Making The Years Cascade Into Each Other

In my previous post on The New Year Has Started, I talked about things I have come to realize as one gets older.

Today, we finished the decking on a wing of our new school site at Okuokoko, near Warri in Delta State, which we started in January 2018 to build. On the first working day, 2nd January, 2019, I was in a bank to speak. I spoke in that same bank the same day in 2018 on A New You In A New Year.

I realized that the content of the new year had been defined a long time ago. A lot of our predecessors like Anthony Enahoro, Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson, Olorogun Alex Ibru, Pa Alhassan Dantata, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Jomo Kenyantta, and even younger people like Barack Obama did not have pastors or Imams who declared 1942, or 1952, or 1972 a year of one thing or the other, and then that shaped their destinies or destinations in life.

The month or the year is not necessarily significant. The mentality of “Happy New Month” with a barrage of prophesies is an installment lifestyle filled with fear and devoid of faith and purpose. I agree there are uncertainties in life; however, life, to a large extent, is determined by the values you hold dear, the choices you make, the decisions you take and the actions you take. Just like Nigeria and Nigerians, we are where we are now by the values we hold dear as a people, the choices we have made, the decisions we have made, and the ones we are going to make this year and the actions we have taken or going to take. The year is neutral; we reap what we feed into it.

I observed that my life has been determined by the following P’s.

P1 PURPOSE

Your purpose is the reason you were created—the role you are designed to play.

Many nations, their constitutions, and structures were purposefully designed. Any nation that is not purposefully designed or structured becomes dysfunctional and turbulent. It lacks a philosophical basis on which it operates. That’s the problem with Nigeria. The United States of America, France, after the revolution, and the UK all have a philosophical basis on which they operate. Even their judiciary are purposefully designed.

I found out that the desire by my father to become a medical doctor determined to a large extent who and what I am doing today. It determined the path my life has followed till date. I created a purpose for myself that I will battle illiteracy, ignorance and poverty that plagued my family. The pursuit of the purposes of my father and my self-imposed ones led me to Government College Ughelli, Federal Government College, Warri, and the University of Ibadan

P2 PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

The pursuit of your purpose will determine your philosophy of living. It will eventually determine your decisions, choices, and actions as said earlier on.

P3 PREPARATIONS

My decision to, or to whom to marry, and what she would be, were determined by the direction I had chosen to follow. I met her because of the decision to attend Government College Ughelli in the house of a classmate. I encouraged her to read nursing. I did not become a medical consultant because it did not fit my purpose

My decisions for 17 years after graduation were determined when I was in medical school at 23 years. The decision of where to reside for the next 15 post-NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) years was formed by my purpose. I must emphasize that for several years during these 15 years, I lost steam when I outsourced my responsibility for my destiny on the chance-miraculous happening based on church-pronounced themes for the year. I lost focus. My preparations over the years got distorted and I lived according to the denominational agenda and influences of the environment. There was a strong conflict within me. I recognized this at this age now on reflection. It must, however, be emphasized that the preparations you make very early in life up to the age brackets of 25 to 35 will, to a large extent, determine a great part of your years in life.

I have come to learn to prepare for everything far in advance. If you prepare far in advance, your years cascade into each other. We molded blocks for the foundation of the school project at Okuokoko more than 10 years back. The materials we used to deck this portion were gathered in 2018. We started paying for the rods gradually since last year.

Nigerians have an emergency approach to most things. I determine the clothes I will wear the day before. My wife irons clothes that will last up to 2 weeks in advance. We have bought the materials to use in our canteen next week. I bought paper to produce 4,000 copies of books this year way back in early December 2018.

There are inevitably some unpredictable parts of our lives, but we have responses to harness opportunities in 2019 set down many years back.

P4 PRONOUNCEMENTS

When the children of Israel complained about taking possession of the Promised Land, Jehovah said what they had pronounced will happen to them. That generation died in the wilderness.

The power of life and death is in the tongue.

I had pronounced that I would stop medical practice when I was 40 years old at age 23, and when I was 40, I stopped. That pronouncement jolted me back to my destiny, and for the first time in many years, my life was back on track.

My wife and I found out that what we declared and acted upon shaped several years that cascaded into each other.

I declared, early 2018, that I wanted to speak to corporate organisations, and that was what happened most parts of 2018. We had to register a company to that effect. I declared when Quest Radio and TV was being constructed at Ogor, Delta State, that it was being constructed because of me. True, it has come to pass.

I told people that I would sit in my office at Ughelli and communicate with the whole world; there was no functional telephone in Ughelli and her environs then. Now, I am communicating with you from my sitting room. I broadcast to about 11 million people every Wednesday by 6:30 a.m. on Quest FM, 93.1. I cried for partners over the radio for months, and now Salimo Wits Foundation has graciously accepted to partner with me to do the broadcast and several other projects aimed and Birthing and Berthing a New Nigeria. Salimo Wits Foundation is coming into my life from relationships cultivated as far back as 1972.

P5 PEOPLE

People will eventually determine your future. A reckless marriage can make you a single mother for years, create hell on earth for you as a husband, and that can predetermine each year as the frustration cascades from year to year.

The people you meet in previous years back definitely determine those you meet later in life. And these people determine those you meet and those you subsequently meet. My childhood friend and brother read my blog and recommended me to my dear brother and friend, also in Salimo Wits Foundation. I was invited to Lagos to speak to some youths by Salimo Wits Foundation, and from there, our partnership and other things started. 2019 will be greatly affected by this singular relationship that started far back in 1972 at Government College Ughelli and later at Daudu at Warri. I met my wife, as said earlier on, in this same area because of a classmate.

Your years, are to a large extent, determined by those you come in contact with.

P6 POSITIONING

You are a city on a hill. No man lights a lamp and hides under a bushel.

The people you meet in previous years back definitely determine your position in the years to come. However, you must also definitely position yourself to meet people who can elevate you to the hilltop.

Those I met when travelling by public transport had their own roles to play. However, those I met travelling by air have better leverage. Their introductions and connections are usually more life-transforming. There are people who listen to me on radio who have transformed my conferences at Ughelli. There are those who will listen to me on satellite TV that will make greater impact. So I look forward to partnership to speak on satellite TV.

P7 PERFORMANCE

Have you seen a man diligent in his work? He will stand before kings and not been men.

Your performance in the time past will lead to commendation. Improved performance will lead to recommendations.

My new year is an offspring of my performances last year on the different platforms I had last year to pursue my purpose. I will be speaking in several places I spoke last year and new ones as a result of recommendations from the ones of last year and my broadcast on radio.

Finally,

P8 PRAYER AND PROVIDENCE

By now, you should have known the types of prayers you should be praying at this point of your life. Your denomination or your congregation should not determine solely your prayer points. Your purpose in life should determine the theme for your life and the prayer you should pray. I acknowledge that there are issues that need miraculous and divine intervention, definitely.

You will be held accountable for your life by God. You cannot give Him excuses of demons, ancestral curses, enemies, or old women and men in your village for not actualizing your dreams in life.

God Bless You.