In the Parable of Talents, the Master gave talents to 3 disciples. One of them came back with 5 extra talents and another came back with 2 extra talents. Another buried his talent in the ground and complained about the wickedness of the Master, and said that he reaps where he has not sown.
One of the key things I noticed about the Caucasian race, productive people and productive nations is that they extract value from whatever they have.
Norway has the same oil that we have in Nigeria in the North Atlantic. Norway extract their oil, export, and process it. But they have invested the income from the oil very wisely and they are living on the dividends from their oil. However, in Nigeria, any time there is an oil boom or a windfall, there is a scampering to scatter the wealth, use it to purchase luxury goods, or build white elephants.
I was to speak in Benin on Independence Day, and I could not drive from Ughelli to Benin because the road was terrible, and we have it like that in many places all over the nation. But we just bought expensive cars for legislators, people bought Ferraris for their daughters, and people buy expensive vehicles. Where are the roads? Where will you drive these cars?
In my extensive travels round Africa, I discovered that the average African is usually wasteful. The northern Africans that dwell in the desert are more conservative.
The African does not know how to extract value from what is in his/her hands.
In 2 Kings 4:1-7, when the widow cried to Elisha, he asked her, “What have you of sale value?”
Why did the oil stop? There were no containers for the anointing to act on.
After the oil stopped, Elisha said, “Go pay your debts, live on the rest.” That is, after selling, the prophet’s wife must keep extracting value from what was remaining in her hands for her and her children to live. The anointing of Elisha was not going to be there indefinitely. The oil might become obsolete.
In our poultry, we produce eggs, and we produce broilers. From the poultry, I get poultry manure, which I usually take to the farm at the permanent site of Petra Institute. From the farm, I’ll bring back cucumbers. I have seen the value of the poultry manure, I’ll invest it in the land, and I’ll bring cucumbers that I will sell.
Also, in my farm at home, we had an unprecedented harvest of plantains. In fact, we sold so many bunches of plantain. When the rains came, a lot of them fell down. If you get to see the farm, you might be tempted to sympathise with me, and you might think I might have only made loses. But from the devastation, I got suckers, and somebody has just placed orders for suckers from Asaba. There was a time I sold plantain suckers of more than N100,000 just from my residence and my farm.
You can see that I integrate whatever I do without wasting anything. That’s because I’ve never had much in life. I grew up in extreme poverty, and because of that, I’ve learnt to impregnate any money I get in my hands; it will deliver, and I go over it again. Then I get to spend the grand-dividends of the money.
I came back with some cassava from my farm, I ground them, and made some garri. I now have bags of garri in my residence which I intend to sell.
In my residence, I have an orange tree. We bought some oranges, and we planted the seeds after eating them. It grew and we transplanted them. Now, I don’t have to buy oranges, most times, because I have an orange tree.
Also, we have an ube tree (bush pear) that we planted after eating its fruits. It’s going to bear me fruits.
There is also a mango tree that came from a seed that fell. The tree was transplanted when it grew, and now we get fruits from it. Out of the mango seeds that fell, we are growing other trees which we hope to transplant to other places to multiply the value.
It is this value multiplication that enables you to grow your finances. All the plantain trees we have in my residence came from about 8 plantain suckers that were thrown away at the junction of my street. I collected them, planted them, and when they grow, I transplant them. Now, my residence is filled with plantain trees.
It is this ability to multiply what you have in your hands that enables you to blossom. What do you have in your hands? How much is your salary? Why don’t you put some aside, and multiply it, and repeat the multiplication process. As you keep multiplying what you have, you are bound to prosper.
When I went to preach in Benin, it was a professor that opened the car doors for me. A senior Anglican priest was also driving me, and I stayed in a power hotel. I was given a big honorarium.
But listen, they won’t give me these things every day. That man that was being treated that way was a guest preacher. It is different from me, your friend, Dr. Charles Apoki. After that, I return to my original self.
I must, therefore, multiply whatever I’ve been given, multiply whatever I have in my hands, so that even if I’m not invited again, I am financially independent and free.
Keep multiplying what is in your hands because that is the nature of God.
God bless you.
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