On the 20th April 1653 (exactly 360 years ago to the day that I am writing this essay) Oliver Cromwell, who was the Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland and the greatest statesman and revolutionary that England ever knew, stormed the English ''Rump Parliament'' at Westminster and courageously pronounced the following words after which he sacked Parliament and boldly took power. He said-
My maternal grandfather was a great and powerful muslim cleric and scholar by the name of Sheik Nurudeen Sa' Id. He was from Ilesha. He was was also a civil servant and he spent a good deal of his adult life in Lagos. His father, that is my maternal great-grandfather, was a pure yorubaman from Ilesha. However his mother, that is my maternal great-grandmother, was a pure fulani woman from Sokoto.
One of the most important foundations of any civilisation is history. If we do not know our own history, who we are, who and what our forefathers were and where we came from then we are truly lost.
Villa Love Love, Cannes, Juanes Le Paine, Nice and Super Cannes. Summer of '82 in the South of France and then on to Athens and those beautiful Greek islands. Fondest memories. Those were the days. The best days of our lives. So young, so free, so vibrant, so happy. We had the world at our feet. We were full of life.
She is not the evil one and neither is she accursed.....I am. She was the kindest person I ever knew. She had a divine prescence....she was tranquility. Her gentle smile lit up the room and she wore the fragrance of a thousand spring flowers. Her crime was to share my passion and to have faith in my cause- to love, trust and believe in me. She saw my vision and dared to delight in my dreams and aspirations. Yet I failed her and repaid her good with evil. I failed her and scarred her life forever.
A poor boy who was begging from door to door to feed his hungry stomach, decided he would ask for a meal at next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young girl opened the door. Instead of a meal, he asked for a glass of water.
By the time this essay is published in the newspapers the Supreme Court of the United States of America would have ruled on the legality of same sex marriages. President Barak Obama has openly endorsed same sex marriages just as has the former American Sec. of State Hilary Clinton. According to a CNN poll no less than 58 per cent of the American people support same sex marriages too.
We live in an interesting world with interesting people. We only have one life so live it to the fullest. Trust and love God, hold on to your dreams, be faithful to your convictions and do as much good as you possibly can to all those around you. Do not be arrogant or forceful but at the same time bow to no man and let none intimidate you. Know who you are and where you are in the scheme of things: you are a child of the Living God, dedicated and covenanted to Him alone even before you left your mother’s womb.
The word of God is immutable and unassailable and He is faithful to keep it to the very end. If I know nothing else, this I know to be true. I know that scripture cannot be broken and that whether we live or die tomorrow is in the hands of God alone. I also know that injustice and deceit can never last and that persecution only fuels dissent.
Permit me to begin this contribution by quoting the insightful and powerful words of Hon. Dino Melaye who is undoubtedly one of the rising stars and stronger voices of the new and up and coming generation of political leaders in Nigeria. On the 19th of March 2013, just a day after the terrible bombings in Kano in which between 30 and 65 innocent Nigerians were killed (depending on whose report you choose to believe), Melaye wrote the following words on his facebook wall-
There is a distinction between a "pardon" and "clemency". Clemency sometimes includes a "pardon" because its a general term but sometimes it doesn't.
Premium Times, March 9, 2013
by Femi Fani- Kayode.
The call on the Federal Government by the Sultan of Sokoto to grant Boko Haram amnesty is misplaced and ill-conceived.
I am in total agreement with the position adopted by CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) and Mr. President on this issue and I am relieved that the call has been rejected.