Noting is Random.....

"We will not walk in fear, one of another. We are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular. This is no time . . . to keep silent." - Edward R. Murrow (1908-1965) American Broadcaster, Journalist.
This is perhaps one of the greatest quotes that has inspired and influenced me to start up a blog, well certainly nothing is random, nor will anything ever be, whether a long string of perfectly blue days that begin and end in golden dimness, the most seemingly chaotic political acts, the rise of a great city, the decision to go into a relationship or my desire to start up a blog. I had always wanted a medium through which I can voice out my opinions, it however took me a very long time trying to figure out how to start up my blog, of course I don’t mean trying to understand or learn the technical aspect of it, it was more or less figuring out and answering the questions of why, how and when to “speak up”. I also had a hard time trying to come up with a name for it after finally making up my mind to start blogging. I had wanted a name that will signify the purpose of the blog. You wouldn’t believe the kind of names and phrases that popped out of my head, like; “lest we forget”, “memoirs of an outcast”, “the struggle continues”, “because I am involved” and so many other crazy names and phrases I wouldn’t mention to avoid making me sound crazy. I finally settled for “because I am involved” because it makes a lot of sense to me in terms of the issues I intend to write about and of course means a lot in itself. To be honest I borrowed it from the title of Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu's memoirs which I was fortunate to read during my days as a senior secondary student in Zaria Academy. I can still remember my friends laughing at me and wondering why I was reading the book at that time and age instead of reading something like Harry Potter or some other books that should naturally suite my interest at that time and age. Well of course they were right, I didn’t really understand much about the contents of book though I tried to, I also found it to be somewhat too political and full of conspiracies; I was however attracted to it because of the title and was curious to find out what the author was involved in and why he wants the world to know. The rest in now history and I will advise anyone that can get a hold of the book to try and read it. That was my inspiration for the title of my blog.
Well unlike in the book where Chief Ojukwu wrote about the struggles of post Nigerian Independence, the coup and counter coups, the biafran war and the path Nigeria and its leaders are heading to etc... I would say my “because I am involved” blog is going to address and talk about a wider and broader spectrum of issue over that of the renowned activist and soldier. I intend to touch and write on everything around me, everything that I have come across, and everything that I have an opinion over, practically everything about what I am involved in, what I intend to involve myself in or have been involved in at some point.
In the few years I have spent in this turbulent world, I have been fortunate enough to have had different experiences and learned a lot of things which has shaped my thoughts and perceptions on things that I want to share with the outside world. So to sum up everything, I will be writing about life, my life, the life of those around me, about politics, leadership, and governance and most importantly the lives and struggle of my countrymen and women who need to be heard.
I have always considered myself as an opinionated person maybe sometimes controversial, whichever way it is I certainly enjoy being me. The older and more exposed to life I get, the more I realize the impact and importance of service. Whether being a teacher, a reporter, a counselor, a politician, a religious preacher or a simple blogger expressing his or herself, service to me has become very important in every aspect of life, it is more important than education, money, power, success, failure or circumstances, than even what people think or do for themselves. It is more important than physical appearance, intelligence or a skill that is not used for the benefit of others. The collapse of great families, companies and nations can be very much linked to the inability of those who are responsible for serving the people to serve in the right manner.
I strongly believe that there is a huge misconception about service to humanity. A lot of people assume that leaders are the only ones responsible for serves. This of course is totally wrong. Everyone has a role to play, whether the rich, poor, educated or uneducated, powerful or powerless, the old or the young, we all have a role to play individually and collectively.
The amazing and remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding how we can embrace and serve humanity for that day. The problem is we shy away from it. We simply don’t care or like Barack Hussein Obama will say, we simply don’t get it! Of course we don’t always understand what the struggles in life are about and how they affect us directly or indirectly.
I have come to understand and accept the fact that we cannot change our past, and that is why we shouldn’t look back. We cannot change our present or future either, by simply sitting and folding our arms. Religion has taught us that we cannot change our destiny too, but I believe that our destiny can be shaped. I am convinced that life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it and I am very much sure that it’s the same with most other people.
By creating this blog, I only hope and pray that it will be of great service to everyone who reads it and perhaps change some lives for the better. But my hope is only a state of mind, not of the world. Either I have any hopes or not, it is a dimension of the soul and not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the environment around me or the estimate of a given situation. And certainly my hope isn’t prognostication. It is merely an orientation of my inner spirit and the orientation of my heart. My deep hope for the believe that my blog will serve as a great service to people in this deep and powerful sense is not the same as joy that things are going well, or the hope of investing in an enterprise that is obviously heading for success, but rather it is the hope for the ability to work for something because deep inside me I believe it is good and is the right thing to do. Not just because it stands a chance to succeed, but because the more propitious the situation in which we all demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is.
I certainly am not pessimistic about the idea of having to start this blog, but only hopeful of it achieving the objectives for which I have set out to achieve. But then neither is my hope the same as pure optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but certainly that something will make sense, regardless of how it turns out.
I hope and pray that this blog will have a positive impact on each and every person that visits and reads it.
On a final note I will like to dedicate this blog to the queen of my heart, the light in my life, and my source of inspiration, my mom Aisha and definitely my dad Musa, who gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person by believing in me, certainly the most calm, patient and loving person I have ever come across. Thank you for everything.