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Category: opinion
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Reflection: Favourite Time
Sunset is my favourite time of the day. Not only are evenings made for telling stories but are moments of self-reflection and truth. It’s the sun’s way of reminding everyone of the need to take some break from the day’s hustle. In Africa, it’s a time of rest. Each time I travel to the countryside, […]
Grace is free sovereign favor to the ill-deserving.” – Benjamin B. Warfield
Limits like fears are often just an illusion – Michael Jordan Limitations In my last post on African proverbs, we discussed how the eyes become useless when the mind is blind. In this short story below we will understand more about mental limitations. Held by Ropes! A gentleman was walking through an elephant camp and […]
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Quote: Don’t Give Up
How high can a sycamore grow? If you cut it down, you will never know – Pocahontas
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February: Month of Love
It’s a brand new day! February is designated as a month of love and affection. Show some kindness this month.
Confidence defines behaviours and actions, so this new year, let’s do ourselves favours by believing we are whole and accompanying these thoughts with actions that make us grow. So, be grateful every second for who you are and this will change your internal believes over time. What you tell yourself will either make you attract […]
The English dictionary defined depression as a state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future. Many people experience this daily. Depression sucks out the joy and life of an individual even when the person is still living. Honestly, I think being sad is the youngest brother […]
What we do in life echoes for eternity. Maximus Choices are tender,Just like mirrors,They are a reflectionOf what is or will beSo if in or out,Be mindful of optionsIf in, maybe gaily securedIf not in, then out of mindDecisions made every dayComes knocking many years,So let it be good always.
Remember, people, the universe; everyone is waiting to applaud you. Stay focused on your dreams.
The Wind Cheers the wind cheers for meit dubs me great names,gives an account of tales,I missed in my absenceand let me dance with her airs.out in the tranquil forestwhere all elegant things roam,where all beautiful birds sing,and where memories encounterthe ancient, undulating altitudes,sits Ovim, my darling land!the land of bravery,the land of my father,and […]
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Quotes on Kindness
There’s so much power in love and compassion. The first part of healing is finding the courage to forgive. Let your message to the world be one of kindness and humanity. Love is the fuel that keeps the world glowing. Light the world.
When you believe in yourself anything is possible.
Make Hay While It Shines I’ve written this short rhyme for kids and teens. It came to me when I remembered the story I read as a school kid—the tale of lazy hoppers and busy ants. The ants were seen as losers because they had no time for frivolities. Indeed, the ant clan spent most […]
To give and receive love, we need not wait for perfection
There was once a king, whose queen had hair of the purest gold, and was so beautiful that her match was not to be met with on the whole face of the earth. But this beautiful queen fell ill, and when she felt that her end drew near she called the king to her and […]
Police Brutality Police brutality is a disaster. It’s quite unbearable to watch the ones we entrust with our lives and protection evolve into civil nightmares and agents of dismay. Sometimes it seems that people do not have rights anymore. While there are global protests against police brutality, little is done by government institutions to address […]
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Speak Up
Silence is not always golden When it comes to caution and discipline, silence may be an adversary. Take, for example, seeing a kid who rides bicycles on the busy road and deciding not to warn him of the hazard. Also, consider not calling the police instead preferring to record or watch gang violence across the […]
Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear, and obstacles vanish – John Quincy Adams These two virtues make the difference between success and failure, between accomplishment and disappointment. If one can adopt them then he/she can conquer the world. Ponder over this.
A King Without A Crown I used to take on a noble character whenever it comes to acting among my peers. I remember performing King Nebuchadnezzar in a high school drama class. It was sport hearing my classmates address me as the king. Nebu – the short-lived nickname that followed after wasn’t much fun. Please […]
Learning from mistakes together is how a family works.
Happiness is contagious; spread it. It is a direction and not a place. Spread it as you go. 🙂
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I Gained My Freedom
Freedom sometimes does not come free. Gained My Right of Way Reminiscing on my primary school days, I would say I didn’t have much interest in the games provided for school kids. I was not too fond of the swing. I had no joy in rocking back and forth on a piece of the metal […]
Life is a circle, and stories take us all around it. © Oke Iroegbu
Igbo: Ùda akùilu abùghí ùtō ya English: Bitter Cola doesn’t taste like its sound (literally). Background: Just like the name, bitter cola is a very bitter fruit! Sometimes I do wonder why it’s not called a ‘very bitter cola.’ Alongside the kola nut and garden egg, it is commonly used as a ‘welcome fruit’ in […]
Is enough not enough? Civilian casualties In peaceful times, it is easier for the victor to reconcile with the vanquished. It’s ten days already, and I kept wondering why these two governments prefer to use force over dialogue. I regret that the Armenian political leadership failed to engage the Azeri in peace talks when they […]
The drums of war have been beating since the beginning of this year.7 Eurasia ‘When it starts, it will be over there. Eurasia* may introduce the world to a global conflict.’ Those were my words as I sat watching BBC’s global news. Before the announcement on Nagorno-Karabakh, I had always predicted that a future global […]
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Opinion: A Divided House
China and America When two elephants fight, the grass suffers – Igbo proverb I was wondering what the world will look like should China attack America or vice versa. It’ll be a disaster, a human-made catastrophe. But I’m not only weighing the destruction that will follow a war between the two but the economic stress […]
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Racism
It costs absolutely nothing to be kind Live and Let Live An Igbo (African) proverb goes thus: Let the Eagle perch, let the Kite (bird) perch also. Any that forbids the other from perching let his wings break! We say that as prayers in West Africa because it’s a reminder and belief that all men […]
My take on this… It’s generally believed that knowledge is power. Yet many find it difficult to differentiate between wisdom and knowledge. For me knowledge is having the stuff while wisdom boils down to application of the stuff. To differentiate both from education is even a thing of further logic. In my opinion education should […]
Life like the mist is temporal but legacies live and last forever The Black Panther I get easily bored with movies. It’s hard to see me watching TeeVee anyway. No matter how much I try, I can only watch National Geographic Wild and Discovery Documentaries. But when a movie gets me hooked I can see […]
I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. Nelson MandelaAt a time colonial forces and indigenous South Africans fought over land rights and freedoms, a courageous man spoke up for his […]
You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ Joel Osteen. A difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose. John Maxwell. I love the light for it shows me the way to […]
At times you need to stop everything you are doing to sit by yourself and mend your broken wings. Cold evening and a To do list I sit outside. A cold evening out here with me. A community of crickets quizzing through the grassland. A gust of wind upon my face, swinging my helpless lamp […]
Of all the magic in the world, none is more powerful than love. …And that’s if we accept that any other thing qualify as magic. Love is a driving force. It can change things; perceptions and imaginations. Great achievements are accomplished through it. Great writers wrote about it. It’s something beautiful to love. Imagine what […]
Beginning and end Light after dark Dark before light Darkened skies With dancing fireflies Breezy evening Joyful moonlight And glittering stars A shepherd’s lore Down the country Sheep and goats, Green and gold, Patches of life, Water and fire, Dust and wind, Heaven and earth All in fine contrast But happy unison Shallow roots shoot […]
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Beirut
Beautiful Beirut and AUB I’m writing about this lovely Mediterranean city because of my connection and attachment to it. I’ve seen several YouTube videos of it’s beautiful landscape and neighborhood. Beirut combines the tranquil setting of ancient history with the thrill of a modern city. I followed some Beirut based vlog channels and it’s always […]
Admitting imperfections are great ways to becoming a better person, people and leaders. City of Talents and Resilient people I was born and raised in Ogbor hill, a suburb of Aba, a city in Southern Nigeria. Aba is known for its industry and export of labour to many Nigerian cities and overseas. The city is […]
Sometimes those who crown kings don’t look like kings and may never become kings but they can help one wear the crown. A short story There was a poor man who wrote a book at the age of 40 and decided to launch it on his birthday. He had no money to fund the launching […]
An old man once told me the story of how as a young man, his mother used to ask him: “What is the most important part of your body?” Through the years, he would take a guess at what he thought was the correct answer. First time, his answer was: “The ears.” The mother replied: […]
Oke Iroegbu's Blog (African Bard & Storyteller) 