TRUST, PLEASE FORGIVE US

 

I was thinking this morning.... I have been working for safety for over 30 years and thought I knew my employer until a few years ago when a young man came up the altar in my local congregation to give a testimony. When asked to introduce himself, he said his name was 'Safety.' 'Really? Could this be my employer?' I thought, smiling.

About three months ago, I had cause to give a job to a young man called 'Believe.' I initially believed in his ability to deliver on the assigned task. Two months down the line, Believe couldn’t deliver. Today, I no longer believe in Believe.

Then a couple of weeks ago, at a work event, I met a young lady who said her name was 'Signs.' I was confused and initially thought I heard 'Science.' With further probe, she said she is actually a twin, and both of them were named 'Signs' and 'Wonders.' Wow! was my reaction.

Yesterday, I watched the 2025 Netflix Limited Series thriller, Zero Day. Somewhere in Episode 1, I listened to the sitting POTUS trying to convince an hesitant past POTUS to take up a public service job to lead a special team to investigate a cyberattack. She had said, 'The only thing more important than a quick result is the result that everyone can trust. They trust you.'

I pondered those words and recalled that I used to know someone called 'Trust' but haven't seen her in years. I suspect someone must have offended Trust, making her leave the state or probably the country. Everything has fallen apart in Nigeria since Trust disappeared. I have checked the ranks of our political leaders, Trust is not among them. So many religious leaders no longer have Trust as their companion. What about in business? You will never find Trust there. Amongst friends, Trust is missing.

Trust, please, where are you? Why are you not around like your other companions? I attended NSPPD and other large religious gatherings, and I saw 'Signs' and 'Wonders' there. At my workplace, I see 'Safety' every day. Even 'Believe' occassionally shows up. But where is Trust? Where in the world can I find Trust? Trust, wherever you are, forgive us and come back.

While Proverbs 20:6 asked, 'Who can find a trustworthy man,' I am pleading for someone to find Trust and bring her back to Nigeria. We all need Trust to make progress.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

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

Mama, My Shoe!

 

I was thinking this morning.... I was at my desk on Monday morning when my colleague walked in. Because I hadn't seen him in over a week, I walked over to his desk for a warm handshake. As I shook his hand, my attention was drawn to his solid steel-toe boots. 'Who are you kicking this morning?' I asked. In his visibly confused look, I could tell he was wondering what I meant. I decided to save him the trouble by telling him the story of my cousin, Big-T.

In 1991, during my NYSC year, I usually spent short breaks with my aunt at the Borokiri area of Port-Harcourt. My cousin, Big-T, who was a teenager at the time, had this pair of boots that he used as a secret weapon should he get into a fight. Using the steel toes boot to kick anyone was a sure knockout tactic. On a particular day, we were all seated in the living room when Big-T dashed in. He was heading for his room when my aunt stopped him. Holding his hand, my aunt asked what the problem was. With so much anger, Big-T snarled, 'Mama, my shoe. My shoe. Mama, my shoe.'

While we all laughed, we knew that someone had offended him, and he wanted to unleash his secret weapon, his steel-toe boots, to kick the hell out of that potentially unfortunate boy. But then, we held him back. 'Mama, my shoe' is an allegory of 'I will teach you a lesson.'

Most people have secret weapons they deploy to fight back offences, similar to the venom snakes deploy. You see a man in a lovey-dovey mode with his wife, and she asks him for money or some favour he is not willing to meet. Knowing that he can do it but don't want to, she immediately activates the 'Mama, my shoe' weapon. For some, it is malice, others will starve their spouse of food or sex.

What's your weapon of offence or defence in the face of an attack? When you cry 'Mama, my shoe,' what should your victim expect? Character assassination, physical assault or spiritual arrows? When next your spouse, colleague or some random stranger offends you and you run into your weapon store screaming 'Mama, my shoe,' please ensure it is the shoes of peace you are going for, because Ephesians 6:15 says 'And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.'

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

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

WHO BROKE YOUR COCONUT?

I was thinking this morning..... I was invited to the commissioning of a multibillion naira facility during this past week. After the commissioning, the MD invited me to his office to tell me his story. He recounted how he rose from a humble beginning sleeping on the bare floor and mats in a remote village in Delta State to becoming a very successful businessman today. 'I have always made it my guiding principle not to see the hundreds of people that work for me from the lens of MD vs Worker, because I was in a worse state than them many years ago.'

He told me how information got to him about a tenant in one of his blocks of flats in Port-Harcourt. 'I was told how the children of this tenant were sent home from school because they were unable to pay the fees, and I was really touched. If they couldn't pay school fees, how can they pay the rent? I imagined. It reminded me of how I was sleeping on mats and bare floor for many years. I immediately called my lawyer and instructed him that all 12 tenants in the block of flats should no longer pay rent. That was 6 years ago.'

As I listened to him, I imagined how wonderful the world would be if everyone who had a humble beginning like him would give a helping hand to people in difficult situations. As I mused, I recalled the words of my young wife, 'When the gods break your coconut, stay humble.'

It's very easy to feel proud and walk like someone wearing a shoulder pad because you 'don hammer.' There are some very successful people from very poor backgrounds. Today, they treat their former classmates and other not so fortunate people like rag. They avoid them saying 'this one is not in my class.' Just a personal reminder from my wife, 'When the gods break your coconut, stay humble.'

It's been a Hindu tradition for ages to break coconut during auspicious occasions like buying new cars or even starting a new business. To them, breaking coconut is synonymous with prosperity. In that context, not everyone is lucky to break coconut. They've done all within their powers and even prayed for divine support, but the coconut refuse to break. You may or may not have exerted energy, yet your coconut broke, and you are enjoying the succulent white fruit. As you enjoy, remember that 'When the gods break your coconut, stay humble.' Remember Proverbs 18:11-12.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

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

Your Value, My Nothing

 

I was thinking this morning.... Last week, I was decluttering my wardrobe when I saw this lace kaftan or what we used to call buba and shokoto. I had made that outfit  for the dedication of my first child and had been reluctant over the years to give it away because it always reminds me of the joy of that special day. The value of that piece of clothing to me is not in the cost but the memories associated with it. To someone else, it is a piece of relic.

Some years ago, when my son was in his early teens and about my height, I decided to give him a shirt I really loved. I thought it would look good on him. My boy wore it once and never again touched it. After many months, I noticed the shirt was buried in his wardrobe. As I took it out, I wondered how a piece of clothing I value so much meant nothing to him. It was then I appreciated the relativity of value.

To my son, the shirt was old school and not his type of clothing. T-shirt was his thing at the time. However, to me, apart from the shirt being expensive, I looked and felt good in it. While the shirt was valuable to me, it meant nothing to my son. My value, his nothing.

Something that means the world to one person can mean absolutely nothing to another person. You see a man treat his wife condescendingly. He insults her, beats her up, and handles her like rag. Yet another man adores that same woman, worships the floor she walks on and praying for a chance to be with her and love her. What is nothing to the husband, is of value to another man.

Value is relative. Some things may not have monetary value, yet they are priceless. Some things become priceless because of what they represent to some persons. What's valuable to me is not up to you to decide. Just like what's valuable to you has nothing to do with me. The Eiffel Tower in Paris looks like a pile of metals to me, but because it is valuable to the French, it has become valuable to the world.

Believe in what you value, and others will come to respect it as well. Respect what I value just like I will respect yours. It's okay if we disagree on what material things we value, but one thing we should never disagree on is valuing a soul. Every life is more valuable than gold. Job 28:16.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

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