The Ark of the Lord

“So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to him into the City of David; but he took it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. And it was told King David, The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David with rejoicing”

–I Samuel 6:10 -12

It was obvious that God blessed the house of Obed-edom because of the presence of the ark of God in his house. Why do you think David desired to bring the Ark back to Israel in the first place? See I Chronicles 13:1-4, I Samuel 6:1 – 7:2

What was the significance of the Ark and why does its presence attract the blessing(s) of the Lord?

The Ark contains the Ten Commandments/The Testimony (Exodus 40:20), Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17:10) and an omer of manna (Exodus 16:33-34)... which all signify the awesome deeds of God at various times in the lives of the Israelites. God instructed that the items be kept in the Ark as a form of reminder/sign for generations to come.

In today’s world, we may not have access to Manna, Tablets of stone or a budding rod but we have access to the wondrous deeds of God in our lives which we are to continually place before us in our thought lives if we intend to continue to enjoy the immense blessing(s) of God like the house of Obed-edom did.

We must ensure that there are no murmurings before the Lord no matter what happens, this will stem out of an understanding that God is on the throne and He works out all things for our Good!

We must ensure that we recall those tough times in our lives and how God came to our rescue... this should always serve as a reminder that if God has been faithful in times past, He remains faithful today hence develop an attitude of praise irrespective of the circumstances.

Are you keeping the Ark of the Lord before you today?

Before you ask for anything from the Lord, do these three things:

a)     Worship God based on your scriptural understanding of who he is

b)     Reminisce on testimonies that God has delivered into your hands in the past...

c)      Worship God again based on your personal experience and testimonies

Remind yourself about his All-mightiness, Greatness and All-Possibility-thinking before you begin to ask for whatsoever requests you have.

A case of substance over form... JAMB/UTME and NECO

On my way to work this morning, I read one of the newspaper headlines which stated the Federal Government's intention to alter the activities of the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), National Examinations Council (NECO) and some other Federal Government Agencies in a bid to further reduce the cost of governance (Scrap JAMB/UTME and NECO).

In Nigeria, JAMB administers the University Entrance Examination which is the basis of most university admissions in Nigeria. Although most universities conduct their internal admission examinations, students must attain a minimum JAMB-administered examination score to qualify for the school's admission examination. Hence, we can state that JAMB wields some monopoly power over university admission in Nigeria.

In May and November annually, secondary school (high school) students write their graduation examination which is a basic requirement to further your education into the polytechnics or universities or colleges of education in Nigeria. This examination has always been conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) over the years but in 2000, the Federal Government of Nigeria commissioned NECO to begin to conduct its own certification examinations. These exams were also conducted around the time WAEC conducted its own examinations hence giving students the option of writing four examinations in their graduating year and using any of or a combination of the results to further their educational career.

I consider the opinion to scrap these NECO examinations thereafter transferring the responsibility to WAEC and also to permit the various institutions to conduct their admission examinations internally while JAMB only regulates the conduct of the schools, an interesting one as the substance of this drive is to cease to spend on redundant activities whose purpose can be achieved more efficiently via other means.


The Federal Government's allocation to JAMB and NECO in the 2013 budget is a paltry 7.91billion naira ($49.4million naira) [Education allocation] of the entire budget and since their responsibilities are only being re-assigned, some part of these funds will still be utilised by the agencies hence in my opinion, even though it saves the country some spend; the focus of the argument should be on the purpose of the intention not the planned savings which is an off shoot of every efficient drive.


I do not regard the efficient drive lightly though as I am aware that efficient methods can save one from lots of spend in the long run even though it may seem irrelevant in the short term. I came across some comments on General Electric's 2012 Annual report which buttresses this point, 1% Fuel savings in its client's activities within the power sector leads to a 15-year savings of $66billion.

Although some Nigerians have mentioned that the monopoly vested on schools by permitting them to conduct their entrance examinations may be a negative, I would argue that this is not the case as every school  aims to admit the best students who will do them proud hence will ensure that their admission exams and processes separate the wheat from the chaff effectively. In addition, since JAMB will now be responsible for introducing appropriate checks and balances, I do not see the monopoly disadvantage which gives suppliers the upper hand rearing its ugly head here.

I support this move and wish the Federal Government Godspeed in their endeavours. Nigeria can and will get better.

Nigeria and Africa... My Country and Continent

Years ago, the more developed countries had various opinions about the African continent, some of these opinions were absurd yet widely accepted as true and rarely criticised.

From the homo sapiens and cave men stories to the early civilization realities in Egypt to Slave trade and Western Colonization; then more recently to coup d'etats, civil wars and greed/corruption - the African continent has journeyed through the ages tirelessly yet has an interesting future, filled with great positive predictions that seem too good to be true.

Nigeria, the most populous black Nation in Africa has had its fair share of woes, trials, triumphs and joy yet just like its mother, the African continent, it has a positive future. One that has attracted and is still capable of attracting billions of dollars in investments NOT AID from the western world and capable of causing envy amongst other developed Nations.

I came across an article on Economist.com which triggered this post (http://econ.st/Wq72x6). I would implore you to read and share as it does not only reveal the growth in this continent but also identifies the potentials for the future.

No matter what the surmountable challenges are today, my blood remains Green White Green, I am a Nigerian - a proud African!!! #itcanonlygetbetter

My Strength, My Victory Song and My Salvation

 "The Lord is my Strength and Song; and He has become my Salvation" Psalms 118:14

Its been a long while... kindly accept apologies for the silence. It is a result of lots of demand on my time which I am almost done arranging. Now, I am back to stay... :-).

Welcome to 2013!

Every human is bound to experience challenges during their life and times on this planet.

In my little experience as God's own child, I have come to understand that heaven desires us to follow the order as stated in the above scripture for us to enter into the finished work of the cross (the rest of God); especially when faced with daring challenges!

We need to acknowledge God as our strength and the lifter up of our head at all times even in the midst of those trying times; we need to realise that His spirit that dwells within us literally quickens our bodies enabling it with a capacity that it did not have before. This capacity en-ables us to do certain things which we were unable to do before now. Truth be told, even when we do not 'feel' like it, we only need to believe that we CAN & act like we CAN, then we definitely CAN.

Thereafter, we sing songs of rejoicing and victory. “With a grateful heart, with a song of praise, I will bless your name, Thank you Lord” – those are the lines of one of Don Moen’s songs that portray the appropriate attitude to thanksgiving. It must not be loathsome or coerced out of us but must come willingly from a place of understanding even during these trying times. Since we know fully well that this victory that we seek is not a victory to be won for us in the presence of our Father but one that has been settled long time ago when Jesus paid the price at the calvary.

After doing these, then and only then would we SEE the manifestation of God in respect of that challenge. We will now see that which we believed a long time ago had already happened - Faith... Faith like a mustard seed that moves mountains!

When we experience this physical manifestation, then we experience God as our salvation - the ONE who has saved us time and time again from various trials, the ONE who strengthened us to pull through the wait patiently while we sang with joy unspeakable in our hearts because we entered into the rest of God in our hearts as concerning those matters even before the results became evident. We could only have entered into rest because we believed hence reminding us about the essence of the believer’s faith walk.

Following these three steps in the phase of ANY challenge will result in the manifestation of  God's will coming through for you.