In the quietness of the hour
When the birds of dawn slumbered
In the stillness of the night
When the world was in darkness

Death came again
Unnoticed, unwelcome and unknown
With his ancient axe of cruelty
Ready to vanquish and conquer
Everywhere he goes
He lives a message of sorrow behind
All that accompanies him  never returns
Sometimes a young tender child
Another time a bright blossoming youth

This time, my dear friend is your victim

He was a dreamer boy
He is too needed to be gone

O death! When will you see the evil you've done
The hot tears your injustice has done
The broken hearts of the bereaved will never mend
Even if they get used to this tragedy
They will never forget nor forgive how you shattered them

A brilliant soul is gone
Forever from this cruel world
REST IN PEACE
That may be the last I will say to you
But not the last I will say of you

© Olatuja Oloyede

WHEN THE FOUNDATION IS DESTROYED

By Mayowa Odewoye

What can the righteous do when the foundation is destroyed. When the root of the plant is destroyed how would the stem grow. When the foundation is shabbily laid how would the skyscraper stand.

The genesis of the quagmire that faces our Nation is in the foundation. A foundation built on lies, deceit and greed. A foundation made by a few people acclaimed to be the entire populace. The ground upon which powers are shared, economy is structured and political authority is given is fraudulent. A small unit is  overburden with power at the expense of the larger populace. An Arm of Government armed with excessive power that makes other arms almost irrelevant. The constitution of Nigeria is the root of Nigeria's problem, it is the cause of imbalance in the sharing and allocation of National Wealth, it is doctrine that causes injustice, it is the law that favours the ruling class and inputs hardship on the governed.

The constitutional provisions are the grand cause for call for cessation and the inequality that exists among the people. Since our acclaimed democracy in 1999, the 1999 Constitution has been in use, There was no input by the people on the Constitution. It was produced and forced on us. And the way and manner it was done, is as bad and forceful as the contents of the constitution itself.
The 1999 constitution was produced by Justice Niki Tobi who was Chairman of the 1998 constitution debate committee. The constitution is Decree 24 and was promulgated into law by General Abdusalam Abubakar, on May 5, 1999 and has become operative from May 29, 1999 till date.

It is time we torn the old book upon which the foundation of our democracy is built as it is a document of the military given to the democrats. It is a mismatch for the system of our Nation, it is law that supports corruption and mismanagement in disguise. The foundation of our Nation is built on callous schemes supported by the Constitution. It is like a new wine put in old wineskin -a democracy built on a military law.

It is time we stood to rewrite the Law of our Country. Then would we have a Foundation built on Rock.

© Odewoye Mayowa

My Testimony of God's Faithfulness in 2017
© Olatuja Oloyede

This year like no other year in my life has been a year of testimony to God's faithful.

I graduated in January with a good grade (there was no course I had less than C from 100l to 400)

I travelled to Lagos to work. The same week I got there I got a job which I was among the highest paid staff although not handsomely paid. I got another job after some months where I was highly favoured by my employer. Her kindness was inspired by a force which could only be God. I was not the highest ranked staff there but I was the highest paid. Is that not God...?

My uncle and aunty with whom I stayed throughout in Lagos were source of tremendous blessings. I was treated like a king with utmost care which sometimes make me wonder if I deserve such attention.

O... I met too many people this year. Some from the places I worked, some from our church in Festac, some from the Street, some in Benue State, some even foreigners on social media. I keep getting messages even till yesterday how much some persons I've bounded with missed me.

Some lives have been a source of spiritual motivation to me. I've been among God's children a very troublesome breed but these ones consciously or unconsciously have motivated me to stay close to my savour.

I've seen God faithfulness at work everywhere. I saw the supernatural workings of God over lives. These though I will not mention in details have confirmed to me more than ever before that my God answers prayers. Yesterday, I gave a friend a book to read only to come back meeting him on his knees pleading for grace and asking for forgiveness of sins for about 2 hours or more in tears. Our God is indeed faithful.

Journey mercies everywhere. Don't say what am I looking for...I visited several States within this country. I was on 11 hours journey this month.

I got posted to Benue for NYSC where I made several good friends from many tribes. Judith, Obakam, Daniel, Segun, Emmanuel, Aromath, the guys from Winner's family house and others.

What more can I say? I've enjoyed sound health, answered prayers and open heaven. God I'm grateful.

Creative Arena was born this year where I've met many like minds and heart blowing poets. Hall of Truth has brought me closer to certain comrades in the faith and Creative Arena has brought like minded people in line with my passion.

And all this while, I've been talking about myself. How about what God has done for my family and friends. The seas they've crossed, the yokes that were broken, the lands that were taken, and the grace that abound.

I hope we can find a thousand reason to thank the Almighty as we advance into the new year. Happy New Year in advance.
2018 loading in a bit

© Olatuja Oloyede

You know how I see myself? As the best... This is not pride, not mere self esteem, it is the winning mindset... The positive mindset... I'm not on top of the class or at the peak of my game... Actually, success and failure are not events, neither are they principally about one's ability... It is about one's mentality... Ali the terror of the ring, Pele, the legend of the pitch, Bolt, the roar of the track, Shakespeare, the deity of creativity (the list simply endless) immortalized their names on the slate of human history... You want to know the secret of this dignified aristocracy? They see themselves as the best and so they were.... That guy will not step up unless you let him know he's got all he needs to get up. I know those that will never succeed in life.... They are those that think they may never do. Miracles can not change this fact... It is an immutable law of nature..." As a man thinks, so he is"

© Olatuja Oloyede

When Plato says art is at best useless and potentially dangerous, he may not be appealing to most critics opinion, but I find the idea so fascinatingly true when I attempt to understand the brainless idiocy and imbecility of Nigeria hip hop... While I'm not a follower of Plato, I'm neither a dogmatic admirer of Aristotle mimesis... How can the African mind comprehend the craze going on in the musical industry...?

Sometimes unanswered prayers are God's greatest gifts. If all our prayers are answered, we may end up missing God's plan for our lives... Teach me O Lord to always say " Your Will be Done"

Tribute to My Grandmother Who Died Today

Death do not boast
Mama is not gone
Her spirit is in our hearts
Are prayers are the bracelets of our wrists
Her voice echoes in our ears

How can you take away
The one mightier than you
Why do you wait this long
If you were not such a coward
They say Iyaloye is gone?
No, there is something she left behind
Something she buried
In the greyness of her age
It is that wisdom
That blackens the teeth of the elders
It is the legacy of honesty
The virtue of diligence
The secret of greatness
Death has made her richer
Death is a loser again
And I know that mama is not gone
She is the Angel
That will always visit my dreams
And the great woman that will always live in my heart
Mama.... Rest in Peace

©Olatuja Oloyede

The fear of love or emotional relationship is called aphenphosmphobia

I've seen more people suffer the pangs of love than the stings of vipers....I've seen more hearts broken in the mines of love than the grains in the mill...

So tell me friends, if a poisoned drink is  offered a sane man and he drinks conscious of the hankering doom, what use is it complaining of rumbling stomach....

If a man with his eyes wide opens falls in love, let him walk softly... Romeo and Jack never made it through the vault of affection... But if you are on the glades of emotions already, best of luck friend...

Right now I'm sitting on  lofty stairs shuffling my gaze between the stars and the pads of my phone wondering why between the pumping of my veins lies that very thing ____aphenphosmphobia

©Olatuja Oloyede

Well, you may be pleased when you Look down your nose at me
because I don't wear expensive things,
Or Because I don't have the latest gadget,
Or because I don't belong to the high class in the society,
Or because I don't even know how to eat in a Chinese restaurant
Or because I can't draw my brows, that shit takes more than 10mins for a perfect draw,

Because I fall your hand and you don't like me in your clique

Because I have no hypertension when my cream or body wash finishes 'cos sometimes I'm out only to remember I didn't even rub my bodycream😀😀😀 Or because I can always express myself in whichever language that pleases me without biting my tongue for no reason 😂

Or because I go back to the home garden to pick fresh vegetables cos I can't afford can products

Or because I don't even understand why I have to use a fork and knife when the spoon can do it better

Or because I don't call Daddy or Mummy  to fix me everytime I have any challenge with life

Or because my family didn't live in a massive house, Or my parents riding gigantic cars
that's because I was born with a fist
and not a Silver spoon in my mouth......... (Nna enh, I know I have a writing skill but Chai.....too many work on my head......no time to write abeg.) Credit to Oloyede Olatuja for always giving me assignments on writing. 😁😁😁 I just hope I get a pass mark with this short article.

By Olatuja Abiola

Is the world 🌏 ending?
Hopefully, not for a long time⏳. Life is of course unpredictable. A huge asteroid 🌠may hit the earth 🌍 and humans could go extinct 💀 like the dinosaurs🐱🐉. More realistically, global warming 🔥 may raise the sea levels 🌊and many coastal cities may become uninhabitable during our lifetime. The long dreaded nuclear war ⚛ may break out. A new incurable disease😷 may spread rapidly and exterminate the human race. Certainly, in a billion years, life on Earth will end as the sun 🌞 slowly turns into a red giant and our oceans evaporate♨. If human beings are still around then, hopefully we will have colonized other planets🚀🌌. The world could always end today, but it is highly unlikely. In the meantime, let us live life with as few regrets as possible.

To follow DutaDidi Advice on Duta:
Add to your group: +919282120012

From Duta's Post

Starting a slow boring day again... I begin to write this....

This isn't the time to sit on idle chairs counting the tragedies of yesteryears. Now isn't the ideal time to cluster in dark corners reflecting over the ruins of the past or the blows of bygone days. This is no time to go back rampaging the pages of historic tragedy. O man, your tears are part of you and you can't run from it. Ups and downs are the flowers that launders the path of life. This is the time to stand on lofty mountains and declare your freedom to the world. Stretch your hands in the wind and feel the moment of peace hidden in the passage of time. Turning to America or England will not solace your soul on enchanted pyre... Tell the guy that brags on leaving to go to hell... Tell the past your are not in chains, tell the days ahead you don't give a damn. Tell death you are not afraid. You are a man brother, a silent observer of the passage season. A slave of your own chains and worry. You need no thing, no one to be happy. .... Just be you and that's hell enough to bring you happiness..

I just wanna sit on the cliff of a tall breezy mountain with my arms stretched wide and my shirt flapping in the wind and wish I had no worries..... I have done no damn thing to be a Nigerian.... A dollar is now 516 naira..... Who's gonna fix that mess????

My hands were just "freestyling" on the keyboard when I wrote this..... What else will I do on a slow boring day....???¿¿¿

What is it that scares me the most? Is it my past? I don't think so. Is it the future? Why should that be. May be it's love, yet I doubt it
Or maybe hatred and rejection. I can't say. Is it death? I just hate to think about that. Is it hell? That's really horrible to imagine. Is it the Devil himself. Well... I don't even know him. What scares me the most? God has been my ever faithful friend, so He can't possibly be. I think what scares me most is ME.... For over two decades, I have lived with myself, yet each day.... I still feel like a stranger to myself. Perhaps, if I'd rode with the great Achilles against the Trojans, or graced the glades of the earth with Socrates, or sing the verse of enchantments with Homer himself or even fret the stage with Shakespeare, I might have a grasp of who I really am. But now, though I feel the magic on the inside willing to take my world in surprise by redefining the immutable laws, yet I wonder why I must walk this planet at a time like this. The sandy beach has become a rocky plain and how many feet will leave their prints on the passage of time. These are perilous time and the Master of creation has chosen to send me to the world. I am born for such a time as this. Tough men are born in tough times. Warriors are born to do battle. But for me, immortality is my goal. A life that transcend death. A hymn for the griot, a mystery for the wise, a puzzle for the kings, a tale for the coward, an ensign for the heroes, a name on the pages of eternity. That is not just a dream. It is my destiny.

©Olatuja Oloyede

Tomorrow is Valentine right! I wanted to write a short piece for guys who are Feb 14 faithfuls but I've been busy lately writing an epic poem titled the Legend of Arioch.... Tomorrow is a great day for friends and families yeah but for lovers who are not married......be careful..... Be warned! Valentine is a violent time to be careless.... Guys are not all good as you think they are...... I know of someone who has dated more than 40 ladies aborted for many of them and now is a born again Christian and has nothing to do with them..... Just this evening a married man in front of my house told me he has more than 40 records with ladies.  .. Are you not getting the gist ni..... Men are using you to count number and you are there saying he loves you.... Receive sense in Jesus name......

You can't be so childish with you life here..... You husband deserve the honour of sexual purity...... Come to Jesus... He loves you...

I have said that in the spring of the year the older members of the church began manifestly to decline in their engagedness and zeal for God. This greatly oppressed me, as it did also the young converts generally. About this time I read in a newspaper an article under the head of, "A revival revived." The substance of it was, that in a certain place there had been a revival during the winter; that in the spring it declined; and that upon earnest prayer being offered for the continued out-pouring of the Spirit, the revival was powerfully revived. This article set me into a flood of weeping.

At the next meeting of the young people, I proposed that we should observe a closet concert of prayer for the revival of God's work; that we should pray at sunrise, at noon, and at sunset, in our closets, and continue this for one week, when we should come together again and see what farther was to be done. No other means were used for the revival of God's work. But the spirit of prayer was immediately poured out wonderfully upon the young converts.

(Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney. 1876, p44)

Revival In 1741, William Cooper wrote the preface to Jonathan Edwards work entitled The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. In his preface, Cooper wrote:

Now for a great while, it has been a dead and barren time without fruit in all the churches of the Reformation. The showers of blessing have been restrained. The influence of the Spirit stopped. The Gospel has not had any famous success. Conversions have been rare and dubious. Few sons and daughters have been born to God.

The hearts of Christians are not as lively, warm, and refreshed under the ordinances of the Word and sacraments as they have been. The Christian faith has been in this sad state in this land for many years. There are one or two well-known exceptions. This sad state is acknowledged by all who have any spiritual awareness. Faithful ministers and serious Christians lament this fact. This sad state of the church is a constant petition in our public prayers. From Sabbath to Sabbath we pray, "God, pour out Your Spirit upon us, and revive Your work in the midst of the years." 

He did! The answer to this prayer was the Great Awakening!

What possibility is there of revival in such an age of decadence as our own? We must not forget the situation that preceded the eighteenth-century awakening. We have liberalism; they had deism. We have the drug menace; they had rum. We have contempt for the gospel, especially in places of influence; so did they. We have bishops who tolerate practising homosexuals in the ministry and the blatant public denial of the deity of Christ by one of their number; eighteenth-century Britain also suffered a supine clergy.

Yet in spite of all the obstacles the Holy Spirit intervened in a marvelous way, using humble prayers and a handful of godly leaders.

(Hulse, Erroll. 1991. Give him no rest: a call to prayer for revival, p89)