TIME BILLIONAIRES

I was thinking this morning..... about being a billionaire. When we hear that someone is a billionaire, what comes to mind is dollars and naira (for those of us in Nigeria). Nigerian singer, Teniola Apata, popularly known as Teni had in 2019 released her buzzing single titled 'Billionaire.' In the chorus, she said 'I wanna be a billionaire. Billionaire, yeah yeah.'

Yes, we all want to be billionaires, but what many don't realise is that almost everyone is born a billionaire. If you are thinking dollar and naira again, then listen. Last week I came across the concept of 'Time billionaire'. One billion seconds is equal to 31.7 years, so if you are over 32 years of age, that means you were born a 'time billionaire'. Teni was born 23 December 1992, meaning she will be 29 years in less than 4 weeks from today. According to statistics, the average human lives for 79 years, meaning Teni has at least a decent 50 years (about 1.6 billion seconds) more on earth. Teni currently is a multi-time billionaire, yet she was praying to be a billionaire.

I won't blame her because society values dollar billionaires more than time billionaires. We overvalue dollar billionaires and undervalue time billionaires. Truth is, time is the most precious asset in the world.

Just over a week ago, Sani Dangote, the younger brother to the richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, and Vice president of Dangote Group, died after a brief illness in one of the best hospitals in the United States. At the time of his death, he was a naira or even dollar billionaire, but he wasn't a time billionaire. He ran out of time. Warren Buffett is a dollar billionaire with net worth of about $105 billion, but  he is not a time billionaire (he is 91 years old). Being a dollar billionaire cannot translate to time billionaire because you can't buy more time. But your time can bring you billions of dollars if used productively. Everybody has equal amount of time in a day. No one can re-acquire time once it is gone.

As a time billionaire, how do you spend your time? It is estimated that on the average we spend 26 years of our lives sleeping, 13 years working, 8.3 years watching TV, 3 years on social media etc. Ask yourself, if your 1 billion seconds is equivalent to 1 billion dollars, will you spend it frivolously?

If you were a time billionaire and you blew your billions, do not despair. You can still enjoy the millions left by spending wisely. Don't waste your time doing something you hate. Make time for God, family and friends. Psalms 90:12 says 'Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

THE TRUE FRIENDSHIP CHALLENGE

 

I was thinking this morning..... Top Nigerian celebrity and Afrobeat singer David Adeleke best known as Davido has been the topic of discussion on social media in the last few days after he challenged his friends to each send one million naira to his account for the celebration of his forthcoming 29th birthday and to clear his Rolls Royce from the port. The singer said the move was to know who his true friends are. It was reported that he raised N150m in less than 24 hours after posting his bank account details on his Instagram page.

Wow! So friends can do this? As at today, I have 2,883 friends on Facebook alone. I thought about jumping on the 'True Friendship Challenge' and request all my friends to send N1m into my account to celebrate International Men's Day. If I don't receive at least N2 billion in 24 hours, then I would've known that you all are not true friends. I was about to click send when a friend replied on his Facebook page saying 'If nor be say my friends never receive salary, wetin be N100 million wey we no go raise in 1 hour? Rubbish.' At this point, my brain had a reset.

As I smiled, I remembered a story I read recently. A retiree after 30 years of teaching fell ill and needed surgery that was to cost N7m. Unfortunately, his pension had been 'Maina'ed' and help from family had frozen in Calgary snow. He died shortly after. Oh if he knew, he could have asked his friends for N1m each, so he would know if they were true friends. He died without help.

People die in Nigeria daily because they lack as little as N1,000 either for food or medicine. Where are their true friends? Yet someone raised N150m in a day in the 'True friends challenge.' Truth is, true friendship cannot be determined by how much people give to you in your days of abundance and power, rather it is how much they give to you in your days of lack. True friendship is not about the quantity of friends you have but the quality of friends. It's not about who's real to your face but about those who stay loyal behind your back.

This is to let my true friends know that I appreciate them even without them sending a million naira to me. Proverbs 18:24 says 'A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

THE CHAMPAGNE GENERATION

 

I was thinking this morning..... I was in Abuja last week after almost 2 years, no thanks to Covid. I got in touch with my former classmate from Hussey College Warri that lives in Abuja just to catch up. Coincidentally, four other of our classmates, two from the US, were in town and we decided meet in the evening for what is now known within our group as 'Fishy tinz.'

The last time I met four of them was over 30 years ago, so it was a nostalgic reunion. After ordering for my Amstel Malta and fish, I went about catching up on old times. Just then a young man walked in and sat alone at the table behind us. Minutes later, he was served a cold bottle of Moet and Chandon Rose Imperial champagne. I couldn't help but wonder why someone will leave his house to casually drink champagne. Could it be that he was privately celebrating something? His demeanour definitely did not so indicate.

Within an hour, the young man in his quiet corner gulped down the content of the bottle of Moet, which by the way cost about N40,000 a bottle. As I kept peeping at him through the side of my eyes, my mind was deep in thoughts. Moet & Chandon is not just a big champagne brand in the world, it is one of the most premium brands in Nigeria market.

According to a recent report, Shoprite mall in Nigeria sold more champagne than the 600 outlets in South Africa. That is a proof of how much Nigerians value the luxury drink. Recently, the global ambassador of Moet and Chandon, Pierre-Louis Araud paid a visit to Nigeria. In an interview with The Guardian Nigeria, Araud revealed that Nigeria was the popular brand’s biggest market.

Having had a first hand experience of how champagne is no longer a celebratory drink in Nigeria but now the 'Coke and Fanta' of rich and famous, I concluded that truly this is 'The Champagne Generation (TCG)'. The generation where a politician will rather use $2 million to buy and drink a bottle of 2013 Taste of Diamonds champagne than to tar the roads in his community. Welcome to The Champagne Generation where people will borrow money to celebrate their birthday and serve 1996 Dom Perignon Rose Gold Methuselah valued at $49,000 a bottle. Nigerians drink champagne so much that 'champagne gold' has become a colour in our lexicon.

Wow! The Champagne Generation. What they don't realise is that drinking a $2m champagne will not make one a champion. At best it satisfies your desire for the moment. Go for value. Put the money to better use and you become part of The Champion Generation that gives rather than consumes. Ephesians 5:18 says "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;"

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey

TIME HUMBLES

 

I was thinking this morning..... it's almost 18 years since I walked out of the SPDC sprawling residential estate turned office complex at Edjeba, Warri. The complex back then was a bustling facility, with well kept lawns, buildings well maintained and communication board up to date. Due to security challenges, the Company had relocated from Warri in 2013. A move many youths and deltans thought was impossible because of the sheer size of their assets. Eight years later, the rest is history.

Last week I visited Warri and lodged in a section of the estate now being used guesthouses by its new owner. As I took a walk around the balkanized estate, I was nostalgic about the good old days but was disappointed to see that things were falling apart in some sections. It came to a head for me when I saw the Safety Performance Board that was once an indicator of the health of the company, showing 'As At 2007.'

As I drove past what used to be the SPDC Main Office, the best office complex in Warri in the 90s, I observed it's been abandoned and overtaken by grasses. Who would've thought that the glorious SPDC main complexes could become shadows of themselves with time? Time humbles and sometimes crumbles. But wait a minute. Why do some rich and powerful today behave like they own the world? Why are some behaving like they live outside of time? If you are proud but can think on this, you should take dressing and lower your shoulder. It doesn't matter how beautiful, elegant and sprightly someone is today, it is a matter of time before he or she becomes old, weak, bent over and wrinkled. Time humbles, tumbles and sometimes crumbles people.

I saw this quote whose author I do not know that nicely caps my thoughts. It says 'As our days are thinning, our strength withering, our beauty fading, our texture wrinkling, our hair greying, our appetite waning, our sight diminishing, our world tempting, our graves waiting, our sins heaping, let’s PAUSE, REFLECT and GET CLOSER to the creator.' 1st John 2:17 says 'The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.'

Stay hopeful. God's got your back.

Happy Sunday.

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey