Akin Ibitoye

#OccupyNigeria #FuelSubsidy #ABSURAPE #ALUU4 #MUBI #BOKOHARAM #PLANECRASH #FESTACRAPE #UNBOMBING #KIDNAPPING #PILEUPS #BUILDINGCOLLAPSE #FIREDISASTER It is evident that we live in a broken world and nothing we do will fix the predicament we the inhabitants find ourselves because we ourselves are imperfect and there is no way we can create a perfect system out of an imperfect mind. The mere fact that we go from one tragedy to the other shows that the change we seek has to start with us, otherwise, we will remain in the same dysfunctional state where things seem to work, only to take turns for the worse and degenerate into terrible situations which jolts us back to reality. That some of the tragedies we have witnessed in recent times are man-made and preventable is enough reason for us to realize that we need to consciously work on renewing our minds. Where's the love gone? Love for self precedes love for others and this will breed fore-thought and help your decision-making ...

Forgiveness, just like Love, has definitions to varying degrees or like an onion—layers. I always thought I had the forgiveness thing locked down, yeah right! Just like the proverbial out of the blue, it hit me that I had just erased that part from memory and decided the type of forgiveness I wanted to extend. I found out that I couldn’t (or at least that’s what I had subconsciously agreed) go back if I had the chance. On my way home, it became evident that this sealed can of worms had been in the basement and it is already stinking. It took an interviewer’s probing questions for me to shed light on that chapter in my life’s story. Forgiveness is absolute, but just like everything else, we make it relative and as such varying standards abound. This means what I call forgiveness may not cut it for someone else. While my version of forgiveness may be shallow and warped, yours may be brutally honest. Ultimately, we are responsible for our versions of forgiveness, while it is in our best...

Something we all shy away from, well at least most of us do, but we secretly crave it and would do anything to get it. As with everything on earth, it comes with both good and not so good sides. Once you break into the spotlight, center of attention, even if it is for twenty-four hours, you have gone down into the history books and your every move becomes an interest to everyone around you.  Then you have media houses like hawks hovering above your life, waiting for a slip up from you so they can sell their stories through their papers, ads, or whatever their means of transmission.  While you may be oblivious to the consequences or the burden that accompanies fame, it is in your best interest to look beyond the popularity and perks that it alluringly promises, the responsibilities are equal and can sometimes outweigh what you stand to gain from becoming famous. Also, you should have in mind why exactly you want to be in the spotlight, so that when the time (your tim...

My heart breaks when we seem not to care about what happens immediately after a tragedy. We have a knack for wanting to be the first to ‘break’ the news, the drive erodes our sensibilities and we post words, photos or videos we regret later on. If we had our heads screwed on properly, and our faculties are in good working order, we will empathize with the families of victims and allow the appropriate authorities to break the gut-wrenching news of the loss of their loved ones. We need to exercise restraint when we are faced with very sensitive information and consider the lives that would be potentially altered drastically as a result of what you know. Also, it is highly insensitive, grossly irresponsible and reeks of utter disregard for the feelings of the affected families, when we keep posting and reposting gory photos of mangled, dismembered and charred human remains on social media outlets after the tragic events have occurred. Let the dead rest and circu...

It is very easy for me to change my mind, based on prevailing circumstances, so as to minimize exposure/vulnerability. However, it appears He is always in love with me and all the junk I have allowed into the room of my heart have blocked the ray of God's love from illuminating my heart and thus, the warmth I have been accustomed to is glaringly missing, hence, the gloom, depression, constant feeling of loneliness and lone-ranger attitude while maintaining the outward appearance of keeping it together all the while feeling like crap every day. Someone said “loneliness is not a loss of someone, but a loss of direction and vision for your life” I  couldn't  have put it better myself, we are usually tunnel-vision-minded that we pay so much attention to the physical that we ignore the most important and yet invisible parts of our lives. A saying goes thus “the most important things in life are free”, and while you may find reasons to dispute it, the fact remains, you can’t ...

The proverbial moment of decision on which the real purpose of the whole story hinges on is here in this chapter of the story. All I have learned prior are turning out to be more than was summarized in those books. Looking back now, I think I would have rubbed minds directly with the authors to have a firsthand knowledge of what they went through, how they held on (if they did) who/what changed their minds and convinced them to stay the course, plus, when did it all change and when did they notice it? I know I have written in earlier times that I have reached the lowest ebb, but the definition keeps getting redefined for me and the record keeps being broken by none other than yours truly. For years, I have pride myself in my ability to choose to do something and stick with it, unwavering. Of late, it seems every decision I have ever made is being revisited and my determination does not seem to be able to help, it may be nothing, but no, it is definitely everything. If my dete...

So, you know how you have always wanted to write a book but never got around to writing it? Well, this is one of those things you write instead. It is a very hard thing to sit, organize your thoughts, research, and dig/maneuver through billions of memory units in your brain to find the best-fit scenarios to drive home your point. When you are doing something worthwhile and requires using your mind, time is irrelevant but it sure does move slowly simply because you are engaged in tasks more grueling than physical laborers who earn wages. Your brain uses up more energy than most of your daily activities combined. Your brain is physical and can be seen (via scan while you’re alive, via touch when you’re dead and taken for autopsy) but your mind is invisible. Occasionally, we would point to our head when referring to our mind, technically, that may not be correct, but hey, who cares where it is, as long as it works. Then there is what we call heart (not the muscle) or conscience,...

Where are you going in such a hurry? That is the question I keep asking myself anytime someone walks past me on the pedestrian bridge. Those who use the bridge (yes, there are some folks who believe it is too much work) know that it is just wide enough to accommodate two people, in opposite directions. It seems some individuals always have emergencies, and do not have time to wait a couple of seconds. If the above is a bit vague, why do we rev our engines when we have seen that there is a traffic light ahead and its is already on amber, a precursor to the dreaded red light? Why do we become aggressive when we see a learner driving in front of us in traffic? Why do we honk our horns when the car ahead of us does not start in time when the light goes green? The truth is that we do not know exactly why we are impatient, there is nothing really that our impatience does to speed up the process (especially when it is caused by others). Sometimes, our impatience brings out o...

Olomi! Olomi!! Olomi!!! (translated: Water Vendor) We screamed at the top of our lungs as we raced after the water tanker that came by our community a couple of times a week in the early nineties, he didn’t stop though and we gave up after doing about a hundred meters; either he was out of water to sell or he didn’t hear our ruckus which is highly unlikely. You see, the reason for that bizarre scenario is the bane of our country today, lack of planning! There was no municipal water system in place in what is regarded as the largest housing estate in Africa! If there was one in place, in less than a decade after its inception, we moved in and after a while, a small group of residents decided to concert efforts and dug a well, got a pumping machine, a storage tank and life went on. Fast forward two decades, a new municipal water system is built, but the downer is this, with almost a thousand housing blocks of six or eight flats each, you are looking at over two hundred wells ...

Question // Sunday, March 27 th 2005 You have been telling people “you are a world shaker” and you don’t say how. How does an average youth become a world shaker? Answer // Wednesday, March 30 th 2005 An average youth can become a world shaker that (s)he is by discovering who (s)he is! Discovering the “why” purpose for which (s)he is created at all. Discovery of self and purpose will put one on the road to the fulfillment. Commitment to the purpose will keep you on that road, because as you keep your eyes on the end result--which can include you discussing with world leaders, presidents, statesmen, leaders of industries, et al dictating their economic, political and social affairs, the idea should keep you on track. If you check very well, your future is not one faraway place that you are trying to get information about, your future is here, how today is treated readily transcends to your future. Your today was yesterday’s future. When the question “why” has been an...

The word "impossible" is used when we get to the limit of our abilities, when we know better, the word fades away and it becomes "I’m possible". I remember vividly in elementary school, we were taught that 1+2=3 , but 1-2=impossible. You can imagine my shock when I got into high school and we were taught that 1-2=-1, I was like, are you kidding me? Then it was time for the square roots, cube roots, exponential factors, quadratic equations and one we aptly labeled "almighty formula". We were taught that The square root of 4 is 2 , but that The square root of -1 is impossible. Off to college and in the very first class, learned that The square root of -1 is i. Then discovered that 1= Cos^2 # + Sin^2 # (where # is theta, from the Greek alphabet) It was becoming ridiculous for me, but then I thought, maybe they (whoever was in charge of the curriculum) thought that it is better to give it to us in bits and pieces, like in unveil...

When I first wrote the script about the helmet wars, I left a cliff-hanger. Well, here is the concluding part. Two years into the helmet wars, we are almost back to square one. I cannot say for certain how many lives have been saved as a result of the usage of crash helmets, but one thing is certain, the authorities that are supposed to enforce the law have since turned it into another source of income. Riders who do not wear or even possess crash helmets are supposed to have their motorcycles seized, but for a token (bribe), they escape the arm of the law (at least until the next police officer 'catches' them) and the cycle continues. Being a superstitious environment, some passengers don't wear helmets because there have been rumors of people disappearing as soon as they adorn the crash helmet. Hence, it is not uncommon to see individuals holding the crash helmet a couple of inches from their head; which is supposed to be a dumb attempt to fool the authorities. W...

I woke up in the morning and as if on cue, my digital surround home theatre system plays my favorite selection of gospel classics, enter the bathroom cum toilet with Jacuzzi for a personal hygiene session; my closet holds my sportswear and my iPod ready for a wonderful time of cycling because it is a Saturday! As I cycle out of my garage door, I couldn't help but appreciate God's grace in the procurement of the twin duplex my wife and I now live in. As I cycle away, the valley unfolded before me like a carpet. Despite my earphones, I could hear the birds singing praises to God at the top of their tiny lungs. The plants are not taking it lying low either because their flowers are in full bloom and their leaves moving rhythmically with the cool and gentle mountain morning breeze. Oh the freshness of the morning! I take a deep breath and hold it for as long as I could. It’s a much needed break from the smoke, dust, and exhaust gases from automobiles, generators and factories o...