I Am Man

I welcome every day as the dawn of new opportunities: new opportunities for self-advancement, self-appraisal, and to reveal my innermost self unto my conscience.  Most importantly, a new opportunity to win the raging war against passing judgement on the weak without trial. But even as I march forward in valour to conquer this hydra-headed monster, the end is not in sight. The horizon is indifferent and leaves me expressionless. And with the turn of every moment, the trials are repeated and the weak are forged a new identity and destiny.

I remember my resolve to win with dramatic finality, but in truth, I always end up adorned with that same garb of a witness till the cock crows its’ third. I was fed from the cradle with the litany of the evil of what the weak do wrong and why I should be strong. The strong whose beacon of strength is the eyes that shut back tears even when they stand at their mother’s interment. It initiates me into that old order of the strong whose birth-right is to judge the weak; giving me the opportunity to judge he who cries for a lost fortune as a weakling.

And for those who agitate for equal rights and justice, I'm supposed to look them in the face and ask what happened to that saying that ‘all animals are equal but some are more equal than the others.’ But then, there are those whose right to judge the weak starts from my position of strength because unlike me with but a fistful of Naira, they possess the power to say who lives and who dies.

Then I ask myself "am I justified by my awareness or should there be more concerted and sustained efforts to chart a new route to my destination?" My destination, I am no longer too sure of, but for certain and as judged by the higher and mightier, my strength transmutes to weakness. And in my desperate grasp for self-assurance, I condescend to calling others weak.

Maybe it soothes my ego: Maybe it makes me feel free and better, but when the darkness of the night heeds the voice of morning, I am once again faced with the opportunities that lie ahead. Hence I welcome every morning as the dawn of new opportunities; to look into my crystal ball with a view to influencing my perspective but all is futility.

Yes, I know and know very well that in vanity, no one gains but everyone loses. On the altar of choice, a sacrifice has to be made and if truth be told, my opaque or clear decision lies in my innermost desire of what is to be perceived of the respected and revered strong or the despised and down-trodden weak.

In the onward motion of irreversible succession of days, I am time after time confronted with what choices I make of my opportunities. Do I speak of equity when it is an entrenched worldview that the weak do not dictate the pace of anything worthwhile or otherwise? He has the right and wants to be heard but who wants to listen to the weak? And when again the key of opportunity opens the door of my conscience, my strength is called to question.

Is my strength strong enough to accept the fact that my weakness is triumphant in my intra-personal war of what I make of my daily opportunities? “Judge not and you shall not be judged,” but since I cannot be the object of my self-advancement, my sin is not just that of a witness but being adorned with the garb of a judge of the weak. Otherwise, how would I know that I have arrived and how would they know that they are the weak. Yet in my confusion, I still resolve to not judge.

I am man.

Emeka Amakeze writes...

The Soul Of Ndi Igbo

How a people think is deadlier than what they think; and such has become the circumstance of the modern day Ndi Igbo.

“Egbe bere Ugo bere, nke si ibe ya ebena, nku kwaa ya”,

“Ọ baara isi, ọ bara agụba”

The above are wise sayings that used to be integral parts of the supplications of Ndi Igbo to Chi okike from their first encounter with the sunrise till the sun sets. But sadly, proclaiming that both the eagle and the hawk should perch; while the one that says the other should not perch should have its wings broken in bits, and that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander have all become the proverbial cloth that was swept off by the wind when Okoro; who was yet to become an odogwu tied it around his waist. Ọ were bụrụ ego emekwara mmọnwụ for one does not request a refund of the money sprayed on a masquerade.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge and how Ndi Igbo think has now become different from what it used to be mgbe ezi ka di n’ukwu ukwa. In the days when they recounted their heroic deeds, myths and legends in the presence of the moonlight and often times with children seated in semi circles while Ani - the earth goddes that does not spare evil doers witnessed. In the days when elders were respected for their wisdom and for those things that they saw while seated which the youthful age could not see even from the top of the Iroko tree, rather than feared because of the number of people they diabolically and jealously sent to the world beyond.

A ka na-agba ọsọ ọchụ? Gone are the days when elders cleared their throat to speak and the spirits listened.  Elders of Igbo land have learnt to fly without perching by killing the ones that call them father and the spirits learnt to shoot without aiming by looking the other way as elders are served pounded mbana instead yam. Ụmụaka were na-eresịzị ndi okenye adaka na ọnụ enwe.

The few wise ones still weep for the days when women were won by those who deserved them and the men, by the valour of their strength. The winds have swept away the days when elders, ndi diokpara and ndi ada were given their due respect irrespective of their financial status.

The water that passed under the bridge washed away the days when begging and stealing were considered abomination by Ndi Igbo; because one of the ways they measured their self worth was how hard they worked and how well fed their families were considered to be. Those were the days the Ndi Igbo believed that one’s neighbour was one's sibling; and that righteousness and purity were essential in his day to day activities. Those were the days they thought positively and it worked for them

It is no longer thus. Mmadụ ọ nọkwa n'ụlọ egbe were buru mbe?

But the child that says that his mother will not sleep will of course have no sleep.

Ndi Igbo man murdered sleep when they sacrificed their essence on the altar of self-importance and vainly chose to call themselves ọ kwụ ọtọ ekene eze and taught their children that wealth rather than truth and justice, is the final arbiter; akụ na-ebi okwu, ụmụazi were iwe bọsaa okpesi.

The vanity of Ndi Igbo and largely, how they now think has become a knife that has severed the thing that spiritually held him together, o wee buru oke n’ụlọ, ngwere n’ọhia. The soul of Ndi Igbo man left them and they fell apart.

But until Ndi Igbo agree that their mother will sleep by changing the way they think, they will continue to be denied sleep.

Emeka Amakeze writes...

What Love Is

In our limitations as humans, love has had varied meanings or holds diverse definitions for different people and as such, what a loved one may offer us as love may not quite feel like what we know as love. But how could this greatest gift and luxury ever given to man hold as diverse meanings to him as we see today.

Love is love and has neither degrees nor shades. If it’s not love, then it’s not love. It is believed that God is love and since he created man in his own image and likeness, man therefore is, essentially love. He desires to be loved and cannot function properly without love. Even those that don’t believe in it do so out of fear of a previous experience or one that is witnessed

In our quest to get the purest of the essence of love and make it different from that which we already know, we fashion out those soothing words we often hear such as “unconditional love”, “perfect love”, “true love”, “real love”. All, in an attempt to define that special feeling that we yearn and always search desperately for!

We are however, our own obstacles to understanding love because any time we think about love, what first comes to mind is how that man is going to take care of me or how that girl is going to submit to me in bed. In all the fancy names we call love, our thoughts are always in the direction of what to get out of a relationship, and conveniently forget that love contends the soul and makes it ready to give instead of seeking to be given. To be in love is to place ones personal needs and wants after that of the beloved one without complaining and without expecting any remunerations and to be fully involved in the fulfillment of the self interest of the loved one.

The best person to write a manual for a gadget is the maker of such a gadget and since God is love, we should look up to Him for the meaning of love. Until we look up to our maker for a clear understanding of what love is, we will desperately continue to seek that which we vaguely understand from each individuals experience.

Love your neighbour even as Christ loved his church. He died for his church. Has this any place in your definition of love?

In the long and winding journey of life, when infatuation, beauty, sex, wealth and other such details that influence our definitions of love slowly vapourize and it dawns on us that we do not have that commitment and understanding that only love can give in a relationship, we withdraw into our shells and lick our wounds of heartbreaks and then, try to convince ourselves that we don’t believe in love. It is only in love and after love has grown in our hearts that we see and experience physical attraction, desire for marriage partners and friendship that can boast of commitment and understanding.

And God did say what love is and it goes thus

If i speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, i have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

If i have the gift of prophesy and know all the mysteries and knowledge; and if i have faith, so as to move mountains but don’t have love, i am nothing.

If i dole out all my goods to feed the poor and if i give my body to be burned but don’t have love, it profits me nothing

Love is kind and is patient

Love doesn’t envy

Love doesn’t brag

Love is not proud

Love doesn’t behave itself inappropriately

Love doesn’t seek its own way and is not provoked

Love takes no account of evil and doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness

It rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things

Love hopes all things, endures all things

Love never fails

That is what love is.

The Real Man

Providing a concise answer to my earlier question of what makes a real man is a big quest but one that is badly needed. Men have always defined their manhood by their roles; the function they perform for their families and society. But the fundamental nature, the essence of man can only be perceived from three perspectives- priority, position and assignment.

Man was not created first because he is better but because of his purpose. God wanted him to manifest his nature and to be responsible for all that he created and asked to take care of. Man came directly from the earth because he was designed to be a solid and dependable foundation of human family.

The man was not only designed to be the foundation but also the first to be positioned on earth and of course in the garden- a place of heaven on earth, a place of God’s continued presence and a place of training. A phenomenon God wanted him to replicate or spread all over the world.

And lastly, his assignment. The man is supposed to be a visionary and a leader, teacher, cultivator, provider and protector.

He is not supposed to look up to status and personal achievement as the measure of manhood but rather to look up to God’s standard.

To be a real man is to discover, understand and fulfil these basic aspects of purpose.

The Crisis Called Man

If we are looking at the issue of war, battered wife, abandoned home, prostitution, armed robbery and so many other vices, you are primarily looking at the by product of the crisis that has enveloped man, most especially, the modern man. He seems to be loosing grip on a whole lot of things and it worsens his situation with each passing moment. He can not come to terms with the fact that he was supposed to be the bread winner but not any more as women are getting richer every day and becoming providers. How can he shout at his wife/girlfriend or even protect her when she either packs a .45 or Jet Li's around as a black belter. His crisis is that those things that he used in measuring and asserting his manhood like providing for a woman, protecting her, leading her spiritually, economically and politically are gradually being taken away from him and he no longer knows what it means to be a MAN! This is going to be a whole lot of a discourse but before i go further, i will like you good people to give me your take on what it means or takes to be a MAN. Then, i shall continue.

The Soul of Ndi Igbo

How a people think is deadlier than what they think; and such has become the circumstance of the modern day Ndi Igbo.

“Egbe bere Ugo bere, nke si ibe ya ebena, nku kwaa ya”,

“Ọ baara isi, ọ bara agụba”

The above are wise sayings that used to be integral parts of the supplications of Ndi Igbo to Chi okike from their first encounter with the sunrise till the sun sets. But sadly, proclaiming that both the eagle and the hawk should perch; while the one that says the other should not perch should have its wings broken in bits, and that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander have all become the proverbial cloth that was swept off by the wind when Okoro; who was yet to become an odogwu tied it around his waist. Ọ were bụrụ ego emekwara mmọnwụ for one does not request a refund of the money sprayed on a masquerade.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge and how Ndi Igbo think has now become different from what it used to be mgbe ezi ka di n’ukwu ukwa. In the days when they recounted their heroic deeds, myths and legends in the presence of the moonlight and often times with children seated in semi circles while Ani - the earth goddess that does not spare evil doers witnessed. In the days when elders were respected for their wisdom and for those things that they saw while seated which the youthful age could not see even from the top of the Iroko tree, rather than feared because of the number of people they diabolically and jealously sent to the world beyond.

A ka na-agba ọsọ ọchụ? Gone are the days when elders cleared their throat to speak and the spirits listened.  Elders of Igbo land have learnt to fly without perching by killing the ones that call them father and the spirits learnt to shoot without aiming by looking the other way as elders are served pounded mbana instead yam. Ụmụaka were na-eresịzị ndi okenye adaka na ọnụ enwe.

The few wise ones still weep for the days when women were won by those who deserved them and the men, by the valour of their strength. The winds have swept away the days when elders, ndi diokpara and ndi ada were given their due respect irrespective of their financial status.

The water that passed under the bridge washed away the days when begging and stealing were considered abomination by Ndi Igbo; because one of the ways they measured their self worth was how hard they worked and how well fed their families were considered to be. Those were the days the Ndi Igbo believed that one’s neighbour was one's sibling; and that righteousness and purity were essential in his day to day activities. Those were the days they thought positively and it worked for them

It is no longer thus. Mmadụ ọ nọkwa n'ụlọ egbe were buru mbe?

But the child that says that his mother will not sleep will of course have no sleep.

Ndi Igbo man murdered sleep when they sacrificed their essence on the altar of self-importance and vainly chose to call themselves ọ kwụ ọtọ ekene eze and taught their children that wealth rather than truth and justice, is the final arbiter; akụ na-ebi okwu, ụmụazi were iwe bọsaa okpesi.

The vanity of Ndi Igbo and largely, how they now think has become a knife that has severed the thing that spiritually held him together, o wee buru oke n’ụlọ, ngwere n’ọhia. The soul of Ndi Igbo man left them and they fell apart.

But until Ndi Igbo agree that their mother will sleep by changing the way they think, they will continue to be denied sleep.

Emeka Amakeze writes...

Personality Development

A man is as good as his destiny, nay, his thoughts. Thus the heart of every matter settles in the heart. And in the life of a man, his health, his ability to relate well with others and his level of success are inextricably interwined with his personality - good or bad.

The personality of a man is a functional by-product of both some internal and external factors. He is internally affected by his thoughts, mental pictures, his mindset and imagination whereas externally, he is influenced by his physical environment - what he sees, hears or feels. Negatively or positively, he is affected by his society and the people he interacts with. But the development of certain traits and abilities would make us to be either loved or hated, liked or just tolerated by others.

A loathsome personality would most probably scare people away from a man and place him on the highway to perdition. In the same vein, a pleasant personality traits or behavioural patterns create an enabling environment for success, accomplishment, recognition, love and care.

If you are personable, you will be able to improve your circumstances, modify your situation and influence other people. Developing your personality positively is a sure way of distinguishing yourself from everyone else. This is done through conscious and sustained efforts, as personality traits do not evolve spontaneously.

Negative thoughts and actions produce bad feelings, depression and regrets but good thoughts and actions lead to joy and happiness. And it goes beyond that as people like to associate with easy-going and agreeable personalities even though they may not be personable themselves. Personable individuals appreciate every little positive effort made by others and more often than not, extol virtue generally in people.

Personable people are made, they are not born and you can be one.

Emeka Amakeze writes...

Immortality Accomplished

For centuries, the search for immortality, which seems to man, the only thing that will give meaning to his sojourn on earth, has been an elusive and unending one. He has however turned his dread on among other things; suffering and death, believing them to take meaning away from life.

Shallow understanding of the transitory nature of our potentialities has denied mankind the true nature of immortality. In the wavy line of actualising our set goals and objectives, parts of us are left with the moments which with the turning of the hands of time, belong to the past. But then, nothing is lost as the past only stores them for the appropriate time when they would be called upon.


Until man comes to the understanding that suffering, poverty, death and the likes do not take meaning away from life, he will continue to delude himself that somewhere beyond horizon lies the power of immortality rather than in himself.


However, since man is out-Pictured by the extent of his ephemeral realisation, suffering and death become essential as they would serve as yardsticks for how he builds or justifies his existence. 

Man will always put suffering and death into consideration as he ponders on the myriad of his immediate potentialities. They either make him take good or bad decisions, or make him weep for the fact that all he laboured for will go down the drain. It all goes to intensify the search for immortality but man does not need to search.

If only he will see the light and realise that there are always two sides to every coin. Someone died that he may be here and so, he will have to go for another to come. It's unending but once man understands that in that line of perpetual going and coming, he will forever remain a spot of reference. He and all that he did will inevitably be delivered to the past which in turn will be rescued. He thereby lives on forever, and immortality is his.

Emeka Amakeze writes...