Ogiri John Ogiri

By Ogiri John Ogiri Before the advent of Christianity, monogamy was alien to Africa while polygamy was a highly domesticated and cherished practice among many African men who were largely traditionalists in belief and practice. Then came the European incursion into Africa which also brought with it European Christianity. This new culture required Africans to submit themselves to the abandonment of their age-long established and cherished culture of polygamy in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the special status of a true believer in Christianity.  In other words, polygamy was relegated to the dustbin of detested African practices in favour of the newly introduced culture of monogamy, which was subsequently elevated to the hallowed chamber of accepted practices in the new African Christian practices. Today, monogamy is sanctified while polygamy is demonized in African Christian communities. But an African man will always be an African man. In order...

By Ogiri John Ogiri. As I pen this piece down, I think about many millions of lives that have been so far lost to hypocritical morality and religious fundamentalism across the world. I think about people currently being led to die by sword, firing squad and hanging all in the name of God. The chilling thought that man can be this brutally inhuman to another man in order to appease his religion gave a strong impetus for this piece. Religious extremism will always pose powerful threats to sustainable world peace and humanity. The way we go about, these days, debating, hating, lambasting, fighting and even killing fellow humans and getting killed all in order to justify, prove and establish the supremacy or otherwise of one religion over another is troubling. A gesture of solidarity during any period of festivity from an adherent of one faith to another adherent of another faith is enough to draw unsolicited angers of willing fanatics of the religion of the one who shows such ...

By Ogiri John Ogiri So far, facts of recent security infractions in some rural areas in Nigeria have invalidated the government-sponsored lie from Abuja that Nigerians are very secure in their various communities. Painful testimonies from many rural farmers and students in some selected states in the North, West, East and South have so far revealed that the government has deliberately failed in protecting the people for whom government was, in the first place, established. Things have now degenerated so badly that citizens have now taken to self-defence as a last security resort.  Only recently, we witnessed the launch of various regional security networks in the North, South, West and now in the East of our country. We can choose to either accept or reject the obvious reality that the launch of these security networks have vindicated those who have always held that this government has failed in the area of security. At least, we can now see clearly. As long as we conti...

As humans, I believe that, our fundamental, inalienable rights also include the right to believe and to disbelieve in a deity, to accept and to reject a religion; to elect and to remove tyrannical governments; to believe and to disbelieve absurdities; to prove and to disprove theories; to agree and to disagree with others; to praise the progressives and to criticize the faltering retrogressives; to hail the good and to wail at the bad; to associate and to dissociate with others; to accommodate contradictory views and to expel those views; to entrench and to retrench; to enthrone and detrone and, above all, to be who we truly are.  Therefore, we become guilty of selective guarantee of rights whenever an individual is denied the freedom to exercise any of these rights under the circumstances allowed by the constitution for the exercise of such rights to obtain. ©Ogiri John Ogiri.

By Ogiri John Ogiri That I walk around daily wearing an honest smile, like a priest in his reverred cassock, doesn't imply that I've no pain or sweat underneath my stylish furs. I do. I've only learnt to take responsibility for my personal happiness. I live daily on the conviction that no one can truly and selflessly make me happy better than I can make myself happy in an enduring manner. No, you can't make me happy; I'm responsible for my happiness. I can't make you happy either; you're soley responsible for making yourself happy. Truth is, when we create happiness from within us, we can share in the opportunity to benefit from one another's happiness. In other words, I can only share in the happiness you'll be able to create inside you but I can't give you happiness. In the same vein, you can only share in the happiness I'll be able to create inside me but you can't give me happiness.  Experience has shown that expecting oth...

By Ogiri John Ogiri We live in a world where many people have come to associate success and happiness with doing what others do that makes them successful and happy. They simply look around, find who's succeeding and start struggling to do exactly or something similar to what those successful people do without considering the importance of hobbies and passion in the whole thing. Imitation has virtually replaced raw ingenuity and learned innovativeness. The question is "can you ever find fulfilment in doing those things not in tandem with your hobbies? Can you ever be happy pursuing and living someone else's dream not in sync with yours? The answer may be left to time and experience. Over time, many of my friends have expressed interests in doing what I do that makes me happy. As a gospel singer, teacher and entrepreneur, I understand what it means to stick to ones dreams. So I've always advised them to draw a list of their hobbies and turn them into profita...

By Ogiri John Ogiri It is no longer news that the North, particularly the Northwest and Northeast and recently the North-central, has faced insecurity problem for over a decade now. So far, it has been reported by several news media that thousands of lives have been lost, millions have been rendered homeless and properties worth billions of naira have been destroyed with more still counting. Amidst these disturbing figures and scenarios, the North looks forward to an end to insurgency and banditry in the region. But how did the North find herself here? I think the North created her own problem of insecurity. The North created her problem of insecurity from the day her almajiri system lost direction with many of the children left to roam the northern streets without shelter, adequate food, clothing and good education. These children became easy recruits for insurgency by various religious fundamentalist groups such as Boko Haram among many others. The north created her own p...

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 an...

When beaten by the vicissitudes of life, some people sometimes console themselves by sitting with an unenthusiastic slouch brooding over their past but avoidable mistakes. They wish things were different. Yes it is okay to regret your past mistakes but it is not very all right to quit trying. One thing is sure and that is, the final whistle has not been blown yet.Therefore, you can still achieve your life's dreams. Just try again despite all odds facing you. By experiencing sad moments, I learnt the importance of happiness. By shedding tears, I came to appreciate the importance of a smile. By being hated, I learnt to love better. In my moments of anger, I learnt patience and forgiveness.  During moments of my folly, I learnt to appreciate wisdom and discernment. During those times when I was either taken for granted or overlooked by people, I learnt to think bigger and believe in myself more. Through rejection, I learnt acceptance.  By being close to failure, I learnt more abo...