Education, issues, Politics

Where are the “Ndugus”?

Ruhakana Rugunda, Uganda’s former prime minister speaking during an interview in New York, U.S. on Thursday, July 23, 2015. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** Ruhakana Rugunda

Several years ago, while an intern at a non-profit, I had the privilege of being assigned the task of reaching out to a list of African UN Ambassadors who had been invited by a few Seattle-based top US companies. My job was to secure the commitment of these Ambassadors to go on this all-important trip.

I eventually secured the commitment of 8 Ambassadors, one of which was the Ambassador of the Permanent Mission of Uganda to the United Nations, H.E, Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda.

Of all the UN Ambassadors I visited, only Amb. Rugunda agreed to personally meet with me in his office for a discussion about the invitation and intended trip. I was highly honoured and he treated me with memorable respect despite visibly being an “errand boy”.

I became fond of him during the trip and met his wife also. He was a profound gentleman and was very lucid and clear-minded when he spoke. You could easily perceive the integrity of his person and the frankness of his ideas.

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issues

Church: Mind Your Reference!

I was walking by the online alley and heard some folks talking about the failure of “the church” or severally referring to its shortcomings and seeming division. On closer examination, I discovered that they have been confusing the object of their reference with what the LORD Jesus meant when He used or uses the word.

This is my brief attempt at a conceptual clarification so we also do to conflate the issues. This is not exegesis, but a mere ideological clarification and correction in a few sentences.

In understanding what “the church” is, we must look to its origin, particularly in scraping from the thoughts of its founder, through the documented words we have. When Jesus used the term “my church”, it was very personal and flowed from a deep conversation He had with His disciples. The Bible only records Jesus using the term twice; once for a personal cause, the other as a generally understood reference.

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Education, Health, issues, Naija, Spiritual

CONSIDER THE BIRDS

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning, I heard a sharp tweet by my bedroom window and stood up to see what it was. At first, I could not figure out through the dusty window net where the tiny high-pitched sound was coming from. Then I heard the chirp again as if to say “I am here, check me out.” Perched vertically on my window frame, was a tiny bird, so beautiful and alluring that I was frozen by its color and the shape of its beak. I begged it not to move so I could reach for my cellphone to violate this precious moment. It agreed and allowed a few clicks before it flew off. For some reason, to date, I just cannot stop thinking about what the little creature was trying to tell me.

Recently, while in continuous mediation of that encounter, I got a Netflix recommendation for a new science documentary called Connected. As though to keep me focused on the subject matter of birds, the very first episode of the series focused on the curious intuition of a specie called the Veery, a North American thrush with a brown back and speckled breast. In the program, the ornithologist and his team are trying to understand the migration pattern of Veeries from the North Eastern forests of the US. They migrated every year in a very unpredictable pattern, sometimes even cutting short their breeding season to migrate south. 

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