Trading the Gold for the golden boot

Lesson from Under-17 world Cup Final

Olden Eaglets
Uncle-17
Super Eaglets...

It was a glamourous nite of football,debutant vs. defending champions in the final of the 2009 Under-17 championship. It was a home game for Nigeria but the home advantage was evened by the fact that their opposing team is the birth country of the President of FIFA, Switzerland. Fair play it was for both teams, leaving them a levelled playing ground to fight for victory or face defeat.


Having watched both teams played in different games, it was hard for me to give the game to any of the two teams on a platter of gold because they've both showed pedigree with their style of play and determination and some level of individual brilliances from some members of both teams. Each team had a player with the potential of winning the golden boot and the two coaches have displayed a high level of coordination and control over their respective teams. What was left to claim the victory was not just the team play but the technicality of the two coaches to make decisive decisions when required.

One coach stuck to the winning formula while the other went for last minute excitement out of greed, placing the golden boot ahead of the golden trophy that brings the real glory. He threw in the golden boot seeking player and threw away the winning formula and the trophy along with it just for the hope of some undeserved personal gratification, and in the process lost out on all... Misplaced priority, it is not unusual for any footballer at any level to make the Same mistakes made by Sanni Emmanuel but it was totally unprofessional for the team coach John Obuh to have started him in a match where team success was more important than personal glory, knowing fully well that he was not a perfect match starter. Sticking with his starting eleven would have probably got him goals in t the first half of the game and the later introduction of Sanni into the game could have been the icing on the glorious cake that would have earned him the Adidas golden boot as well. Forgetting the essence of the game and unknowingly misplacing the priority of the game by redefining the purpose for self gratification instead of service national glory made him give the trophy away on a platter of gold.

Many a times in our lives; at the brink of our victory, we throw away our core values for minutes reasons at the risk of loosing our hard earned glory and deserved victory and most times we loose out on all at the long run without achieving the purpose for which we started out or acquiring the extra we traded in our glory to get. We loose on both ends just because we fail to identify which is more important and we throw out our victory for just a little more while we assume that the coordinates are right. We attach the same value to the joy of our desired victory and that of the extra personal gratification and sometimes we give it more because we suddenly get over confident about it. We misplace priority, forgetting the weathiest matter of all and we pursue the addendum that will naturally accompany our victory if we have devotedly stayed true without throwing out our values till the end, we go for the glitter and throw away the gold we could have been rewarded with by following through with the divine protocol.

Now I understand perfectly well what Jesus meant when He said

"Seek yee first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you".

How I wish John Obuh had seek first the trophy of the cadet competition only, obviously every other thing that accompanies it such as, the golden boot, accolades of being the first to host and win, first country to win the competition four times, first country to retain the trophy after wining the fourth time, first country to win the competition back to back, first coach to win the competition on home soil etc..etc… would have been added unto him effortlessly, but he chose the golden boot and lost all. Do we make these same mistakes in our daily dealing of every day of our lives? Less think about it...

I hope you've learnt the lessons I learnt

Defeating Tomorrow (Motives)

It’s 4:00am In the morning and I am still as awake and as fresh as if I just woke up from a deep sleep minutes ago, with a lot on my mind, I’ve tried to figure out in a thousand way the events of the past few days of my life and the world around me is shaping the man I have become. In a few weeks I will be a graduate from the acclaimed strongest polytechnic in Nigeria with a 2nd class, and still I am caught in the web of barrage of thoughts, trying to figure out the next required move that will produce the next big thing in my life. Although I have learnt, invaluable lessons from the feet of men of great wisdom with outstanding understanding of the principles of life like, Bishop David Oyedepo, Poju Oyemade, John Asharaf, Boyce Watkins, Leke Alder, Ibukun Awosika et al… etc, a few of this great men became my favourite and the words they’ve spoken still rings aloud in my ears, but still I carefully search the heart of the earth, looking for the rights spot to sow that seed I have in my hand, oblivious of how to get there, but equipped with a heart that searches the truth without relenting until exciting quality is produced from deep within.

A tool I have identified and used since I found it is a heart of praises and a tongue that give thanks in all situations, I have used it effectively and produced results that are enviable with it, doors are opening and opportunities have been coming my way exceedingly and still am grateful. Although am not worried about the future, but something within me still seeks the path that I must follow, the principles I must define, the rules I must understand and obey to produce the imaginable and unimaginable. I seek these things like babes seek milk, I knock on doors, knowing they will open, and hoping that I find wisdom on the other end of it. I ask questions with the hope of getting answers that will feel my heart with vigor and lighten me up, just like oil for my lamp.

I smell victory already and I think it’s the joy of it that keeps me burning all nite long with closing my lid and not the indomie noddles I devoured late into the nite, I hear the gong of victory sounding already and nothing will make me deter, I have burnt my bridges already, defeated my goliaths and now because He lives, I can face tomorrow like I just did, overcoming today.

Alive

Who needs an airplane when I can teleport?
“oya oferegege gbe mi pa”
Who needs a Ferrari when I can shorten the distance?
“ona ka, ona ko; aa kin ba onise rin”
Who needs their gods when I’ve got divinity?
“ifa olokun asoro dayo ti kin fololo fohun”
Calling the things that be not as though they were
“shango olukoso oooo!”
A fit fore surpassed by the Son of man
“Jesu Oluwawa”

I shall pour libation at the feet of the gods again
Pay homage to the roots of my ancestors
My walls will breathe again
And my words alive and fresh
My history not curios at all
Breaking the bounds like meteors from mars
I will live and reveal again
The wisdom that was denied
That which lives within my loins and my dark golden skin

TOMORROW IS YOU

To the leaders that will be when we leave in pursuit of wisdom and stability
To thee we pass the mantle of power and the touch of exploit
Thread the paths we were too afraid to dare
Go to places we were too afraid to visit
Touch the lives we won’t be around to ho! and ha!!

Where we fell and stood up again, move on
Walk with gallant strides and produce the best in it
Because our failure is not failure at all
It is like light to your path and lamp to your feet
It is like a compass, showing you the direction in which to go

Fear not the barking of the toothless dog
Neither be scared of the howling of a hungry one
Stand where we stood and touch where we couldn't reach
Bite more than you can chew
And let God do the chewing for you

Cos we were scared and we bite a little
We forgot that God as placed in us the power to do
That which we can think or imagine at all
We underestimated our prowess and capabilities
But now we know that our best was not enough
So go all out and be better than the best

Do not be afraid of the shining edge of GP
The title that surrounds a man does not a make him a chief
Neither does the story of conquest at war make a man a warrior
Only the battles you’ve won or lost
Plays the tune of victory or the agony of defeat

Do not be afraid of what you can do or how great you can become
To be afraid is in the nature of man, an eminent beginning of failure
Rather, let not your heart be troubled
Because HE who made you did for a purpose
Do not struggle to define your purpose
Rather strife to discover and live
Live to enjoy the glory of this great discovery

For the sake of integrity
Never take an oath you won’t live to honour
Never say “I..............” when it is defined within you that you can’t
Never say a word just for the pride of life
Your word is your bond; honour it with every second in you

Being a leader is standing tall even on death grounds
Look around you, you will see
Look within you, you will know
What we see and feel is nothing near leadership
But you can change the paradigm if we can’t

“Be the change you want to see” (M.Ghandi)
Cos “The tomorrow you seek and the change we long to see is you “

I'm Abidemi Babaolowo Oderinlo