AFRICAN PLUME

By Akin Ojumu Of the many foibles that beset mankind none has some of us in their addictive clutches, none is our Achilles heels. By the grace of Almighty God, we are not dipsomaniacs, nicotine has never touched our tongues or reached our lungs, gluttons we are not, and philogyny is not encoded in our DNA. But being the mere mortals that we are, our inadequacies are as many as the stars in the skies, and our blemishes are like the sand on the seashore. Like a light house that can be seen from a far distance, our imperfections are glaring for all to see. While we have been able to escape the clutches of alcohol, nicotine, gluttony, and womanizing, scholarly argument is a vice that has got our number pretty good, and a non-conforming mind is the bane of our existence. For those of us who are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, a predilection for cerebral dialogue poses a unique set of improbable challenges. A reasonable person would think our slow-wittedness should discou...

By Unknown Author The less you associate with some people the more your life will improve Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your own mediocrity An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people As you grow, your associates will change Some of your friends will not want you to go on They will want you to stay where they are Friends that don’t help you to climb will want you to crawl Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dreams Those that don't increase you, will eventually decrease you Consider this; Never receive counsel from unproductive people Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution Because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how Not everyone has a right to speak into your life You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person Don...

By Akin Ojumu That the Almighty God uses imperfect people to accomplish His perfect purpose on earth should not be a matter of debate amongst those who have a good understanding of Scripture. No one who truly believes that God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, eternal and immutable would question that God frequently intervenes in the affairs of humankind and appoints over the children of men whomsoever He chooses. If God can use a dumb ass speaking with man's voice to rebuke the madness of a corrupt prophet, in His manifest wisdom, He can use just about any one of His creations to fulfill His divine desire. Throughout the history of mankind, God has raised up men and women, mere earthen vessels, to carry out His will. By His divine power, the LORD has been known to transform mere mortals into near immortals. His mighty hands have been seen at work changing destiny of slaves and making them kings. God used a handful of unlearned hillbillies from the backwaters of Gal...

We are public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing. We have watched as the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China, in particular, have worked diligently and effectively to rapidly identify the pathogen behind this outbreak, put in place significant measures to reduce its impact, and share their results transparently with the global health community. This effort has been remarkable. We sign this statement in solidarity with all scientists and health professionals in China who continue to save lives and protect global health during the challenge of the COVID-19 outbreak. We are all in this together, with our Chinese counterparts in the forefront, against this new viral threat. The rapid, open, and transparent sharing of data on this outbreak is now being threatened by rumours and misinformation aroun...

By Akin Ojumu Apostle Paul had many problem Churches, the Corinthian Church was chief amongst them all. In 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth to address the myriads of issues at the Church that had been brought to his attention. The Corinthian Christians were one of a kind. They were sexually immoral, engaged in incest, got caught up in paganism and idolatry, litigious, gluttonous, drunkenness, formed cliques, bought into philosophies, and they counterfeited the Spiritual Gifts. Just a few years after the Church had been planted by Paul, the Corinthian Christians had already been completely Corinthianized – a verb used to describe an immoral life and wanton living. The pagan society in which they lived had already infiltrated and taken over the Church; while the Church took on the form of worldliness, the Corinthian society continued unabated in its evilness. Educalingo describes the term corinthianize this way: The reputation for...

RONALD REAGAN was handed a deficit of $79 billion by his predecessor, he increased it to $153 billion by the time he left office 8 years later. GEORGE H.W. BUSH took over Reagan’s $153 billion deficit, and he increased it to $255 billion in 4 years. BILL CLINTON took over an economic deficit of $255 billion and, in 8 years, reduced it to an economic surplus of $130 billion. GEORGE W. BUSH inherited an economic surplus of $130 billion and zero deficit. By the time he left office 8 years later, the US economy had collapsed, and the country had been plunged into a $1.4 trillion deficit. BARACK OBAMA took over an economy in tailspin, a deficit of $1.4 trillion. In 8 years, the US economy has been turned around and firing on all cylinders. By the end of his presidency, the US deficit has been cut by 32 percent, from $1.4 trillion to $442 billion. DONALD TRUMP inherited a rejuvenated, strong, and vibrant economy. The US deficit, when he came to office was $442 bi...

By Akin Ojumu That the Nigerian government is incompetent and feckless is an established fact. The incompetence permeates every area of governance vis-a-vis economy, education, healthcare, finance, energy, power, infrastructure, etc. The breakdown in security, law and order in the country is just an extension of the perpetual blundering and bungling of Nigeria's political class. As some would have us believe, the volatile and unpredictable security situation in Nigeria is the reason Donald Trump's administration imposed a travel on the country. This assertion cannot be further from the truth, and it flies in the face of everything we know about Trump and his expressed views on immigration. Let me be clear, Donald Trump did not impose a travel ban on Nigeria because of the security situation in the country. The Nigeria's security upheaval is only a pretext for a far more sinister and insidious underlying motive. Even with all the security chaos, inadequacy in...

By Akin Ojumu Socialism and Liberalism are some of the most hated words you will find in the American political lexicon. The Conservatives – especially those that wear the mantle of Christian Conservatives, the so-called Religious Right – despise those words with passion. According to these holy men and women of the Conservative world, Liberals and Socialists are godless lots on the path to utter damnation. But guess what I found while studying the scriptures this morning. You guessed right…Socialism and Liberalism. Those two dirty words are right there in the scriptures, hiding in plain view. And yes, godless liberal scums like me still study the Word of God, and just in case you are wondering, we pray too for good measure. Imagine my shock when I discovered these despicable words – liberalism and socialism – in the Word of God. How on earth did they get there? Who inserted them there? Is this some kind of evil machinations by the morally corrupt Socialists and ...