still has his male genitals, XY chromosomes, and perhaps male anatomy.

Let’s get one thing clear there is a difference between transgender and transsexuals. A transgender person ( According to the CDC ) is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity or expression is different from their sex at birth, while a transsexual person is a trans person taking a step further to transition into their identified gender.

Long before now, gender and sex were somewhat indistinguishable, meaning your gender is your sex, and your sex is your gender. Gender is psychological; character and behavior. Sex is downright biological.

Now you are familiar with this simple text made complex by certain groups, let’s dive deep into why the logic of Transgenderism is flaws and incoherent.

In a world of over 7.5 billion people, no one really cares about your sexual life, and some people don’t care about what you think of yourself. I don’t care if the waiter or the bus driver is gay or identifies as a moon; serve me my damn food or take me to my desired location. We must respect everyone, and the sanity of humanity must be preserved regardless of people’s gender, race, or any other variant or intersection.

Reality VS Identity:  The most significant flaw in Transgenderism is the placement of identity over reality. A Woman, a born woman with unique traits which can only be found in women, decides to identify as a man. Does her identity obliterate the fact that in observable reality  that  she is a woman? Does this self-identification give her male genitals or the right to compete in male sport? Should we all agree that her identity is far more important than reality? Let’s assume that we live in such a world where feelings are more important than fact. 

Paint this scenario. A man has just been arrested for committing homicide. There are eyewitnesses to prove this, video footage to playback this horrendous event, and a laying dead body in a pool of blood; all these make the case inarguably and unequivocally true that he committed this homicide. This case is brought before the court of law in front of a disinterested judge. The family of the deceased hoping and knowing that justice should be served. Twenty years in prison should be the minimum sentences give to this maniacal human being. During the court session, this murderer stands up to his defense and says, ” All evidence point to me, the eyewitnesses, the video footage and the dead body. However, I identify as innocent, and I should be treated as such”. Then the Judge, in response, says, ” True, we know you did this. We have verifiable evidence, fact and proof that you committed this homicide, but because you identify as innocent we will let you go”. Would you say that justice was served? Would you judge anyone that speaks against this malevolent man as an innocent-phobic( the sudden fear of innocent people even though they are factually guilty)? You see, growing up at one point in our lives, we hoped and possibly believed that we were superheroes; Especially spider man. We felt we could jump through buildings and skyscrapers defying gravity and someday save the world, but we were young and probably stupid. 

Simplicity/ complexity:

There are over 20 genders. However, you can only be one of the two at birth (Male or Female). If the idea of Transgenderism is restricted to just males and females, the ludicrousness of the concept will be lessened to a reasonable level. But unfortunately, it is not. How did gender become so complex? Why are we creating solutions where there are no problems?  Whatever anyone chooses to identify as, they will either have a male or a female genital, nothing in between. Also, whatever anyone chooses to identify as, you either look like a woman, man, or a combination of both. Really what does a Two-spirited gender person uniquely look like? I know what a man looks like and I know what a woman uniquely looks like. For the combination of both ( a person with a beard and a breast), I can identify what parts are feminine or masculine. I may be confused if asked to identify the whole, but I can’t attach gender identity to each element of the whole beyond masculinity or femininity. Biologically men have XY chromosomes, and women have XX chromosomes. Knowing this, what chromosomes are biologically unique in a pangender or two-spirited person?

Language Inconsistency: 

Some languages are gender-specific, French and Spanish being the most common in this category, but let’s talk about the English language, which is the most spoken language, and how Transgenderism plans on making the English language harder than it already is. People identify as a different gender of their birth, but they also choose pronouns that they believe perfectly describes them. These individuals in the trans community claimed that ” They/Them” is their preferred pronouns. So an Individual (one person) identifies as They ( plural pronoun). They/ them are pronouns used collectively for 2 or more people. “He” or “She” are singular pronouns. Example ” he is coming” is correct in the English Language, but “they is coming” is totally wrong. If an individual (singular) decides to identify as “they” (plural), should we forget the introductory lessons of the English language to satisfy a tiny group of people that place feelings over fact and identity over reality?

We must treat people as we hope to be treated. All people deserved respect until they do something that deprives them of that. Trans people are human beings just like the rest of us. They should be treated with respect. However, the flaw in their reason cannot be overlooked, neither should it be held as canonical. 

After Christ, the Pope represents the standard of morality, spirituality, and piety in the Christian world. This position comes with responsibility, power, and fame. There are approximately 2.38 billion Christians in the world. Catholics make up 1.2 billion of that total. Ideally, 1.2 billion people listen, respect, and honor the Pope, which is more than any public figure or political head except China and India. 

The Roman Catholic church is the earliest church, with Peter the apostle considered as the first pope. The broad job description of the Pope is the head of the catholic church and the Bishop of Rome. The Pope is also the head of the sovereignty state Vatican-city. This implies that the Pope has both religious and political duties. 

Throughout the history of the catholic church, there have been over 260 popes who, in their way, lead the catholic church. However, there are exceptions to this puritanical and moral standard that some popes have defied, and we call them “THE BAD POPES.”

Pope Stephen VI(896 – 897)

When you think of Pope Stephen(VI), you picture vengeance at its zenith. Stephen took revenge on his predecessor, Pope Formosus. Pope Formosus favored the east Frankish king Arnulf as Holy Emperor of Rome over Stephen’s family (Spoleto). Once Stephen was elected into the papacy, he sorts revenge on the late Pope by excavating the dead and buried corpse of Pope Formosus’s body and put it on trial. Pope Stephen dressed up Formosus’s body in his papal clothes for this Grotesque Event. You may find it ludicrous that Pope Formosus was found guilty of perjury after the trial, and his body tossed into the Tiber river; the worst that Pope Stephen could do to a guilty dead body. This event is commonly known as Cadaver Synod.

Pope John XII (955-964)

Coming from the powerful dynasty of Tusculum counts, which dominated the papa; politics for 50 years, one will expect that before taking the papacy position, Pope john VII will be groomed and trained for this position, that wasn’t the case. During his reign, recorded testimonies from the church leaders accused John VII of many crimes such as incest, murder, and assault. He turned his residence into a brothel, gambled with church offerings, and was even accused of castrating a cardinal. He sought king Otto I of Germany’s support and crowned him emperor. However, King Otto later withdrew his support because of John’s countless scandals. The German rulers Otto of Saxony once wrote to the young Pope saying, ” Everyone accuses you, Holiness of homicide, perjury, sacrilege, incest with your relatives, including two of your sister and with having like a pagan invoked Jupiter, Venus and other demons.”

Pope Boniface VIII ( 1294-1303)

Swore into papacy in 1294, Boniface erected statues of himself all over Rome and even destroyed the city Palestrina over a personal feud. The most ludicrous quote by Boniface is, “Paedophilla was no more problematic than rubbing one had against the other” He had a reputation for stubbornness and a knack for staring fights. Fun fact: Boniface VIII makes an appearance in the eighth circle of hell in Dante’s “Inferno.”

Source: Royal Scandal

Pope Sixtus IV (1417-1484)

He started his reign in 1417 and was known to have a large sexual appetite during his time as Pope. He had six illegitimate children, including one from his sister. He also took a hypocritical approach by creating a tax on prostitutes and charging priests who had a mistress.

Source : The Smart Set 

Pope Innocent VIII(1484-1492)

Innocent didn’t quite live up to his name. He was the first pope that publicly admitted his eight illegitimate children. Before revealing to the public, these bastards were known as the Pope’s nephews. He was also known to be a big supporter of witch-hunting, blessing the act in 1484.

Pope Julius II(1503-1513)

Julius was known for being domineering, hot-headed, and manic at times. He used to dress up in a silver suit of armor and lead troops up and down Italy, engaging in battles to extend the reach of the church’s territory. But by far, his worst feature was his severe case of syphilis, contracting it through prostitutes, and on Good Friday in 1508, his feet were covered by sores that the faithful could not kiss them. 

Pope Leo X (1513 – 1521)

Leo X is known for selling indulgences that would reduce their sins and buy their way to heaven. This is due to his lavish spending during his reign, becoming a patron of the arts who commissioned the rebuilding of St Peter’s basilica. 

Pope Sergius III (904- 911)

Sergius didn’t just kill Pope before him to get into the papacy’s role, but he also killed the Pope before that. He then used his power to set up his son, Pope John XI, Fathered by his 15-year-old prostitute mistress, to be Pope twenty years after him. 

Climate Change, a phrase commonly used by environmentalist politicians and everyday global citizens, Climate change, is getting the most traction it has ever had since its inception. Industries, Firms, and companies are going green, activists, and politicians are hopping on this “global threat,” hoping to save us from our dying planet.

The concept of climate change is in itself very genuine. The global temperature is changing drastically. Global warming and the rise in sea level are all evidence of this fact.

However, Climate Change has long been used for political gains, instilling fear of an existential level to the masses. It is used as a moral indicator or criteria, and those that dare not oblige are demonized and ostracized. The media heads have also played their part, publishing sinister headlines [ ‘We have 10 years to save our planet’ ].

While it is vital to plant trees and make our environment habitable, we should not implement draconian rules or regulations to implement these changes.

Climate change doom sayer’s Eco-apocalyptic predictions have a long history of being wrong on every level.  These specious predictions have come from politicians, “scientist,” activists, and media powerhouses.

This tome seeks to show 50 times these doomsayers have been wrong.

Thanks to Tony Heller, who first collected many of these news clips and posted them on real climate science

1. 1967: Dire Famine By 1975

Source: Salt Lake Tribune November 17, 1967

2. 1969: “Everyone will disappear in a cloud of Blue Steam by 1989”

Source: New York Times, August 10 1969

3. 1970: Ice age By 2000

Source: Boston Globe, April 16 1970.

4. 1970: “America Subject to Water rationing by 1974 and food rationing by 1980”

Source: Redlands Daily Facts, October 6, 1970

5. 1980: Acid Rain Kills Life in Lakes

Source: Noblesville Ledger (Noblesville, IN) April 9, 1980

But 10 years later, the US government program formed to study acid rain concluded.

Source: Associated press, September 6, 1990

 6. No End in sight to 30 years cooling Trend

Source: New York Times January 5, 1978

But according to NASA Satellite data there is a slight warming trends since 1979

Source: DrRoySpencer.com

7. James Hansen Forecasts Increase Regional Drought in 1990s

But the Last really dry year in the midwest was 1988 and recent years have been record wet.

Source: RealClimateScience.com

1988: Washington DC  days Over 90F to from 35 to 85

But the number of hot days in DC area peaked in 1911 and have been declining ever since.

Source: Realclimatescience.com

Okay you get the point,  for more failed prediction visit Realclimatescience.com

We must understand that we must take good care of our environment and the planet ( whatever that means) but creating fear and sinister headline for the sole purpose of political maneuvering and manipulations is dreadful and horrendous. We must approach the subject of climate change as objective as we can asking the right question and taking the right steps.

The term “Dark Continent” made its debut in Henry Morton’s Through the Dark Continent published in 1878. Yes, the same Henry Morton who was King Leopold IIs’ boots on the African ground, enabling his navigation and mapping of Central Africa and the Congo. The trip that birthed this (un)popular moniker culminated in the King’s private acquisition of that beautiful, blessed country at the 1875 Berlin Conference which he then proceeded to plunder and mutilate.

Ever since, the term has become synonymous with various unfortunate meanings including but not limited to complexion, terra incognita, intellectually benighted, backward, or simply the part of the globe without electricity when viewed from space.

I will now try to explain why Africa is a paradox; the most regrettable spiral down the abyss in the six million-year history of any human civilization.

The glimmer of hope at the end of Africa’s dark tunnel didn’t appear recently: circa 79 A.D Pliny the Elder famously quipped “Semper aliquid novi Africam adferre” [Africa always brings us something new]’!.

In 1906, Pixley Ka Isaka Seme standing tall at New York’s Columbia University, delivered the explosive speech titled “The regeneration of Africa” (you should read this, by the way). In this historical enunciation, he warned the world to look out for Africa as she was suited to reclaim her spot on the world stage.

51 years after Pixleys’ rousing speech, the Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah in 1957 offered the colonial masters a jarring caveat: “There is a new African in the world!”. Sixty-four years later, that new African Nkrumah foresaw; is yet to emerge.

THE DARK PERCEPTION

In the 21st Century, the color “black” is still analogous with evil, disease, poverty, deprivation and dereliction. At present, Africa is a dreamer’s wasteland which the rest of the progressive world feels morally obliged to save but never to interact with. Africa is still a missionary’s destination where images of malnourished, disease ravished children without pipe borne water or access to education are used to elicit teary eyes and sympathy at charity events and religious gatherings, with the prospect of a compassionate tinkle in charity bowls. The Dark Continent is the biggest beneficiary of IMF and World Bank loans for fighting malaria, Ebola, HIV, poverty, and providing education to the backward populace. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa was the biggest beneficiary of the IMF’s emergency funding under the Rapid Financial Instrument, to the tune of US$4.3 billion.

For further context, China, which was a global backwater in the late 20th century at a time when Africa was deemed the future, shot up the ladder of global dominance and as of 2019 invested US$2.7 billion in Africa through their OFDI (Overseas Foreign Investment) program. From Zimbabwe’s US$140 million six-storey parliament building to the US$200 million African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Chinese “philanthropic” investments across Africa are at an all-time high. Sixty-four years later, “the new African” still does not have a seat among the Committee of nations; instead, he is perfectly comfortable picking crumbs.

The racial principle of Eugenics was first propounded by Sir Francis Galton in 1883. Among other things, this theory proposed that the black race was inferior and rightly backward in developmental indices. Several researches have elucidated the false positive that the black IQ is an underling to her Asian and Caucasian counterparts. The mere existence of the likes of the great Achebe, Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie, Tidjane Thiam, Leopold Sedar Senghor, Wa Thiong’o, and a plethora of intellectuals and achievers would debunk this claim effortlessly. Africa is blessed with more human resources than any other continent on earth, and with the youngest, most vibrant population in the world (average age of 19.7) one can see why the failure of the continent to take off is a paradox wrapped in an irony.

WHEN WILL AFRICA EMERGE FROM THEIR RUINS?

Our continent, which was the beacon of hope in the ‘60s; a budding, nascent continent offering dreams of democratic ideals, has become the bane of dictatorships complete with father-son handovers, heavily rigged “elections” and brutal repression of free speech (Yes, I’m looking at you Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad etc.)

Despite the immense intelligence and innovation replete among Africans, for some reason we are saddled with the most clueless, inept, greedy, kakistocratic and kleptomaniac leaders, who would do anything to stifle any meaningful leap forward. We have continued to produce an elite that is intensely incentivized with maintaining the image and reality of a poor, diseased, intellectually challenged people to their benefit.

The streets of Paris, London, Dubai and Manhattan are lined with properties of people charged with the affairs of the common African who do not have decent living spaces for their families. These people drive expensive toys at the expense of a continent that is yet to go through the Agricultural or Industrial Revolution and have plump Swiss bank accounts, fattened by the sympathy elicited by the African who cannot afford meals worth $1/day.

The World Bank has estimated that 40% of Africa’s private wealth is held offshore. A report prepared for the AU in 2002 estimated that corruption costs Africa $148 billion annually; more than a quarter of the continent’s GDP, yet the continent’s collective economy composes about 2% of World GDP.

At the inauguration of the AU in July 2002, the celebration was euphoric. Mbeki declared:

“This is a moment of hope for our continent and its people, the time has come that Africa must take its rightful place in global affairs. The time has come to end the marginalization of Africa. Through our actions, let us proclaim to the world that this is a continent of democracy, democratic institutions and culture!”

The UN Secretary-General, late Kofi Annan sounded a more somber, cautionary note: “Let us be careful not to mistake hope for achievement”. Clearly, advice was not taken.

This tome was not intended to prescribe or speculate but it is an invitation to ponder: at what point shall Africa emerge from the blissful darkness into the marvelous light?

What must we do to midwife effective institutions that will birth the Africa of which the Osagyefo prophesied?
When do we convince the world to replace “what can we do with Africa” with “what can we do WITH Africa?”.
Where are the new people who would regenerate the mother continent?

Nations and subcontinent’s like China, India, Singapore, South Korea have demonstrated that in this jet age it doesn’t take much to catapult a people from abject dejection to the zenith of ascendancy, enlightenment and prosperity.

Per Ann Sullivan Macy, “Every Renaissance Comes to the World with a Cry; the Cry of the Human Spirit to be Free”.

The spirit of the Africa has wailed for freedom for far too long.

$500 million. That’s the amount of money Nigerians spent buying and holding crypto-currencies in 2020, making it the third largest market for cryptocurrencies in the world. The numbers are hardly surprising, cryptocurrencies are mostly marketed by digital exchanges as a way to make a lot of quick money, making it an ideal fit for the cultural and economic realities of a lot of Nigerians.

Nigeria has about 80 million poor people, but the people most responsible for these numbers in cryptocurrencies aren’t exactly the poor, it’s the ever-contracting Nigerian middle class throwing all they’ve got to avoid slipping into poverty in a country marred by food and currency inflation, unstable exchange rates and monetary policy and worsened by the effects of the pandemic on the white-collar jobs supporting this middle class.

CRYPTO AS AN INVESTMENT AFRICA

The reason why cryptocurrencies aren’t a viable investment for the vast majority of the class of Nigerians most invested in it goes beyond its famed volatility and risk. Investment in cryptocurrency is based on pure speculation, nothing else. With other investments, it’s easy to make stable projections on what the outlook of the company would look like in a few years by looking at their numbers, or by appreciating the demand in what they offer.

With Agro-investment platforms you’re sure of returns on your investment because they produce an economic output of value, food that people eat. Same can be said about tesla stock or apple stock, all producing things of value that make people’s lives easier.

We can’t say same of crypto currencies, its value, like any other currency is artificial. It only has value because we agree it does, and its price is set by market economics regulated by no one, making it prone to manipulation or influence. To play and win in this game of speculation, you must have disposable income, which a lot of Nigerians don’t have, with 57% of the money in the average Nigerian household being spent on food.

CRYPTO, A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

Cryptocurrencies and the technology they’re built on, the blockchain, are however here to stay. Decades of inaccessible financial institutions, bureaucratic government red tapes that stifle trade, unreliable monetary policies and dollar scarcity means that a decentralized monetary system is a breath of fresh air. Beyond that, a school of thought have seen these digital assets as a store of value, in a world were inflation is rife. The argument is that adoption grows the value would increase, the dollar cost averaging of repeated buying at
selected intervals would far compensate for any losses due to momentary volatility. While this is a good use case for crypto, it’s far from the best. For Africa, crypto shouldn’t be an investment or just a store of value. It should be currency.

To understand the implication of what a decentralized financial system can do for Africa (and Nigeria) when its use case is primarily as a transaction currency, we have to do a brief recap of how African trade is currently transacted and what an unregulated digital currency would do, especially in the light of the recently signed AfCTA.

Africa as a region is still very much fragmented, unlike other regional blocs in Europe, Asia or the Americas. The reason for this isn’t far-fetched, the Berlin conference of 1883 that created much of what we now call the nation states in Africa created territories solely for the exploitation of resources. What they left behind is a bunch of fragmented nation states with weak institutions and colonial structures, integrating this to form a regional bloc is what the AU and its predecessor, the OAU has been trying and hardly succeeding at since 1963.

As a result, trade within Africa is marred with a lot of bureaucratic red tapes, even air travel within Africa is expensive. The AfCTA promises to change that, but intra African money transfer, the key thing needed to foster this change, has been a headache. Startups like Chippa Cash have raised significant amounts of money to solve this but the idea of an Africa where money can move seamlessly from end to end is still far off. That is what a crypto can do.

THE MISSED OPPORTUNITY?

The potential for using cryptocurrency as an enabler of trade are limitless, it can simplify a lot of consumer headaches from remittance to settling bills for import and export, which is particularly impacted by dollar scarcity in Nigeria. Very few companies are building products around the idea that crypto is a means to an end and not the end itself. This is particularly a missed big opportunity, one of the very few products in that space, sendcash Africa, generated over $1m in transaction volume in the first three months.

Cryptocurrency as a facilitator of trade is a long-term play at sustainable wealth creation, for Nigerians and Africa. How should we encourage this? By creating products that use crypto as means to solving significant user headaches, from intra African money transfer to loans and credit cards.

This article wasn’t written to change the norm. For a vast majority of Nigerians into crypto, it would always be an investment. A way to make money. This article would do little to change that. But there’s more to crypto than buying, selling and hodling. If one more person can see that, then I think this article has achieved its purpose.

When we think of slavery, we immediately picture the Europeans and Americans. For some reason, we forget the earliest owners of slaves, Arabs. The first group of slaves arrived in America in 1619. American ended slavery in 1865 after a terrible civil war; however, the Arabs slave trade dates as far back as 650 AD. It will be challenging to place the exact date or year that slaves first arrive in the Arab world, but they did way earlier than the Europeans.

There are many stories, records and articles written about this subject matter of Arabs slaves. Still, in this article, we will focus on why this nefarious act of slavery committed by the Arabs has gone forgotten. At the same time, America is seen by many as the birthplace of racism and slavery. We only condemn the west because they were far more meticulous in documenting their sins and a sizeable slave population grew there.

HISTORY OF SLAVERY AMONGST THE ARABS

The Arabs Muslim trade community known as trans-Saharan trade was predominantly concentrated in east and west African. The trans-Atlantic slave trade lasted for 400 years. Meanwhile, the trans-Saharan slave trade lasted for 1300 years (between 650 AD to 1900) without interruption. Over 10 million Africa were taken and enslaved by the Arab slave trader.

Many will ask if the Arabs enslaved over 10 million Africans, why is there a tiny proportion of black people in the Arabs country?.  To answer this question, we will quote Tidiane N’Diaye, a Franco-Senegalese author;

“While slavery has been known throughout history among all nations and on all continent, what is less known is the Arab-Muslims inaugurated the African slave trade. It lasted around thirteen centuries without interruption. It was accompanied by a generalized castration of an incalculable number of black captives. The saddest thing about this historical tragedy is that most deported people were deprived of having any descendant due to the policy adopted by the Arabs.”

Now that are you are aware of the nefarious and inhumane acts of the Arab slave trader, let’s go deeper to understand why this great infamy has been ignored.

Firstly, in a world of “cancel culture” and bigotry, any form of knowledge that makes non-white people look bad is abolished and suppressed. The Mainstream media outlet propagates this rhetoric that the worst group of people ever to exist are white people, and non-white people have an oppressed history and do no wrong. You dare not say anything, even if it is a historical fact that makes Arab Muslims look like the oppressors; the role is only for the white man. Any information that speaks ill of the Arab will be described as phobia, and cancel culture will censor its messenger.

Secondly, people of this generation fail to read and understand history, especially young people. In the age of information and technology, one will assume that we will be well informed, but we aren’t. The purpose of having seeking such knowledge is not to ostracize any group of people. Still, history teaches us that human race is flawed, our ancestor has committed acts that are disdainful, terrible and wrong. So why judge people based on the doings of their forefathers when your forefathers are guilty. 

Finally, history under-told doesn’t eradicate the effect it brought. While we must read and understand history, we must also understand that our lives will become history to the future generation one day, so we must live carefully. 

Reference: the veiled genocide

Years apart, yet many people around the globe still feel the presence of Martin Luther. He was most popularly known for his role during the church’s reformation; The nailing of the 95 theses, and his writing “That Jesus Christ was born a Jew”. During this time, his role all pointed to one thing “salvation is by faith and faith alone”. He stood against the catholic church’s indulgence is required that one needs to pay a separate fee to get their sin forgiven. While we all praise Luther’s stands against such egregious acts of the catholic church, we slowly begin to forget his infamous action and writing against the Jews.

The Nazi socialist party’s heinous action against the Jews during world war 2 had their inspiration and foundation in Luther’s writings “on the Jews and their lies”. : This article, Luther advised Christian on how to deal with the Jews. This advice is in the form of an eight-point plan to deal with the Jews. This plan is most often referred to when scholars attempt to connect Luther with Hitler.

First, Luther told Christians to “set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn.” The Nazis implemented this advice during the anti-Semitic pogrom known as Kristallnacht, which will be elaborated on later in this paper. 

Second, He recommended that “their houses also be razed and destroyed.” 

Third, He advised that “all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing, and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.” 

Fourth, He declared that “rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of the loss of life and limb”. 

Fifth, He urged that “safe-conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews”. 

Sixth, He wrote that “usury should be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping”. This recommendation directly contradicted one of Luther’s earlier statements defending Jews in his treatise, That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew, and was also taken by the Nazis. Acting on this advice during the Third Reich, the Nazis often stole money and valuables from the Jews, especially after the Nazis sent them to concentration camps. 

Seventh, He recommended “putting a flail, an ax, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands…letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow”. The Nazis also took this advice when they implemented concentration camps, where Jews were forced into hard manual labor. 

Finally, He wrote that “if we wish to wash our hands of the Jews’ blasphemy and not share in their guilt, we have to part company with them. They must be driven from our country like mad dogs.”

Decades apart, Hitler recognizes Luther’s writing and praises him in his book Mein Kampf. In the chapter entitled “The Beginning of My Political Activity” from Mein Kampf, Hitler’s infamous book, he discussed the “great warriors” in this World, who: 

“Though not understood by the present, are nevertheless prepared to carry the fight for their ideas and ideals to their end…to them belong, not only the truly great statesmen but all other great reformers as well. Beside Frederick the Great stands Martin Luther.”

We can summarize Luther’s anti-Semitic beliefs and their effects on the Nazi party, Germany, and the World in a quote by Reverend William Ralph:

“If we wish to find a scapegoat on whose shoulders we may lay the miseries which Germany has brought upon the world-I am more and more convinced that the worst evil genius of that country is not Hitler or Bismarck or Frederick the Great, but Martin Luther.”

We all have asked how did Luther go from nailing 95 theses on the Wittenberg castle church’s door to writing defamatory and disdainful things about the Jew. 

The Berlin Conference of 1884 and 1885 led many European countries to scramble for Africa. This scramble was not in any way innocuous. The Europeans came looking for natural resources for their growing industrial sectors. Countries that sort to get hold of Africa countries were Great Britain, Germany, the French, the Portuguese, and King Leopold II of Belgium. 

After the scramble for  Africa, two countries remained independent; Liberia and Ethiopia. The Independence of Ethiopia came at a cost. To put it in simple terms, they fought back against the Europeans and won. The Europeans, in this case, were Italians. The Italians hoped to improve their stance on Africa by conquering Ethiopia. But that didn’t work.

By 1887 skirmish was occurring between the Italians and the local Ethiopian warlords; this led to the battle of Galley. After the war, the Italians were determined to pacify Ethiopia. When the Ethiopian emperor died, the Italians saw this as an excellent opportunity to placate the Ethiopians. The throne was claimed by Menelik II, who the Italians supported at that time. In other to show their support, the Italians signed a treaty with Menelik that promised to back his claim as the new emperor as well as financial and military aid in exchange for recognition of Italy’s colonial territories. However, there were two versions of the treaty. The Italians wrote one version in Italian while the other was written in Amharic, Ethiopia’s language, and each had different terms.

The contentious clause that eventually would lead to the outbreak of war was in the Italian version of the treaty, which stated that Ethiopia was effectively a colonial protectorate of Italy, which did not exist in the Amharic draft. Menelik tried to establish diplomatic relations with other European countries. It was only a matter of time before the Italians accused him of breaching the treaty. However, all other European nations refused to recognize Ethiopia’s independence. 

Ethiopia was supported by Russia, an orthodox Christian nation like Ethiopia with military advisers, army training, and weapons sales during the war. They were also endorsed diplomatically by the united kingdom and France to prevent Italy from becoming a colonial competitor. In 1895 the Italian troops had initial success until Ethiopian troops counterattacked the Italian position and besieged them by assembling a massive army of 200,000 men. In September of 1895, half of the military had spears and swords. The other half had modern rifles, which have been purchased from the Russian interestingly. The Ethiopians were better prepared than the Italians, and this was due to Menelik Scumming; he let the Italians believe that Ethiopia was a downright primitive country on the brink of collapse. Therefore, the Italian government ordered General Baratiere, the commander of the Italian forces to make a drive straight for Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. However, the Italians were successful in their movements, the first omen of what would come at Amba Alagi on December of 7th of 1895.

Only a few months into the new year, the Italian campaign abruptly ended when Baratieri finally encountered Menelik’s army in the mountain near the town of Adwa. General Baratieri’s expedition was already beginning to run low on water ammunition and morale. When the Large Ethiopian army of approximately 120,000, he was understandably planning to retreat, but this was not an option as Italian prime minister Crispi ordered him to attack Menelik’s force; this led to the Ethiopian losses 10% of their men while the Italians lost nearly 60%. After this decisive defeat, Baratieri retreated back into Eritrea but was not pursued by Menelik, who wanted to preserve his strength. This climactic battle of the First Italo-Ethiopian War was a decisive defeat for Italy to secure Ethiopian sovereignty. As a result of the fight, Italy signed the treaty of Addis Ababa recognizing Ethiopia as an independent nation.