My conclusions about Israel

It has taken me some time but finally I now know where I stand regarding Israel. It is very important to clarify earlier stance: I was born into a Seventh Day Adventists Family which have a very close tie to Israel as they worship on Saturday, I grew up revering Israel and the Jews as they were Chosen by God and hence occupied a special place in our pecking order. They were blessed by God and often very rich and this further deepened my respect for them as a people. The Bible talks about Jesus coming back to the place and this got it to a sacred status.

My previous stance on the Arabs: they are the descendants of Ishmael who according to the Bible was an illegitimate child of a maid who was also blessed by God but whose child was rejected by God . The Bible also states that they will be a troublesome people and will not pursue the path of peace. This is why Christians chuckle when Muslims call their religion, the religion of peace.

My journey on revising my stand about Israel started earlier this year, when I saw a picture of an Israeli soldier shooting at a fleeing teenager at the back. This disturbed me for a long time. Then, I saw the video that went viral of a black Jew army officer being beaten up by two Caucasian Jew soldiers when he apparently was not doing anything wrong. It was so bad that the Prime minister had to go apologise publicly to manage a bad PR. This touched on a raw nerve for me. So this people I have supported all of my life, were actually racist to my kind? This played on my mind and encouraged me to investigate further.

I read books and studied articles over the year and a very disturbing picture emerged. I studied the Bible in order to clarify what God actually says about this people and how I was to relate to them.

In 2016, I finally concluded that the only binding command in the Bible is for me to to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and I believe God knew how troubled it would be. It also makes clear that the temple would be rebuilt which makes it clear God still has a plan for the place. Beyond this, I discovered that an average Jew is a proud, annoying individual. I also discovered that many of them are miserly and self serving. They have become very rich largely due to survival strategies over the years as they were greatly persecuted. I also discovered to my surprise that a few are actually racist and many don't really care about anyone who is not a Jew. They are very sly and control the decisions in the West by stealth. In the process of protecting their country, they continue to distabilise the peace of so many others.

In conclusion, I agree God chose them and blessed them but I'm also aware God opened it up and gave us Jesus who made it available to all. Israel is a country that reminds us of the Christian God and hence very important in that regard but not all Jews are religious and very many have not accepted Jesus. Israel has a right to exist with Jerusalem as the capital but wrong in not allowing the palestines to build theirs irrespective of their ludicrous demands. Israel controls the decisions of many Christians in the world, particularly in Africa but many Jews don't think much of Africans and have done very little for them, even the Falashas who were airlifted into Israel are treated poorly and badly in the country. The world continues to celebrate the Holocust as they should, but who remembers the millions of other people killed unjustly? Including the ones the West will kill by the end of this day?

I do not support the Arab countries as many ultimately are about proselytising the Islamic religion. I also see the duplitious nature of Saudi Arabia and Iran in sponsoring terror across the Globe but in this year, I finally revised my stand on Israel, I no longer support a blank cheque on their actions. All the promises are for those who will accept Jesus not all Jews. I also stop supporting all the men of God who continue to hand them blank cheques.

One rule should apply to all the countries of the world and that is equity and justice and I cannot continue to support The exemption of Israel from this. Thanks!

The dilemma of a black man

I'm an African, my skin is of a darker hue than most and I'm 6ft 3in tall and have always been lanky. This to many makes me a big black man. I have been at the centre of a few racial issues in my time which made me more intrigued by the topic and since we have seen race play a major role in many political spheres around the world this year, it's only pertinent for me to give my slant.

I grew up in a University campus in Nigeria where there were a few Caucasians lived and so was used to mingling with anyone irrespective of race very early on.

My first exposure to discrimination was when I was teased and taunted at primary school for being dark skinned ( by other Nigerians) and was nicknamed Baba Dudu which in my language translates dark father. Very early on, I realised there was something about the hue of my skin that bothered others. I was bewildered since I could not do anything to change it. Those were confusing times. This taunting carried on to my boarding school where many in supposed good jest continued to allude to my dark skin as if it was a sin. My sharp tongue gave as much as I got and fenced off some of the intensity but I always wondered why it mattered to others. My going out with one of the most beautiful girls in school helped to restore much needed confidence and helped to balance me as an individual.

A little later I noticed as many rushed after light skinned women, even when they were not that beautiful. I could not understand this penchant for lighter skins. Then the bleaching creams flooded the African market in the 70s and many went for it. I saw so many dark skinned ladies transform into very lighter versions in an instant and in full glare.

I grew up a very confident individual and navigated my way through life as I discovered the many talents God had bestowed upon me and explored them to build my fortunes. My first job in Nigeria was working at IITA an American research institute in Nigeria where many of the indigenous people no matter how educated were subservient to the Caucasians who worked there , many of them with qualifications equivalent to technical colleges. In IITA i witnessed how Africans clearly played the second fiddle in their own country and couldn't understand why.

Fast forward to my late twentys I relocated to the UK and the issue of racism confronted me almost daily. People looked at you differently and many were clearly frightened at sight, a few clutched at their handbags at seeing you and many just broke into a run for no rhyme or reason. It made me very angry at first but quickly found ways to cope with it. Several years later , I found myself working under people who are clearly not as qualified and who are constantly threatened and do everything to jettison you at the earliest opportunity. Later, I found there was tension between Africans and Carrebians. I became even more flustered as I experienced racism from Asians. That was when I started researching the issue of racism and discovered that dark skinned people are discriminated against in every continent of the world.

More recently, I observed 8 years of one of the most prominent citizens discriminated against principally because of the colour of his skin. That was when I realised it doesn't matter your education or achievement, racism has become innate in many and wonder what will help.

So you have many Africans trying to behave like Caucasians and looking down on dark skin, and pretty much every other person taking a shot. So what is a very big dark skinned guy to do? Maybe keep smiling, keep achieving, keep succeeding and waiting on the world to change someday.

Boris Johnson told the truth

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary of U.K. Is being vilified  recently by the government and certain sections of the press for telling the truth. The mistake he made was that he forgot we are now in the post truth era and the truth does not count for much anymore.

He said what many of us have known for a long time , the double standards of the West in global politics. Decimated Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria for a supposed lofty reason but casually look away at the atrocities of Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

In my own opinion, these are three countries who seem to pursue their agendas unfettered and unresisted. Until recently, I was one of those millions of people who had backed Israel blindly. This was due to the misinterpretation of the Bible by many Christians who feel that because they were chosen by God in the beginning and because a verse urges us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem translates to giving them a blank cheque and supporting all they do. I wonder what those Christians will say if they are aware of the vibrant homosexual community there and what they have been up to recently?

Saudi Arabia is another, supported by millions of Muslims worldwide because of its spiritual significance and the country being a destination for holy pilgrimage. Irrespective of this, they have been oppressive at home to segments of their society and aggressive abroad sponsoring some of those barbarians we have come to see on our screens recently. I wonder what pious Muslims will say about the Sheiks from that country indulging in mind boggling debauchery on Edgware Road?

Iran on the other hand is a different kettle of fish. Just totally ignored by the world police and allowed to sponsor a very poisonous brand of Islam worldwide and recently compensated for not pursuing a Nuclear agenda.

I believe in God and cannot take a swipe at spirituality but when religion starts to be a weapon and a tool in the hand of immoral people then I cannot support them. Israel was pivotal in installing a maniac in the White House, Saudi Arabia is responsible for exporting and financing terror in the region , Iran has not stopped sponsoring terror.

I agree that US and Europe are not absolved the blame but many in these countries want things to be done properly than don't. I have always been an admirer of Boris since I listened to him in Oxford years ago. He is one of the most brilliant minds in this country, don't be fooled by his drama. I can actually say that what Boris said was the truth, the mistake he made was saying the truth in a post truth era. I end this with a religious slant, if God is truth, then what happens in a post truth era? Mphhhh!

Thank you American Voters

I sat in my living room watching American president, Barrack Obama and like always was filled with pride. An African American who has been president for 8 years. Suddenly, it dawned on me, I have to be grateful to the bulk of American voters and the choices they make.

Previously, they elected George W Bush, a man believed by a large part of the world to be a few twigs short of a nest. He was often incoherent and fluffed his lines more times than it was funny. He appeared clueless most of the time and was ridiculed by many. George W almost ran the economy of United States aground and by the time he departed, people were ready for change.

Obama inherited this fractured economy and came in with sterling qualifications, Harvard , Senator and President. He was miles apart from his predecessor despite his well connected family. The world was mesmerised as an African American debunked all the myths that have been used as abuses against them. Intelligent, informed, sharp and witty and more importantly not trigger happy. I was proud to see a fellow African display what we have always possessed but often denied the opportunity to show. He tried to bring reforms in all aspect and was resisted vehemently by the congress. Despite all of these, he managed to balance the economy and brought it back from the brink. He oversaw a more humane America and earned enormous respect from around the world. Then bulk of the electorate got tires of this and resoundingly replaced him with Trump.

Trump going by the campaign he ran is going to be a totally different kind of President. Many people believe he will be a bully and try to return to the America that existed before Obama. He has started to show signs of this even before being sworn in and starred surround himself with some extremists.

I believe that if Trump turns out the way predicted, history will remember Obama fondly and possibly miss him. I will certainly remember him fondly and continue to thank God for him and many of the decisions he made. More importantly I will remember an African American who definitely made me proud and with the current choice, the world might come to be grateful too. Bush-Obama-Trump, thanks to the bulk of the American electorate. Thank you.

Hitler was probably right?

This headline may shock you but if you take time to read this to the end, you may understand the point I'm trying to make.

In my teenage years, I was deeply intrigued by two very significant topics, world wars and organised crime. So when I was not reading the Bible, I spent hours reading books on these subjects and it was not long till I came across the book by Adolf Hitler. 'Mein Kampf' which translates my struggle was a fascinating insight into the mind of this murderer. It catalogues his philosophy and most importantly how he saw Germany progressing after a few years of painful economic crisis.  The book was poorly written but still very clear on how he saw the world. To surmise for those that may never read it; he felt some people were superior to others and the superior were duty bound to take charge of the inferior, he also felt that immigration was a scourge on any nations economy and immigrants were to be dealt a bad hand, he stressed the fact that since his country was mostly landlocked, there was the need to colonise other countries and use them as platforms for economic activities.

Yes! Hitler was insane but many have argued the thin line between insanity and genius. Hitler was probably unashamedly bigoted and declared that publicly and like any form of hate ended it with murderous consequences.

Please fast forward to 2016, the only thing I see change is the method of carrying out what Hitler alluded to; America and the Allies, ironically the core of the nations that defeated  Hitler's Germany, have since the Second World War, systematically, assassinated leaders of other nations, plotted against formal governments and have carried out many unnecessary wars against other countries and killed far more people than Hitler ever did.

The real question is why? The answers I'm afraid comes from Hitler's book, these countries need to subjugate other countries in order to stroke their economies.So excuses are given for attacking these countries but how does that justify the action, maybe Hitler should have worked on better excuses?

Today the far right is on the rise in the West and all sort of reasons have been proffered but are they justified? Is it possible that Hitler was right in his presumptions about the world?

I have lived in the West for over 20 years and love what they are trying to accomplish in their countries but that does not mean I have to be blind to the atrocities of their governments. I have peace and prosperity living in England far more than I was able to achieve in the country of my birth. I feel safer here in England than in Nigeria but my mind is boggled when they allow Saddam Hussain to be hanged and Gaddafi to be shot like a dog or look the other way as genocide was committed in Rwanda or Tyrant ruling Congo because of the resources being pilfered from there.

Many are still reeling from the shock of the recently concluded elections in the state where an openly bigoted candidate was voted for by an overwhelming number of people. I can't help but think maybe Hitler was right. Humanity is just insane.