Ogiri John Ogiri

Do not Judge People; Love them. By Ogiri John Ogiri. Photo Credit: strivingforeternity.org In our world today, many people are living in abject frustrations arising from the prevailing high levels of poverty, wars, lack and deprivations occasioned by unfair and unjust government’s political, social and economic policies that tend to favour the rich more than they favour the poor and vulnerable. As consequences, our society has continued to witness increasing crime rates expressed and operationalized through prostitution, armed robbery, frauds and terrorism in all its ramifications just to mention a few. Perpetrators of these social vices are those we label criminals or undesirable social elements. This situation has, thus, placed a huge social and moral burden on us to restore their lives and destinies to them. How then, do you we solve it? Is judging and condemning  them enough? As a way out, governments of many countries aro...

By Ogiri John Ogiri Abstract This work examines the prospects and challenges of the defunct Nigeria Airways for the transport sector. The secondary method of data collection was utilized in collecting data for the research work. In other words, the researcher depended solely on documented materials on the subjects from available sources in the libraries and internets. The researcher discovered that the defunct Nigeria Airways harboured a huge collection of prospects for the transport sector while it existed. However, mismanagement among many other factors posed problems that eventually led its formal liquidation in 2003. It is therefore recommended in the work that these pitfalls, most important of which was gross mismanagement and leadership incompetence, be addressed by the government in its present quest for the revitalization and re-establishment of a new national carrier under a new nomenclature ‘NigerianAir’. Photo credit: BBC News. Introducti...

"Fear is a ruthless weapon of oppression and mental subjugation, usually and gleefully , employed by the powerful against the vulnerable in the society. All that is required for oppression and slavery to triumph over freedom for a very long time in a society is for a man to organize and instill the mentality of fear, usually supported by warped or distorted religious indoctrinations, in the mind of another. Therefore, if a man can conquer fears, then he can wrestle himself from the shackles or manacles of oppression and mental slavery. Fight your fears and conquer it." - Ogiri John Ogiri ( Culled from "How To Achieve Real Happiness in Life" written by Ogiri John Ogiri )

"The real witches and wizards are not those women and men who transform into something else in order to fly at night; the real witches and wizards are those women and men who don't forgive. They are those women and men who go to bed with so much bitterness in their hearts and minds. Yet they pray for a good night's rest as they go to bed each day . Just imagine it. Isn't that funny? How can you ever have a good night's rest with so much bitterness and unforgivingness in your heart and mind? You can never have rest unless you forgive that person. Sometimes those mysterious monsters you see in your dreams are the bitterness and unforgivingness you have allowed to dwell and fester in your mind for so long. You remain a wandering or vagabond spirit at night unless you empty your mind of bitterness and unforgivingness. Do yourself a favour by taking a break off malice and bitterness towards others. Forgive others. Forgive yourself. Let it go and you will be happy. That...

Contradictory Realities of Nigerian Politicians: A Comparative Analysis "In the developed worlds e.g America, UK, France, Japan, to mention just a few, people go into politics to serve; in Africa particularly Nigeria, people go into politics to be served." -Ogiri John Ogiri (in his 'The Cost Of Doing Nothing" Unpublished) From my personal observations over the years, I have discovered that there are two categories of politicians in Nigeria: those who join politics to make and take money from the national treasury and those who join politics to put in more money for the benefit of the people. Politicians in the former category have the tendency to see politics as a business venture where personal interest in profit maximization assumes dominance over selfless interest in national service. Put more succinctly, this category of politicians do not see politics as a mission to serve but an avenue for self-aggrandizement. This is why, in their campaign speeches, appea...

The Relevance of the Idoma Traditional Colours By Ogiri John Ogiri Introduction Photo credit: crwflags.com Nigeria currently boasts of over 250 ethnic groups speaking over 400 languages. Everyone of ethnic/cultural group possesses certain symbols of identity unique to such group. These include music and dance, food, dress, architectural designs et cetera Through these symbols, people in a socio-cultural group become easily identifiable. One of such a group with a highly-defined cultural identity is the Idoma nation. Idoma is the name by which the people of Idoma ethnic group designate themselves, and are addressed as such by their neighbours. Idoma is also the name of the language of the group as well as their land.(Armstrong,1983) The Idoma as a people are currently inhabiting the southern end of the Benue valley or the River Benue. Others can be identified in Cross River(Yala and Ogoja), Nasarawa (Doma and Keana), Kogi and Enugu State. In Benue state where they a...

Before It Is Too Late.  By Ogiri John Ogiri Photo credit: Treasurebasenews At such a time as this when our dear country is bleeding from a deep cut in her veins inflicted on her by religious fanaticism, ethnic chauvinism, preponderance of regional loyalties and interests over national security, greed as well as genocidal tendencies of a microscopic few, it becomes incumbent on us to speak out. The heinous crimes against humanity being perpetrated by those who do not wish to see Nigerians live in peace have now reached a crescendo. It is therefore an act of injustice on our part to continue to remain in silence. We must stop wallowing in the self-delusion that things will get better. It can only become better as soon as we take the initiative in speaking out against the disturbing injustices in Nigeria. We must rise and speak truth to power. As Henry de Lubac said "It’s not sincerity, it is truth which frees us, because it transforms us. It tears us away from our inmo...

Mid-day reflections By Ogiri John Ogiri When Jesus went missing in Jerusalem, his parents searched for him and after three days had passed, he was found in the synagogue teaching the wise. He was found doing his father's work. My dear friends in Christ, where do people always find you? What do they always find you doing? What do they always hear you talk about? Lord, help me to be found in your presence always. Let me be found doing the right thing at all time. In the office, at home, among people, let me always dwell in your presence doing your work which are to teach others, helping them to acquire knowledge, wisdom and understanding, feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the prisoners, open my home to the destitute, listen to, and comfort the worried, give peace to troubled souls, encourage the weak, and love the unloved. In everything, help me to work and live for charity so that on the last day when you shall come, I can be prepared to sit for...

The Holy Rosary Prayers are scriptural by  Ogiri John Ogiri Different people have asked me questions about the place of the the holy rosary prayers in the Bible. Some- unenlightened Catholic and Protestant brethren- have openly criticized the Catholic church for teaching and encouraging Catholic faithfuls to pray the holy rosary prayers arguing that it is all about Marian worship and not about the worship of God. I have tried to answer those questions on several occasions during my intellectual intercourse with them in schools and in the Church. But I still feel the need to write on this same topic so as to help you understand that in the Catholic Church, we honour Mary very deeply and religiously but we do not give her the worship that we bestow on the Almighty God. The Holy Rosary in the Bible Photo credit: Catholic Exchange. The Crucifix On the crucifix, we recite the apostle creed which is the profession of our collective faith in God, who became man through th...

My Morning Reflections When you don't know me;when you have never been close to me,you are likely to misunderstand me; you are likely to judge me wrongly. But before you write me off, first give me an opportunity to prove myself; before you judge me, wait until you have known me; wait until you have been close to me. I am not whom you think I am or should be or whom you perceive me to be. I am who I am. I am just me. Be careful. Don't judge anyone wrongly. Don't write anyone off because of his or her present condition. You don't know tomorrow; tomorrow is unpredictable; tomorrow is a bottomless ocean which is without a definite end. The journey to the place called "tomorrow" is indeed a long and tortuous journey. It is not the swift that survive and get there; it is the humble, the courageous and the persistent at heart that eventually make it.  You have seen only what I am today but you haven't seen or known what I will become tomorrow. Be wise! Be hum...

Doing good is a heavy burden on our conscience. Why is "doing good" being described as a burden? It is for the simple reason that, it is more difficult to act right and do good acts than it is to do evil acts or act wrongly. Apart from those who live false lives,denying the existence of any trace of conscience in them, we all feel guilty when we go against the dictates of our moral consciences. On the other hand, we all experience joy unspeakable and some kinds of uplifting of the spirit when we perform good deeds. To free the conscience, to relieve it of this burden and empty our minds of guilt feelings, therefore, we must strive, with unabated continuity, to do good. We will have no need to worry about any witches and wizards attacking us from our various villages as some so-called men of the cloth have had us believe) because they will see the light of our good works and glorify our father in heaven. We will have no need to go for any "special" deliverance on a...

Your Most Dangerous Enemy is You! By   Ogiri John Ogiri In your daily journeys in this life, the likelihood that you will meet one form of challenge or another is very high. Don't be surprized or scared when they come and they will always come. The reason is that, life was not designed to be a bed of roses. The creator never promised anyone a life free from stresses or challenges. In fact,he specifically told Adam, “You will have to work hard all your life to make it produce enough food for you.  It will produce weeds and thorns, and you will have to eat wild plants.You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.”(Genesis 3:17-19). The implication of the above statement is that you must work hard if you want to succeed. There is no overnight success anywhere. Unfortunately, due to distorted scriptural teachings from mate...

We Are Not Cowards in Benue State We are not cowards in Benue state, we are brave men and women. Our fore-bears were parts of those that gave up their lives in defence of the sovereignty of our dear country. Our fathers fought hard to keep this country together during the civil wars. That is a sign we are no cowards. That we offered our hospitality to you was not a sign of foolishness on our part; rather, it was a reflection of our spirits of tolerance,accommodation and kindness. We show you love in the face of your overt aggression against our collective existence because we are a brave people. "  A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave " said Mahatma Ghandi of India. Benue state has great men and women who have distinguished themselves in their various fields of endeavour. We have only chosen to be law-abiding and we will continue to remain law-abiding. You can burn our churches; you can kill our priests; you can abduct our Christian ...

Benue Pogrom: The Way Forward! A Call on Our Leaders! By Ogiri John Ogiri. Your Excellencies Distinguished senators David Mark,Barnabas Gemade and George Akume, the Benue state Governor, Dr Samuel Ortom, current and former members of the Benue state Executive Council,our Honorable members of the Federal House of Representatives and Benue State's House of Assembly, Your Royal Highnesses, members of the Benue state traditional council, youth groups, civil society organizations and other well-meaning Benue citizens. It is no longer news that, a war has been declared on our people; that a battle line has been drawn in the Benue valley between the well-armed and highly protected Jihadhists and the unarmed and vulnerable Benue citizens. They want our land by force, they don't want us to go to Church, they don't want us to go to school anymore,they don't want us to go to farm anymore but our land we can't surrender. So they kill us every day. I would like to use this me...

Arise and Defend Yourselves Oh Benue Youth: A Call to Action. By Ogiri John Ogiri. Fellow Benue youths, I must admit in the most sincere way, that these are not the best of times for us; indeed, these are perilous times for us both as a nation and as a people. Since the inception of this administration about three and half years ago until today,we have lost thousands of our dedicated, hardworking yet innocent and hospitable parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts etc in Agatu,Guma,Logo,Okpokwu,Gwer-East just to mention but a few, to an unfortunate genocidal war, declared on us by the jihadhistFulani herdsmen and terrorists, a war which they have covertly and overtly executed unchallenged and with impunity, in most cases applying the clandestine guerrilla war strategy of preemptive strike and hide using the advantage of the element of surprise. What is our offence? Our only offence is our unconditional hospitality to strangers or visitors. My heart-felt sympathy goes out to th...