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Growing up, there were certain lessons you heard from elders that sounded ordinary at the time. You nodded, moved on, and thought little of them. Then life happened. You left home, met different people, experienced different environments, and suddenly those simple statements began to make sense. One lesson that has stayed with me over the years is this: "𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒆. 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆. 𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈." Another one that keeps coming back to me is: "𝑼𝒓𝒃𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑹𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒘𝒔. 𝑭𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐." The older I get, the more I understand the wisdom hidden in those words. As children, many of us grew up in communities where ownership was not something people talked about, it wa...

My Dear TMO, January reminded us how fragile life can be. But by God's divine intervention, mercy, and grace, I am writing a birthday tribute today and not a tribute of sorrow. For that, I will forever remain grateful to God. Five years ago, you made your mother and I parents, and you made me a father. I still remember the day you came into our lives. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Before then, I had heard people talk about the joy of being a parent, but I didn't fully understand it until I held you in my arms for the first time. Over the last five years, you have filled our home with laughter, questions, songs, mischief, hugs, and countless beautiful memories. Watching you grow has been one of my greatest privileges. Every day, you remind me of God's goodness and faithfulness. As you turn five today, there is something I want to share with you. It is a simple lesson that life has taught me over the years. As you grow older, you will understand it e...

One of the most powerful lessons about life is hidden in a simple game of chess. On the chessboard, the pawn is often the least noticed piece. It moves slowly, has limited power, and is usually the first piece people are willing to sacrifice. Yet, there is something remarkable about the pawn. If it survives the journey, overcomes the obstacles in its path, and reaches the other side of the board, it transforms into a queen, the most powerful piece in the game. That is where the saying comes from: "It takes time to become a queen from a pawn." The statement is a reminder that greatness is a process. Nobody starts at the top. Every successful leader, entrepreneur, professional, athlete, or statesman was once a beginner. Before the recognition came the preparation. Before the influence came the sacrifice. Before the applause came the struggle. Unfortunately, we live in a world that celebrates the queen but rarely pays attention to the journey of the pawn. We admire s...

There are some experiences that quietly reshape the way we think about leadership, teamwork, and growth. Recently, I participated in an onboarding program, and while many may see onboarding as just another corporate routine filled with presentations, introductions, and policy sessions, I left with something far more valuable, a deeper understanding of what truly sustains great organizations. As I reflected on the experience, three words kept replaying in my mind: Competence. Culture. Collaboration. At first glance, competence and collaboration seem to be the most obvious ingredients of success in any workplace. Competence is the ability to deliver results, solve problems, and perform effectively. Collaboration is the ability to work with others towards a common goal. These are visible qualities. They are easy to identify, easy to measure, and often the first things organizations look for. But during the onboarding process, I realized there is another factor, one less visibl...

There comes a point in life where you stop explaining your pace, your silence, and your decisions to everyone around you.  Not because you have changed for the worse, but because you have finally matured into someone who understands that not every season needs an audience. Don’t confuse my ambition for desertion. There are moments when stepping back looks like walking away. Friends start asking, “Why are you no longer around?” Colleagues wonder why you have gone quiet in group chats. Even family may think something is wrong because you are no longer as available as before. But what they don’t see is that you are not disappearing, you are repositioning. Think about the student who suddenly reduces outings, stops attending every event, and spends long nights studying. To others, it looks like isolation. But months later, results come out, and the same people understand. Or the entrepreneur who goes off the radar. No more frequent posts, no more constant updates. People as...

For years, many people move through life trying to be liked or respected. You soften your edges, adjust your tone, and listen closely to what people say about you. You enter different rooms and, without realizing it, become slightly different versions of yourself, just to fit, just to be accepted. But over time, one thing becomes clear: the admiration , the resentment , even the criticism you receive is rarely about you as a person. It is often about what you represent to others, their fears, their expectations, their insecurities, or even their own limitations. This is where many get it wrong. In trying to gain approval, they lose consistency. They begin to shape themselves based on reactions, not on values. And in doing so, they attract people who connect with a version of them that isn’t real. They wait for consensus that never comes, and end up surrounded by people who think they know them, but don’t truly understand them. Now, place this beside what we see in politics...

I was honoured to join Value Female Network Africa’s Women-Empowerment Safety Programme as a facilitator for master-artisans from two local government areas in Ekiti State. The programme’s aim—to equip master trainers who will then step the training down to girls and young women learning a trade—felt especially powerful. In two sessions I led, I explored what information and communication technology (ICT) and innovation mean for artisans today, and how those same technologies can be used to facilitate gender-based violence (GBV). My goal was practical and person-centred: to give master-trainers clear, everyday language and usable strategies they can pass on to apprentices so that learning a trade becomes not only economically empowering but also digitally safe. I began by framing ICT and innovation in a way that connects directly with craft and apprenticeship. Technology is not an abstract concept meant only for programmers; it is a set of tools — phones, messaging apps, s...