I was at the Sex2Sex conference organized by Praise Fowowe over the weekend, and by all standards it was an exceptional event. Such events ought to have more sponsorship, corporate and government! But thankfully we all didn’t have to wait for the government to do what we knew was right. It’s alright to take responsibility and it should always be something to be proud of! New Nigeria Club was a proud part sponsor of the event.
There were a lot of very interesting things I learnt and discovered at the Sex2Sex conference. For starters, I was able to hear Toyosi Akerele speak for the first time, she is an impressive and very driven young lady. She is the founder and manager of RISE network, and I have no doubt the network is one to watch out for. I also had the opportunity of listening to Tara FelaDurotoye. She spoke after I did, and she was on fire. I was impressed with her depth and her convictions, I was also moved by her style and story. One key thing I discovered, which added up in my mind, was the fact that her husband Fela Durotoye also took exactly the same type of Oath of Sexual purity that I took (for more information, click on the category on sex). I had never heard him speak about it before, neither he me, but it added up nicely. Maybe one day I’ll be able to do a list and we can make it fashionable to be faithful and stay pure. I also listened to Praise Fowowe, his passion was simply contagious as the crowd stood a number of times to agree with him. His message was clear, “you can hold your body, don’t use condom!”. “Don’t use rubber gloves to kill someone and say you didn’t do it.”, “Don’t put out the shares of your private company except you want to take it public, cover your breasts, make your privates, privates”. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to tell you about what I said, I’m sure you can get the tapes for that, but I can share some thoughts with you on what Prof Pat Utomi said during the event, I have captioned it, the pursuit of Immortality.
Permit me to be a bit desultory, I don’t think my readers will get maximum value from my talking about his speech that day alone… permit me to move here and there and give you a full value of what I learnt in that weekend.
It was first established that the real quest of man is to live forever. The highest achievement is to be immortal. There are however two levels of Immortality. There is material immmortality and spiritual immortality.
Material Immortality is what the likes of Shakespare, Aristotle, Isaac Newton, Machiaveli, e.t.c. have achieved. They are physically dead, but we know them, still refer to them, and quote them like they were our neighbours. Even though they are dead, as long as the earth remains, and their thoughts are referenced, they have life. They have achieved material immortality. It’s the reason why someone like me blogs, it’s the same reason why ‘Gbenga Sesan does the same, and many other bloggers I met over the weekend – Material Immortality. To die, knowing that your opinion about certain issues are clear, and speak when you are long gone.
Spiritual Immortality according to Prof Pat Utomi, is immortality as a result of life after death. A point where we stand face to face with our maker, and get the pleasure and opportunity of living with him, and remaining forever. Spiritual immortality is the quest of salvation, the life after death. This is the quest of all religions that believe in a sovereign God. This is my quest, and I believe Jesus Christ came so that we can have access to this type of life.
Very interestingly, the day after the saturday, I was priveleged to go speak at an event in the honor of a girl who died in her early twenties. The title of my speech was “Be the Change” – (I’ll leave the comments to the people who were in the event), but there was something that struck me in the meeting, that reaffirmed to me the concept of immortality. The deceased girl’s mother spoke about a few things that happened after her daughter died, and it shocked me that all that could happen to a twenty something year old.
After the young girl’s demise, she had recieved calls from different parts of the world, USA, South Africa and Nigeria, asking her for her permission for them to use her daughters name for either their businesses, their NGOs or education centres. They had had contact with Tena Desiree (the surname is a bit difficult for me), and they wanted that memory to live with them forever. She was 20ish, but few people above the age of 90 can boast of such achievements. Young, but immortal. I guess my speech touched many, but I was touched by the mother’s story.
So, in the pursuit of immortality, what are you doing?
Oops! I missed a lot, thanks for the recap, we really need to be the change.
Pst. Bimbo passed on and it was felt, many others passed on the same period but we can’t even remember them, she fit in here both as a crusader of sexual purity and as an agent of change, she left her footprint behind.
just thinking of the quote you gave on Sunday’s meeting: … if you want to leave your mark in the sands of times don’t drag your foot (paraphrased)
Thanks Deolu
http://www.naijamarketsquare.com
Hmmm….. what an inspiration, i’m encouraged to keep keeping on.
Being the change we seek and adding value to everyone we meet along the way.
Well, am glad i read this and will try harder in all / every thing i do
This is very very touching…Almost similar to your write-up on Epitaph – the one you talked about what we’d be remembered for when we die. I don’t want to wait till I’m remembered for something after I die. I want to make things happen while I live! I choose to change the world in my time.
God help me.
Welldone, Deolu.
History records events along side with men/women who left a strong impression of themselves i.e “material immortality” as learnt from this blog.
E.g For Nigeria as October 1st draws near the names of chief Obafemi Awolowo,Nnamdi Azikwe and Tafawa Balewa comes to mind.These names are synonymous with 1960.
also BC..Before Christ and AD..After Christ gives an insight on the material immortality of a man who lived yet lives.
This the generation of people that will lead this planet into the golden age, I call it Cheating Death because either we are here or not, our presence will be felt for the rest of eternity like tongues feels the teeth.The Calibre of people and leaders this generation as already produced and will produces in the nearest future have drank from The Elixir of Life which is the word of God. God’s word is continually creating an army of men with indepth understanding of the dynamism of life and thei thing of the spirit
The first time i heard about Tena Desiree is now but i wish i had know her even before i got to rediscover myself. I can imagine the kinda person she’s and believe me,i can still make her my friend because obviously her life as touched the lives of others so much that We are here discussing her again.
the next one is going to be cheating death and believe me, we are all gona be doing alot of that over and over again if we live the good life….We are surely going to be amongst the cloud of witness that Jesus will appear in on His second coming. He’s not coming in this cloud you and me are looking at It will be cloud of His witnesses and I’m a part of it….
If you understand the Origin of Man then Cheating Death will be as simple as it sounds.
http://www.babaolowo.blogspot.com
I think God is already doing something along this direction.
i came across a banner somewhere in PH on same issue- promoting virginity and sexual purity- but can’t tell if it is a programme or just an advert. will check it out after work today.
Brother Praise et al, more power to your collective elbows. I pray you will all attain both material and spiritual immortality at the close of the day
Never thought of immortality as being of two types: material immortality and spiritual immortality.
Luv U!
well i missed i missed i missed.Anyway more to come
I will be ever more grateful to you.
It is still possible to remain pure.
Please, can you always intimate us of your presentations.
Thanks…The Lord is your muscle.
its good to hear people talking about purity and upholding values in a world where sensuality , half dressing and sowing wild oats seem the order of the day.
The younger generation is now being exposed to another tune.
We need to be ourselves and leave the ‘Joneses’ to do it the way they want – no need to keep pace with them.
keep on being you!
Kudos to men and women of standard!
very interesting piece. truthfully sometimes you wonder if there are any others besides you….but then again i realize that no matter how few the number, its more than enough to continue sensitizing and encouraging people to stand and stand firm for what is right. i wish i was at the program. when is the next one coming up?
Thank u for this piece Deolu, it really affirms our reason for being created and our purpose on earth.
Its is not easy to be pure and stay pure while living amongst the impure; this can be seen by the gradual degradation of a once great nation that was built on the Word (In God We Trust), it succumbed to negotiating compromises with its values due to internal and external pressure and this introduced ungodliness into the fabric of its society.
Let us continue to pray for God’s strength and guidance in the face of temptations and of peer pressure.
The past is full of memories… The future is full of dreams…The present is full of reality.
In search of immortality, is to live in the present, experience the present and let our impact(positive) be felt by everyone around us. It is a lot easy to be the change, and improve lives everywhere we go, as experience has thought me.
To attain spiritual immortality we must seek to know and live according to the will of God almighty
Keep up the good work Deolu.
may God help us to always be conscious of our temporary sojourn on planet earth.
keep the fire burning Deolu!
Its amazing, isn’t it? How Tena Desiree’s short life could have affected people. Well, i believe; ‘We do everything for what it is worth’!
It’s a question of value, after all, very few people live their lives daily with the mindset that they have a maker and they’ll one day give account of their time, talent, treasures and …fill in the blanks….
Thank you Dee’!
may we live lifes that others can emulate even after we are gone in Jesus name.God bless Naija
hi,deolu…everytime i come to ur blog,i take something away…something of value..glad to have known you thru holidays and cash…how can i be a part of the new Nigeria club?