VANTAGE POINT

Demanding the Uneven

            ‘Sad is the day for any man when he becomes absolutely satisfied with the life that he is living and the deeds he is doing; until there  ceases to be forever beating at the door of his soul a desire to do something larger which he seeks and knows he was meant and intended to do.’’ – Phillip Brooks.

Man was created for a purpose infinitely greater and wider than the scope of his imagination. Specially designed and crafted by the master-potter himself, in his very likeness, every human is fully capable of living an extraordinary life. If God declares us gods, who are we to desire to be ordinary men? Who are we to doubt Him?

‘I said: ‘you are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.’’ – Ps 82:6

A god is one who possesses divine characteristics. God has deposited his attributes within us. In essence, we have no excuse to be less than extraordinary.

‘The only person who can stop you from becoming what you intend to become is you’’.

-          Dr John Maxwell.

You do not want to wake up on your 70^th birthday with regrets wishing you could start over. It begins now.

The artist, who composed the popular song, ‘Coat of many colors’, Dolly Parton once said:

‘Find out who you are and do it on purpose’’.

We really cannot afford to live by chance, to rest on our oars and allow circumstances dictate the course of our lives. We’ve got to live more deliberately, more intentionally. Every thought, word and deed carefully crafted purposefully to create a beautiful and relevant tapestry.

The problems around us are crying out to be solved. The economic situation of the world, the seemingly endless wars and terrorist  strikes, the moral depravity of the society, the hopelessness invading the lives of several people all need to be dealt with.

The world needs you to rise up to your life’s mission. We honestly cannot do that by doing the same things we’ve been doing.

Many people have decided it is too much to exert themselves in order to succeed. A lot of us have given up on Nigeria. Regardless of that, now more than ever, we are direly needed to shine forth the light of God, to put our brains to work and act promptly. I think our problem is rooted in the fact that a lot of us are scared and believe it’s useless to sacrifice anything anymore for this nation. However, no genuine sacrifice goes to waste.

You cannot be committed to comfort and at the same time be committed to Christ. You cannot be committed to making a difference, to being extraordinary if you’re not ready to lose some skin.

‘The desire to survive keeps us at a mediocre level of living. It eats away at our conviction until we find it too easy to compromise and next to impossible to confront.’’ (John Maxwell. ‘Be all you can be. Chapter 12: I don’t have to survive).

To make a difference, we have to constantly confront, constantly demand, constantly challenge. You don’t get to a place of advantage by being lackadaisical. It does not come delivered on a platter of gold.

You need inspiration; passion, discipline, humility, assertiveness, motivation and sacrifice. Confront your fears and seeming inadequacies. Believe and dare to achieve. Demand the Unusual. Demand the Extraordinary. Demand the Uneven.

FAWOLE, Tolulope

WHY HEADS ARE THE BEST COUNT INDICATORS

WHY HEADS ARE THE BEST COUNT INDICATORS

I had the privilege of taking a bit of an informal census over the weekend. I naturally made my counts using visible heads. However, it dawned on me that I could have used any other thing such as legs, hands and any other body parts.

The question came to mind: why did I count heads?

A senior colleague had earlier taught me how to enumerate indicants, so I chose to use the word in my title.

Are heads really the best count indicant?

Enjoy a wonderful day people…DESIRE 

NUMBERS IN SMALL LETTERS

Writing alphabets can take diverse forms such as in block letters or small letters.
Today as I sat to fill a form I just wondered if numbers have block forms and small forms.
Probably, there is another way to write "1" other than how I just wrote it.
Enjoy a wonderful week ahead.
Best wishes...Inspire someone today

DENSITY AND DESTINY: COMMON THREATS

DENSITY AND DESTINY

These words have enjoyed a sort of professional/technical assignment as they are linked to Clerics and Physicists. They also both portend a degree of specialty as they pose threats to human life.

ASK THE BAKERS

ASK THE BAKERS

When bread is half baked, we ask the bakers what went wrong. The bread is never questioned.

I therefore submit that when graduates are referred to as half baked, we must ask the bakers.

There is a tendency to blame the students and graduates for non performance, but how can students perform when faced with the “good-news” from tutors who on the first day of lecture profess that not more than two people will pass the course out of more than a hundred students and/or that grades A and B are for GOD and his/her spouse respectively; please what type of motivation is that?

Another viewpoint is lecture attendance. My question to proponents of haphazard attendance by tutors is that “is the National Universities Commission (NUC) Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard (BMAS) useless?”Maybe the NUC should answer that question. The NUC BMAS stipulates generally that for a course designated one credit unit, the Lecturer should have a minimum of 15 contact hours for the semester, implying one hour per week. Proponents of the haphazard attendance insist that a Lecturer can choose to come only twice in the semester: first, as introduction of the Lecturer and the course and second, few days to examination with much bombardment of “resources”. If a Lecturer does not have to come to class, then students don’t need to leave their homes either. Thank GOD for Information and Communication Technology (ICT,) we can just stay at home and send materials and even write our examinations at home. Without disregard for distance learning students, if an institution has decided to admit students for a course that requires physical contact, then the Lecturers should be able to attend classes regularly. Thank GOD for private Universities who enforce attendance, but how can they also ensure quality assurance? It’s one thing to attend classes; it is another to deliver good substance.     

I am not also in support of viewpoints that insist that a Lecturer should not give you more than 25% of what you need. My fear is that some Lecturers don’t have the requisite knowledge and like a popular parlance “…nemo dat quod non habet”, implying you cannot give what you don’t have. Please let’s challenge our Lecturers and tutors to stand up to their responsibilities and make this nation, an academically sound one.

Research is next. How good are the researches that emanate from our institutions? This last issue I will like to discuss here is the unnecessary delay postgraduate students face. One day a Professor told me that these delays make the outcome of most researches stale. Academics complain that their research findings are not utilized, but how can they be, when they are stale I thought to myself. A degree programme that should last 18 months extends to 10 years and the institution is satisfied and basks in the ingenuity of their false standards. It baffles me when senior academics use the delay students experience as a measure of standard performance. The ideal thing is to graduate students at record time though not half baked, but we miss the psychological trauma of keeping a candidate for too long and other financial implications.

One good example is the recent adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) in Nigeria. A postgraduate candidate that has been working for some years on financial reporting will come to realize that findings of his/her work has become more useless than necessary, because the nation is adopting a global set of financial reporting standards.

Academics, please heed the call to professional competence and due diligence. Bake the cake well and make our institutions great.

Oladele, Femi

Department of Accounting

Bowen University, Iwo

WHEN THE CIVILIZED BEHAVE FOOLISHLY...

The elite class in all societies are regarded as authority and example; how they choose to talk, interact, relate, walk, sit and all other social etiquette are considered the ideal.
However, I suppose that in search of dynamism, they could get foolish in their behavior, having exhausted all sense of sanity.
This brings me to today's point:
Never follow without REASON, the ways of the civilized"
Though they might be considered in society as the ideal person, they may sometimes behave
Best wishes...DESIRE

WHAT SHOULD HE DO! WHAT WOULD SHE DO?

I always have a feeling that looking for loopholes in the Constitution or any Law is very difficult since it should have been developed by highly educated and experienced fellows (experts).
My assertion is dampened by realities of tax avoidance, which involves planning and arranging affairs and utilizing loopholes in tax laws in order to pay less tax or bear less tax liability.
Today, I presume: Given this scenario :
"I grew up in State C, my parents are from State B. I contested the office of Governor or Senator in State B or my relevant district.
After two (2) years in Office, a shocking revelation erupted that my parents (my father) is not my biological father.
Findings show the following:
My mother who is from State D had an extra-marital affair with a man (my true biological father) from State F. My father from State B had always thought I am his son.
What happens to my mandate as Governor or Senator since both my biological parents are not from State B and I had barely lived in State B?"

Then comes my question:
What should he (office holder) do? What would she (the Law) do?

THROUGH THE MIRROR WITH CLOSED EYES...

A close pal reminds me of his like for one of my piece.
Today, I sat to write again about something quite much like it.
Have you ever tried or imagined looking at a mirror with closed eyes?
It's quite impossible you will retort in response.
You can view yourself from the inner mirror which bare eyes cannot see. However, you need also, an inner eye to see.
Just a thought for food. Lol!!!
Enjoy people

CELEBRATION OF RESPONSIBILITY OR VICTORY

I have watched with amazement the many jubilation that go with political (electoral) victory and consider two vital questions.
Should this celebration be that of victory or responsibility?
Are the opponents enemies?
Please note that no political party in Nigeria is exempted from this malaise.
The rejoicing go on for so long with too many choruses portraying the loser as an enemy.
I wonder, because, this is a call to service and responsibility, so why would celebrate victory?
Victory according to Gandhi is beyond word of mouth; it extends to peace.
Enjoy a great day people, remembering that our actions should spearhead a call of responsibility rather than a celebration of frivolities.
  

ONCE IN A WHILE: DRIVING HOME SANITY

"I love you Sniper"....
I could not hold myself from these words this morning as I gently stepped into my Kitchen, seeing dozens (isn't this exaggeration?) of cockroaches lying dead.
My point more importantly:
Actions in the head can only strive to drive action in reality, but no further.
It had taken too long to finally opt for the insecticide despite the troubles the insects have caused me. It's been more than a year. It worked, that's my greatest joy. However, this joy is insufficient to gratify months of trouble meted on my foodstuff-cooked and uncooked.
Troubles can continue, if only we allow them.
Stand up and Act on what you believe
Best wishes...DESIRE
Today, a very special friend is celebrating her birthday-using this medium to congratulate her.