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Tag: #Agba Jalingo

  • My Birthday Prayer… BY AGBA JALINGO

     

    Dear Lord,

    I ask not for more light but for eyes to see the light that already exists.

    I ask not for sweeter songs but for ears to hear the present melodies.

    I ask not for more love but for skill to turn anger into tenderness.

    I ask for no more joy but for how to feel closer to your ineffable presence.

    To give others everything I already have; enthusiasm and courage.

    I ask for no more gifts but for the ability to use the gifts I have already received from you.

    I ask that in my sinful nature, even when I falter like I always do, I should not escape your chastisement, but I beseech thee to chastise me in love and lead me not unto destruction.

    Make me a master of all fears so I can be the friend I want to be.

    To convey the truth I know!

    For me to love purity. To seek the good and with all my power, to raise in every soul that comes in touch with me, a spark of the same fire.

    Thank you for the chance to begin another cycle. Thank you Lord for my friends and foes alike. Thank you for my family. Thank you Lord for thus far, and thank you for where I am headed.

    Thank you also my friends for reading and engaging yours sincerely here all year long and 🙏do have a wonderful year ahead.

    Happy birthday to me!

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

  • Consider This Before You Hate… BY AGBA JALINGO 

    Consider This Before You Hate…

    Hate is in part what keeps us going when our lives have been put on hold. Every time there are severe disruptions in our lives, the stronger the hate we have for everything around us. Hate avails a major form of catharsis for releasing, and providing relief from such repressed emotions.

    Hate is also an intense repulsion for something or someone, which falsely inflates the ego and makes one feel very superior and self-righteous against the thing or person who is hated. It makes the one hating, feels better, or so it seems.

    It is very important not to equally forget that hate is a very potent and mind consuming emotion. It is a mental poison that can contaminate your mind, rot your nervous system and depress your soul.

    If you suddenly set eyes on a thing or person you hate, the sudden surge of adrenalin into your entire system persists until that thing or person gets out of sight and mind. That sudden surge takes a huge adverse toll on your nervous and circulatory systems and even the brain.

    When you hate, you must also be strong enough to let people hate you back. Because the emotion and energy you give out is what you get in return. The aura of a hate-filled person attracts exactly what that person emits into his or her own magnetic field.

    So to balance this equation, we should accept that it is more liberating to let go of hateful emotions by deliberately practicing empathy. We may need to also reevaluate the circumstances that may have led us to hate that thing or person and work on overcoming the same. We should as well, reflect on what is our abiding fate if other things or persons keep hateful emotions against us. These will guide us back to the path of purposely reconciliation with ourselves.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Resist The Pressure… BY AGBA JALINGO

     

    People who are actually rich and can comfortably pay their bills are not loud about it on social media. Most of those who do, are not.

    People who are genuinely happy in their lives and families are not loud about it on social media, it is those who are not that are using social media to fill that gap.

    People whose businesses are thriving and returning them six digits are not bringing that information to social media themselves. Only in their boardrooms. Most of those who rush here to trumpet their success are just making you believe.

    Most of the people who pay for their travels and leisure are shy of bringing it to social media. It is those who others pay for, that are eager to come show it off.

    Plenty of people who are helping to change thousands of lives out there genuinely don’t remember to go around with cameras, it is those who do very little that pose before the screens.

    Truly rich people are conscious of their safety. Anyone who made wealth legitimately will also appreciate the high level of insecurity in Nigeria today and wouldn’t want to be trailed by the vagaries of social media exposure. Again, most of those who do those show off are usually looking for vulnerable clients.

    Don’t be put under undue pressure by the optics. If you believe in God like I do, pray and wait on God. Work and be hopeful and if it pleases God, your day will come.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

     

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent 

  • How About This… BY AGBA JALINGO 

     

    Every election year, instead of wasting billions of Naira on routine elections, I am proposing a formalization of the prevailing situation.

    1. Any zone of the country or State that overlords who own the political parties give their tickets to run, should all agree and give the rest of the country nominees. No need for elections.

    2. The nominees across party lines can now approach the courts to determine who amongst them will become President or Governor.

    3. Zoning of political offices and the courts, have successfully conspired with our inability to conduct free and fair elections, to effectively hijack the power of the vote from the ordinary citizenry. The office of the Citizen of the Federal Republic, has been stripped of ballot perquisites.

    4. Periodic elections should therefore become undesirable. Just do the zoning by the parties and give us a leader on a platter, if there is any dispute, go to court. INEC spent N355billion in the 2023 elections. Yet it is the courts that are still telling us who won the elections. We can now disband INEC and save that money because their services will no longer be needed.

    5. INEC officials and desperate election contestants will no longer trade deals and money and that’s a way of fighting corruption.

    6. Lives that are usually risked and lost before, during and after elections, will become a thing of the past.

    It appears to me that this system is what our political leaders will prefer and we may need to approve it for them since we don’t want to fight for good and accountable governance.

    It is still a thing of great surprise for me that, a people so many, can be held down by them so few, and prolonged for this much. If e clear you, understand me. If e no clear you, no vex. No be only you. Country hard!

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • SS Two Students Of Government College Ikot Ansa, Calabar Invaded Their School With Invited Gang-teens To Fight SS Three Students

    By Elijah Ugani

    Senior Secondary School (SS) two students of Government College Ikot Ansa, Calabar had on Wednesday November 22nd invited their Gang-teens to fight the senior colleagues, SS Three students.

    According to some of the teachers speaking in the background video, exclusively obtained by Agba Jalingo, the teacher is heard saying that “the SS Two Students were driven for fees”

    Watch video attached

  • Judge Others, Please Do… BY AGBA JALINGO 

     

    I choose that headline deliberately because of one of the most quoted scriptures that I feel is also being manipulated and deliberately used to perpetuate hocus-pocus.

    It has become an alibi for impunity and a leeway for rascality, to promptly quote, Matthew 7:37 when folks don’t want their adverse doings to be scrutinized. But that scripture has two parts. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

    From my own understanding of that scripture, the only reason you shouldn’t judge others, is if you don’t want to be judged too or if your own acts are stinking or if you know your own actions can’t stand the test. And realistically, whether you judge or not, we will all be judged anyway.

    There is nowhere in the Bible where it is stated that judging others is bad. None. The emphasis is on “so that you will also not be judged.” The fear of being judged ourselves is what has made that scripture handy. In fact, Apostle Paul says in, 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 that: “It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.” New Living Translation (NLT).

    And in John’s Gospel, Chapter 7:24, it is written, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” Judging others was still not condemned. The condition for judging others here is that it must go beyond appearance to “good judgement.” The command did not forbid anyone from judging others. So I will wait for anyone to show me where the Bible condemns judging others. That a cliche has become popular or hackneyed, doesn’t make it always true.

    Open your mouth and judge who needs to be judged based on good judgement. Most people in the world are generally scared of being called to account, so everything that fits into that nonchalance is taken as a given. Don’t conform!

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Who Is A Fearless Man? BY AGBA JALINGO

    Who Is A Fearless Man?

    Fear is one of the most basic emotions embedded in the nervous system. Not just that of man, but in every creature that has nerves. All creatures that have nerves are equipped with the survival instinct necessary to respond with fear when we sense danger or feel unsafe. It is a warning or signal to be careful and to escape from danger. The reason you run when you see an oncoming vehicle is because of that natural fear instinct. So there is no such thing as a fearless man or woman.

    Anytime we encounter anything we fear, whether physical or emotional, the brain immediately transmits the information to the nervous system. The nervous system then prepares you to either flee or fight. The preparation process usually includes faster heartbeat, intense breathing, perspiration, sensation. Blood pumps with increased pressure to the muscles to prepare the body for physical action.

    Because the fear instinct is programmed to protect you, it is activated faster than the thinking faculty of the brain, which processes the information. As soon as the brain evaluates the information and gives an all clear signal, the fear instinct is immediately turned off. All this process is completed in seconds.

    We all have our different fears. People fear situations or things that make them feel unsafe. People fear the uncertainty of the future or the next moment. And there are many people who prefer to avoid their fears. It usually seems like an easier path. But it is simple knowledge that you cannot overcome what you avoid. We overcome our fears by giving ourselves the chance to learn about and gradually get used to those things or situations that make us fear.

    Tourists who visit a zoo may be afraid of lions, but the care givers who tender the lions have overcome that fear. If you are not a trained paratrooper, you will be afraid of jumping from heights. That fear helps to keep you out of danger. But if you receive the training, you gradually overcome that fear and become adept in para-trooping.

    So in essence, a fearless man is not the one that does not have fears, it is the one who has learnt to overcome his fears. We all have fears. Those things that suddenly increase our blood pressure. But whether these fears are sudden or prolonged, it is by staying very determined to confront them that is the most formidable path. Face that fear today!

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

     

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article are strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Loving One Another Indeed… BY AGBA JALINGO 

     

    ” _In my 65 years of living in this world, I have never seen anyone who was loved because of their money, because of their position or title in any corporation or in politics, or because of their skill. Nobody loves you for that. People may respect you, people may enjoy according to what they get out of it. And most of the time, people are envious. But when we are compassionate, when we have values, when we have learned how to love others, people love us_ .” -His Holiness, Radhanath Swami.

    I cannot agree less with Guru Swami because, when you have money, and I am not necessarily referring to multi-millions only; when you can meet your needs and are still generous with the spare, many people around you will love you. But when people love you because you have money, when that money is not available again, they will stop loving you. Even if the money is available and you cease to dispense it or that favor they get from you, notice that they will stop greeting or visiting you. They may not turn around to hate you. But they will move on to ‘love’ the next person that has money.

    Fame: Many famous people have lapsed into depression, inordinate desires and substance abuse when new stars take their shine as they thin out of the limelight. As the love of fans shift to emerging stars, the exiting stars realize it was the klieg lights that made the stars and it was what was loved, not the stars.

    Position: There is no position that anyone can hold sway forever. Not even a monarchy. That too is only for a lifetime, at most. Many who have left positions of influence are replete with experiences of how even their phones are no longer ringing after they exited their influential offices. The love you currently enjoy in that office is appropriated to the title you carry. It is essentially not for you.

    Skill: Regardless of the acclaimed love of your fans for your skill, none will bet on you when you are gone past your prime. Whether you are a talented and skillful footballer, athlete, writer, or artist, people will always lay claims to loving you when your skill is still sending love to their homes and helping to win their bets. They will continue to cherish your exploits till the opposite happens. Once that occurs, their acclaimed love for you will move to the current skillful person, even as they continue to remember your exploits with nostalgia.

    So until we translate from the norm to deploying these leverages, namely; money, fame, position, skill, in the pursuit of empathy and compassion towards one another and the world, genuine love will remain elusive. It is the primary reason why those who possess money, fame, position and fame, always resort to charitable causes. But empathy and compassion cannot be bought. They must emanate from a genuine state of mind. A compulsive desire to empathize with humanity.

    As species, we have survived by being judgmental and suspicious of and preying on other species. We have weaponized money, fame, position and talent as some form of subtle controls. But we must develop the mental capacity to step past this most primal urge to attain love. It is by shutting down that animal instinct and forcing our brain to tow a different pathway, the pathway of kindness and compassion, that we can engender genuine love in return.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article is clearly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Sunday Musings: They Are Mendacious… BY AGBA JALINGO

    Sunday Musings: They Are Mendacious…

    Anyone who drives in cutting edge bullet proof automobiles with a bevy of gun wielding security and offers you prayer and totems for God’s protection, is mendacious.

    Timid prayerful folks who hand their security over to the God of another tribe who defend themselves with Iron Dome, F16 Jets, Tanks and Phosphorus bombs, are themselves, very mendacious.

    Anyone who invades you, conquers you, enslaves you, assimilates you, steals your GOLD and takes more than six million of you into slave labor, and pretends to show you the road to an eternal GOLD plated paradise, is mendacious.

    Those who flood your continent with millions of small arms and turn around to fund NGOs and MDAs’ campaigns to mop up the small arms they dumped on you, are mendacious.

    Those who told you God is male and are now working to make the same God gender neutral, never knew God in the first place. They are mendacious!

    Those who told you God created us male and female and are now creating all manner of additional genders, are mendacious.

    Those who condemned your tradition, called it vindictive and taught you to turn the other cheek when you are smacked but are now returning an eye for an eye, are mendacious.

    Those who taught you to discard the iron teeth of chastisement of your gods that preserved your communality, and embrace their papyrus of inanities, which has enlivened us, are mendacious.

    But in contemporary times, mendacity has become a well thought out model and a near best practice. So, even giving a thought to some of what I have adduced here may be viewed as mendacious. The world has incrementally grown to bedding comfort with mendacity and has adorned a garland on the same. The perquisites of stardom now lavishly include the rich garnishing of mendacious recipes with tows of applause. But in the beam of lies, it takes only a ray of illumination to pierce through the veil and vanquish the cast.

    I wish you a happy Sunday and God’s blessings.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.

    Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are strictly that of the author, Agba Jalingo and  does not represent TheLumineNews or its agent.

  • Governor Otu, It’s 170 Days Already.. BY AGBA JALINGO

     

    It’s 170 days already in office and remaining 1,290 days to the end of the first tenure of Governor Prince Otu. For me, I will always say my own. I can make mistakes sometimes like I always do, but I honestly will not go out of my way to just bad mouth anyone. One thing I am sure of is that, I love Cross River State and Nigeria, and it is my utmost desire to see them develop and I am prepared to sacrifice for this process.

    I was perhaps, one of the loudest voices in the tenure of Governor Ben Ayade, my cousin from Abonkib. My sole and only intention was to dog after his heels to consistently remind him of his promises to Cross Riverians. I have an idea of what bootlicking political followers, beneficiaries, appointees, can do. They never tell the leader the truth. In our environment, they are timid and frightful. So I took it upon myself that, come rain, come shine, whether in private or public, I will not fail to tell my brother the truth about how I perceived his actions in government.

    It is 170 days since he left. It is obvious that regardless of the hue and cry, most of the things we bantered about are still in the cookie jar. We are still not clear where Governor Otu’s policy direction is headed or I am too dumb headed to see the obvious.

    The communication machine of our current government is still very very haphazard. For clarity; twice, Governor Ayade had to warn his appointees to desist from flinging releases to the public unless his CPS or Commissioner for Information does. Two statements were sent to the Press in that regard. These directives were disregarded on both occasions by his numerous appointees. The result was disastrous.

    In the same vein, we are still seeing every Tom, Dick and Harry, that has been christened with any official title, designing all manner of letterheads and sending out press releases indiscriminately as if they are in competition with themselves over who to speak the mind of the government. It looks like most of the appointees have no other tasks on their tables other than sending out press releases.

    Ironically, the two persons who are supposed to do this work, the CPS and the Information Commissioner, are the most silent in this milieu. Even as large as our federal government is, it is Ajuri Ngilari that is still speaking to us on behalf of the FG. Most people don’t even know the name of the Minister of Information. But in Cross River, everyone with a title including adhoc committees of two weeks, is a government spokesperson.

    The list of appointments is already appearing like it is some form of food on the table again, instead of call to service. Every week, the names keep coming. But there is not much depth in the lists. It’s only that the names are not yet as many as the previous tenure. By mid-term, clandestine second term campaign committees will start mushrooming. Distraction will begin in government and all attention will be focused on re-election and that’s how failure begins.

    After renovating the 11/11 roundabout, Destination Calabar Roundabout and the State Library are also under renovation. Cleaning of the capital is going on but very slowly. Kidnapping is back in the headlines in the State. Gangsters are still controlling critical sections of the government. In case, you don’t know yet, those eager to see Governor Otu succeed plus those missing on the appointment list, are already calling the Governor, “Solemn Assembly” Governor. And, Your Excellency, my own is just to do amebo for you without pay.

    Yours sincerely,
    Citizen Agba Jalingo.