Now, the Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he grows up, he will not depart from it. That was when families were responsible for training and disciplining children. Not today. In the UK, in the US, and several countries, you don’t discipline children anymore. You appeal to them. Government—run by irresponsible people with Epstein files and all kinds of rubbish—now wants to control how children are trained. They are even willing to take children away from parents if you discipline them.
I would have been a very terrible person. Very terrible, crazy person. I used to tell people, if not for my mother, I would have been dangerous. If I were a Niger Delta militant, I would have been terrible.
The family I come from, the idol they worship on my mother’s side—if you are shooting at the person, he will still be coming towards you. That’s the kind of background I had. But I had a mother who was even crazier than I was—and it helped me.
Schools that were supposed to complement the home have become dysfunctional. I watched a video in Birmingham, UK. Students running up and down, chaos everywhere. Police cars came. Somebody said in cities like Luton—where I stayed for three days—that many children, especially Black children, are losing grip of life.
They are becoming reckless.
We suspended a child recently in our school. The father came—a big man—and said he was proud that there are still schools that can discipline children of big men.
I deal with you. I don’t care. I deal with you.
You bring nonsense to my school, I deal with you.
Talk about cultism—I deal with you. Only me, na cult.
If you don’t want discipline, take your child away. I won’t traumatize you, but you can’t mess up here.
School helped me. Government College, University of Ibadan helped me, formed me, groomed me, opened my brain. I don’t cross lines. I don’t drive against traffic. I don’t rush things. I don’t fear anybody. I take care of my environment. I work hard.
The church that was supposed to help is not doing much. Church back then helped us. We had Sunday school, youth fellowship. I was a youth superintendent. Many of those people are now great ministers and leaders.
Today, Sunday school is rushed. You can’t ask questions. It’s like a factory. Somebody just becomes an elder because he has money, no grooming. They are doomed.
We are building big cathedrals but not building people.
My bishop, Bishop Benson Idahosa, taught me punctuality. I learned to eat last. Make sure others are served first. Those values stayed with me. Bishop Dan Akaonye will say if God knows he will commit adultery tomorrow, let him let God k!ll him today. And so I saw that adultery was a very serious offense.
Parents are also guilty. We pursue wealth and validation instead of grooming children.
Today, children are bombarded with crazy ideas from cartoons, movies, social media. Do you even listen to what they are watching?
I had a child in my school who suddenly refused to read and write because he was listening to Andrew Tate.
I know a successful Black basketballer in the US worth billions whose son chose a wayward path. After all the sacrifice, discrimination, struggle—he excelled—but the child went the opposite way.
We all face this, even me.
You can train a child well, and they still rebel. At that point, pray. Focus on your spiritual life. You will stand before God alone.
The Bible says the soul that sins shall die. Stop blaming parents for everything.
Focus on your health. I’ve done my exercises this morning. Kegel exercises, vibrating machine, cinnamon and ginger drink. I check my blood pressure.
I want to live long. I don’t want to be a burden.
Preserve your wealth. Don’t let children feel it belongs to them. That’s why they misbehave.
Don’t introduce luxuries they have not earned.
Let them know it is your car, your house.
When I was building my house, I made my son work on it. Then he was in Igbenedion University, one of the most expensive universities then. I told him: “So you will know the pain it took me to build this house so you won’t sell it when I die.”
Children addicted to comfort don’t understand sacrifice.
Create a trust. Secure your wealth. Don’t let them destroy what you built.
Don’t fund their craziness. I blocked one of my children recently. You can’t talk to me anyhow. Bust you.
Authority matters.
Secure your peace of mind. Learn to disengage. Ignore nonsense.
Don’t let anyone think your happiness depends on them.
I tell my children: people will ask you if you are my child. I have lived my life. Live your own.
If you refuse to live your own, na you go suffer
