Success is real and failure is real. The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same. The only difference is that the road to success is much longer. Many of us in this generation are lovers of shortcut. We want it big overnight. Mustard seed does not become a big tree overnight. The period of growth, maturity and fruitfulness is not a curse or punishment. It is the principle of natural delay.

Various plants have their different timing. Pineapple, Orange and Watermelon grow, mature and become fruitful at their various timing.  The delay they go through do not depict punishment it is their natural timing. We must learn to respect the natural time for our growth, maturity and fruitfulness. Delay is not denial; be patient and everything will align. If you follow shortcut you will cut your life short. The stories of many promising young men out there are already showing the adverse effect of making it in a hurry.

 

Avoid unhealthy competition; your life is unique and special. Before you were formed in your mother’s womb God knew you and your destiny. Nobody was destined by God to be a fraudster or a ritualist. God’s plan for us all was good. You are not successful when you make it in a hurry neither have you achieved anything when all you have acquired are products of fraud, scam and rituals.

Probe further into the wealth of some rich young boys, you will discover that all they have are products of scam and money rituals. To deceive you further they will tell you that it is grace. The last time I checked, Grace is an unmerited favour from God and it is built on nature. It is an abuse of grace to call a successful criminal operation the work of grace. That is disgrace not grace. We insult God, take his name in vain and abuse divine terms.

This nation is tough no doubt. We battle with insecurities, bad leaders, bad followers and greedy ‘future leaders’. As if we can harness our energy to fight this battle we continue to contend with a host of young people who have given to the free rein of drug, crime, prostitution, abnormal sexual behaviour and money rituals. Papa and Mama pay an unexpected visit to your children in school and see their true worth. If we remain quiet we will share in their crime. Don’t enjoy this evil entertainment.

About evil entertainment, many Nigerian youth and even some elders have made their priority the controversial "Big Brother Naija." Just recently, I saw a trending post mocking those who are too serious about issues happening in Nigeria. The writer said that BBN has become his priority for now as such, those who are serious with the problems in Nigeria should continue while the BBN lovers watch their favourite television show. He added that they will resume to bother themselves about Nigeria after the show. We may say that the writer is only joking, in other words "he is only catching cruise." But then, the present reality has dawned upon us. Some lovers of BBN no longer pay attention to the issues bothering the country. To make matters worse, BBN is 24 hours; meaning that there is no time for now to have a glimpse of the current situation in the country.

It would have made a little sense if the aforementioned TV show has good morals and sound teaching to offer. The opposite is the case. Indecent dressing, immortal conversations and actions et cetera is what people have invested their time in watching, such that it has become worthy enough to take their minds off much more serious issues. This alone speaks volumes!

One of the heart rending facts about these housemates and some other celebrities is that most of them have a meaningful life behind the camera and work very hard to be successful but they don't exhibit all those. In other words, we are shown only what they want us to see. Whereas, our youths are being misled into all the vices these figures portray; one of which is the quick money syndrome I earlier mentioned. May we not sit to remember the mistakes of the present in the future and shake our heads in dismay of what we didn't do well in the past, because the mistakes of the present if not salvaged, will greatly affect the growth of the future.