I belong to the generation of Africans born during the independence wave that swept through Africa in the fifties and early sixties. How excited and expectant we were of the dividends of independence. The world was our stage, we were ‘free’; or so we thought.

In 1977, I had the privilege of travelling abroad for the first time. I had just finished senior high school and the trip was a pat on the back. I saw a bit of the world; Italy, UK and the USA and I was impressed. I had the chance to stay back with my two older brothers, both studying in the USA, but I demurred. For me, then, it was not an option. Africa was the place to be; we could build our own Europe and America. All it would take was time, and a short one at that.

Such was our hope. Besides, we could always travel out whenever we liked, and we did too. Getting a visa was not a big matter; you were ‘innocent’ until proven guilty. So, I returned to Lagos for my university education.

Fast forward, forty-some odd years later. Getting a visa now is no more a matter of having the right motive or documentation. You are ‘guilty’ until proven innocent. Getting a visa to Europe or America, or indeed any country outside of Africa is now proof of God’s nod of approval.

That is the sorry state of my people, for the promise of not so long ago has turned sour. Those who led us into ‘independence’ have left us more dependent, and desperate, than ever!

On the other side of the world, in the affluent West, there is a deafening cry for ‘liberty’ from all restraint. People want to do their thing, including creating their own ‘truth’. Perversion of alĺ sorts is now the order of the day. What is promoted by the increasingly liberal ‘liberals’  as ‘normal’ now, was unthinkable only a few years ago! There is despair all around: with the rich and the poor alike. Where is the world heading?

I was contemplating on this dilemma one fine morning when I ‘heard’ a word clearly in my spirit; the problem is wrong belief.

No, all is not lost. All it takes is a little shift on the ‘inside’, to see a bigger picture. The root of the problem is spiritual. And so is the answer too. It must start with the very question of why? Why life and to what end?  

You cannot know why you are, unless and until you know whence you are; your ‘roots’. A tree cut off from the root may remain green for a while but is dead nonetheless. For every tree is established and sustained by its root system. It is just as important that we know whose we are, our Source.

“Either make a tree good and its fruit good or make a tree bad and its fruit bad. A tree is known by its fruit.” Messiah Jesus

We must reconnect with our Source to truly live. Only then can we go forth in confidence and with purpose, into this war called life. And win!!

That is self-actualization.  That is the MaxLife.