Over 75 years ago, a young man was born to an impoverished and criminal family in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. His riverine community had, at different times, been in Eastern Nigeria region, later South Eastern, Midwest, Bendel, Rivers, Imo and Delta states.
His father was a local thief, robbing people in their homes in the night to feed his family. On one occasion, as the proverbial one day for the owner, he was caught in his trade. The community, like most communities in those days, executed the thief after due trial. While his father was undergoing trial, this young man and his siblings tried to bribe the village elders to free their father. The elders stuck to the dictates of their tradition and did the needful.
Many years later, this young man got educated in a high profile university and qualified as a medic. He was later to marry his university heartthrob who had qualified from the same university as a lawyer. These two were bright people and progressed in their professions, building a supposedly decent family reputation.
The young man was later charged by the system to administer the fortunes of his people as a governor, while his lovely wife had now progressed to the highest court in the land as a judge.
Then, DNA came calling. He pilfered the resources of his people (like his executed father) to the extent that he garnered enough resources to attempted to become the president of the entire country. This dream was cut short by the president he was to take over from, when it came out that he had pilfered the resources of the state he administered. To avoid the law looking into his activities while he was governor, his madam procured a perpetual injunction stopping every agency in Nigeria from performing their duties.
His madam is known to be the go-to person any time Lady Justice is needed to remove her blindfold. In the current challenge of electoral fraud in Nigeria, she has come out again to maintain the family tradition. She was a keynote speaker at an event organized to discuss issues around the last elections, an event that ought to be seen as subjudice as the verdict is still awaited. At the event she poured encomiums on the representatives of the person whose supposed victory is being challenged by Nigerians.
At over 70 years of age, one would have thought that both man and wife would seek forgiveness from God and Nigerians for the ignominious part they have so far played in the failing enterprise called Nigeria.
By the way, two of their daughters are now judges! Needless to mention they became judges by 'merit'.

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. - Alvin Toffler

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, looks to laying off 21k of their staff. BuzzFeed is s following suit with entire departments going. Twitter did same a couple of months back.

No one or job is secure. The only secure space is knowledge, and it needs to be dynamic - round round go the pepper tree, no climb up. If you know, you know.

Remember “Who Moved My Cheese?" The bestseller from Spencer Johnson featuring four characters to illustrate how people deal with change. The story revolves around two mice (Sniff and Scurry) and two "little people" (rats, named Hem and Haw) who live in a maze and depend on cheese (your current career and skills) for their survival.

The underlying message of the book is that change is inevitable, and people must be willing to adapt and embrace new ways of thinking and working to be successful. We must recognize that our “cheese" (i.e., what we value, depend on, or desire) may end, finish, move or change, and we need to be willing to let go of old beliefs and behaviors to find new opportunities.

We need to be proactive and ever taking responsibility for our own life, rather than waiting for others to make decisions or dictate the course of our life. With a positive attitude and a willingness to learn and grow, we make our own cheese.

This message is relevant to anyone of us who wants to succeed in a rapidly changing world, whether in our personal or professional life. By embracing change and taking control of our own destiny, we can overcome obstacles and find new opportunities for growth and success.

AI is here. It will wipe out companies, not just careers. It is time to awake and get new skills to sit on top the AI hierarchy.

If we ignore the need to acquire knowledge, we will join those that accuse society of being unfair.

Eid Mubarak!!

Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon

Morning
"In my prosperity I said I shall never be moved." Psalm 30:6

"Moab settled on his lees, he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel." Give a man wealth; let his ships bring home continually rich freights; let the winds and waves appear to be his servants to bear his vessels across the bosom of the mighty deep; let his lands yield abundantly: let the weather be propitious to his crops; let uninterrupted success attend him; let him stand among men as a successful merchant; let him enjoy continued health; allow him with braced nerve and brilliant eye to march through the world, and live happily; give him the buoyant spirit; let him have the song perpetually on his lips; let his eye be ever sparkling with joy--and the natural consequence of such an easy state to any man, let him be the best Christian who ever breathed, will be presumption; even David said, "I shall never be moved;" and we are not better than David, nor half so good. Brother, beware of the smooth places of the way; if you are treading them, or if the way be rough, thank God for it. If God should always rock us in the cradle of prosperity; if we were always dandled on the knees of fortune; if we had not some stain on the alabaster pillar; if there were not a few clouds in the sky; if we had not some bitter drops in the wine of this life, we should become intoxicated with pleasure, we should dream "we stand;" and stand we should, but it would be upon a pinnacle; like the man asleep upon the mast, each moment we should be in jeopardy.

We bless God, then, for our afflictions; we thank him for our changes; we extol his name for losses of property; for we feel that had he not chastened us thus, we might have become too secure. Continued worldly prosperity is a fiery trial.

"Afflictions, though they seem severe,

In mercy oft are sent."

Evening
"Man ... is of few days, and full of trouble." Job 14:1

It may be of great service to us, before we fall asleep, to remember this mournful fact, for it may lead us to set loose by earthly things. There is nothing very pleasant in the recollection that we are not above the shafts of adversity, but it may humble us and prevent our boasting like the Psalmist in our morning's portion. "My mountain standeth firm: I shall never be moved." It may stay us from taking too deep root in this soil from which we are so soon to be transplanted into the heavenly garden. Let us recollect the frail tenure upon which we hold our temporal mercies. If we would remember that all the trees of earth are marked for the woodman's axe, we should not be so ready to build our nests in them. We should love, but we should love with the love which expects death, and which reckons upon separations. Our dear relations are but loaned to us, and the hour when we must return them to the lender's hand may be even at the door. The like is certainly true of our worldly goods. Do not riches take to themselves wings and fly away? Our health is equally precarious. Frail flowers of the field, we must not reckon upon blooming forever. There is a time appointed for weakness and sickness, when we shall have to glorify God by suffering, and not by earnest activity. There is no single point in which we can hope to escape from the sharp arrows of affliction; out of our few days there is not one secure from sorrow. Man's life is a cask full of bitter wine; he who looks for joy in it had better seek for honey in an ocean of brine. Beloved reader, set not your affections upon things of earth: but seek those things which are above, for here the moth devoureth, and the thief breaketh through, but there all joys are perpetual and eternal. The path of trouble is the way home. Lord, make this thought a pillow for many a weary head!

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