“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favour freedom, and deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without ploughing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightning.”- Frederick Douglass

One of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we’ve internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect so little from the world and from themselves.-Barak Obama

The successful conviction of Osezua Osolase 42, was welcomed by AFRUCA(Africans Unite Against Child Abuse) that commended British government on the successful prosecution of a prolific child trafficker. The agency stated such conviction will serve as a warning to others who are willing to exploit young girls with a promise of a better live in Europe only to be sold into prostitution.

The British mail newspaper ran a center page about the Winners’ Chapel. The head of the ministries, David Oyedepo, has an estimated £93 million fortune, a fleet of private jets and a Rolls-Royce Phantom. The church has been accused of cynical exploitation with £16.7 million in donations and followers are told that God would give them riches in return.

It has not been the best of times, in fact it has been the worst of time. It seems that not a day goes by that more bad news of atrocities are displayed in the news for us to digest. This diet is so bad for our psychological health not to talk of our physical health. The massacre that shook Mubi, a university town and commercial hub in north-eastern Nigeria, reverberated through the Nigerian community in the UK and am sure more so in Nigeria.

TWo weeks ago, well- known Nigerians were buried in Abeokuta amidst tears and encomiums. They were natives of Abeokuta who had many things in common- very highly educated; urban and they served town and country.

Yes, October 1, 2012. Independence Day came and went in my household, without a muster or fanfare. I vowed two years ago, that future Nigeria’s Independence Day at least, in my household, is not a time for whimsicalities but one of quiet contemplation.

“Each person matters; no human life is redundant. Every individual must be given the opportunity to live a life in which his or her basic needs are provided for and in which, so far as it is reasonably possible, their full potential is realised”- Cardinal Basil Hume

In the last couple of weeks, you could not have failed to notice the media frenzy on the health of Patience Goodluck Jonathan; especially with the spin doctors and all the presidents’ men diagnosing Patience ‘s health status with all sorts of prognosis.

“Life doesn’t count for much unless you’re willing to do your small part to leave our children—all of our children—a better world.” —President Obama.