Akinbode's BLOG on Faith, Politics, Science, Engineering, Education and Health

Ogun omode kii s'ere f'ogun odun (20 children cannot play together for 20 years - a Yoruba proverb )... I found out today that one of my friends (my closest friend in the church for years) from my time at my church in Nigeria has unfriended me on FB ... I did not notice because we have not spoken in a long time due to fundamental differences... Truth is that the one who will not leave you is you... Friends come, friends go... In my short life, I see how humans evolve and how our values unravel . You see people become something else when they attain a level of freedom, education, wealth, position, or popularity ... their true character shows... In friendship ... when there is nothing else you have left in common, that friendship has lost meaning and becomes a drain ... It is time and best to let go and move on...

When reforms and growth are widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots, you want to ask critical questions.  I have a family member, a graduate and a veteran teacher for almost two decades, who works for one of Nigeria's State Teaching Services and earns a take-home that is less than N180k (< $138) a month, with a family of four... His wife, who is also a graduate, is an administrative assistant at a higher institution in Nigeria - she earns about the same amount... They can barely survive on their meager salaries without external support. This family member has two side gigs, and the income is still not enough... Things have been getting worse for most middle-class families in Nigeria in the last 10 years. It got worse since President Tinubu 's ascension because of hyper-inflation and stagnation of salaries – this is the consequence of Tinubu's policies ... This person and his family are better off than 80% of Nigerians, yet they can hardly make ends meet.....

Sometimes I am baffled by how religious people, especially those from my home country, Nigeria , view the American political-religious landscape. I am a conservative Christian. I live here, and my opinions are based on my Christian values, my experience here (I have lived in the U.S. for 14 of the last 15 years), and my knowledge of American history from the beginning up until now. I know what the Bible says about homosexuality, but so much more about loving people, especially the poor. What it says about showing empathy and being just and fair... Matthew 25:40-45 ... (vs 41.."...Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"..... 45 " Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."). These Bible verses speak to Christians who neglect to take care of the poor because it is not rewarding...

GRAMMY settled the dispute of who the LEGEND is in the Afrobeat genre by giving FELA Anikulapokuti a.k.a Abami Eda a Lifetime Achievement award ... This single honor placed Fela in a class of his own... far above any other African musician, especially in the Afrobeat space, let alone one boy who calls himself a kid. Fela's legend is based on the fact that he single-handedly created a new genre, broke the barrier of freedom of expression , which cost him the life of his mother, compared to a kid who claims he is better than Fela who has not influenced all of Nigeria, let alone many generations. Wizkid 's claim of legend is based on the size of his bank account and 1 billion streams on Spotify ... When global artists like Beyonce , who are a million times bigger than Wizkid, name Fela as a major influence on their music, who is Wiz-what? When Wizkid gets his own Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, maintains influence three decades after his death, and have his album inducted i...

        Friends can make or mar you. I have shared stories of friends who helped me when I was planning to come to North America 21 years ago. Without those friends, my journey would have been harder, perhaps even impossible. That is why it is critical to surround yourself with friends who see your values and potentials and are willing to genuinely look out for you; friends who respect you for who you are, see you as an equal partner in the relationship, and are never condescending. Friends who share their opinions or advice without insisting that their position is the only correct one. Friends who listen when you share your deepest pains and concerns about an experience or relationship and do not judge you negatively...even when it is obvious you may be wrong, but instead offer guidance without insisting. Friends who repeatedly offer contrary advice when you are sharing a painful experience are not respecting you or your perspective. When you describe constant ill-...

In age, yes, Alaafin Owoade is like a son to Oba Rashidi Ladoja ... but the stool they sit on is equal before the law of Nigeria today. They are both first-class kings in Oyo State ... There should be mutual respect between the two. I wrote on this subject early last year at the wake of the installation of Alaafin Owoade and his deliberately orchestrated feud with Oonirisa, Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi . There is nothing like Alaafin of Yorubaland , period! It does not exist. It is a fiction of the imagination of people fanning the destruction of Yorubaland ... Oyo used to be a great empire... it is no more...Just as the Kano Empire , the Borno Empire, the Dahomey Empire , the Bini Kingdom , etc. Oyo-Ile was located hundreds of kilometers from the present location of Oyo town ... They were driven to the present location by the defeat of Oyo in the 19th century... I read many people quoting the mischievous colonial master's document to stamp the supremacy of Alaafin over all other...