Ogiri John Ogiri

By Ogiri John Ogiri. I have decided to pen this here for the lavish consumption of those who have been conditioned, by their foretaste and actual experience of the pangs of life's many challenges, to think and hold that money is better than education; that money is better than a degree certificate. I do not agree with this line of thought because I think it is dangerous to so hold and espouse. I am convinced that money can never replace and displace knowledge from its enviable position as the origin and destination of everything in the society as well as in the life of mankind.  For this reason, I think we should discourage our younger ones from holding and promoting this kind of a mentality. Agreed, in this part of the world, we have not been able to conquer the basic necessities of food and water, clothing, shelter, security and education. Many still wallow in abject penury even to the embarrassment of their God who created them. However, this should not become a sufficient groun...

  By Ogiri John Ogiri. My dear hardworking Priests and Religious,  I hope this finds you in good shape. Let me begin my letter with an appreciation of your painstaking sacrifices for God, man and Church. I do know that most of those sacrifices of yours are not celebrated because they are mostly done off camera and public viewership. People are quick to publicize your scandals but too slow to generously publicize your sacrifices. But those of us who had desired to become priests but could not achieve the desire; those of us who are still very close to some of you are aware of these sacrifices. You are doing well. I do not suppose that you have no errors, I choose to focus only on your strengths because I am aware that some of those errors are characteristics of human frailty. I do not expect you to be perfect either; I expect you to just be enough; just be yourselves. Having said this, I would like to remind you that, as humans with all the essential characteristi...

 By Ogiri John Ogiri. Growing up was quite tough for me. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so I experienced poverty firsthand. But then, living in a highly superstitious neighborhood meant that one was expected to take on a line of belief to explain why some people could be living in affluence while others lived in squalor. The popular explanation was that a force, a devil, could be responsible. Consequently, more efforts were invested in fighting the imaginary devil than were committed to solving the problem of poverty through a simple but practical method of achieving breakthrough namely tackling the scourge of a disastrous ignorance through education. For some of us, the devil was responsible or so we were conditioned to hold. Every subsequent religious teaching I got in my early childhood days seemed to point the root of the problem to one unfortunate figure, the devil. Oh poor devil! That was the mindset I grew up with until, some years ago when I acquired a new...

 Ogiri John Ogiri The weakest point in a every man is love; she can strip the mighty king of his power and make him a slave. Yet the strongest point in a man is love; she can make the weakest into a powerful man of valour and influence; she can transform an ugly soul into a beautiful being, whole and complete in kindness.Indeed, love is a necessary evil we must become and give to others.  It is a necessary dilemma. Either way, we get to drink from her many fountains of bitterness and sweetness. She gives us no straight choice to live without facing the task of unraveling her many puzzles. Her mystery is dreaded yet adored by the mighty and the lowly alike.  Whenever, we are stung by her poisonous venom, we curse the day she was created as she leaves a sour taste in our mouths and the deafening sound of her silence in the tremulous agony of our heart, gives no succour to the house in which she once sojourned, wined and dined.  But whenever, we drink from the well of...

 By Ogiri John Ogiri. One of the very first attempts to remove subsidies on petroleum products by the federal government was in January, 2012. The then president Good Luck Jonathan-led administration, had announced that the subsidies on petroleum products was no longer in the interest of the common man but that it was a tacit way of subsidizing the rich. Hence, they were removing it outrightly. As usual, people, both well-intentioned and those driven by selfishness and greed, came out to denounce the president's action which they had interpreted as wicked and anti-people. Within a few days into January that year, protests were organized by many prominent Nigerians so that the government was forced to reverse itself, and as they say, the rest became history as the government suspended the implementation of the fuel subsidy removal policy. By 2015, when the APC-led administration of former president Muhammadu Buhari came on board, it began to grapple with the reality of the fraud sur...

 Women prefer successful men to loyal men; men prefer loyal women to successful women.  ( As inspired by Stephen Wise ) This is a beautiful irony. This is why, despite your handsome look and unflinching loyalty, you still get dumped easily by your girlfriend the moment she sees a successful man. This is why, too, despite your beauty, money and influence, you still get dumped by your boyfriend once he finds a loyal, humble lady. Everyone is in search of different levels of satisfaction in different indeterminate ways However, a man who is both successful and loyal is the ideal choice; a woman who is both successful and loyal is wonderful but these may be available only in heaven, not on earth; not in Africa, never in Nigeria. We are a complex expression of an insatiable specie of higher animals but we are constrained by the limit of our choices! My advice:  It is not enough to be humble and loyal as a man, be successful too. It is not enough to be successful as a woman, ...

 As long as you are ready to believe anything without asking intelligent questions, you are a source of income for somebody. This is why the prophecy and prayer enterprise is a booming business in the religious industry in Africa, and Nigeria in particular.  It is not every religious centre that shouts and preaches in the name of Jesus that is working for God and Jesus Christ. Some just want a free, untaxed access to the luxuries of money, power and women. You can be milked out of existence if you are not wise.  If you cared enough to interrogate the theological substance of what they often sell to you, you could be shocked by a discovery of two possibilities; the depth of their unbeliefs and the profound errors of their beliefs. Be careful! Test every spirit to know if it is from God. The devil can even shout the loudest hallelujah in the midst of angels. © Ogiri John Ogiri.