By Sam Adeoye
If you wear a mask for too long, there will come a time when you cannot remove it without removing your face with it. Today’s generation is more informed than the older generation; therefore it is expedient that you think through before you lie to them. But still, we cannot rule out the fact that lies are like Cockroaches, for everyone you discover there are several others hiding somewhere. And since lying is part of some professions, definitely there are some individuals that had become millionaires and billionaires as a result of this. Don’t ask me how, ask yourself; what does it entails to excel in your chosen profession.
I read a Post on Social Media where someone said that “Jesus, I want more of you”, and I said to myself; this person is living without knowledge and facts of what the truth is. “Wanting more of God or Jesus” I said in response to the person’s prayer “is not what you pray for; it’s what you build capacity for. You don’t pour a Tanker of Water in a Table Cup, that’ll be a waste. Build capacity and more of God will flow into you”.
Anyone that wants to succeed in any venture should learn to sit down and study the life of King Solomon. He was a master corn man, a beautiful liar, an expert in the art of deception and manipulations; a master strategist and a great orator with less speech and much action. Your best tool is the book of Proverbs in the Bible. It will split your brain open and if you love yourself, don’t be religious about it. Read it as a learner not as a religious bigotry.
POLICE
In Matt 5:25-26 Jesus said; “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth; you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. NIV
I love how other versions of the Bible put it saying…
“Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine. TMB
“If someone brings a lawsuit against you and takes you to court, settle the dispute while there is time, before you get to court. Once you are there, you will be turned over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, and you will be put in jail. There you will stay, I tell you, until you pay the last penny of your fine. GNT
In Part Two of this article, I said that Lawyers are necessary evils; and if you want to survive in any venture, it is essential that you have them on board of your business if not you are not far from losing everything you’d ever worked for into the evil conspiracy of the Politicians and their policies.
The same is applicable with the officers of the law e.g. the Police. The worse part in their own case is; people fear them when they should be respecting them. I’m yet to see any country in the world where people respect Police as a profession so much or the Police Officers. People see them as a corrupt entity and they avoid them like a plaque because they know that too much closeness with them might be their own doom.
Nowhere in the world is the Police Officers allowed or permitted to slap or assault a suspect or an accused person. If they do, they had committed a crime punishable under the laws and if a citizen assaulted or slapped by an officer decides to retaliate in the heat of the moment, they can only at best be tagged as “two fighting”.
But how many people know this fact? How many people know their right as a citizen? And even if they do; who dare to lift his or her hands against a Police Officer that had either gotten drunk early in the morning, or smoke weeds and his carrying Gun in his hands. You dare not if you still want to be breathing.
Have you ever seen the Female Police Officer carrying Gun like their Men counterparts?
Have you ever seen the Female Police Officer harassing people and assaulting citizens like their Men counterparts?
The reasons why the Female Police Officer doesn’t harass or assault the citizens is because, they have no access to Guns to protect themselves from individuals that might want to retaliate when and if they harass them.
Police are necessary evils just like the Lawyers and they are the last set of individuals you want to mess around with as they are ready to mess you up. Police are not loyal to anyone, not even to the Law that employed them as a protection for the citizen. So trusting a Police person is more like trusting your accuser. Don’t blame them; it comes with their job.
In Matthew, Jesus said “settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge,…” What Jesus was saying here is that, you find a means to an end before whatever issues you are having with anyone degenerate into something else.
Jesus went further to say “…and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth; you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.” In a normal settings where the rules of laws had been adhered to, the Police have no right to punish anyone until the judgment is passed and you’re found guilty. But in this time and age, the case is different. Before you get to the court if they’ll ever charge you to the court; they would have dealt with you mercilessly in their station or hand you over to someone in the Cell that will beat you blue black. With that, there is no evidence of them lifting a finger against you and even if they’re the ones that beat you up, they are protected under the law that they created for themselves, not under the laws of the land.
The Police are not the set of individuals to trust and at the same time, they’re not the enemies to run away from if you understand how systems work in a political settings and power structure organization.
My advice and suggestion is to love them because they are sacrificing so much to keep the city in order. There is no uniform personnel that is not risking his or her life to provide protection for us all. So please, love them, respect them and honour them. They are not the enemies of the citizen. It’s just that there are some professions that come with some certain traits and their profession seems to be one of such.
To all our brothers and sister in Police or in any uniform profession, we say thank you so much for your service. We love you and we’ll always love you.
ENTERTAINMENTS
This loud-able profession requires anyone involving in it to live a life that is full of lie. Entertainments industries which include Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Comedians, TV Hosts and loads of others thrive on the platform of lie e.g. make believe.
Their system of attracting wealth is simply by the application of the Law of Attraction. And if there is anyone that made the best use of the Law of Attraction, it is King Solomon.
I’d heard so many people saying that the Lord prospered Solomon and make him wealthy. Well, that’s the trust but not the whole truth.
I once told a friend that the greatest asset God had given to mankind is the brain. If you can put your brain to work, you will grow financially from zero to hero. But an average human being will rather be seeking for miracles and lucky to be wealthy rather than putting his brain to work.
It is one thing for God to give Solomon wisdom, it is another thing for him to put it into proper use; and trust me, King Solomon did put it work using the Law of Attraction.
The first ever entertainer that lived was King Solomon and he was very good with it. In 1 Kings 10:18-29 it was said that; “then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons. King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart. Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift — articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules. Solomon accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar as plentiful as sycamore — fig trees in the foothills. Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue-the royal merchants purchased them from Kue. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.”
The first attraction is King Solomon using all the money in his care to design and build a special Throne for himself, such as no one had ever seeing before.
The second attraction is King Solomon’s goblets that were made of gold.
The third attraction is all the household articles in the Palace that were made of pure gold.
The fourth attraction is nothing was made of silver.
The fifth attraction is silver were considered of little value.
The sixth attraction is King Solomon fleet of trading ships.
The seventh attraction is importation of gold, silver, ivory, apes and baboons.
The eighth attraction is King Solomon greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.
The ninth attraction is King Solomon accumulated fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
This is to scare the people off from bring war to his territory. No matter how wealthy you are, if you cannot protect what you have, you’ll lose it big time.
The tenth attraction is King Solomon made silver as common as stones.
The eleventh attraction is King Solomon made cedar as plentiful as sycamore; fig trees in the foothills.
The twelveth attraction is King Solomon imported his horses and chariots from Egypt.
The thirteenth attraction is King Solomon exporting horses and chariots to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.”
These are pure business, and that’s the only way to survive as an entertainer; creating business opportunities.
With all these, it was said that the whole world began to sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.
Now, the people coming to visit him are not coming empty handed. They’re coming with gifts and it was clearly stated that “year after year, everyone who came brought a gift.
Majority of the entertainers are poor in real life forget what you see on Television and Social Media. Very few of them are surviving. But you see, the lies they live is a calculated one for the smart ones among them. One way or the other the lies get them numerous endorsements from corporate organizations and multinationals.
I once watched the TV Studio interactive section with Toyin Abraham a Yoruba Lady Actress where she said that, she’d not been rich all these while. According to her, she started making money Six years ago despite being famous for over Twenty years.
So many Actors and Actresses include Musicians, Comedians, TV Hosts and loads of others in entertainment industry are famous but not rich. And as A. R Rahman said, “success comes to those who dedicate everything to their passion in life. To be successful, it is also very important to be humble and never let fame or money travel to your head”.
Everyone in entrainment industry knows that the system in the industry is lie, lies, and more lies. I watched Denrele Edun interview where he said that when he started his cross dressing lifestyle, people looked down on him, insulted him and harassed him several times. For years, he was just an errand boy in his office despite his creative abilities and style. He became famous when he featured in a Red Capet Show for the Media House he was working with then; and the show went viral. Corporate organizations started requesting for him to appear in their events and this continued until he did a photo-shot with Charley Boy and the whole city came after him and then he was fired in his place of work. That is going back to square one. Now, he started making money when he got a job with a multinational media house.
Now, all the years that both Toyin and Denrele spent with no money to their names; they were not going about like someone suffering; not at all. They were still looking good, dressing well and sticking their head to what they believe about themselves and their dreams; even though they both knew that no money. But the society did not know that part of them and they were not ready to disclose it to anyone either; they continued with their made believe lifestyles and after building enough fame for themselves, the fame now begin to earn them the money they need to live the life they want.
So many people are failing in life because money and wealth is their focus. That’s the wrong thing to focus on. Never will you see a rich or wealthy person that focuses his or her attention on money. Their attention is on doing all they know how to do and sticking to it whether it brining money or not. And when it starts to bring in money, they look for several other ways to make it bring in more money.
While a poor person focused on making money, a smart person stayed focused on making people. The mathematics is very clear, the more money you make without making people, equals the less money you’ll have and on the long run, the faster you’ll lose the money. As it was said in Prov 23:5 that; “will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away like an eagle toward heaven. I love the way it was said in Message Bible that “riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.”
But when you make people, enough people like the like Davido, Obi Cubana or Bola Ahmed Tinubu are doing, the chances of you remaining wealthy for the rest of your life is very high. As Apostle Paul said in 2 Cor 6:3-10 that; “we put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
I love the way the NIV puts it, but the Message Bible throw in more light when it says; “well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. Our work as God’s servants gets validated — or not — in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.”
Until others can rise to stardom as a result of coming in contact with you, you remain a failure in life and it really doesn’t matter how much money, houses, cars or influence you have.
POLITICAL LOBBYIST
Ahithophel is one person that can be considered as a Political Lobbyist. One of King David’s trusted advisers. Ahithophel was so good that it was said of him in 2 Sam 16:23 that; “the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.”
Ahithophel was so good in his craft that even King David was afraid of him as it was said in 2 Sam 15:31 that; “then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
Ahithophel has the eyes, the ears and the heart of King David in his days. He was a perfect corn man with the skill of a Political Lobbyist and he did so well with it to the point that nothing happened in the city without his awareness and influence. And once he is in support of it either good or bad, it will surely come to pass.
Ahithophel was untouchable. The only person that could lay hold on him and destroy him was God. Not even King David. He was so powerful to the point that the only person that can kill Ahithophel was Ahithophel himself. What a powerful personality.
Political Lobbyists are the individuals that set global policy in motion; they have poor reputations simply because they are paid to represent the interests of their clients and not the interests of the people or the nation their clients’ are meant to serve.
So many people across the world, believes that their political system needs major changes or a complete overhaul. This is due to the fact that some of the frustrations people feel about their political systems are tied to their opinions about political elites. Younger generation generally believes and sees politicians as corrupt; and as a result they think and believed that the political systems need serious reform.
This act of believe was what motivated Absalom that made him to wanted to take the Kingdom from King David his father as it was said in 2 Sam 15:7-14 that; “now it came to pass after forty years that Absalom said to the king, “Please, let me go to Hebron and pay the vow which I made to the Lord. For your servant took a vow while I dwelt at Geshur in Syria, saying, ‘If the Lord indeed brings me back to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.'” And the king said to him, “Go in peace.” So he arose and went to Hebron. Then Absalom sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpet, then you shall say, ‘Absalom reigns in Hebron!'” And with Absalom went two hundred men invited from Jerusalem, and they went along innocently and did not know anything. Then Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David’s counselor, from his city — from Giloh — while he offered sacrifices. And the conspiracy grew strong, for the people with Absalom continually increased in number. Now a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
The young always believe that they have the answers to the prevailing political or economical issues in their country; meanwhile in most cases, they don’t. To a larger extent it is the Political Lobbyists that are using tactics such as exaggerating facts, making false promises, and withholding information to further their client’s interests. Often times, they rely on political connections and donations to gain favor with politicians. The net result of this erosion of trust in the political system is clearly associated with the effect of lobbyists on the political system.
So many people know so much about the politicians; but little or nothing is known about the political lobbyists. But the truth is, if politicians are evil, then lobbyists should be considered as the devil. In my own estimation, there is nothing ethical or moral person about them. Their job is to influence and manipulate others, specifically government officials who pass the laws in the country; they are not politicians, they are money making machine for politicians and they are hired by private corporations to push corporate interests in the political arena. And for your information, there is no corporate organization anywhere in the world that doesn’t have them as part of their machinery to survive and thrive in their businesses.
REAL ESTATE AGENT
This is another profession people are so careful to deal with. Recently, a Lady posted a Land advert in Lekki, Lagos on Social Media and she said that the land goes for Five Hundred Thousand Naira. I asked her, is the Five Hundred Thousand Naira is per Square Metter or per Plot. Rather than answering my question, she picked up a fight with me. That is to the extent to which some people in this industry can be dubious and never straight forward.
Now, Real Estate Agents are not necessarily considered to be dishonest, there are some cases where agents have been accused of unethical behavior such as falsifying information, overcharging clients, or misrepresenting property values. These are the things that are so common among them and the reasons why houses are so expensive to rent or buy is because of this sector of the economy.
Houses that the owner of the house is giving away for One Thousand Naira, they will charge Two Hundred Thousand Naira or even more depends on the location or the house and the design; asking the client what the owner of the house is not asking for just to rip people off.
Real Estate Agents are necessary evils and negative experiences have caused a bad perception of the profession, and the industry as a whole. The truth is, when Real Estate Agents lie, it’s most likely to be about themselve. They may misrepresent their experience or their credentials.
It is plainly obvious that public trust has waned over the years and can be very difficult to restore. This is easy to understand when many real estate agents use dubious business practices. In another example, the Balance details that with regards to so-called Non -Negotiable Commissions. Majority of them are so heartless when it comes to this and with boldness they’ll say that their commissions are not negotiable. Don’t always believe that. Everything is negotiable and there is no law that govern their practices. That’s an advantage for you.
The pressure to capture sales can motivate some dishonest Real Estate Agents to leave up old listings. These listings contain a vague address, referencing the area or neighborhood instead of the house number and street. Real Estate Agents are expected to abide by ethical standards, and those who violate them should face the consequences.
STOCK TRADE BROKERS
The people in this profession are real fraudster in any given economy. Stockbrokers are the gatekeepers to financial independence. But this is made difficult when the Stockbrokers are less trusted than insurance salespeople and state officeholders. Stockbrokers are frequently seeing as a dishonest profession due to their potential for conflicts of interest and incentives to take advantage of clients.
Stock traders are not too far from being unscrupulous in their dealings, using knowledge of the market to manipulate clients into making decisions that are not in their best interest. Their level of trust obviously is not very high as most Stock traders are often seen as taking advantage of their privileged positions to make personal profits at the expense of their clients.
- Sam Adeoye, a Preacher of the Word lives in Lagos, Nigeria