Reverie

Blog, Reverie

Aquitaine Exploration

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Strive to find fulfillment in experience rather than materialism because the most important things in life are intangible. ~ Odogwu Cmoni Thank you for all the birthday wishes. And please if I haven’t responded or missed your call just understand that it isn’t intentional as it was a day on which I had several appointments and still had to fly away. But first, the kids ensured I cut the cake before jetting off. I’m supposed to have a chill trip with my First Minister. So far it’s not looking like it will be unless I put my foot down. My manager is calling repeatedly. He is anxious about the way I broke off halfway into our last discussion after telling him it was important. My mum is piling pressure on me to wire funds for an ongoing building project. “Just send what you can my son, let me restart the work now I’m back here, God will make a way and we will finish the house”. Of course, I’ve been here severally before and I know how it will play out. And then there are the latecomers. More calls, and messages coming in by the minute to wish me well. Gosh! I can’t cope, I just can’t. But at least I can be thankful that I’m away from Facebook this time because that platform always had me wondering how celebs manage their birthdays. Yes, if you don’t feel like a celebrity on your birthday then you need to change your circle. Maybe I should go grab breakfast before I continue this….. I’m back. That was a good break. An expensive breakfast but well worth it if you can maximise value as I do. The spread was the typical French gros petit-déjeuner and I ate everything! The gym is there. The pool is also available and of course, I can always jog to shed those calories. Our typical vacation is an invaluable quality time. It is invaluable for family bonding because it is usually a period of reflection and exploration. The former in the morning and the latter from noon. But this particular one should be better without the distraction from the kids. It is special in the sense that I know the year will be a turning point in my sojourn abroad. Yea for decisions too many to contemplate listing now but will be evident in due course as the stepping blocks of the self-architecture I embarked on. Stop wondering, it’s neither rocket science nor groundbreaking. We know what to do but rarely act on these thoughts/ideas. So when we eventually do it appears like we used a magic wand. The journey is a process and the process is a journey because the destination keeps getting farther. Each milestone births a new one et cetera et cetera. Ok, enough of this stream of consciousness. Now I’m chilling in my hotel room savouring the bright Merignac surroundings in western Bordeaux. Almost ready for the day’s expedition but first let me take a short nap to let my alimentary canal commence the digestion of croissants, cheese, bacon, and the stuff I just gulped down. I should wake up fresher and lighter for the walking tour of this UNESCO heritage site dotted with rustic medieval Chateaus, lush vineyards, and exotic cuisine. You will be updated and yea that’s my journalling for the day. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.    

Blog, Reverie

Let Love Lead This Easter.

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If possible..so far as it depends on you, live in peace with everyone.~ Romans 12:18 Humans are created just the way they are. They cannot be grown, fixed or changed by others. They can only be loved! Humans change in response to stimuli, that’s why the age-old aphorism remains evergreen: “if you want to change someone then change your attitude towards them”. So in the spirit of the season let’s try and practice the teachings of our faith. Let us choose to love our fellow humans, love them in pain and peace. Love them when they insult, munch or block as much as you will love them when they do otherwise. Do not claim to be the victim or victor for by so doing you are symbolizing the love shown through His crucifixion and emulating the illumination of His resurrection. So my good people..let love lead! Happy Easter!🙏😇🥰🕺 📹: @Dasucre    

Blog, Reverie

From death to life.

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Today’s sermon reminds me of the resurrection. It is one I will live to remember because The Rt. Rev. John Masanao Watanabe practically rose from death to life.

Blog, Reverie

Two To Tango.

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And that’s marriage for you. It is simpler when you have common interests. When you encounter the attendant troubles of the planting season like stress, fatigue or disagreements you will easily overcome them because you know the harvest is just around the corner.

Blog, Reverie

Anecdote: Deregulation Therapy.

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No nation will make meaningful progress in development without an efficient energy sector. We need to deregulate and fully embrace a free market economy with limited government intervention.

Blog, Reverie

The Metaphorical South-East Food & Fashion Festival.

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There are numerous ways one can start small and grow big but the problem is that we always think of the end before even starting. You can partner with someone if your plan requires more resources. The aim should be straightforward. Create, market and sell. This automatically generates income and employment.

Blog, Reverie

Make This Christmas Count.

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Besides the usual tradition of playing out the nativity, exchanging gifts and lots of Christmas carols we have weddings, traditional marriages and other social functions. Hell, we now have Santa tossing gifts from a cart pulled by goats. Christmas can be mad fun in eastern Nigeria especially in your hometown.

Blog, Reverie

The Undertaker.

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Now it was only a short wait until the undertaker would come for her.
She couldn’t help the shriek “FREE AT LAST!!!”

Blog, Reverie

A Brief One On Marriage.

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By all means, marry. If you get a good spouse, you’ll become happy; if you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher. ~ Socrates ‘improvised’ I remember one morning when my daughter woke up, came downstairs, and made breakfast. I watched her fry the pancake, spread the Nutella and topped it with a piece of strawberry fruit cut in half. I only asked her to punch it up with peanuts for extra calories to avoid collapsing in the gym! All done effortlessly with a headphone clasped over the ears as she hummed along to her playlist. My last daughter o, just to let you know. The joy of watching her while knowing that she may or may not be aware of the impact of her simple act was another delight on its own. For me, this is one of the numerous benefits of having a family. She is a fruit of my marriage and the bliss of such little blessings is better experienced than explained. So you can pardon my indignation when I hear that marriage is overhyped. In any case, it may be so for those who are not getting the satisfaction that should come from a marriage. I don’t have a perfect marriage, nobody has and I have seen people who wished they remained single. A wish which will always be alien to me because frankly if I come back a million times I will marry as many times. I even wish I married earlier because I would have now retired to spend more time on passion projects. The thing is that many commentators often generalise and put out an opinion informed by one or a few experiences. That is why we have many fluky relationship counselors obfuscating on social media platforms. Of course, it is better single than miserably accompanied but two good heads are better than one. Likewise, it is equally helpful to identify your shared interests before that walk down the aisle. In my case, a common love for tourism was identified early on and it has proven to be bonding and therapeutic. You see, besides companionship and procreation, there are countless benefits of marriage if you truly love and respect each other. And we must not take love lightly here. It comes with commitment, giving, taking and understanding. But yours truly will only tell you about one benefit from my little experience. The one that matters most even if it is ironically selfish. After all, aren’t humans selfish? There is a “feel-good feeling” that comes with marriage. It is psychological. It comes with that phrase “till death do us part”. I mean that feeling of “they ‘ll love to hear this” or “honey I’m home” after a good business trip. Or the belief that “they ‘ve got my back” that makes you long for home after a terrible day at work. It is just that simple but it is indeed an enormous feeling. So great that sometimes you unconsciously find yourself alone, thinking and giving thanks for having the best life ever. A friend had once asked me why I left all my businesses in Nigeria for “the abroad” and I replied “because I need ataraxis” Confused he said, “Cmoni you ‘ve come with all these your yeye vocab, which one is ataraxis again?” I beckoned for him to come closer. He did and I whispered “peace of mind!” I dated for many years and I ‘ve been married for 18 years now so I can tell you from my experience that the union can never be overhyped. The reverse is the case because I can’t seem to find enough words to qualify this beatitude. So go on, get married and enjoy the great benefits of the first institution created by God! But remember the caveat..if you truly love and respect each other. #HappySunday

Blog, Diaspora Diary., Reverie

Diaspora Diary: Prioritise A Driver’s License Over Western Union.

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I haven’t jogged for some time. I‘ve just been doing short 2–3km walks on the banks the river Lee instead of the usual hour-long jogging. To get back to routine, I decided to jog for two hours this morning. The exercise took me through a route which was a favourite for driving schools and I was reminded of the frustrating days I passed through to get my driving license. It seems a long time now but the memory still lives vividly with me today. I will narrate my story and the importance of a driver’s license to inform the newbies and potential migrants to the western world. I had been driving for three decades before relocating to Ireland. I had also been driving for ages across the western world during vacations and visits. Most car rental companies will usually accept your Nigerian driving license and International driving permit so long as you have a credit card to hold down the required deposit. However, it becomes a different ball game when your status changes to “resident”. Regardless of your driving experience, you are required to go through the full driver licensing procedure if your nationality falls outside the ‘mutual recognition’ agreement category. You must first pass a driver theory test, get a learner permit, complete a course of Essential Driver Training(EDT) and pass your driving test before you can legally drive here. Notwithstanding that the EDT is 12 one-hour sessions of driving lessons you still have to drive with a fully licensed driver whenever you mount the wheels with your learner permit. Crazy right? Well, I didn’t think it was much of a problem considering my wealth of experience in driving. My missus fondly hails me “formula 1” each time I do my signature reverse parking very close to the kerb. As a matter of fact, I have never been involved in a crash while driving. The most have been a bump or a scratch on the side with danfo drivers usually the culprits. In any case, I passed the theory test without failing a question. It was easy because I had done a similar one while living in the UK some years back. The only reason I didn’t get a full UK driving license back then which would have saved me the stress here was because I moved back to Nigeria. I just keep moving! I was issued with a learner permit and I started the driving lessons thereafter. Believing it will be a formality I didn’t take it seriously. My only headache then was the bill. The €30/lesson summed up to €360. And then I had to hire a manual transmission car @€150 for the test, plus another €85 test fee. Adding all these up didn’t amuse me when I figured the naira equivalent. All the same, I finished after a boring 9-month period repeatedly interrupted by travels to Nigeria after which I often forgot where I left off. The first sign of trouble I got was when I requested to hire my driving instructor’s car for the test. His response was that I wasn’t ready yet. Goodness me! This oyibo was trying to extort me for further lessons after I had done the requisite minimum of 12. I laughed and bade him “au revoir”, after all, there are countless driving test car hire services out there. On the day of the test, I was brimming with confidence which would be deflated 10 minutes into the test proper. I had made several mistakes and by the time we returned to the test centre I knew I had failed. You are given feedback immediately on a sheet of paper to help you improve on the areas you were found wanting. My commonest mistake was ‘coasting’. It simply means driving with your clutch pedal down. Easy to shake that off one would think. But not so my dear, old habits die hard. I can bet 99% of Nigerian drivers coast and will fail their 1st driving test here. My friend in Dublin failed thrice, his wife 5x and another one I spoke to recently said he cannot count the number of times he has failed. These are all folks with decades of driving experience back home. My second test was even worse. I was so livid with myself that the car hire guy — bless him — refunded my money out of pity. I was to pass the third time but not without a stroke of good fortune. It came through an Albanian van driver whom I hired for removals. In the midst of haggling, I told him I could hire a van and do the job myself for half the cost. “So why did you call me? Do you love wasting money?” He had asked sarcastically. We both laughed heartily when I narrated about my driving test ordeal. He said, “so today, you pay me and after I give you good driving teacher, my brother has the best driving school in Cork”. He recommended his brother who owns Neptune Driving school when I revealed during our chat that I was still using a learner permit. During the pre-test rehearsal, the guy just asked me a few questions and concluded that my problem was overconfidence. He told me that besides coasting I needed to drive like a ‘confident’ rookie for the 20–30 minutes my test would last. So we spent the first half-hour dealing with coasting and the next learning how to drive like a rookie, both hands on the wheel, 10 to 2 position and all the boring details. But you must get them right for the test duration. I passed easily. The test didn’t even last 15 minutes and the tester was satisfied with my driving. It has been a huge relief ever since and besides the countless benefits of a full driving license, I believe it is advisable especially for immigrants to prioritise getting this all-important document. For instance in the US where some states issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants

Blog, Reverie

A Prayer For My Kids.

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Lord help me to give my children the best of myself and not of things, cherish them on good and bad days, accepting them for who they are and not for what they are or do. Let me give them a home where respect and integrity will bring enough happiness to raise the roof, let me provide moderately all their needs so that from the joy of getting they will learn the joy of giving. Let me teach them that the reward of hard work is not wealth but excellence., and when the honours come however small, let me rejoice with them without taking the glory, for my children are enough glories…and above all let me groom them well in your truth and love. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen

Blog, Reverie

Break The Bias.

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Many men will support but few will lead the movement for reasons I stated earlier, the fluky feminists should understand that feminism doesn’t start with heartbreak, it is about equality and not supremacy.

Blog, Reverie

Limitless With Cmonionline.

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  Stephen Hawking the legendary physicist once said “Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious” I love vacations. The sun, the sandy beaches and the other fun stuff. But there is another part of my vacation that I equally cherish. It is the serenity of early mornings and the tranquillity of late nights. The quietude presents a time of solitude. A period for reflection and meditation. It awakens my curiosity and the longing to learn more and more and more… I am Cmoni, an entrepreneur, adventurer and aspiring writer. I was born in the most populous black nation. A country blessed with enormous human and material resources yet unable to fulfil its potential. A common problem in the developing world. Nigeria has a teeming youth population. The UN projects, about 70% of Nigerian youths to be under 30, many of whom are uneducated. But I’ve been lucky, graduating in my 20s and currently pursuing a 3rd degree in Ireland. Historically, governments have played a dominant role in funding tertiary education because of the need to bridge the gap created by departing expatriate workers in the wake of independence from colonial masters. The exigency to train a group of professionals was well appreciated; thus in the 70s the Nigerian government abolished school fees in tertiary institutions and took up the task of funding them. With the attendant oil boom in the same period, it wasn’t a difficult task. The future looked bright. This precipitated an increase in the demand for higher education, which in turn led to additional universities, colleges and polytechnics. However, a combination of factors including a geometric increase in student population posed a problem. Successive governments struggled to fund tertiary education leading to a gradual decline in the standard of education. But there is a solution. Much of the world has been reshaped by the internet and e-Learning. No nation should be caught in the paradox of spiralling costs and a declining standard of education at a time when information is more accessible than ever. Therefore, the task of improving literacy and knowledge acquisition should be a collective priority for countries like Nigeria. But how can we do this? What will be the strategy? What tools, processes, techniques and methods should be deployed? Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the world wide web said that the web is about connecting humanity. Knowledge is increasingly acquired outside the traditional institution environment especially through the internet. The best way to start is to pick a domain of one’s own. That was how cmonionline.com was conceptualised in 2017. I wanted to elicit discourse by publishing my opinion on topical issues thereby creating an online version of Habermas’ Public Sphere.  I wrote on varying sociopolitical issues. I discovered that the more I published the more I improved not just in my writing but also in technological skills like WordPress, web and graphic design. But then if you want to walk fast you walk alone but if you want to go far you walk together. What better way to learn than together? So in 2020, I started a weekly essay competition. The idea was to build a community of readers, writers and thinkers. I also created the #CmonionlineSundayPuzzle, a weekly exercise of puzzles, riddles and brain teasers. We have fun learning new stuff and in both activities, winners are always rewarded with prizes as tokens of encouragement. So far we have published over 500 essays from about 50 different writers. With support from friends, we have paid out over N2 million in cash prizes. We also have a growing audience with a combined social media following of over 10,000. But most importantly we started a journey together. We are set to elevate. We will create more digital communities of practice, tribes and classes for activities of interest. The free distribution of knowledge and peer review will form the crucible of our growth. Together we will develop portfolios, modules and learning outcomes using varying research methods and strategies. We will utilise the opportunities offered by digital tools such as zoom, teams and slack in the process. We will also collaborate with leading global knowledge providers like Coursera, LinkedIn, skillshare and others. So visit cmonionline.com and be part of a learning community where you reward your intellect and pocket!

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