Deep Blood Red

Don't tell me that the blood of Jesus which we always talk about is over the top, played out, too religious, theoligical or down right corny. In an ICU ( Intensive Care Unit) or A and E ( Accident and Emergency) of a hospital where critical cases are handled; one time too many, you come across patients in need of blood. Such as have lost so much blood. This is a really critical case, and donors are solicited for urgently. Urgency is the key word! Blood is the life line of any individual and such person would NOT survive for long with blood from a donor. But there is another hurdle. Such a person needs blood from a donor that matches their's. So don't tell me that you can't Understand how Jesus' blood can save you. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Every bad thing you ever did, you eventually have to suffer, and be punished. Just as in an ICU, someone had to literally shed their own blood to save a patient, and it had to match; so Also Christ also had to shed his blood to save YOU. He was the perfect match. The blood of goats, bulls, calves, no other sacrifice of blood could take away sins. Only Christ's. You are in need of the blood of the lamb. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory some point or another. And God would be just to punish us. Even after here on earth. Yes, I believe in after life! Jesus shed his blood to cleanse you from all your sins, so you can live and not die. The death you truly deserve. But you have a choice. You can accept this life line, or walk away. But, 1 out of 1 person without blood dies. The process of accepting this blood is very easy. 1. Just BELIEVE. Stop your cynicism. Believe that Jesus died for you, shed his blood to cleanse you and woke up early Sunday morning to save you. 2. CONFESS. Open your mouth, confess your sins to God. Ask him to come into your life. And declare that He is now your Lord and saviour. 3. Go back to number 1. Now Christ is the master of your life. You're now saved. If you've never done this, here is the right place and time. If you have, be assured of your salvation. You might say that this is just too simple, or easy. But, if I asked you to do something harder to save your life, wouldn't you do it? As much as it is easy, this is not a casual process. This is commitment. Remember: We're saved by grace, (not anything you've done) through faith, (believe!) in Jesus Christ (alone!!). Your past dosen't have to worry you anymore. You're saved! Born again! Happy Easter!!!

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Relationships 101

So, you saw this headline and you were jolted immediately. Your eyes brightened and you said; what is Uche going to talk about now? Maybe you also opened this to confirm your suspicions, or you're like, what he know anyway? just chill for a bit with your questions in your mind. Religion has been quite an issue. You have always heard the cliche; "Christianity is not religion, but relationship." How I wish more and more people with wholesome (wholesome is the key word) relationships could approach their relationship with God the same way with their partner and vice versa. Whether it's a married couple, engaged couple, or people just dating. We wouldn't have so much problems if we did it right and the same way with God, like with a spouse or partner. Now I am not going to claim team single, but there are a couple of things I've known and observed as similarities with our relationship with God and between ourselves. 1. God wants to be first in our lives. Our waking thought, and our sleeping thought. He wants to be the first person we talk to in the morning and the last at night. It is actually dangerous if we let anyone take the place of God in our life. The truth is, God is even the one that can help you love another person. The extent to which you rub off from God's glory and grace determines the success of your relationship. God can teach you how to love, not lil Wayne. So loving and putting God first doesn't jeopardize our own earthly relationships, it reinforces it. 2. Just like the first point, God requires constant communication from us. A Sunday Sunday Christian is a no no! Just like people in a relationship want to always be talking everytime and checking up on themselves God also wants open, regular communication with us. It's called prayer. Prayer is not a monologue, but a dialogue. You speak God listens, God speaks, you listen. Prayer is not a self righteous uphill task that we pride ourselves in. It should be as easy as saying hello to a friend. 3. God's love constrains us. People keep saying they're not perfect enough, but God still loves them. Very true. But some of this same people don't make the slightest effort to please the person (God in this case) that they love. Imagine knowing that someone you love wouldn't have you do something. Now it would be a situation of gross unfairness if you do know, and keep doing that same thing to hurt their feelings. Same with God. God loves us and forgives us, but we should love him back too much not to keep messing up, and rest in his grace to help us anytime we fall short. 4. We should always be proud to associate ourselves with God and not be ashamed. Just like a woman takes on her husband's name as a new identity, everyone around us should know us as children of God every time. 5. You cannot bribe God to bless you. I give offerings and sometimes tithes because I love God, and not because I am expecting anything in return. Same way we show love to those we love and can go any extent. Sure God blesses, and we should have an amount of expectation when we give, but look at it, all you have was given to you by God, an offering is an opportunity for you to tell God how thankful you are to him, and also an opportunity to be blessed. But trust me on this one; you cannot bribe God to do something for you. 6. Know and believe the love God has for you. The things we do for love...do you know how much God loves you? and how much he's willing to do for you? unfortunately, so many people give up on God in the process, same way some people will have nothing to do with some others because of they've measured them in a certain standard. Then one day those people they measured hit jackpot... God loves you, hold your head up high. Believe things would work out, expect good things to happen to you, expect to stand out, because God Almighty, the creator of the universe loves you! Always be conscious of God's love for you no matter what. Don't expect worse, expect better! expect to be exceptional, because your father loves you. 7. Trust. Without trust in a relationship, there is just no point. I trust God with my life. Afterall He gave it to me. This confidence and trust in God is the knowledge that God cannot mismanage your life. Through the good bad and the ugly. No matter what or who comes or goes, who tells you no, whichever place or point you find yourself in life, know that God is in control of your life, and everything will work for your good! 8. Truth. God requires truth in our most inward places. There is a need for us all to have an altar of honesty with God where we can let it all out; fear, flaws, insecurities, hopes, ambitions, dreams, disappointments, all of it to God. Stop trying to fake that you have it all together. You don't. I can go on and on, but the truth is that until we start approaching Christianity as a relationship with God, we will always burn out and get tired of this race and our faith, and we'll start seeing serving God as a bore or a chore. And as distance shouldn't be a problem in our human relationships, you too haven't not seen God yet, still love Him, up until the time He shall be revealed unto us and we would see Him as He really is!

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Nigeria is a Very Hard Place to Study in; Turning Scholars into Hustlers from Day 1

Is life really hard? Is it just me, or do the hardships in Nigeria have nothing to do with life as a whole being hard? There's this TV series; ''Necessary Roughness''. Let me tell you a story of another series, Nigerian version; ''Unnecessary Roughness''.
My first contact with the reality of the unnecessary Nigerian Struggle was when I started writing my Senior School Certificate Exams (SSCE) Waec and Neco.

 We did our oral tests in French and English, in places that were disgusting. Those places were meant to be colleges of Study and learning. Simply put, my friend Faith told me that, if she schooled in such places, she'd literally throw up every day! 

Now the environment wasn't the only issue. I attended a very nice high school, so the rest of the written paper tests and practicals were in my school.
I didn't have much problems with the Waec practicals in Chemistry, Biology and Physics but Neco was a bit different.
We had three days each for both the Waec and Neco practicals. The first day of the Neco practical, this young lady and man walked in. There were winks and smiles around the lab. I am guessing that most guys thought this was going to be a breeze! It was Physics.
It wasn't a breeze. The next thing the lady was giving orders here and there. One minute she seemed like mother Theresa, the next she was a Margaret Thatcher wannabe. She was really a nut case. Don't know exactly what she was trying to prove. The other guy that came with her remained as passive as possible throughout those three days, and he seemed more obtuse in my opinion, as the days went by.
Physics practical, I didn't submit the time she went around to take the scripts. When I shortly came around to submit, she refused to take my script.
I begged and begged, but she refused. She put other people's scripts in one old, ugly, faded, and I would have loved to add smelling but it wasn't; just an old, ugly, faded green bag where they kept scripts, (God knows for how long they've been using that bag for Neco! They always use it year in year out) and she locked it. Physics teacher came along and begged, she still remained adamant. My friend Ovoke stood by me to give me moral support, and begged with me, but she refused.

 She eventually took my script. I wasn't even there when she did. Physics teacher kept trying to convince her till she entered the car that will take her back to the Neco office; graciously provided by the school. I would like to add here that; give and take, this iron lady in question wasn't more than 25! Yes I know! She was a small girl. I vowed to repay her back in my own way.
Next day or two we were having Chemistry. Chemistry was so easy, everyone finished in record time, and there was more than an hour left to go in the paper.
Me and Ovoke agreed; she was time conscious right? We too would be!
Ovoke didn't have the capacity to continue, but I did! Long after everybody had submitted, I didn't submit! I remained in the lab. Time wasn't up, I was through though.
Then the journey started. Just me and the lady and the other guy.
I kept moving around the lab, looking for some unknown chemicals. Then I'll go back to my seat and start whistling. When I got tired, I started resting my 'weary' head on the table! Lol. Of course the lady complained but time wasn't over, and I told her that I wasn't done! Yes, I could afford the luxury of wasting my time so I could waste her's since she was so touchy about time.
It was almost reaching the hour mark, and the lady got exasperated. She obviously knew what I was doing, she was getting tired, so was I, so she threatened not to take my script. Time wasn't up yet, and I would've continued, but I decided that the message had been passed, I had given her a dose of her own medicine. I decided to honourably bow out head held up high.
Mr Enaoroh and Miss Akande; chemistry and biology teachers were so proud of me! Lol because iron lady was also a pain in their behinds too. Mr Enaoroh bought me la Casera (a drink) and beffie (beef roll) lol I was smokn' hot that day! I can remember the lady seeing me that last day, after the chemistry, and smiling she said; ''my stubborn friend''. And indeed I was, I gave her problems too in Biology. I can't remember ever replying her; maybe I did...maybe I told her that I wasn't her friend...
P.S: Do Not Try This At School!!

The rest of the paper written tests were wanda  

kind. We weren't allowed to use calculators, even in Maths! The logic is simple; if you don't want us to use calculators, don't give us calculator questions! I realised after the Waec, people; speaking of the invigilators, will choose officialdom over human feelings. This was our future they were treating with such levity. Neco wasn't even a problem for me. The only problem was their mark scheme! I could've sworn that I deserved more than the all C's I got lol.

We are a very religious society! Yes prayer changes things! Hold your God tight here ooo! You'll hear prayer points like; ''Dear Lord, let the person marking my script, have his wife cook well for him, and put him in the right mood to mark my script.'' Gobe is when the person marking your script is a woman...a lonely, bitter, husbandless one lol.
You need a miracle for everything. No matter what you write; You need a miracle for your Jamb result to come out! Another miracle for your Waec and Neco to come out, then another miracle for your Post-Utme result to come out. The final miracle is admission. Believe you me, each stage of these chains of supernatural occurrences qualify for testimonies in David Oyedepo's 50,000 capacity church. That's how our bureaucratic juggernauts want us to feel, like it's a privilege to get admission in a government institution.
I was in a business center and this lady, the computer operator was close to tears. She had finished school four years ago. She had to look for a job as a computer operator in a business center because of the admission problem. This was her fourth year, she wrote GCE (Waec/Neco equivalent) last year. She had been trying each year, and paying. She just checked it before I walked in. ALL her papers were withheld. Next year things for her.

If you were thinking that gaining admission into a government institution was the last line of walking in the supernatural, you're dead WRONG! You'll realize how much people love God in school. Prayer warriors, pastors, evangelists, preachers. God is not an option here trust me! Some of them won't let people sleep, steady speaking in tongues into the night.-

Right from day 1 when I started my school clearance, into Uni that is, I started hustling. By 6am, there was a crowd already in unity bank. They were all pressing into the gate. We needed tellers to pay for a record file that we were going to collect from the bursary. A different place. Pushing tossing, it was not until noon that I got my teller. I paid 3,000.

The next day at the bursary, came early enough, 7am. Another mammoth crowd. Pushing and tossing. I felt miserable. I was in the middle of the crowd. Tired, hungry, thirsty weak, it was stuffy. They would sometimes push, and I'd feel the impact. On top of that, a leaking air conditioner was dripping on me. It was horrible. I didn't get my receipt until about 1.00pm. I was standing all through.

The clearance wasn't over yet! I had to go to the auditorium. Triple the amount of people I saw in the bank and bursary combined, that's the number that came to the auditorium. And it was increasing daily. For a week, I kept going to the auditorium, but couldn't clear. They couldn't manage the crowd. I was spending the whole day there with an empty stomach achieving nothing! Meanwhile, everyone coming was already given admission by the school, and had all paid 45,000 acceptance fee. The school couldn't create students' records and verify admission they'd already given. It was done in the most haphazard manner.
The second week of the clearance, there was an incident. I wasn't there, it was on Tuesday, but I was told that several students were assaulted by security and a journalist that tried to cover the event was also assaulted and detained till the next day.
The problem was that they were trying to arbitrarily clear students. It was so disorganized. Most students were coming daily just like me; some as early as 4.am but still weren't able to clear. So, many people were getting really desperate. This even led to a worse situation the next day, Wednesday.
I was present that Wednesday. I came as early as 6.am, and several other students were already there, say like 700. The gate leading into the auditorium, was locked. They didn't usually do that!
As the day dawned and got brighter, more people were coming. The students were getting really testy which was understandable. They had been coming for weeks now. Two people were in front of the gate at the other side. They refused opening it.
At some point, the gate was opened a little;students began forcing their way in, and in a few moments, the gate was pushed down! Broken! It was corrugated iron sheets used round the auditorium, and after a while, people began jumping over the sides of the now already broken gate.
In all this confusion, there was a stampede. About 10 people were trampled upon. I saw some of them. Two ladies out of breath, they were already faint. Many were injured and their clothes were in shreds. As I walked into the auditorium, by the entrance, various shoes, more than 30 pairs. The owners were evidently involved in the scuffle. Soon the ambulance came. Many people that started to feel faint or that had already fainted were carried out. Nobody had eaten so they should be very weak. So all these people, including the asthmatics were sandwiched in this small ambulance. One person was feared dead. All for clearance.
After that day, they started making the exercise online. Your name had to appear in their website, before you came to the auditorium. Tell me the block heads that didn't think of this earlier, and someone had to die, for you to use your head!

It's not by your power or your might. I've met so many people that will swear that what they were reading, wasn't what reflected in their score sheets. Truly, it was about how many people they needed to pass. If the number was too much, they downgraded the average scores, if it wasn't enough, they upgraded the scores. Ever seen when a lecturer, after marking decides that everybody passed well, and re marks to reduce the scores, because it wasn't possible, in his somehow twisted, narrow reality that everyone should pass? Same with graduating students, it's not about the average class performance, it's about the numbers they want graduating.
Just after two weeks of staying, I noticed a strand of white hair. Lectures have not even started, and I was aging! The struggle I had passed through in two weeks was more than the struggle I've faced since the beginning of the year! I had trekked miles and miles, because the road networks in campus was disorganized. I had waited in various queues more times than I could bother to remember! I had met so many stupid people, unhygienic ones; with bad breath and body odour, even girls were turned beasts, because everyone has to hustle for themselves. And lectures hadn't even started!
The Truth of the matter is, if you ever meet someone who's been through this system, and isn't an animal, respect such a person!

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