2010 memories

Looking back all I can do is to allow my tears flow freely as I think deeply into the events of 2010. God did turn my life around, he took me into palaces to dine with kings and princes, he took me from my 'nobody' state and gave me a name.

The oil of favour was flowing endlessly upon my life in this 2010 and I don't think there's anything I can do that can be enough to thank and appreciate God for what He has done for me this year!

This is not the me that ended 2009, but God stepped in and stirred up a paradigm shift.

I appreciate God for my final year in school

I thank him for my academics.....I struggled to read for my finals cos there was no motivation

Some time in March I thought I would find love and finally settle in a relationship, but that moment never came. 

My project was a pain in the neck

I had to combine preparation for a book launch with my academics

I wept on my 21st birthday as the dummy of my book was dedicated to God....my friends kept on saying "dreams come true" and little did I know that it was just the beginning. 

I remember the 1hour prayer sessions we used to have 6-7pm daily. Sweet hours of prayer!!!! I would go there daily and pour it all out on God, I would tell him of my fears, my hopes, my aspirations and every other issue.

The journey that started 17th October 2005 had ups and downs, yet God saw me through and I bagged my B. Eng on 2nd July, 2010

2nd July, 2010 started a new chapter of my life as my first book, A-Z Life lessons was already in mass print and it sold its first copy that day......copies had been sold even before I help a copy in my hands. I can never forget the moment I held the book in my hands, it felt like a delivery hour when a mother would hold her new born in her arms and flow with tears of joy......Lord, I thank you for your blessings

A-Z Life lessons sold 200 pre-launch copies that weekend

9th July, 2010 Lagos welcomed my book as it was launched at Terra Kulture. That was the best evening of my life......watching the video of that event sets me in a unique realm.

Of no doubt, God has been with me....He simply picked on me to favour me

13th July 2010, I was sitting on the high table with international speaker and leadership expert, John C. Maxwell at a book reading at Silverbird galleria Lagos.

25th July I was featured in a national daily as one of the authors to be featured in the first ever Bookjam in Abuja

30th July, it was Abuja receiving me......great reception, the audience loved my work and they were just fascinated.

31st July, my first time on Radio. FRCN Abuja

26th August, I was on Rhythm 93.7 FM lagos

27th August, my first time on TV.....I was featured on Today on STV in a 15min interview

That day was like my birthday! Phone calls and msgs kept on rolling "we proud of u" "congrats" 

And just like I'm doing right now, the tears flowed freely that day!

28th August, another bookjam feature in Silverbird Lagos

September 2010. Y! Naija website published me as "the next big thing" featuring an exclusive interview I had with their columnist

So many speaking platforms, where I gladly shared fresh insights!

October 2010. My desired NYSC posting to Lagos clicked!

26th October I was in Ede, Osun state -my father's place of birth - for the 1st time in my life, all thanks to NYSC

12th November. Depressing day for me as the 3wk NYSC orientation ended as I was posted to serve in the Ministry of special duties as against the Exxonmobil I've always wanted. 

In the weeks that followed, I was all out to get a better job anywhere I could get it from. It was a trying period for me, but I was never in doubt about the outcome cos I always knew I would have the last laugh. 

After 2wks of job hunting, Total offered me a placement.....and on the same day Schlumberger came knocking. Couple of days later, it was Accenture!

From zero level, God presented me with 3 options

December 7 I resumed work at Schlumberger

31st December and you're still reading my blog :)

My most prized asset remain the friends I have kept through the years.....thank you for being a friend!

I couldn't have planned for a year this great

This is not paper work

This is not goal setting

This is no thinking big

This is the hand of God

[Singing]

All glory must be to the Lord

For He is worthy of my praise

No man on earth should give glory to Himself

All glory must be to the Lord

This is my story

This is my song

Praising my saviour

All the day long

----i-------

See you all in the new year :)

2011 belongs to those who have the hand of God upon them. 

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

Opportunity check: YES or NO

Permit me to quickly blow your mind for the next couple of minutes u will spend in reading this piece....

I'm too happy with the life I'm living right now because I know I touch lives daily!

Day by day I'm getting closer to the actualisation of my dreams and I thank the Lord God Almighty for helping me thus far.

I was on a Virgin Nigeria flight on a Sunday evening, leaving Abuja for Lagos on the last flight for the day and I guess very few persons travel at that hour because the plane was almost empty. In their usual fashion, they had to upgrade some persons from economy to business class just so the aircraft can maintain balance...so the flight attendant approached a particular couple and the following conversation ensued.

"Excuse me, are u both travelling together?"

"Yes"

"We would like to upgrade ur ticket to business class, so if you don't mind can u come down with me"

"NO, we are okay here"

Did someone just say NO to a flight upgrade?????? This is no terrorist move right?

It really hit me and I've been meaning to teach a lesson from that incident but no inspiration has ever come from that area up until now.

That day I didn't know what to conclude on...it was either 'contentment' or 'pride'

It had to be one of those two things, the latter looking more like it.

But right now, I'm not seeing it as pride anymore because I did not in anyway lose respect for that guy, infact they earned my respect big time.

There are two words that guide our existence, YES and NO

Who u are today, they say, is a product of the choices u made yesterday; life is all about choices; and ur choice is either a YES or a NO....so that validates my postulation.

I keep saying that there's nothing CU graduates will come across in life that Papa has not prepared us for, there's no situation in life that  u cant link to something Papa has said or that we might have learnt from him, this is what qualifies him to be my most revered mentor.

"Be very careful, it is not every opportunity that comes your way that is meant for you"

-Dr David Oyedepo '10

Lemme back this up further with a self-example.

A couple of weeks back as I was preparing for my book launch and one of the persons on the event management crew introduced me to a socialite, a fashion person, popular blogger and a successful lady; she had a concept she had always wanted to pull off and she was going to need 30mins of my event time to do her own thing!

Sincerely I never felt right about it from the on-set, but I trust my team members anyday anytime....d offer started out as juicy, a socialite will definitely come around with classy guests, celebrities..they will drop good cash to launch my book and even if they dont. they are celebs, their presence is enough reward.

So I opened talks with her after I had discussed a strategy with another team member, I gave her a good deal only to discover that all she was gonna offer in return was her Socialite ratings and a book review....no cash? no fixed reward!

But again, she sounded convincing...I was a young boy looking for recognition....I hope I'm not missing out of this rare opportunity...bla bla...

and while I was in the middle of this, it just occurred to me that 20mins of my event time is actually not that cheap, the time wasnt even there in the first place. I just picked my fone, typed the SMS and I cut off the deal

GBAM!!!!!!

But u know, when u cut off and u actually don't cut off

I was filled with fear, at some point I would feel bad about the decision, at other times I was just okay with it, at some point again I would feel like a bad guy that just dropped a capital NO.

Post-decisional emotional roller coaster ride!

It is actually no beans saying NO yet we need to say NO on a daily basis

The lesson of this experience is this

"Be very careful, it is not every opportunity that comes your way that is meant for you"

-Dr David Oyedepo '10

That virgin flight experience leaves me to conclude that people actually respect u more when u say NO the right way to whatever it is u dont feel right about

Giving off that 20mins would have been the worst decision of my life, and I would have known that if not because I said NO,

Why am I sayin this?

We planned a 2hour program for the launch. 

We kicked off at 6:20 and by 7:55 I was called up to give the vote of thanks!

Meanwhile, all along I had it at the back of my mind that the event was ending 8:30, so instead of giving the vote of thanks at 7:55 thereby ending the event for 8:00pm...I decided to hold my guests to ransom, I didnt let them go

I spent 20mins entertaining questions from the audience, and if u were around for my book launch, u would agree with me that the 20mins Q&A session was the most important, interesting and entertaining moment of the book launch, because that was the only time I was able to sell myself to the audience as a confident public speaker; for everyone who was seeing me for the first time and even those who knew me before, that was the moment I stole their heart convincing them beyond doubt that I'm not just a word smith on paper but I roll pretty good on the mic as well.

I wouldn't have known what I had missed if I had given out my precious 20mins!

You never can tell what you are missing by not saying NO to that thing you call 'opportunity'

Check it!

Packaging: Just be somebody

This one is an overflow of the discussion I had with Funeh yesterday, and some of these things I shared with Harry today.

I was in Abuja for 5days for a book tour and even though that was my first time in the FCT, Abuja felt like home, beyond the warm reception at the media outing and beyond the 'author' status, everyone I came across were very well receptive.

I try to compare what I experienced in Abuja with what obtains in my everyday Lagos life and well, no doubts there's a very big difference; let me just skip the details of this juxtapose.

One striking thing about the Abuja enviroment in the warmth and the only thing close to that is the village life; it is only in the village that you see people showing so much love and interest and I used to leave it as lack of exposure: the 'city people' mentality.

But how come Abuja being a city still enjoys this?

I've realised the one thing responsible for that

IN ABUJA, EVERYBODY IS SOMEBODY

The best way to get people to respect you is by being a somebody. People don't respect nobodies. Being a somebody gives u access to a great deal of respect.

How does it work in Abuja?

Everyone thinks 

"Oh, I think that boy is a senator's son"

"That girl's father is an ambassador"

"Is that not the Senator"

"Is that not the CBN guy"

So u discover that in a way, everyone is beclouded with that 'u never can tell' mentality and this in return affects how u relate with people, u treat them with respect just because u don't want to step on toes.

How does it kill Lagos?

Lagos is a no-man's life

"Who born u?"

"Who u be? Who be ur father?"

Except they see u coming down from those tinted SUVs, u don't earn the respect; and atimes even ur affluence is no security, they look at u straight in the eyes and call u a thief.

They ask "is it your money?"

And so because we go about feeling there are no special heads, that all men are equal and that everybody is a nobody, there's no room for respect to find expression!

How does it work in the village?

Same old, same old

"The city people are here"

"They have come from obodo with plenty money"

"He owns a fleet of cars in the city"

"He works in one of those sky scrapers in the city"

So the respect and warm reception is automatic even if he borrowed his friend's car plus fuel money to pay them a visit in the village, he still gets that respect.

So why am I telling you?

I'm telling u this so u can wake up to the realisation of the fact that the 'somebody' mentality is a winner any day, any time!

It is ever a killer move. If I should go into the details of the things I've done in the name of packaging, the post will be unnecessarily long and u'll laff to much to get the point.

But taking advantage of this principle will help ur life big time, it will grant u access to unimaginable realms, and it will push u to want achievement

In conclusion, let me leave u with a practical example

In Abuja,

I go "This is my first time in this city, I have no business coming to Abuja...my book was doing soooo well in Lagos, flooding the internet, TV, the media world talking about it and the Abuja Literary Society couldn't help inviting me down to Abuja"

And what do I get in return

"Are u serious? Do u have the book here with u? How much does it cost?"

I just sold myself and I sold my book....Why? Because they know I am somebody

In Lagos,

I go "Sorry I couldn't come over the weekend..I was out of town, I was in Abuja and I had a fantastic time out there, I mean God was faithful opening doors here and there...I was hosted by Silverbird, I was on radio, I even met....bla bla bla"

And I return

"Wow, that's big! Do u have the book here with u? How much does it cost?"

If I want to go futher in proving a point, I could tell the person I dont have the book with me

"But check it up in Terra Kulture, Silverbird galleria or at the Palms...."

These are killer moves anyday, anytime....the things I just revealed are exclusive background stuffs oh....I dunno why I got this generous today, U just keep reading, God is pushing me to share more background gist in the coming days.

I just shared a life lesson on Packaging!

Tell me what u think...

Abuja in pictures

Wednesday morning @ Muritala Mohammed Airport, Lagos

Lord, what's it gonna be like?

Arrived safely @ Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja

So I have a 2009 Honda Accord picking me from the airport

Day 2

Riding with my host, Sam

So we ran into Chidinma n Subomi @ Etisalat

DAY 3

Heading out on the d-day....thank u ;-)...I knw d shirt is fine!

on our way back from Uniabuja - Gwags

These guys were already sitted as of 30mins to kick off

And so we begin!

Book reading

Book signings

Proudly CU

The premiere of Ije was also that nite...(dull pic)

DAY 4

I was supposed to be out of Abuja to paree @ Elegushi

.....and dine @ Oriental

But I was up in FRCN doing my thing on radio

DAY 5

I was supposed to announce the August 12 launch of my next bus stop

.....but everything was happenening to fast as I entered las gidi @ 7pm

(launch of "Bold & Beautiful" mag)

....and too slow for Reme (click here) who was stuck up in traffic

Took a couple of pictures @ d launch, n I left...

I'm back to las gidi

ékó o ni baje oh!!!

Is it auto or manual?

Are u a non-car owner in need of an alternate means of transportation other than ur everyday commercial bus or okada 4 a short distance ride?

Do u think Okada is actually nt fresh n ure jst 2 proud 2 opt for danfo knowin dat a cab won't work for a 10min drive?
Are u thinking about d dangers ure exposed to during ur brief Okada riide?

Don't get tempted to use Keke NAPEP!

It guarantees u minimal speed and maximum discomfort.

A terrible Keke Marwa trip on the Gowon est - Egbeda link road thought me this. The roads were bad, the tricycle had little or no stamina, my body was pressin hard on the metallic frame of the Keke.....it made no sense! It jst ddnt feel rite payin d guy dat #50

These were d issues I was faced with early ds mornin as I tripped down to my friends house.

Btw, uncle fregs keeps askin "is keke Marwa automatic or manual?"

It was a beautiful visit...really fun n interestin catchin up

My friend's publishin a book dis Sept and trust me, its gonna be mega release....d concept is stunning and yours truly is writing a contributing chapter. I'll give u guys more gist bout it wen he's set 4 d publicity buh trust me, d book's gonna blow ur minds cos we both had d initiative to author books arnd d same time...jst that A-Z had a shorter completion time line.

That was wher I spent my entire day!

I got back home arnd 7pm only to surprisingly sit down to a Yoruba movie on Africa Magic Yoruba! I can't explain y buh there was just this interestin twist in d storyline. PHCN was harsh enuf 2 hurt my sudden interest as they did their 'regular'

In no time I was alrdy catchin up on my skye high folks afta a couple of days of disconnection 4rm my BBM, buh dat was soon interrupted as dad told me 2 take sumtn down 2 church.

Gettin 2 church, midweek service was stil on and I didn't want enter. I scanned thru d window n I ddnt c d person, so I gave up and I walked inside d auditorium.

As I strolled in heading 4 comfortable back seat I was hoping to seat on.......
The voice on d mic went...
"Thank God Tolu just walked in, I was just about 2 quote something from his book; in his book, he said there r 4 kinds of persons u woiuld come across in dis life...."
My Pastor quoting my book?

It was a humbling moment for me as I remembered d scriptures ".....out of d mouth of babes....."

I'm happy he found d book relevant though after my conversation with him on Sat when he was questioning d title of d book n all.

My visit to d church dat Saturday also got me running into some guy who was advising me to come out my shell n talk more often in public (my church) and he just kept on n on n on.....that he's really surprised to hear I have book....."u knw, u can actually use dis platform to develop urself 2 knw hw 2 speak 2 a group of ppl" he said

And I shook my head as I said to myself "knowledge is power....if only he had a sneak peak of my CV"

I enjoy d dual personality thing sha
One of d earliest tins I learnt about Oral Roberts was dat many wonder how he could be a melancholic in hs everyday life but just transists into a sanguine during ministrations and I held on to that and I'm still holding on to that.

My innermost man calls it "proud humility"


Still ahead
-2 birthday parties to be hosted by El Fiz events....
-Only a matter of days till I hit d city of Abuja

Don't stop reading cos u'l definitely keep getting inspired.
Catch ya 2mrw!



Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN