KAY

MARRIAGE: A KEY TO PURPOSE

2011-12-03T00:02:00.001-08:00

BY
KAYODE ADEBIYI (KAY LORD)

Marriage is a covenant shared between two souls, who tie the wedding knot after promising to be companions for a lifetime. It is the physical, mental and spiritual unison of two souls. It brings significant stability and substance to human relationships, which is otherwise incomplete. It plays a crucial role in transferring the culture and civilization from one generation to the other, so that the human race is prospered. The institution of marriage is beneficial to the society as a whole, because it is the foundation of the family, which in turn is the fundamental building block of the society and most importantly the Church.

I will submit at this juncture that marriage itself is a misery. I also want to declare that marriage is an institution that only God understands, and for us to make success of marriage here on earth we need to continually pray for His grace to see us through. No one has a monopoly or the “I know it all” knowledge about marriage. Moreover, no two marriages are the same. Every marriage has its peculiar characteristic therefore it is ignorance for anyone to want to pattern his/her marriage after that of any other person. Be that as it may, there are some basic biblical principles that is worthy of note for all Christians in order to build a godly marriage institution.

Before Genesis 3, biblical work ethics has been sounded by God. In Gen. 2, God created two institutions: (a) The Law – To teach one to live under authority and (b) Marriage – To teach one to live for someone other than himself. Ability to determine what is good and evil was by God, its God’s prerogative alone. He never delegated moral authority to man or any of His creatures. It is God who determines that it is not good for man to be alone. There was no indication in the Bible that Adam was dissatisfied with his circumstances (Gen2: 18-25). After making His evaluation, God proposes a solution by providing a “helper”. God was already his helper but a superior helper; the animals could not satisfy the position either because they were inferior helpers. The helper must then be one that will be equal to him. She’s to be “suitable” for him, that is, they must be spiritually compatible. In Hebrew “suitable” means – something that completes a polarity i.e north pole to South Pole. One without the other is incomplete.

Now this brings us to the question of “helper”. Who is a helper? A helper is the one that provides what is necessary to accomplish a task or satisfy a need; contribute strength or means to; cooperate effectively; to make easier or less difficult; facilitate, profitable to/in carrying out a task. In other words, there must be an ongoing task that would need the assistance of another person in order for the work to be accomplished. God already gave Adam the blueprint of his life and the work he was created to do. At the point the bible recorded in Gen 2: 18 that God realised it is not good for man to be alone (to carry out the work alone). There was need for a “helper” suitable for Adam to assist him to fulfil the purpose of God for his life. As earlier said above, that helper must be “suitable” for him because the destiny of Adam and the “helper” is intertwined. It is in helping Adam that Eve will derive her purpose and destiny. The NKJV says; “....a helper comparable to him”.

Therefore, if a man does not have a “work” at hand he is not qualified to seek for a “helper”. God planned that a woman would find fulfilment and accomplish purpose by being a helper of destiny to her man. A man must therefore first of all seek the face of God to know his purpose/work on earth before seeking to get a wife. A man that gets into marriage without knowing his purpose is endangering the life of the woman. It is a disaster waiting to happen and two destinies that are about to be truncated. Women should be spiritually alert not to fall into wrong hands in marriage. The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 was able to fulfil her God given destiny because she was able to be a “helper” to her husband. In verse 23 of Proverb 31, it was recorded that; “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land”- (in the Jewish tradition, the nobles, elders and the most important men in the society converge at the gates to deliberate and from there rule over a city).
This was a marriage perfected in purpose. The husband was distinguished among the elders at the gate; he’s not just one of the elders but a noted one for that matter because of the activities of the wife. I believe if the wife would also be described, she would be referred to as the wife of the “notable elder” at the gate. This is the hallmark of a godly marriage!

I hereby admonish both Christian men and women of marriageable age to be very spiritually alert when it comes to chosen a life partner. Marriage is part of fulfilling purpose, it’s not outside purpose and it’s not to be taken with levity as we now see in our society today. When marriage is contracted outside purpose there would be no fulfilment and there would be destiny diversion. Marriage has nothing to do with the flesh; care must therefore be taken not to base marriage on physical attraction and materialism but on spiritual compatibility. It is a lifetime commitment; you cannot separate yourself from it just like you cannot separate yourself from your bone. May we not miss purpose in Jesus name! Shalom!!!

SEEK HIM

2011-02-18T07:58:00.000-08:00

SEEK HIM

The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seek him- Lamentations 3: 25.

Father let this word bring illumination to the spirit of your people just like it has done to mine. “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” There shall be a performance of your word in the life of your people. Amen!
The verse of the word of God above is an assurance with a condition, reiterating the fact that when we play our part, God will play his own part. Often times, we refuse to play our own part, that is why it seems that God’s word is not coming to fruition in our lives.

Let’s take note of the first part of the verse; ‘...good unto them that wait for him’. That is, for God to be good to us, we have to learn to wait for him. I have discovered that we are always in a hurry; meanwhile God will only work by his timing and not ours. He might not act/answer at the time we wanted or at the time we feel it’s good but God will always act/answer at the right time, only if we are ready to be patient and wait upon him.

The question is; how do we wait for God to answer our prayers? Do we just sit down and continue to suffer or continue with our day to day lives while waiting? The answer to this question is found in the second part of the same verse; ‘...to the soul that seek him’. To wait for God is to continually seek him, and this is what a lot of Christians don’t do or don’t know how to do. Often, what we hear a lot of Christians say is; “have prayed and have fasted and yet there is nothing”. Your prayer and fasting does not change God but changes us! God is God; our prayer can’t change him. What our prayer, the study of his word and fasting does is to renew us from inside out to make us a better person.

Waiting on him is to seek him, and seeking him is by the study of his word, prayer and fasting. When we do this we are sowing a seed and you don’t do business with God and not reap the benefit. The waiting period is the time you sow the seed of prayer, fasting and the study of his word. His word (logos) will renew our spirit and we will begin to receive his word (rhema) directly, because only the deep can call unto the deep. His word will lighten your spirit, give you insight and you will begin to see possibilities where you’ve never seen it before, his word will grant you wisdom and understanding and you will begin to see solutions to the issues of life that have hitherto been an obstacle in your way.

Therefore, let us in spite of whatever the situation is or whatever it is we are going through, God is calling us to trust him by seeking his face continuously. He is not man that he should lie...let us come unto his throne of grace with a penitent heart and receive grace to seek him always. Amen!

MY CREED

2011-01-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

MY CREED
I do not choose to be a common man.
It is my right to be uncommon, if I can.
I seek opportunity not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and
dulled by having the state to look after me.
I want take calculated risks;
To dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.
I refuse barter incentives for dole.
I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed
Existence; the thrill of fulfilment to the stale calm
of Utopia.
I will not trade freedom for beneficence, nor my
dignity for a handout.
I will never cower before any master nor bend to any
threat.
It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid;
To think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my
creations
To face the world boldly and say “This I have done”.
All this is what it takes to be an upright and successful
Homosapiens.

NEW WINE AND THE NEW WINE SKIN-Mat. 9:17

2011-01-01T03:14:00.000-08:00

NEW WINE AND THE NEW WINE SKIN-Mat.9:17 (Anchor Scripture for 2011)
Do you still want to carry the new wine inside the old wine skin? This is year 2011 and God is calling us to a higher place..."Come up here..." Rev.4:1. But you can not access that which God is calling you into in 2011 if you still carry the old wine skin...the old wine skin represents your past mentality,it's static & old. You can't remain the same and expect the new wine to flow into you. The new wine is the holy spirit, it is grace....it's anything flowing from the throne of grace and believe me you can't access it with your 2010 mentality because it is an old wine skin. God is expecting new things in you for new wine to work in you. God is not moved by your need, poverty or your sad face. God is only moved by his principles! When God sees a new skin, he will pour forth a new wine. Remain Blessed in 2011 as you heed his call to an higher place in Him. Joy Cometh!

PURPOSE

2010-11-27T13:27:00.000-08:00

Have been wondering for so many years what PURPOSE is. I discovered that purpose is the discovery of your God given GIFT. The day you discover your gifting, you discover your purpose, that is your WORK. The first thing God gave Adam was WORK. Your PURPOSE is your WORK! Now, what is work? WORK means to manifest and to reveal. God created man to work, not to have a JOB. You can get fired from your JOB but you can't get fired from your WORK. Have you tried to find out why you get depressed every Monday morning? It's because you have to go to your JOB and not to your WORK. You can't fire Tiger Woods, Lionel Messi, Pastor Adeboye, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Ebenezer Obey etc. They are not at a JOB but at their work. The ace footballer, Jay Jay Okacha was once asked; what is your hobby? He said my hobby is my work and I get paid handsomely for what I love doing. This is the real purpose of God for man; WORK! Psalm 104 vs 23,

When a man encounter his purpose, he will become committed; when he's committed, he will be creative and when he becomes creative, he becomes productive. When he's productive, he becomes successful, and when outstandingly successful, he becomes impactful and he rules his domain.

God created man to dominate his environment. How? We are not to dominate each other but to dominate our environment. Leadership is not about dominating people but of self discovery. It is your "work" (gift) that will attract people to you and will make people to respond to you. When you discover who you are in God and what he has created you to do, men are naturally attracted to you, and you become an expert in your domain. That is how to rule over a domain. Who rules over a domain? A KING! The cattle rules and leads in the domain of milk production, that is what attract people to her. The Camel rules in the desert because of it's ability to carry heavy loads and go without food and water for many days. That's what attracts people to her.

2010-07-13T06:58:00.000-07:00

PRAYER

2010-05-13T13:23:00.000-07:00

Almighty God, Father of all mercies and fountain of all goodness, I thank you for the splendours of the entire creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonders of life, and for the mystery of love.I thank you for the blessing of family and friends and for your loving care which surrounds me on every side.
I thank you for setting me tasks which demand my best efforts and for leading me to accomplishments, which satisfy and delight the people. I thank you for disappointments and failures that lead me to acknowledge my dependence on you alone.
I thank you gracious God, that by your grace, you have called me in this world to a Godly fellowship of faith; bless me, my wife, my children, my parents, family and friends, and all your people.
Grant that your word may be truly preached and truly heard, your sacraments be rightly administered and faithfully received. By your Spirit, fashion my life according to the example of your son, and grant me the will to show the power of your love to all among whom I live; through Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour. AMEN!!!

THE BOOK OF LIFE

2010-03-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

THE BOOK OF LIFE

I keep opening the pages
As it unfolds so my frustration unfolds.
Why is the book of life filled with broken promises?
Why is it full of uncertainties?
Pray! It would unfold the pages of promises and hopes
So I prayed, and prayed but yet another page unfolds
Rather than see the page of hope for me
I saw the page open to other mere mortals basking
In the fulfilment of their own promises.

The pages of the book is running out
Would the page ever unfold to me the promise kept
Or would the suffering continue unabated
Then the voice tells me still; pray!
So to prayer I will give my all
That my page of hope and promise kept
Would open unto me new frontiers of
Everlasting and unending joy.

- Kayode Adebiyi (2010)

WHAT IS LIFE ALL ABOUT?

2009-08-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren,

"Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you
figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor , care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD

EPH.6 VS 13

2009-07-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

EPH. 6 vs 13
The enemy attacks you and fights you with everything he has got when you put your foot on your promises. He wants to move your foot from your promises. Temptations are always strongest and trials always hottest when you are on the brink and threshold of your breakthrough.
Agony is most anguishing when you’re on the threshold of your future, which is why Paul says: “be strong and put on the whole armour of God that you may be able to stand”.
There is a limit to your trial. The enemy knows that the alarm clock has been set for the breaking of your day, which is just a little while longer, so he turns on the pressure so hard so that you can take your feet off the spot, and if you do, you’ll have lost your blessings by just a brief moment. If you just stand during the trial, the devil will back off. He cannot outlast your stand because God’s armour is stronger than his ability to stand.
The one thing that will empower you to see you through the storm, to press through the troops and leap over the wall is the fact that you’ve tasted what the enemy is trying to prevent you from getting. Whatever God has shown you, you will never get it without a struggle. You have to fight the ‘good fight’ because it is a sign that no matter how hard the devil beats you, as long as you fight and stay in the ring till the last bell you have the victory already.
Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Not in your degrees, money, position etc. You will have to be weak in yourself but He that is in you is greater that he that is in the world.

A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE

2009-07-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

This is a must read for everyone.

Enjoy and spread the news!!!!

The first article is by Reuben Abati and then Banky W responded below.

It's fab!!!....loving it...

A Nation's Identity Crisis - By Reuben Abati (Chairman, Editorial Board Guardian Newspaper)

You may not have noticed it: Nigeria is suffering from an identity crisis imposed on it in part by an emergent generation of irreverent and creative young Nigerians who are revising old norms and patterns. And for me nothing demonstrates this more frontally than the gradual change of the name of the country. When Flora Shaw, Lord Lugard's consort came up with the name, Nigeria in 1914, she meant to define the new country by the strategic importance of the Niger River. And indeed, River Niger used to be as important to this country as the Nile was/is to Egypt. We grew up as school children imagining stories about how Lugard in one special romantic moment, asked his mistress to have the honour of naming a new country in Africa. Something like: "Hello, sweetheart, what name would you rather give the new country that I am creating?""Let me give it a thought? ....Awright, how about Ni-ge-ria darling?""That would do. That would do. How thoughtful, my fair lady? You are forever so dependable"And the name stuck and it has become our history and identity. But these days, the name Nigeria is gradually being replaced by so many variants, that I am afraid a new set of Nigerians may in the immediate future not even know the correct spelling of the name of their country. For these Nigerians whose lives revolve mostly around the internet and the blogosphere, the name Nigeria has been thrown out of the window. Our dear country is now "naija" or "nija". What happened to the "-eria" that Ms Shaw must have thoughtfully included? The new referents for Nigeria are now creeping into writings, conversations, and internet discourse. I am beaten flat by the increasing re-writing of the country's name not only as naija or nija, but consider this: "9ja". Or this other name for Nigeria: "gidi". There is even a television programme that is titled "Nigerzie". In addiiton, Etisalat, a telecom company has since adopted a marketing platform that is titled: "0809ja." Such mainstreaming of these new labels is alarming.This obviously is the age of abbreviations. The emerging young generation lacks the discipline or the patience to write complete sentences or think through a subject to its logical end. It is a generation in a hurry, it feels the constraints of space so much, it has to reduce everything to manageable, cryptic forms. This is what the e-mail and text message culture has done to the popular consciousness. Older generations of Nigerians brought up on a culture of correctness and compeleteness may never get used to the re-writing of Nigeria as "9ja". Language is mutatory, but referring to the motherland or the fatherland in slang terms may point to a certain meaninglessness or alienation. What's in a name? In Africa, names are utilitarian constructs not merely labels. Even among the Ijaw where people bear such unique names as University, Conference, FEDECO, Manager, Heineken, Education, Polo, Boyloaf, Bread, College, Summit, Aeroplane, Bicycle, Internet - there is a much deeper sense to the names. But the name Nigeria means nothing to many young Nigerians. They have no reason to respect the sanctity of the name. They don't know Flora Shaw or Lord Lugard, and even if they do, they are likely to say as Ogaga Ifowodo does in an unforgettable poem: "God Punish you, Lord Lugard." Eedris Abdulakarim summarises the concern of young Nigerians in one of his songs when he declared: "Nigeria jagajaga, everything scata, scata"The post-modernist, deconstructive temper of emergent youth culture is even more manifest in the cynical stripping to the bones character of today's Nigerian hip-hop. It is marked by a Grunge character that shouts: non-meaning and alienation. On my way to Rutam House the other day, I listened at mid-day to a continuous stream of old musical numbers from 93.7 Radio FM. Soulful, meaningful tunes of Felix Lebarty, Chris Okotie (as he then was), Mandy Ojugbana, Christy Essien-Igbokwe, Onyeka Onwenu, Sony Okosun, Alex O, Ras Kimono, Majek Fashek, Evi Edna-Ogoli, Bongos Ikwue, Veno Marioghae, Uche Ibeto, Dora Ifudu, Mike Okri, Dizzy K. Falola, and Tina Onwudiwe. Onyeka Onwenu sang; "One love, keep us together". Veno Marioghae sang: "Nigeria Go Survive". Even in the romantic offerings like Chris Okotie's "I need someone, give me your love", or Felix Lebarty's "Ifeoma, Ifeoma, I want to marry you, give me your love" and Stella Monye's "Oko mi ye, duro ti mi o", or Tina Onwudiwe's award-winning "Asiko lo laye". there was so much meaning and polish.This was in the 80s. That generation which sang music under its real names, not abbreviations or slangs, was continuing, after the fashion of T.S. Eliot's description of "Tradition and the Individual Talent", a pattern of meaning that dates back to traditional African musicians and all the musicians that succeeded them: S. B. Bakare, Victor Olaiya, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Dan Maraya of Jos, Osita Osadebey, Ayinla Omowura, Victor Uwaifo, Geraldo Pino, Rex Lawson, I. K. Dairo, Haruna Ishola, Yusuf Olatunji, Inyang Henshaw, Tunji Oyelana, Bobby Benson, Tunde Nightingale, and even the later ones: Shina Peters, Dele Abiodun, Y.K. Ajao, Ayinde Barrister, Kollington Ayinla, Batile Alake, Sir Warrior, Moroccco Nwa Maduko, Orlando Owoh, Salawa Abeni, KWAM I (Arabambi 1 and please include his disciples- Wasiu Alabi Pasuma et al), Oliver de Coque (Importer and Exporter...), Ayefele, Atorise .... But there has been a terrible crisis in the construction of music. The children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of these ancestors have changed the face and identity of Nigerian music. As a rule, gospel musicians, given the nature of their form, sing meaningful lyrics, but the airwaves these days have been taken over by the children of "gidi","naija", "nija", "nigerzie" and "9ja". I listen to them too, but everyday, I struggle to make meaning out of their lyrics.Music is about sense, sound, shape and skills. But there is an on-going deficit in all other aspects except sound. So much sound is being produced in Nigeria, but there is very little sense, shape and skills. They call it hip-hop. They try to imitate Western hip pop stars. They even dress like them. The boys don't wear trousers on their waists: the new thing is called "sagging", somewhere below the waist it looks as if the trouser is about to fall off. The women are struggling to expose strategic flesh as Janet Jackson once did. The boys and the girls are cloaked in outlandish jewellery and their prime heroes are Ja-Rule, Lil'Wayne, Fat Joe, P. Diddy, 50 Cents, Ronz Brown, Chris Brown, Sean Kingston, Nas, Juelz Santana, Akon, Young Jeezy, Mike Jones, T-Pain, F.L.O-RIDA, Will.I.am, Beyonce, Rihanna, Ciara, Keri Hilson, Jay-Z, Ace hood, Rick Ross, Birdman, Busta Rhymes, Cassidy, Chamillionaire, Soulja Boy, Young Joc, Kanye West, R. Kelly, Kevin Rudolph, T.I.P-king of the South, Ludacris, Plies-The real goon, The Game, Young Rox, Flow killa, Osmosis (2 sick), Flow-ssik, Raprince, Bionic, Fabulous, Jadakiss, Nas, Swiss Beatz, Dj Khaled, Maze, Yung Buck, Maino, MoBB Deep, Lloyd Banks, Olivia, Lady Gaga... Well, God Almighty, we are in your hands.And so the most impactful musicians in Nigeria today, the ones who rule the party include the following: D'Banj, MI, Mode Nine, Sauce kid, Naeto C, Sasha, Ikechukwu, 9ice, Bouqui, Mo'cheddah, Teeto, P-square, Don-jazzy, Wande Coal, 2-face, Faze, Black Face, Dr. Sid, D'prince, K-Switch, Timaya, Dj-Zeez, Dj Neptune, Banky w., Big bamo, Art quake, Bigiano, Durella, Eldee, Kelly Hansome, Lord of Ajasa, M.P., Terry tha rapman, Weird MC, Y.Q., Da grin, kel, Roof-top Mcs, Pype, Niga Raw, Ghetto p., Kaka, Kaha, Terry G, Ill Bliss, Zulezoo, Pipe, Dj Jimmy jatt, X-project, Konga, Gino, Morachi... Well, the Lord is God. These are Nigerian children who were given proper names by their parents. Ikechukwu bears his real name. But who are these other ones who have since abandoned their proper names? For example, 9ice's real name is Abolore Akande, (what a fine name!), Tu face (Innocent Idibia), Sauce Kid (Babalola Falemi), D'Banj (Dapo Oyebanjo), Banky w. (Bankole Willington), P-Square (Peter and Paul), MI (Jude Abaga), Timaya (Enetimi Alfred Odom), Sasha (Yetunde Alabi), Weird MC (Adesola Idowu). But why such strange names? They don't sing. They rap. Most of them don't play instruments, they use synthetic piano.At public functions, they mime. They are not artists, they perform. They are not necessarily composers, they dance. The more terrible ones can't even sing a correct musical note. They talk. And they are all businessmen and women. They are more interested in commerce and self-advertisement, name recognition, brand extension and memory recall! They want a name that sells, not some culturally conditioned name that is tied down to culture and geography. But the strange thing is that they are so successful. Nollywood has projected Nigeria, the next big revelations are in hip hop.Despite the identity crisis and the moral turpitude that we find in Nigeria's contemporary hip-hop, the truth is that it is a brand of music that sells. Nigeria's hip hop is bringing the country so much international recognition. All those strange names are household names across the African continent, so real is this that the phrase "collabo" is now part of the vocabulary of the new art. It speaks to an extension of frontiers. In Nigeria, it is now possible to hold a party without playing a single foreign musical track, the great grand children of Nigerian music are belting out purely danceable sounds which excites the young at heart. But the output belongs majorly to the age of meaningless and prurience. The lyrics says it all.Rooftop MC sings for example: "Ori mi wu o, e lagi mo". This is a very popular song. But all it says is: "my head is swollen, please hit it with a log of wood." X-Project sings: "Lori le o di gonbe (2x), e so fun sisi ologe ko ya faya gbe, ko ya faya gbe, file, gbabe, se be, bobo o ti e le, wo bo nse fe sa hale hale niwaju omoge, ha, lori le odi gonbe, .....sisi ologe ki lo di saya o, so fun mi ki lofe, o wa on fire o...." Now, what does this mean in real terms? But let's go to Naeto C: "kini big deal, kini big deal, sebi sebi we're on fire", or D'Banj: " my sweet potato, I wanna make you wife, I wanna make you my wife o, see I no understand o, cause I dey see well well, but dey say love is blind, see I never thought I will find someone like you that will capture my heart and there will be nothing I can do....". Yes, we are in the age of sweet potato. And so Art quake sings: "E be like fire dey burn my body, e je ki n fera, oru lo n mu mi. Open your hand like say you wan fly away. Ju pa, ju se, ka jo ma sere, alanta, alanta."And here is Zulezoo, another popular Nigerian musical team: "Daddy o, daddy, daddy wen you go for journey, somebody enter for mummy's house, person sit down for mummy bed, person push mummy, mummy push person, mummy fall for bed yakata, daddy, o daddy, the man jus dey do kerewa kerewa...kerewa ke" And Dj-Zeez: "ori e o 4 ka sibe, ori e o 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe". And MI: "Anoti, anoti, anoti ti, anoti titi." And Konga: "Baby konga so konga, di konga, ileke konga, ju pa pa, ju pa, konga, ju pa pa, ju pa, sibe".. And 9ice: "gongo a so, kutupu a wu, eni a de ee, aji se bi oyo laari; oyo o se bi baba enikan, kan, i be double now, aye n lo, a mi to o, gongo a so, oti so o, e wo le e wo enu oko..." Or Tony Tetuila: "U don hit my car, oyinbo repete, u don hit my car o". Or Weird MC: "Sola lo ni jo, lyrics lori gangan, awa lo ni jo". Sheer drivel. So much sound, little sense. Is this the future? Maybe not.Most of the music being produced now will not be listenable in another five years and this perhaps is the certain fate of commercial art that is driven by branding, show and cash. But we should be grateful all the same for the music, coming out of Nigeria also at this time in the soul, gospel, hip, hop genre: the music that is of Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, Lagbaja, Asa (there is fire on the mountain/and no one seems to be on the run/ there is fire on the mountain now..."), Ara, Sam Okposo, Dare, Sunny Neji, Infinity (now a broken up team), African China, Alariwo of Afrika.... We suffer nonetheless in music as in the national nomenclature, an identity crisis. A country's character is indexed into its arts and culture, eternal purveyors of tones and modes. Nigerian youths now sing of broken heads, raw sex, uselessness and raw, aspirational emotionalism. A sign of the times? Yes, I guess.I find further justification in the national anthem, many versions of which now exist. I grew up in this same country knowing only one way of singing the national anthem: from "Nigeria we hail thee" to "Arise o Compatriots". The singing of the national anthem is supposed to be a solemn moment. Arms clasped by the side, a straight posture, and the mind strictly focussed on the ideals of patriotism and nationalism. Stillness. Nobody moves. And the national song is rendered in an unchanging format. But not so any longer. There are so many versions of the Nigerian national anthem these days. Same lyrics but different musical rhythms. I have heard the national anthem sung in juju, in fuji, in hip hop, in Ishan's igbagbolemini, in acapella mode, even reggae. I attended an ocassion once, the rendition of the national music was so enthralling, people started dancing. Even the photographers and cameramen danced with their cameras. For me that was the ultimate expression of the people's cynicism. The prevalent mood is as expressed by Dj-Zeez: "ori e 4 ka sibe, 4 ka sibe": an epigrammatic, onomatopoeic, market-driven diminution of language as vehicle and sign. What kind of people are we? A dancing nation? Dancing and writing away our frustrations and caring little about sense, in this country that is now known as "naija", "nija", "9ja", "nigerzie," "gidi"?

Banky's response:

This is my response to the article entitled "A Nation's Identity Crisis" that recently ran in The Guardian Newspapers. It was written by Dr Reuben Abati, a well respected name in Nigerian Journalism. His original article can be found here: http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/editorial_opinion/article02/indexn2_html?pdate=210609&ptitle=A%20Nation

Please try and read the original article before commenting on my response. As Mr Abati has stated his opinion, I felt it neccessary to state mine. If anything I'm sure both pieces are at least food for thought.

Dear Sir,In the immortal words attributed to P.T. Barnum, "I don't care what the newspapers say about me, at least spell my name right." My name IS Banky W, full name being Olubankole Wellington. Not Willington, as you stated in your article entitled "A Nation's Identity Crisis". I read the piece repeatedly, and found that misspelling my name wasn’t the only error. At it's worst, the article seemed like an attempt to discredit and slander an entire generation of artistes and consumers, and at best it came across as having some valid points but being grossly misinformed, prejudiced, and hypocritical; definitely not what we would expect of a highly regarded publication as The Guardian, or from a person in Mr Abati's position.In the very least, the article warrants a well-informed response. I have little doubt in my mind that it will generate a slew of responses, positive and negative, and as one of the many subjects that was mentioned in the write-up, I feel compelled to voice my opinion (with all due respect) on some of the issues that were raised in your piece. What I'm going to attempt to do is to directly address issues that stood out and resonated most with me.The writer asked "What's in a name?" and went on to honor a "...generation which sang music under its real names, not abbreviations or slangs"; this would have been a valid point if he had not himself mentioned Greats like King Sunny Ade (real name: Sunday Adeniyi), I.K. Dairo (Isaiah Kehinde Dairo), and Ebenezer Obey (Real name: Ebenezer Remilekun Aremu Olasupo Fabiyi- Wow!!!). We could also point out other legends like Ras Kimono and Majek Fashek as others who, for creative or other reasons, saw it fit to have stage names that happen to differ from what's on their passports. Shortening of full names and/or the crafting of stage names is not something new from our generation of artistes that "lack the discipline or the patience to write complete sentences" as you said; rather, it's the creative right of an artiste to go by whatever moniker he sees fit. And if we want to talk about the names of today, we can highlight a few: Eldee - actually L.D. which stands for Lanre Dabiri, similar to Isaiah Kehinde Dairo's transition to I.K. Dairo. Naeto C and Banky W are simply short forms of their full names. In my case, my father's nickname among his friends is actually Banky as well.Furthermore, on the topic of Names and abbreviations let's set a few things straight. Nigerzie is actually spelt Nigezie and is not an abbreviation for Nigeria. It's a TV Show, much like Soundcity or Hip TV, except they choose to incorporate "representing Nigeria" in their name. It's like the "United Colors of Bennetton", or DKNY, both companies that choose to represent their locations or origins in their name. Also, for the record, Gidi doesn't mean Nigeria either. It's a term for Lagos... coined from "Las Gidi". And as far as the popular term "Naija" goes, who remembers Shina Peters singing "♫ Naija lo wa yi o o o, wa jo, afro juju lo gb'ode ♫" I hate to point out that our generation did not come up with that term... the "golden age" that you long for did.As an editorial head of a National Newspaper, you owe it to your public to at least do proper and accurate research before printing an article. The risk in not doing so, is you might unknowingly mislead your readers, and you might actually come across as being ignorant or out of touch. A quick look at all the reference names of artistes and songs mentioned in the article goes to show that the author was sadly way off base in his accusations and examples. For instance, to make a point on how today’s Nigerian artistes lyrics are meaningless and prurient, he referenced the Rooftop MC's song "La Gi Mo". What he failed to realize or crosscheck, is that the said song is probably one of the most meaningful and important songs that have been released in the last few years on the Nigerian Music Scene. The Rooftop MC's are actually a Rap Group that leans to the Gospel or at least Socially Conscious side of music, and their songs always have a positive message. That song itself talks about the errors we make by trying to take God's glory for our success... getting caught up in the limelight and asking God to bring you back to reality to know that HE deserves the praise for where you are.The author mentioned other songs like D'banj's "Fall in Love", and doesn't realize how hypocritical he sounds by attempting to ridicule some of our most popular love songs. Felix Liberty sang "Ifeoma, ifeoma, I want to marry you", D'banj sang "Omo U don make me fall in love" and Banky W sang "Till my dying day, I'll love you". Barring a difference in musical styling, are these songs not cut from the same cloth? Why can't someone in Mr Abati's position be proud of the fact that at Nigerian and African Weddings nowadays, couples are choosing these songs to mark their first dances instead of previous choices like “Endless Love”? Why can't we appreciate that the days of going to Nigerian Parties and clubs and celebrating to foreign music “all night long” are long gone? Despite these facts, you still see International festivals and concerts being held in Nigeria where the foreign acts are paid 30 to 40 times what some of our biggest stars are allowed to charge.I have to disagree with the author's views. We are not all one and the same, but we ARE artistes. We may sing, rap, dance, mime, perform, play instruments or whatever else; but we are artistes. And Composers. And musicians. We may not all play the piano or the guitar, but neither does Michael Jackson, arguably the world's greatest artiste/entertainer. That's why he teamed up with producer Quincy Jones to create some of the best music anyone had ever heard. We have our own producers that have shaped Nigerian sound...people like Cobhams Asuquo, Don Jazzy, I.D. Cabasa, Dr Frabz, Tee-Y mix, Eldee, Terry G etc. That list goes on. These music minds are no less credible than those of Mr Abati's time, like the great Laolu Akins.Far be it from us to claim that we are perfect and flawless in our art... we know that we are still growing and have lots of areas to improve, but the truth of the matter is we have worked very hard to create the industry we have now, and some people choose to criticize and lambaste most of us, instead of helping and teaching us. That is unfair. Yes, some artistes sag their jeans... however, a glance at the pages of THISDAY style or the recently concluded awards shows will show you very clearly that others wear three-piece suits and traditional attires just as proudly, myself included. This music industry that you have very clearly disapproved of has partnered with and given rise to the fashion industry in Nigeria as well. Just ask Designers like Mai, Babs Familusi (Exclamations Couture), the Okunorens, Muyiwa Osindero and countless others. Everything from the t-shirts and jeans rappers wear, to the shoes and suits are made by young Nigerians, where in previous years people preferred to shop in London. The youth-driven industries in Entertainment and Fashion have teamed up to thrust Nigeria into the world's positive spotlight, when for many years our dear country was mostly known for corruption, lack of infrastructure, and security issues.Our country has not yet given us steady electricity, adequate education, safety from armed robbers or standard healthcare, yet artistes have risen like the Roses that grow from Concrete... and these very artistes love and represent their country proudly on a global stage. This music industry has given hope, jobs and income to countless youth of today. We are Rappers, Singers, Producers, Sound Engineers, Managers, Promoters, Marketing Consultants, Record Label Owners and we will not apologize for making the best of our circumstances; and all this in spite of the fact that we have Marketers that exploit but refuse to pay for our Musical pieces, Royalties and Publishing income that hitherto has been non-existent, a Government that is just now very slowly starting to enforce anti-piracy laws, and Event Organizers that would rather pay 50 Cent One Million US Dollars than give D'banj or P-Square 5 Million Naira.You were right on some counts. We ARE businessmen and women, and we ARE interested in extending name recognition and brand extension. You were also right in that we look up to people like Jay-Z, who took their music and created multimillion-dollar empires. Since when did ambition and desire to succeed against all odds count against a person’s moral character? Shouldn’t we be encouraged to pay more attention to the business side of “Show Business”? Shouldn’t we want this music industry to provide for our future and the futures of our children?We know we have a moral responsibility when it comes to our Creative works. Some of us pay more attention to it than others, and there is lots of ground to cover up. But how about a little appreciation and help, instead of trying to tear us down and discredit us? Time will tell whose music will last and become evergreen, but it is not in anyone's place to judge; and for the record, can we just accept that fact that hip hop music is an artform that is probably here to stay... I mean for goodness sake the Grammy's has!! Instead of fighting the change, we should learn to embrace it. I thank God for people like the great Adewale Ayuba that have reached across to our generation to collaborate with, bridge the gap, and help us improve.We want to learn but your generation has to teach. We want to read but the Government must provide libraries. We want to go to school but the lecturers keep going on strike. We want to travel but previous generations messed up so they won’t give out visas. Most of prefer having our own live bands but the income needed to support that is not forthcoming.You speak of meaninglessness and prurience, identity crisis and moral turpitude. You praise Legends like Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti and you ridicule us. 9ice does not drink or smoke. eLDee is married to one wife. Olu Maintain does not drink. Naeto C is currently obtaining his Masters’ degree in England. The ironic thing is, we look up to and praise your generation too. You seem to forget that Baba Fela had 27 wives, smoked marijuana in public, was himself half naked at shows (as well as the women around him) and allegedly died of HIV. However we look past what some may consider shortcomings and respect and emulate the immense contributions he made to our history. We are in awe of him despite personal choices that some may or may not agree with. All we are asking for is to be appreciated and afforded similar tolerances.You danced to Shina Peters. Let us dance to our music. And for the record: for every "Anoti" by MI, he has a "Crowd Mentality" or a "Talk about it". For a Naeto C's "Ki Ni Big Deal", he has a "The Devil is a Liar". Just because an artiste uses a particular song to promote his album for commercial reasons, doesn't mean they should be judged on that alone. Anyone that is familiar with the cost of promoting an album (videos, press, etc) would know that you end up making hard decisions in terms of what you have to push and promote, for your best chance at success. I suggest that you buy whole albums and look at the body of work. Listen to the entire CD’s. I think you'll find that more often than not, Nigerian artistes are doing a pretty good job of representing this great Country of Nigeria. Naija Till We Die. Yes Boss.

Sincerely,

Banky W.

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2009-07-11T10:40:00.000-07:00

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2009-03-17T05:06:00.000-07:00

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Tiger Bites: Dreams....can come true

2008-07-15T11:23:00.000-07:00

Tiger Bites: Dreams....can come true

THIS THING CALLED 'LOVE'.

2008-05-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

Indeed love is a risk but love is truly the only risk worth taking. It is not reliable, it is not cautious. It is not sympathetic, it is not unprejudiced and unmerciless. It srikes the strongest of minds and brings them to their knees in one blow. Have u been dealt with that kind of blow?

WELCOME

2008-05-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while have wanted to create my personal blog but have not had time to really sit down and work on it. Now that have managed to start it, readers are in for a wonderful time of reading through my thoughts, ideas and most importantly my personal life.

Talking about life, as we all know, life it's not a bed of roses nor a field of battle but it's full of ups and downs which as mere mortals we have to overcome one way or the other. How do we now overcome those hard times that life throws at us? That is the question that mankind have searched through generations to find answers to. Here on my blog we will find solutions to them, not because I am a super human being or a man from outer space, or a man that have not experienced his own share of hard life...

Wait! Have got a secret to this aching drift, all u have to do is keep checking on this blog as I unravel to you the secret to living a fulfilled life. See you soon.