Nigeria @55. 55 Nigerians I admire. 5. Panam Percy Paul

So today we continue with our series on Nigerians that are worthy of respect and admiration. And it is beginning to look like this series may run till the end of the year with life getting in the way so often.

I have made up this list primarily because that there are still men and women in our society who have kept faith in and with Nigeria. These people, some dead some living with us, some in the public space, others quietly doing their thing out of public glare have shown to me and to those around them that Nigeria is not a failed state. If we emulated these people and the thousands like them out there we'd have a society we could all be proud of.

Number five on my list is Dr. Panam Percy Paul. This man is an icon in every sense of the word; Gospel musician like none other in our nation. He has written so many songs I'm not even sure he can remember how many. He has mentored so many artistes that if he wanted to he would fill a town with his protégés. Dr. Panam has been singing for well over forty years and he has been consistent with his message of hope, love, peace and the worship of the Father. Unlike so many in the music industry he has remained focused and refused to fall to the temptation of singing just for the money. 

Something amazing about Dr. Panam is his love for education; the man has more than six degrees and three of them are Doctorates! Unlike so many Nigerian celebrities who acquire honorary doctorate degrees and flaunt, Dr. Panam has PHDs in Philosophy, Sound and in Music. He is an accomplished father, husband and Pastor. "Daddy Panam" as he is fondly called is definitely a man worth his onions in more areas than one. Meeting this icon has been one of the most fulfilling moments of my life. Dr. Bakulipanam Percy Paul Mokungah is definitely one Nigerian I respect and admire.

Wuye Ultra Modern Market-Matters arising

Community Concerns 

Background:

Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria is a peculiar city in several aspects. One of the peculiarities of Abuja is that it is subdivided into districts. Thus the neighbourhoods are in clusters of fully independent communities next to each. These communities are then linked by an ever-widening network of world-class roads. In Abuja's original masterplan, each neighbourhood or district has its own hospital, schools (primary and secondary), neighbourhood park and market or shopping area. 

Expectedly, most of these neighbourhoods have grown and are now interdependent on each other, however, they still retain their individual identities, if only in name.

One of such neighbourhoods is Wuye district. Wuye is fairly new as districts go, and its development has not been as rapid as earlier districts like Garki and Wuse or even Maitama and Asokoro. This is not entirely surprising all things considered. Nonetheless, Wuye is growing and gradually becoming a vibrant neighbourhood. Rent is steadily climbing into the sky, though still much lower than the other districts. Private schools have sprung up  and there is a fledgling public school which is a story for another day.

Wuye Market

As noted above, one of the features of every district is a market or shopping centre. Most of these are government projects, built and allocated to traders for a fee or sold outright. Several years ago, a

flea market arose somewhere in Wuse district and it grew so rapidly and uncontrollably that it became an eyesore and a source of discomfort for the government and residents alike. In responding to the threat that this 'illegal' market presented, government decided in its 'wisdom' that the traders would be relocated to a different market which at the time was not in existence. Wuye, was the chosen market. Government went ahead to sell allocations to traders in the erstwhile market and allocated a piece of land for the construction of same. But that was as far as the story went for a long time. To cut a long story short, a private developer won the competitive bid to develop the market on a Build-operate-and Transfer (BOT) arrangement. The developer then went ahead to build the market and reportedly advertised it for sale at 30% completion. The original allottees from the old market refused to interest at that time believing that they had an incontestable right to the market stalls. What they refused to take into account however, was the market was not being funded by the government and the developer, being a commercial enterprise would want to recover their money back. The developer went ahead and sold the shops to interested members of the public.

Fast forward to present day. Market was completed and commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan. Everything done beautifully to very high standards including access roads, perimeter fencing, everything required to make a market function. But the market remains shut. Why?

The government allottees insist that they must be the only ones to occupy the market and they took the developer to court to contest the sale of the shops which happened a while ago. Today the market is shut and everyone is suffering. The Wuye community is being deprived of the economic activity and the shopping convenience the market would bring. The developer has built but is unable to operate and so losing money in the process. The investors who bought the shops when it was advertised for sale have their money tied down as they cannot take possession and begin business. The original allottees who believe they own the market are unable to also move into the market until the issues are resolved.

QUESTIONS.

The questions uppermost in most people's minds now is:

 Why did the original allotees sue the developer rather than the government with whom they had a 'contract?'

Why did the government, knowing it had made a promise to the traders, not make arrangement to pay the developer for the spaces it had given out ab initio?

Why has the developer, who has spent millions of naira on this project, suddenly been labelled the villain?

It was gathered that the original allottees paid sums ranging from five thousand to eleven thousand naira; if this is true then it is quite laughable in a place like Abuja where it is almost impossible to rent a shop for ten times that amount of money.

For now it seems like the matter is at a stand still but unquestionably, all parties involved must find a way to resolve the logjam and move ahead quickly. Wuye district awaits. 

#shalom

THANKFUL FOR THE THORNS

Hello People, It's been a particularly turbulent year and this morning I woke up struggling with the things I struggle with every morning; thoughts of how to move from point A to B crowded my mind and it looked praise would be a struggle; until I saw the email below from the Daily Encourager. It blessed me a great deal. I love to share my blessings............ "Thankful For The Thorns" Sandra felt as low as the heels of her crocks when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss. Troubles had multiplied. Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder. "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life, but took her child's?" "Good afternoon, can I help you?" Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I... I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving? Do you want the beautiful, but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the 'Thanksgiving Special'? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?" "Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong." Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you." Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer, "Hi, Barbara... let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed, thorny roses - except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped. There were no flowers. "Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again.", she said, as she gently tapped her chest. Sandra stammered, "Uh, that lady just left with, uh... she left with no flowers!" "That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet." "Oh, come on! You can't tell me someone is willing to pay for that!" exclaimed Sandra. "Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do, today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery." "That same year, I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel." "So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I NEVER questioned Him why those GOOD things happened to me. But when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, "WHY? WHY Me?" It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others." Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about the thought that her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is, I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God." Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement... twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator. "Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?" "No... I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. "Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem. The Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny, here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!" "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life." Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh." "Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out. "I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?" "Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me." The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first." It read: My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant." Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.

Celebrating Nigeria, Celebrating October

CELEBRATING Nigeria, celebrating October This is a special month; one of the several special months in the year. It is the month of Nigeria’s independence from colonial rule. Some people- including yours truly- have often wondered if Nigeria did not get independence too early; nevertheless, we did get out from colonial rule and so we celebrate. Beyond the negatives, we do have a lot to celebrate as a Nation; the sense of freedom-well, most of the time at least-, the unbeatable spirit of the Nigerian, especially those of us from the Niger Delta ( Wafi no dey carry last, even if we are being a danger to ourselves). I remember once, a couple of years ago in a small Ivorien border town; it was almost 8pm, completely dark and we were in danger of being stranded but I still went ahead foolishly insisting on my rights. I could barely speak the language and while everyone else was quiet, I managed to make the point that I did not take kindly to being cheated and lied to. I could have been killed and thrown away in the bush and my family would never have found me but the Warri girl in me was on a roll; even after, a stern looking gun toting security man, pulled me aside and said very sternly, “ici Cote d’Ivoire, n’est pas Nigeria”, I made sure I hissed at him very loudly before getting into the overcrowded taxi for my night ride to Abidjan. You just can’t push us quietly under a carpet, and I celebrate that I believe the Brits would have stayed longer if the Warri people and those with the wafi spirit were not part of the entity called Nigeria; they just couldn’t stand us any longer, and so they left without completing their assignment, and here we are, 51 years later, wondering who stopped the music and looking helplessly for the Disc Jockey. Nevertheless, we celebrate you Nigeria; you may not be the best but you are all we’ve got and we celebrate you, this country of ours. The things that have befallen you would have felled many a “stronger” Nation, but you are still standing proud, maybe a little bent but you are still there; I celebrate that. Every successive government steals more than the last and we hold our breaths expecting to hear the death knell, but you simply shake it off and say, “bring it on”. I celebrate you my Country, land of my birth, home of my dreams, maybe not in my time but certainly, we will get there. I celebrate my October people too; Aunty Murietta, whose birthday is October 4th, my Sierra Leonean Aunt with a heart of gold and the ability to make boiled water taste like a gourmet dish; beautiful, lively, loving and sassy. I celebrate you Aunty, on this earth you will receive a reward and in Heaven too. Happy Birthday. You’ve always brightened my Octobers I celebrate too, a recent friend, a leader, a brother, a man of God and a totally beautiful and selfless person, Pastor Jasper Chime Gogo. A heart for God’s children everywhere, a selfless giver and a big dreamer. You push people to go beyond themselves and excel; you put your pain aside and encourage others to turn their pain to gain. We celebrate you Sir! The World will laugh with you yet, you’ll see. I celebrate too, my brother, Ben; he beat me so much as a young child, I needed no one to tell me my mouth was too “sharp”. I love you my October brother; greatness lies in you and together we will bring it all out. You are special indeed. I celebrate my friend, brother and classmate, Enahoro, fine boy of those days! A good number of the girls in my class had teenage-sized crushes (is that correct?) on you. Those who didn’t were either crushing on unattainables like Michael Jackson or had too much bad belle.( I reserve the right to hide the category I belong to). Well done my dear friend, it was a priviledge growing up alongside you. Happy Birthday in advance I celebrate too, a dear friend who became such a big man that we dare not mention his name here anymore; you were a good friend and good friends should always be celebrated. For you, I down my imaginary glass of the finest champagne as I drink to your health. And last, but no way the least, I celebrate October, ushering in the end of the rains and the start of my favourite season of the year. Now I can begin to count the days to Christmas. I celebrate you October, as months go, you deserve a high five!

Craving some freedom of worship...

I'm a dreamer, always have been a dreamer and I guess I will always be a dreamer. No regrets though; a lot of my dreams have come true, some may still come true and some others are sooo outlandish, I know they will not come true ( Jesus loves me too much to allow those come true) Some of my dreams are just escape places for me to run away from reality; I usually make those dreams very beautiful and I put in everything to suit my mood at the time. I dream in full technicolor and I spare no expense to make my dreams exactly what I want. After-all, what'[s the point of living less than fabulously in dreamland? So, I make my dreams as good as possible and who knows? someday I just might see one of my "impossible dreams" come true. Right now, I'm dreaming of freedom of worship; Please don't tell me I live in a country where I can worship the way I want. I know that already. The kind of freedom I want is the freedom to worship without church politics, gossip, rumours, intrigues and all those little things that trail humans wherever they are found. A wise person once said to me that the closer you are to the centre of events in a church, the more you will find out that people are the same everywhere, even, in the church. Sometimes it gets so tiring; trying to be careful of hurting people's feelings and not being able to express yourself freely and truly-sigh! Being diplomatic in the house of God? Not easy for me to do, I must confess, so I'm creating a dream church where I can worship freely and there are no intrigues, no politics, no diplomatic manouvres. Just plain old worship of God Almighty.....In short, a little bit of heaven on Earth. I can dream, can't I? Shalom!

Post Birthday post

Hello my friends

I have been very quiet, which is not unusual; what is unusual about this quietness is the period I'm in.It was my birthday eleven days ago (10th) and I usually make some noise on my day. It is my own "Christmas day" and I would normally write something. I had actually planned my post for that day, but for some reason it was not to be. At the last minute, I decided to do a different type of celebration, one that is almost entirely spiritual and did not require any sort of noise making. The type people usually term "soul searching"

So yes, I've been searching my soul, and I must confess, I've not been too pleased with some of the stuff I've found there. Broken dreams, unfulfilled promises, under achievement, missed or misused opportunities..phew! I could go on and on. I've found a lot of clutter and it looks like there's a whole lot more to discover in that place where we usually hate to look. I've decided to look very hard in every nook and cranny and do a proper "spring cleaning" with the help of my Helper, the Holy Spirit. It could take a while to get there but I know at the end of this sanitation exercise, a whole new me will emerge. I can't wait to meet me then, but even now I already see the benefits.

So, what did I do on my day? I visited my daughter in Queen's College with her siblings in tow and spent several hours cheering at the school's inter-house sports. I received several beautiful wishes online and offline. Got some very lovely presents and was treated to a beautiful dinner for two by my favourite person. Thank you all for stopping by on my birthday; I appreciate every word, every wish and every prayer. If you didn't stop by, don't beat yourself up; I didn't notice, in my heart you did and I appreciate you.
It's been a very busy time for me at work and a number of things breaking out here and there. Watch out for details soon.

Shalom

Here's to YOU

This one's a special post today to some of my fav peeps who are celebrating. A famous line from the Bible says, "Silver and Gold have I none..." and this day I will use what I do have to wish you all a fantastic, fun-filled' and fulfilling year as you grow older.

The year began with my handsome (inside and out) God-loving, Jesus-preaching son who turned eleven on the 1st day of January- I celebrate you my son, I love you beyond words, beyond reason. You were marked before you were conceived, given to the LORD from whom you surely came. I stand in awe of the Lord's annointing upon your life and feel totally priviledged to have been the Lord's vessel in this great work. I bless you with every breath that I have.

There are January people that I forget now as I write but the Lord cannot forget; February 5th my beautiful SILs, EJ, IG and ON as well as the memory of the best brother in law a wife could wish for, Charlie, I know the Angels cut a cake in Heaven that day! 10th was for my dear husband and though the day was quiet, I know that Heaven smiled at the final picture of this great work-in-progress. My lovely, lovely, friend, uncle, brother in Jesus, father, mentor and dearest person, Uncle SAO at the UN, even the mere thought of you is a blessing! I know your day was blessed and I hope we speak soon. I miss you sir. The journey to greatness is not over yet by a long shot.
Today, 25th, is for two great ladies, Aima and Ndidi. Beautiful, vivacious and totally God-loving, and not ashamed to proclaim it! Only the LORD knows what impact you've had on me and mine. Aima, I send you a virtual hug and a special kiss; when you put that spoonful of birthday rice in your mouth, pray hard that it ends up in your belly and not mine cos I'm thinking of you so much today. Ndidi, I know I will see you today, some responsibilities you cannot run away from...this one must be!

The month will end with another dear person I must celebrate; Jonah, my friend, brother, brother-in-law, "Doctor" and neighbor. Don't know what we would do without you in our lives.

To you all, I say, may you know God in ever-increasing measure, experience grace beyond expectation,joy divine,Peace that passes understanding and blessings that overflow.

I love YOU and I celebrate YOU, but even more, Jesus loves You and He rejoices in You.

Have a wonderful year! Happy, Happy Birthday

PS: ...and if I didn't mention you by name, the Lord has numbered the very hairs on your head and it is impossible for HIM to forget your name...

and now I remember, my newest friend, age mate and Warri Sister, whose day was yesterday 24th, Mrs AJ, of FCMB, who, I believe the Lord has just brought into my life...Many Happy returns!

Shalom!