We March

Going forward with nature

March always seems to present the month of beginnings when the signs of spring begin to show in nature and the days for the northern hemisphere begin earlier as the winter recedes into its seasonal twilight.

Then suddenly there could be a chilly blast with Siberia huffing and puffing over Europe with the vehemence of needing to tell us that she still exists. One year, I was in Berlin, and it was in the third week of April, it snowed. Gosh! It was depressing, as I got back home to Amsterdam, I booked a holiday to the Canary Islands.

Looking toward the warmth

March indeed has a spring to it, like we are about to march into something, a battle, an adventure, an experience, or all that together. We awaken from the slumber of Yuletide, and after the perceptively longest month of January, February grants a reprieve of love closely followed by the privations of Lent, a season of penitence and reflection is in full flow.

This year, everything is happening in March, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, in two Sundays, it is Mothering Sunday that has become commercialised and confused with Mother’s Day. We are also springing forward with the clocks on the last Sunday which is the last day of the month and Easter Sunday, what a time to be alive, like everything is in alignment in a leap year. British Summer Time begins.

Marching onward in triumph

Yet, we march on, full of hope and expectation, amazed by the beauty that gets revealed, the smells that hit our olfactory organs, and the singing of the birds chirping away giving our eardrums a new sensation that lifts the spirits with warmth and appreciation.

In each of us, we find a blessing if we dare to live and thrive, the newness in every morning signalling the God of the universe has us in His embrace, our mouths filled with testimonies for which words cannot be found except by some Pentecostal utterance because we have been overwhelmed with goodness.

Knowing that God is not against us but on our side always and fighting for us means that this march is a triumphal one. Let us all the noise we can as we joyfully celebrate this gift of life, grace, and victory.

Nigeria: My real expectations of Enough is Enough

Lessons to absorb

The Enough is Enough campaign of the youth of Nigeria marched on the office the governor of Lagos State today and it comes just within a month of their marching on the National Assembly in Abuja with a whole list of demands.

I felt the march in March was a qualified success in that it was a compelling gathering of note but it did not achieve the essential goal of delivering their letter of demands to the authorities.

This time, I held my peace to observe and then review the results of this march which one of the leaders said was a mixed success.

Indeed, they have now realised that the so-called leaders of our country in the words of one of the organisers “don’t believe that they are accountable to us”.

Select yourselves

They the leaders probably do not but it is laudable that they, the youth, are campaigning to take ownership of the voting process with the R-S-V-P call which reads as Register – Select – Vote – Protect.

We do need a voting and accountable system that counts and reveals the express wishes of the people who have exercised the right to choose their leadership.

One does wonder weather the choices we have to select from really just leave us with the best of a rotten bunch – that would in no way give us the leadership we demand and deserve.

Maybe what the Enough is Enough team needs to realise is that they are not going to effect change by looking in from the outside, then the political entities we have now would not be the best incubators for the range of aspirational and visionary talent and ability these young people represent.

They should take the next step in securing the voting process for the right selections when voting in order to protect the entity of Nigeria and the future we all hope for.

The capable youth

Looking at the poster that accompanied the call to march, this gathering consisted of professionals, celebrities, media, students and activists – definitely, much more from all works of life.

Of these professionals we have entrepreneurs and businessmen that everyday Nigerians trust to run organisations and honourably conduct business in a proper fashion.

The celebrities definitely have proved themselves capable in some sort of endeavour to have become celebrities whilst the media can give an honest, just and truthful voice to the yearnings and aspirations of the young Nigerian.

Students are supposed to be thinkers with amazing ideas and capabilities, the activists have causes that impact on lives all around Nigeria.

The youth can lead

The question then becomes as we realise that the youth make up the majority of Nigerians why these selfsame successful and youthful people cannot vie for the leadership of our dear nation.

There is where I want to see the Enough is Enough movement, a political force that competes honourably and competently for office, shaking up the fossilised body of politics that has hamstrung the nation for decades.

Yakubu Gowon & Thomas Sankara were hardly 30 when they assumed leadership of their countries, whilst it was through military coups in their case, there can be democratic rewards for the youth that take on the system for the good of the country.

Let the majority speak

The gerontocrats have failed us too many times just as the political jobbers have had no interest but theirs to heart in the pursuit of office and the spoils to loot therein.

Let your votes count by young Nigerians taking charge and voting for competent leaders amongst yourselves.

Enough is Enough – Let new blood, fresh blood, young blood in – Enough is Enough, let the youth seize the mantle of leadership and infuse us with hopes and visions that change Nigeria for the better.

That is where you should take the ground and occupy for the good all the majority which just happens to be yourselves.

After February is recovery

February

February 2010 represented an amazing month in my life, one that would not soon be forgotten and one that represented a whole range of issues, changes, decisions and events.

Most particularly, it was the month in which I lost a very dear friend and that in which my regime of treatment for cancer stopped for other elements of my health improvement to gain a footing.

Monday should have been the day for the scheduled 8th chemotherapy session but my medical team decided to stop at the 7th giving me very needed respite from a treatment that literally knocks me out for a week.

The strength I thought I had

So, I went into town and walked up a few streets before ending up at the steak restaurant I last visited with my friend some 8 months ago.

Whilst mentally, I am so excited to be off the treatment, I seem to have forgotten that chemotherapy really did take a lot out of me that I really do not have the strength I think I have and I was tiring quite easily after short walks – my sleep patterns need some regulation for someone preparing for work.

One thing that has not relented through it all is the bills, they come as new and they come as threats, they all however just have to wait till there is income to settle them and as usual it is the ones I owe the least that are the most aggressive.

The search for work

Sometimes, I wonder how one can maintain a mental state for genuine recuperation if one is continually buffeted by matters that can be the source of much worry and consequent stress – definitely not what you or I need.

The networks are being tapped, the résumé is going places and enquiries are being made just as one engages in studies of trends in the marketplace, the need to be productive and relevant is here and now.

The process of recuperation would just have to merge with the time of resuming work, not too many luxuries can be afforded but help and support is still very welcome and I am thankful for all the support I have received to date.

February 2010, all your 28 full days, I remember, but thanks for the advent for March and the march to great expectations and a wonderful life – welcome.