What is good becomes bad, when it is done at the wrong time. Also, it is good to be hushed and silent, but when you are silent and still when you are to speak out, silence becomes bad. Sleep is good, but when done at the wrong time, it becomes bad. It is good to rest at home, but when you rest at home at the wrong time, it becomes bad. Furthermore, it is good to catch fun, but when done at the wrong time, it becomes bad. As well, it is good to spend money, but when it is not spent wisely and cleverly, it becomes bad.
One of the stories that changed my life very early in life is the chronicle of King David. History has it that he stayed back at home when kings were to be fighting. Please, do understand me that it is not wrong to stay at home, resting, but when done at the wrong time, it could lead to a generational error. On the condition that David had gone to the war-front, he would not have seen a naked woman bathing. And if he did not see a naked woman bathing, he would not have slept with her—another man’s wife. When you rest at home when you are supposed to be working hard, you will see what you are not supposed to see and you will do what you will later regret. This is what happens when you stay at home resting when you are supposed to be out there working productively. Resting at home when you are supposed to be working productively will always birth problems.
Eating solid meals is good, but when eaten at the wrong time, it becomes bad. In recent times, I got to learn that it is bad to eat solid meals late in the night. I did glean from a book that it is deleterious to the body, but most of us do not know. Also, I got to learn that eating a solid meal should not go beyond 7pm. In Lagos State, many families do not get to their varied homes until either 10pm or 11pm; so it is not rocket science to know that too many families do eat late in the night. And most of these families do not know that it is wrong to eat solid meals late in the night. Why? Because it is dangerous, going to bed with un-digested meals. You know it takes a long time for solid meals to digest.
Unity is good, but when you take God out of it, it becomes bad. Also, what we come together to achieve and pull off is superior to our coming together. Take for instance, coming together is good, but coming together to balkanize Nigeria is bad. Remember, you and I have promised to always uphold the unity of our beloved country. It is a waste of time and energy to come together to build either a project or a movement that will end up in pointlessness. When people call you to unite with them, find out what you are going to be uniting with them to achieve. This is so important. You cannot afford to fritter away and squander your precious time and life, doing what will come to nothing in the days to come.
Additionally, seeing a student with a high GPA is usually a good thing unless students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning. In Nigeria today, students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning. Of what good is a high GPA when no learning has truly taken place? Of what good is a student who graduates out of either a polytechnic or university with either upper credit or first class when he or she cannot solve life and business related problems? For the umpteenth time, a high grade is good, but it becomes bad when students are more concerned with the grade than they are with learning.
Marin Luther King Jr. said “Our lives began to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Silence is good but it becomes bad when we are silent about things that matter. What are the things that matter in your community, state, country, continent and the world at large that you have been silent about? When we keep silent in the face of evil, it means we are not being nationalistic and patriotic. Patriotic and devoted Nigerians will always speak out about things that matter in Nigeria. Silence is not golden when it comes to things that matter to us as a nation.
One characteristic of Martin Luther King Jr. that is most compelling and undeniable is that Dr. King warned all of us to refrain and desist from keeping silent—to speak up when we encounter injustice. It is evil to be silent in the face of oppression, injustice and corruption. When last did you speak out when you encountered an injustice? It is your onus and my onus to always not keep silent each time we encounter injustice. Remember, he who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Speaking against evil is not an act of disobedience, but being silent when we encounter injustice is an act of disobedience.
Last but not least, late Dr. King said, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vociferous and discordant clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silent of the good people.” I totally and wholly agree with these thought provoking words from one of the great men of all times. In this period that we are moving from the old to the new as a nation, history will not record the hullabaloo, ruckus and tricks of bad people, but the silence of those of us who call ourselves good people. For the umpteenth time, it is evil to be silent each time we encounter injustice as a people.
See you, where great people are found!
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING
30 Staff Members Of An Organisation In Ibadan Test Positive For Coronavirus
No fewer than 30 members of staff of an organisation in Ibadan have tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, confirmed this in a tweet on Saturday. He further disclosed that the state has recorded 31 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of… Read full story
Buhari Gets Madagascar Formula Against COVID-19
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday at the State House, Abuja, received Covid Organic, the Madagascan native formulation against the COVID-19 pandemic. Samples of the solution were delivered to him by President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau who brought them along as part of the traditional medicine… Read full story
Produce Chinese Doctors Within 48hrs, PDP Tells FG
Amidst denial over the whereabout of Chinese doctors who arrived Nigeria amidst public outcry, the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government a 48-hour ultimatum to declare the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team it brought… Read full story
FG Defies Canada, Insists Air Peace Must Evacuate 319 Stranded Nigerians
The Federal Government has defied the Canada High Commission in Nigeria by insisting that Nigerian carrier, Air Peace which it had earlier designated, must evacuate the over 319 Nigerians stranded from the… Read full story
US May Restore Funding To WHO ― Trump
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday his administration was considering numerous proposals about the World Health Organisation (WHO), including one in which Washington would pay about 10 per cent of its former level. In a posting on Twitter, Trump underscored that no final decision had been made and that… Read full story
PHOTOS: Thousands Protest Germany’s Coronavirus Policies
Thousands of people across Germany demonstrated against coronavirus-related restrictions on Saturday, in some cases with far more participants showing up than had been approved. In the southern city of Munich, far more people than the 1,000 participants approved by the city wanted to demonstrate… Read full story
COVID-19: States Adopt Austerity Measures To Tame Effects Of Pandemic
COVID-19’s attack on the Nigeria’s economy is multifaceted. China, the country from where the pandemic travelled to other parts of the globe, is the world’s largest crude oil importer. To contain the spread of the virus within its territory, China shut down its factories and restricted its nationals to their homes… Read full story
The Conversations On Agboola Gambari
IF credentials and academic certificates/laurels approximated excellence, by now, applauses to President Muhammadu Buhari for his choice of Ibrahim Agboola Gambari as the successor to the late Abba Kyari as his Chief of Staff should be reaching their crescendo. Rather, the high-caliber diplomat and academic… Read full story
We Are In Support Of Yoruba, Biafra Admission Into UNPO —Middle Belt President
The national president, Middle Belt Forum, Dr Bitrus Pogu, in this interview with ISAAC SHOBAYO, speaks on the admission of the Biafra and the Yoruba nations by the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) as its members and the controversies trailing the recognition, especially in the northern… Read full story
‘Why Doctrines Of Christian Denominations Differ’
Professor David Irefin, a professor at the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State, is also an archbishop of Brotherhood of Cross and Star. In this interview, he speaks about the difference between his church and other denominations. YEKINI JIMOH brings excerpts… Read full story
Can Gambari Change @75?
PROFESSOR Ibrahim Agboola Gambari is one of the most dangerous public servants Nigeria has seen on the local and international scenes for about four decades now. As he was officially announced as new Chief of Staff to the President on Wednesday, I called a global diplomat with great concern for Nigeria on Thursday… Read full story
What Marriage Has Done To My Life —Adekunle Gold
Popular alternative singer, Adekunle Gold may have travelled around the world, performed at some the biggest stages across Europe, including the 02 Arena, and emerged one of the most sought after Nigerian music stars. He may have had plenty of successes recorded in the last five years since he broke into the Nigerian… Read full story
and then