Who is a Man?

(This article is for YOUNG MEN who do not know what it is to be a man and for them to become all that God wanted them to be and to also guide LADIES in what to look out for in a man) 
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She asked me this question and this is the answer I gave her after my findings. 
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A man can be defined in so many ways, it depends on the angle you're coming from.
1. Physically, he's someone with a masculine look and without a protruded breast like females; 
2. Financially, he's got more cash at hand and in the bank; 
3. Mentally, he's smart and thinks logical; 4. Spiritually, he can pray and kabash very well;
5. Sexually, he can go ten rounds in bed and drive his woman wild, making her an Oliver Twist; 
6. Emotionally, he is stable and doesn't cry even if the situation warrants such. 
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Aren't these definitions good? 
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But to get a better understanding of who a man is, let's see what His Creator had in mind when He was creating him. 
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In Genesis 1:26 (KJV) translation, 
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"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth".
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Before the woman was extracted from man and afterwards, man is the image of God. Man is made in God's likeness. Man is created to have dominion over everything on earth just like God. Man is God's representative on earth. 
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Far from it should a man's definition be limited to sex, his physique, finances or whatever the world says. The world doesn't create man but God. A man should live up to God's expectation and not to the world or his own definition. 
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To be a man is to be God's image, that is, a man should be a reflection of God in appearance and in likeness, he should be like God in faith, love, spirit, purity, word and conduct. 
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If the above seem to be complex, then a man should be a KING and a PRIEST. Adam was. A king rules and exercises his dominion in his kingdom. A king is not domineering but he rules and leads in love. A priest must be able to commune with the god he worship. A king without a priest cannot exercise authority. 
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It is the priesthood of man that enables him to have dominion. When men are not connected to God, they enforce their way as rulers instead of transformational leaders. 
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With all these, a man that's in Christ is a king and a priest, then in marriage, he becomes a husband and prior to marriage or afterwards, he's a father (positively and eternally influences people for God). 
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Any man that's not in Christ, no matter how successful he is, is a slave. He's either a slave to sin, self or the god of this world. And no matter how smart he is, he cannot relate with God. 
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A man is also a person that has discovered God's purpose for his life and he's fulfilling it. Adam did. John the Baptist did (John 1:19-23). Jesus knew (John 18:37). If you're a man then you must have discovered God's purpose for your life and you're doing something about it. 
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Life doesn't begin for a man because he's living, a man lives when he has an understanding of why God has created him and he's living out that purpose. 
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Ladies, hear this, if you are looking for a man, don't just look for someone who will make you smile, flatter you, pamper you, give you money or care for you. All these are good but they are not the best for you. Look for a man that will help you become all that God wanted you to be and he's already fulfilling God's purpose for his life. 
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Look for a man that's doing something for God who you can be his suitable help meet. But you must have an eye that can see. Don't just wear contact lens, have insight. Don't just make up your face, have an enlightened mind. 
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If all that you're looking for in a man is how tall, dark, rich, handsome and caring he is; you're a goner. He can have all these qualities but your marriage will be boring and without impact. In fact, he'll abuse your purpose in marriage. 
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Marriage is not just for sex, procreation or companionship, marriage is designed for the fulfillment of God's purpose on earth where two persons work together to achieve this. 
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Are you a man? Is the cause you are living for God's or for what you can get out of life? 
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To be a man is not just to be successful, handsome, wealthy or influential, to be a man is to be a king and a priest. To be a man is to become who God wants you to be on earth, not who you want to be or who the world wants you to be. 
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Are you a man? I beseech you to examine your life now so that you can live and not just exist. 
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© Oluwamayowa Adeniyi.

A Mother.

Photo Source: Facebook.

When a mother says she's tired, that's all she meant!

She did not say she wants to drop her son and forget that he or she exists.

When a mother says she wanted some time alone, just her, that's all she meant!

She didn't say she's sorry to be a mother and that motherhood was a mistake in her life.

When a mother says she needs help to get things done, that's exactly what she meant!

She is not saying that she is incapable.

When a mother makes noodles for dinner, it does not mean she does noodles every day of the week and that her son/daughter is a child who does not know vegetables and meats.

When you arrive at a mother's house and face disorganization, it doesn't mean that every day that house is disorganized.

When a mother says she'd love to go out with her friends, that's all she meant! She doesn't want to go back to being "Single / not a mother" and like it as if she had no responsibility.

When a mother says she's worried and afraid, that's what she meant! She didn't say she's going to falter, and much less she's a coward.

When you listen to a mother screaming, it doesn't mean she just screams, probably she has spoken 300 times with normal voice tone.

When you see a nervous mother, on the edge of madness, doesn't mean every day she's in that situation.

There is a whole context, a whole situation.

Do not invent untruths to judge someone, let alone a woman who every day, at all times, gives up her own life to live the life of another being that she knows is much more important than her.

In the world there is no human being able to give up and donate as much as a mother!

And they deserve a lot of understanding and fewer trials.

By Charity Beth.

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Thank you for your love.

Why My Mission To The US Matters ~ Atiku Abubakar.

It has become pertinent for me to speak about my ongoing visit to the United States of America, where I met and I am still meeting with US administration officials and business leaders.

I travelled to the United States of America because I had a mission and my mission is to create the right economic atmosphere for American investments to return to Nigeria at a rate and quantum that we had before the current Nigerian administration’s policies almost halted the flow of Foreign Direct Investments to Nigeria.

I am in America because Atiku means jobs.

My reason for running for the office of President of Nigeria and even for going into public service in the first place, is because I believe that Nigeria has what it takes to be the beacon of hope for the Black Race and a leading nation of reckoning in the international community.

This has not materialised over the course of the last four years because, as Chinua Achebe prophetically said in his 1983 book, “the trouble with Nigeria is the failure of leadership.”

The current Nigerian administration has allowed our relationship with our long-standing friends and partners to deteriorate and this has had unfortunate consequences for our economy.

Foreign relations that had been meticulously and delicately built for decades were allowed to deteriorate because the incumbent administration mistook their personal interests as the interest of Nigeria and allowed short term goals to dominate their foreign policies.

New friendships should not be made at the cost of old friendships. It is not an either-or situation. Right from independence, Nigeria has nurtured a policy of non-alignment. We borrowed from the Lincoln policy of malice toward none and charity for all. Sadly, that policy has suffered major setbacks in the last four years.

As a leader in business, I am cognisant of the fact that both Western and Oriental nations will be making the transition from fossil fuels to electric powered vehicles and other green energies over the course of the next two decades. This means that Nigeria’s oil has a limited shelf life.

To be forewarned is to be forearmed and we must, as a nation, begin to make the transition from an oil economy to a modern economy based on manufacturing and value-added agricultural chain.

The message I took to the United States business community is not a new message. In my opinion editorial in the British media (Beyond Brexit - Nigeria wants a new trade deal with Britain), I opined that Brexit is an opportunity for Nigeria and the United Kingdom to have a Big Ambitious Free Trade Agreement.

It is only common sense.

In 2014, the African continent as a whole earned $2.4 billion from coffee grown in Africa and shipped mainly to Europe. That sounds impressive. However, one nation alone, Germany, made $3.8 billion from re-exporting Africa’s coffee in 2014.

As a businessman, I see this and I cannot allow it to continue. It is unconscionable, but situations like these will not stop unless Nigeria and Africa have leadership that thinks business instead of aid and capital instead of loans.

Nigeria has perhaps the highest populations of youths as a segment of the total population, in the world. Already, we have the unfortunate distinction of being the world headquarters for extreme poverty. We cannot afford business as usual. My single-minded focus is to change this dubious record by transforming Nigeria from a consumer nation to a prosumer nation (a nation that consumes what it produces).

For this to happen, we need US firms who have divested from Nigeria, to return. We need Procter and Gamble to reopen their $300 million Nigerian plant which they shut down last year. We need General Electric to reverse their $2.7 billion pull out of Nigeria.

And my vision is for trade to go both ways. Nigeria has a lot to offer America via her creative industry (Nollywood is the world’s third largest movie industry) and rich mining sectors (Nigeria’s Kaduna state is rich with gold ore). I am also eager to find a market in the US for some of the half a million shoes manufactured in Nigeria’s cities of Kano and Aba everyday.

Someone somewhere said Nigeria’s youth are lazy. I am one of the single largest employers of Nigeria’s youth and I know that that assertion is false. My travels in Europe and America is to sell the Nigeria that I know to the world that does not yet know her. A Nigeria with not just a hardworking youthful population, but a nation with some of the smartest working people on earth. A nation that is open for business and a Nigeria that is much more than oil.

And I am certain that if I am successful in selling this Nigeria to the world, the world will come to Nigeria for business. That is why I am in America. Because I believe in JOBS - Jobs, Opportunity, Being United and Security and it is time Nigeria and all Nigerians finally have the opportunity to realize their true potential.

Atiku Abubakar is Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President of Nigeria.