Self-Motivation, Personal Growth and Entrepreneurship Development on DeoluAkinyemi.com

It’s 2am and I’ve never caught myself so drained and saddened by what I see Nigeria gradually decaying into. When I close my eyes, I see the Nigeria of my dream, the Nigeria where candle lights are remembered only as instruments for romantic dinners and not alternative sources of light, a Nigeria where my son grows up not to know what a generator is. A Nigeria where even when it rains, we know when we are at the beach and when we are on the road. When I close my eyes I see the most desirable nation on earth, but these days, that it’s 2am and my eyes are still open, the realities that my eyes see in the 20 plus hours that I am awake are making it difficult to hold the dream of less than 4 hours.

My clarion call goes to all able bodied Nigerians above the age of 18!  My clarion call goes to the criminally silent enlightened elites! My call goes to the spiritual leaders who exist as islands of prosperity in a poverty stricken country! My call beackons to churches who find nothing missing in the rate at which manufacturing companies are closing to provide them with warehouses to store the hopeful souls of irresponsible citizens! My call goes to all who are comfortable in Nigeria, who have done well for themselves and don’t think long enough to know that the society that is unelightened will ultimately burn their houses. My call goes to you and I, who have been more accustomed to talking than doing, who have lofty ideas, puritan ideals and score woefully in political participation. My clarion call goes to all who think themselves too clean, too sacred, too neutral or too important to be involved in the polity of our nation. My call goes to you in diaspora, you who know the answers but remain dislocated from the questions! My call goes to all of you, we need all of you. We are bashed as a nation, buttered with shame on both sides, but our ego is intact and incorruptible. We’ve been too proud to beg, I beg you all, let’s come to our rescue, before this titanic collides with the sure iceberg ahead and doubtless sinks! Continue Reading »

“The Future Started yesterday, we are already late” – John Legend

At the political round table meeting yesterday, my confidence was multiplied by 100 on the fact that come 2011 we can actually ensure that our preferred candidates win more than 60% of all the political offices in Nigeria including the very important positions. I had been motivated by optimism and passion in the past, but now I know behond doubt that we can make change happen in Nigeria! I used to think that if we fight, we may lose, but if we don’t we have already lost. Now however, I know with confidence in my heart that we actually have a good chance of not only fighting, but winning!

I am not a political strategist, I’m a patriotic and visionary Nigerian who had always prefered to be neutral, be non political and not partisan. Just face my business and leave governance and government to those who have nothing more important to do with their lives. All that started changing recently, when I began to get serious nudgings on a regular basis that -”if it is to be, it is up to me”. I discovered very quickly that all the efforts we mustered in education, empowerment, community development, enlightement, re-orientation, sponsorships and scholarships involved too much struggle, too much effort and very little lasting effects. I and a few compatriots discovered, that to make significant difference and progress, we must be involved in the leadership of Nigeria. We must be involved in more than merely voting, we must ensure that we have a voice before the elections, and ensure that our voices cannot be silenced. Knowing all these, I was still motivated by optimistic faith and the youthful passionate belief that all things are possible. Yesterday however, our movement took on a new turn as we had a political strategist with 33yrs experience join our team. This man’s experience was inspiring, haven led two presidential candidate campaigns successfully, led a few State government campaigns and delivered several local governments to power. From yesterday, we ceased operating on zeal, belief, energy and thoughts, our gears have shifted to practical strategies, reapplication of things that have worked in the past, an indept understanding of the current systems and the only ways to beat them. Continue Reading »

I want to reveal a secret to you, please relax. You have already gotten to open this post, so you are ahead of a long line of people who wait a little longer to read. I’m going to share my heart with you, I’ll hope you’ll read me with your heart as well. Once our hearts believe, our heads can easily follow. I’ll also ask for your permission on a few things. If you can oblige me those things, this post and the mail you are about to read, will make a real difference in your life this year! Here are my few requests.

1. Before you continue reading question 2, make up you mind to empty yourself of all prejudices and preconcieved notions about referral based businesses. It might be tough I know, but your preconcieved positions will limit you. Trust me. Read objectively, and look with fresh eyes.

“The uneducated in the 21st century is not one who can’t read and write, it’s one who can’t learn, unlearn and relearn” – Dr. Tunde Bakare.

2. Don’t jump to the bottom, try and read this line by line and with an open mind.

3. Make your decision within 24hrs and take action. What you are reading will not be useful to you otherwise. Believe me though that it will make a difference if you conciously and delibrately make a positive move.

This are all that I require you to have in mind as you read further. Continue Reading »

“Announcements : “Please join me in congratulating Omozele for winning the position of top commenter in June. Kindly send me an email so you can redeem your gifts.” Also the details of our 26th of July  political meeting is coming up soon, we o have some big timers who were coming in, please stay tuned.”

Heaven gained my mum on the first day of the second half of the year 2009.  From a week before that day and today, I have been on the road between Ilorin and Lagos, I have also been in deep thought about life, about death, about love, about relationships and about family. I’ve asked myself very real questions about what I am doing with my life, what regrets I may have if I continue with my status quo. I have also tried to be strong for my dad, for my sibblings, for the family, the community, the church and very importantly for myself as well. On friday the 17th of July, 2009, my mum’s body was lowered into the grave.  Forgive me if I sound different from how you expect me to sound, this last 3 weeks of my life have transformed my life. I have burrowed deep into the soil beneath my existence and planted my roots far down, I have no doubts that my capacity for growth in the years ahead  have been enhanced.

I am missing my mum already, and I’m certain it’s only the beginning, but I am confident and convinced also that God has stepped in the fill the gap and the vacuum that this transistion would have created in our lives. I tell my friends proudly that I have never had any reason to go to the hospital in my life till date order than to remove or fill my teeth – Never!  Till a few weeks ago, all I ever do, is pick up my phone and dial my mum. She was my health google, she had all the answers, and they always worked. I thought this was my own little secret, I discovered to my amazement when the pastor of her church preached her closing sermon, that there are many people including the pastors family whose healths were just my mum’s phone number away. When I sit down to ruminate about the things that my mother got involved in, my efforts look like childsplay. Allowing her life to inspire mine, I am certain that I ought to do more. I can do much more than I am doing, you can do much more than you are doing! All you and I need to do, is to shift our thinking, and decide to do more! Don’t merely count your days, let your days count. Continue Reading »

“Advertorial – An Alliance for Progress meeting on behalf of Prof. Pat Utomi, would be holding at Golden Gates on the 10th of July, 2009. It’s a fundraising dinner organized for all who have interest in electoral reforms, and practical solutions to ensuring that the people we vote for in 2011 and beyond win! If you are interested in being a part of this dinner with the greats, the entry ticket is N25,000 and N10,000 for young professionals. For more details email : joshua.olaomi@newnigeriaclub.net”

Sitting beside the intensive care unit of the hospital in Ilorin where my mother was before she finally transited to glory, gave me a shocking realization. Every time power shuts down, some lives are endangered. I noticed with amazement that even my mother who was in the most funded section of the hospital regularly had her existence dependent on a UPS. The UPS was no different from the small ones supporting a personal computer. My mind wandered back easily to the road accidents that I have seen on my road travels over the past few weeks, and to the other thousands of lives lost uncelebrated. It is real, that we are losing people who ought to be alive daily in this country. And no, we are not to blame, it’s all the fault of the government, isn’t it? I’m here today to show you that our enemies are closer home than the government. In the year that King Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the lord!

Everybody who has the capacity to lead us, who has the potential to be voted for, who is a leader and has earned the trust and respect of people in this nation, has committed a great offense. Our negligence has put the wrong people in power, made our hospitals unequipped, left our roads as deathtraps, and have assisted in killing, murdering and sentencing many young talents and future leaders to early graves! The silence of your pastor, your CEO, your mentor and yourself is the reason for our bad roads, is the reason for the deplorable state of power in Nigeria, is responsible for poverty and the deathroll in this country. If you know how it can be better or know leaders, like we all agreed a few days ago, that can make things better and don’t position them, we have sinned! Continue Reading »

“The essence of life is to live it, not watch it” – Adeolu Akinyemi

The inspiration for this quote, is merely watching my mum, and listening out to the people whose lives she had touched. My mum was important to so many people, she was their “somebody” that made their lives better, their crosses easier to bear and rekindled their hope. My mum was a template for the virtous woman described in Prov 31, the more I read it, the more I remember her. I have not ceased to ask myself a fundamental question, “when would have been a good time for her to die?” The more I ask and think, the more I realize, that for us her children, for her brother, friend, business partner and lover – my dad, for her relations near and far and for the many lives she touched, there would never be a good time! There is never a good time to lose a loved one, even at 90, she’ll still have left us puzzled. I can remember my dad shedding tears at the burial of his 78yrs old mother, there is never a good time. One thing is sure though, life should be measured by donation, not duration. What matters is not how long, it’s how well! Thinking like this, I have every course to celebrate my mum’s temporary separation from me. I am confident that we’ll meet again at Jesus’ feet, I am confident that she has voluntarily joined the company that constitute the cloud of witnesses. I am happy that my mum lived a life that if I can set as benchmark for mine, I’ll be driven till I’m done! I know that God is all wise,  all his word is perfect and all his ways are just.

My mum had a glorious exit, and there are many things to learn from her life. I’ll attempt a few here, and if I’m so inspired, I’ll do a book in her honour. On the 21st of June, 2009, my mum dressed for her last church service. Very early in the morning of that day, she bade farewell to all of us her children. We had all come home from Lagos, for my younger sister’s wedding introduction the previous day. Even though the meeting was meant to have less than 60 people, my mum had killed one of her cows (yeah.. she has cows she’s rearing) and shared it for all her children and sibblings. We all saw mummy on Sunday, unaware of course that that was the last time we’ll see her alive and well. We hugged, waved and went. In a series of events, that led to her driving to church, and sitting, as ever and always beside her husband she decided to share her testimony. She raised a song as she stood up, and stood at the pulpit (Gbese ope me po, mi o le san tan, sugbon o sibe sibe, hun o se iwon ti mo le se, baba a laanu mi, e ma se o baba – My debt of thanksgiven is more than I can pay, but never the less, I will do the best I can, my father the merciful, thank you). Everyone sang along, and she started to share her testimony. She shared on, until she got to a point and announced to the church, I am feeling dizzy, at which point she slumped in the ready hands of my dad and her pastor. That was when the chariot that took her to heaven came, that was the last time she stood on her feet for the next 11 days that ended with her being taken. The doctors called it a hemorrhagic stroke, and showed that it was really up to God or nature. Between those days, she spoke for some and was unconscious for others. Her life flashed before our eyes and I’m sure hers as well. Her 56yrs have been more life than 200 regular years. Many hope to die in the lord, my mum was a child of God at her death, and even took her departure from his house -the assembly of his people. Continue Reading »

Today, I really want to welcome you into the second half of the year 2009. The match started January 1 this year and it was you vs 2009. It’s a great time to ask yourself what the scores are, and what your strategy for the next half should be. It’s a good time to do your life audit, and a good time to seek Gods face afresh for direction, for grace and for help! While this is something I’ll like to write about very well, I’m sorry that today I must write about something else that really bothers my heart – Nigeria!

I’m sure you read the title and wondered what was going on, I’ll like you to join me in this video I’m about to paint with words. Sorry, I could have done it on You-Tube, but our link in Nigeria is not strong enough to allow most people to watch it, it’s even going to be difficult for me to upload. So bear with me, and use your minds eye to follow me in this journey of our imagination!

Imagine with me if you can, that Pastor E.A. Adeboye indicates interest in becoming the president of Nigeria. What do you think will happen? Let me tell you what I think. First of all he’ll likely win, I do not attend the Redeem Christian Church of God, but I know many people from different churches and religions who will gladly and passionately vote for him. We’ll have the largest voters turn out in the history of Nigeria’s voting. I know many churches that will align, I know many people from diaspora that will fly in if voting was restricted to Nigerian soils. I know that many things will shift, peoples attitude to participating in Nationhood will dramatically change, Nigerians will know that something different was in the air.  All our dreams and aspirations for a New Nigeria would all of a sudden seem possible to millions of Nigerians who believe in this man of God.  All these if he indicates interest in becoming president, now imagine what is possible if/when he wins. In case you don’t know who Pastor Adeboye is, he’s the General Overseer of the Redeem Christian Church of God, and Newsweek ranked 49th most influential man in the world and 1st most influential person in Nigeria. Continue Reading »