₦airaland Forum

ehisdan:
Boyfriends!

Lol. She probably meant meant all the ones she has dated at various times in the past.

Skengman:
The likes of ‘Ibkayee’ will make u think eloquence had died, but here it is right before me. Nicely said, don.

No mind them, girls that are condemning samysmoothfresh's action cannot be trusted. It's just their cunning defensive mechanisms to calm their guilty conscience. Imagine one telling us that her friend's boyfriend placed a bet on her friend and her friend found out, got angry and bleeped her boyfriend's friend in retaliation. I mean, what nonsense and idiotic story is that? are we all kids on nairaland? . Nobody can discourage we boys from betting on our girlfriends. We shall continue to bet and fish out the unworthy bimbos. Nothing can stop us . Samysmoothfresh, carry go because nothing do you.

MariaLavina:
So you place a bet on your girlfriend? You are very very wise! Very wise!

But come to think of it, why do you guys do this shitt? I remember a guy did the same thing to me, he placed a bet with his friend , Later he came applauding me that I passed a test. I was irritated and my hype for him just went down.!
That was the beginning of the end of the relationship. If you can bet on me, it means you aren't scared to lose me!

Bro, that shiit isn't cool, forget that your babe failed. It isn't cool at all. Testing your partner /betting on them simply means you don't value them. You ain't perfect either!

Lol. No, that's a wrong perspective and purely irrational. If I can vouch for my girlfriend's faithfulness and be proven right, then it is a worthy relationship indeed. If reverse is the case then why should such relationship exist? You should be happy that your boyfriend trusts you well enough to put his money at risk rather than making it sound like he is trading you off to someone else if he loses a bet he is not sure of. The former is not disrespectful but the latter is disrespectful and degrading as it reduces you to an object. The only girls that would have a problem with what samysmoothfresh did are those that are unfaithful and can't be trusted. He didn't bet, he was sure of his girlfriend's faithfulness and he saw a chance to make money. Why should the girl cheat? What sort of nonsense is that.

Girls sef. You no trust them, na problem. You trust them, na problem.

Happy NEW YEAR.

placeofallure:
Do you think you are a better person than her? If not for the fact that you said, you have severed ties with her, I'd say you deserve each other. You are a gambler and she's a slut!

It's irrational to put any blame on him. A spouse whose faithfulness you can vouch for in public and you are proven correct is indeed a spouse. Samysmoothfresh did not gamble, from his perspective he thought he had seen free money. Why should the girl cheat? That girl doesn't deserve the Op. The bet is a blessing to op as it enabled him dodge a bullet. Girls should be happy if they have a boyfriend that trusts them so much that he can vouch for them at the expense of his money.

Girls sef. You no trust them, problem. You trust them, problem.

Happy NEW YEAR.

raumdeuter:
Its false equivalence to try to draw a parallel between the world of today and the world over a 100yrs ago

200yrs ago you can move anywhere in the world you want, as long as you are strong enough to overpower the locals or work out an agreement with them you can stay

Today there are well-defined borders and rules governing immigration

You cannot use the laws/standards of today to judge a century ago and you cannot use the laws/standards of a century ago to judge today

This why I withdrew from arguing with him. When I see adults struggling with concepts that nursery school kids understand with ease or living in denial when it comes to simple stuffs, I simply withdraw. Goodluck trying to make him understand.

The claims of theistic positions have no concrete basis in reality. In fact, they have no basis at all. They all have to be accepted by faith and they cannot survive critical thinking and logical analysis.

You people should stop this nonsense, very brilliant children become shadows of themselves, academically for various reasons:

1) hard drug addiction.

2) alcohol addiction.

3) porn and masturbation addiction -- also a time wasting addiction.

4) naivety and bad friends. Naivety makes kids in school, especially in the university, try to belong and they get carried away by vanity and being in vogue. As a result, they lose focus and instead of thinking about what's important and building their future, they get caught in living fly and high not knowing that school won't last forever and what's in vogue today would be tomorrow's rubbish. Bad friends too can cause one to lose focus in the way I described and lead one into cultism and other vices.

5) studying the wrong course in the university. A fish cannot climb a tree.

6) no inspiration; motivation to study and not discovering their passion

Please OP, the instances of children being a shadow of themselves academically is a serious issue and depending on what the cause is, it can be traumatic and devastating to the parents of these children. Please, this situation is critical that only realistic solutions should be applied. Do not spiritualise it.

It should be noted that academic brilliance does not equal financial success --- that's common sense. How can passing WAEC with straight As mean that you would get a job, especially in this Nigeria? How does it mean that you would be like Otedola? I don't blame you, I blame our society for propagating this myth of academic success equaling financial success, it doesn't happen in all cases. People should stop this entitlement, the universe doesn't owe anyone anything. Education is to educate the mind. If your field of study is applicable and marketable such that you can get a job, good for you. Mtewwwww.

gesundheit:
Only if you have any.

I have a brain, a very good brain. Goodbye.

BraniacX:
because if you aren't native American then you aren't aboriginal to the land and at some point you or your ancestor was a fucking immigrant who emigrated with laxer or no rules so where is your moral justification to talk about legal or illegal and yes the justification is being championed by Americans of European descent supporting the republicans so if race truly wasn't a factor in their opposition then the rational standards that applied to their ancestors should apply to other asylum seekers today if not for their blatant hypocrisy! So yes it totally justifies it

I am sorry for arguing with you, don't kill my brain cells.

BraniacX:
and pray tell from whose perspective the hundreds of years of European migration to the Americas was legal? The native Americans? Oga go and take a back seat and join the list of the willfully ignorant i have put in their place!

This irrationality is quite astonishing. How does past mode of immigration many hundred years ago apply to now? Does the past invasion of ancient europeans on American soil justify illegal immigration today? So Americans should leave their borders open because of what their ancestors did?

budaatum:
Is anyone still arguing for open borders? I have not personally seen anywhere it is!

A lot are still arguing for borders both in the UK and America. In both cases, they are liberals, especially young liberals. Their reasons usually are "let them in and give them a better life," "it's unfair to shut our doors to desperate people that need help" etc.

BraniacX:
is it the concept of border security or the reality of it that makes Americans hate open borders in your views? Historically, America was founded by and prospered on immigrants and immigration, when you practice closed borders as a concept, the reality is that you only succeed in stopping immigration not cross border crime, organized crime will always find a way through the paper wall called border security, it is as true in Nigeria as it is in America and many other countries except north Korea for obvious reasons, if you agree with my assertion, then all closed borders imply is in stopping immigration which has never been bad for the US economy.
On Nigeria, the belief we even have borders stopping human traffic is farcical at best, our borders exist only to milk revenues both legally and illegally from trans border commerce esp illegally so no, the concept of closed borders for Nigeria is deceitful so it is not worth pondering

Legal or illegal immigrants? Legal or illegal immigration?

It seems that when liberals want to defend open border policies and paint it in a good light, they purposely fail to make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration and legal and illegal immigrants by using the words "immigrants" and "immigration." When they do this, they list the good works of legal immigrants and subtly give the credit to both legal and illegal immigrants.

Cc. Auduku, budaatum, itchie, Temple1288, raumdeuter

kingkuntaval:
Living Legend...

CAPSLOCKED:
THIS IS A VERY INTERESTING STORY, MARTINEZ.



FATHER ABRAHAM'S STUPIDITY CAN NEVER EVER BE COMPARED TO THAT OF HIS STUPIDER DESCENDANTS WE HAVE IN NIGERIA TODAY.

Lol.

NB: this is fiction and it's under no obligation to conform with reality.

CHAPTER FOUR : ready made answers Part 1.

Achim and Zadok couldn't contain their joy at the development of their belief system. The facts that they would soon confront the crowds and ascend to power were very intoxicating indeed. Both couldn't wait to start earning. 10% from the population is really a huge amount and more interesting was that they got it just like that. More exciting was that after their next discussion, they were going to confront the crowds. They all gathered later that evening as they had promised and they decided to give explanations to their physical world from the perspective of their belief system.

MATTAN : well, this is going to be our final discussion before we confront any of the worshippers. Today, we shall try to explain our physical world and human life from the perspective of our doctrines. We must, while doing this, supercede the stupid beliefs of various worshippers.

ZADOK : that makes sense. Not only is our belief system going to be accepted, our explanation shall completely alienate them from their beliefs so that there is no chance of a unification, no matter how small, of other stupid beliefs and ours. So it's either theirs or ours and since they will most likely believe us, it's total victory for us.

ACHIM : (very excited) so let's proceed for my ears desire to hear more of Mattan's brilliant ideas. At every progress the dream of being wealthy leaders of crowds seems more feasible.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (giggling in excitement)

MATTAN : claim down friends, we must not be overconfident and throw caution into the wind. We shall start with the premise that shall be the foundation of our explanation of the natural world. The premise is that all things in the physical world, with the exception of our kind and other living beings, are mere inanimate objects that have been created by the creator to serve their specific purposes.

ZADOK : (a bit alarmed) wouldn't that turn the priests of all objects of worship against us? Wouldn't that immediately cause a backlash from devotees of objects of worship? You know that you just disrespected their sacred beliefs. Sun worshippers won't welcome such against the sun because they would believe that disregarding the sun, just as we want them to, would lead to harsh consequences from the sun itself and that the sun may seize to shine on them. You know what it means when the sun doesn't shine, right?

ACHIM : (a bit alarmed as well) what's worse is the backlash we are going to receive from the tree and earth worshippers. They wouldn't welcome our beliefs nor the spread of it for they believe that rendering prayers and worship to the trees and earth makes them reap a bountiful harvest and that such will stop if prayers and worship are not given to both. You know what it means when there is no food, right?

MATTAN : you need not worry about such for in presenting our belief system, we would first tell them about our creator and all we have discussed earlier. When they have believed us or, at least, they are very receptive to our ideas, then we can start with our explanation of our physical world. Besides I would tell them that they needn't worry about not being favoured by the physical objects for the creator created them and all things in the physical world and he has absolute control over them and if only they are devoted to the creator he shall make everything favour them. The sun will keep on shining during the day and keep falling back at night even without prayers and worship to it.

ZADOK : (now relaxed and excited) that's brilliant. For a moment I thought that our chances at being wealthy leaders of crowds have been annihilated. Seems you have got everything covered. As to explaining our physical world, what about the shape of the earth? What says your creator?

MATTAN : hmmmmm, I never thought about that as it didn't come across as being important in alienating people from their beliefs. No one worships the shape of the earth and no one has ever cared to ask, I only provided explanations for objects of worship.

ZADOK : still, what would our creator say about the shape of the earth? The more logical answers we provide to questions, important or not, about our physical world, the more they believe us.

MATTAN : I remember when I was little and just strong enough, I ascended the tallest mountain known to us with Naaman's burden. He intended on giving the burden as a gift to Anakim the chief sun priest. While on top of the mountain, I looked over at our land and beyond and I saw a vast stretch of land extending beyond what my eyes could see and the land terminated into a circular horizon. I think it's safe to conclude that our creator made the earth in the shape of an exceedingly large flat circle. Besides no matter how far people have travelled, they have never seen the edge of our land.

ACHIM : wow! I have never ascended the tallest mountain reserved for the royal and elite sun worshippers. At least even if Sephias and anyone else makes their way up there, they can't prove use wrong. What about the functions of the moon and stars?

MATTAN : from the look of things, the moon and stars give off their own light and take the place of the sun at night. These things are not to be worshiped rather people should worship the creator instead of his creations.

ACHIM : what about the fools who earnestly believe that when they die, they shall be reborn in the distant future?

MATTAN : since the people do not want to think that when they die they become nothing for all eternity, we shall play along and comfort them in this aspect. We shall take advantage of their fear of becoming nothing when they die. We shall tell them that the creator made it so that when they die, they don't reincarnate instead they go the land of the dead. This land of the dead is located in the unseen world and when they die, they go there and live with their ancestors for all eternity.

ACHIM : how shall you resolve the conflict that will arise from these two beliefs about death?

MATTAN : we shall tell them that our creator asks of them to judge for themselves if indeed any ancestor from the distant past is among them. If not, why didn't they reincarnate? Our belief must therefore be true. Not only have I comforted them by telling them that they would live forever, I have also displaced their belief in reincarnation.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (applaud Mattan)

ZADOK : (very excited) with every step and progress, I have no doubt that we shall be wealthy leaders of crowd. Some might want to reconnect with their loved ones and ask that the creator enable them to see their loved ones, what say you tell them?

MATTAN : it's quite simple, we shall tell them that natural living beings in the physical world cannot see the unseen world by nature and the creator, for wise reasons, forbids them from seeing into the unseen world and it's also forbidden to desire such. In fact anyone that claims he can look into the unseen world is a liar and such practice is forbidden. However, they should not worry for the creator has made it so that they would see their ancestors and loved ones in the land of the dead when they die.

ACHIM : concerning your idea of prayer to the creator, it seems we are only prepared for events of unanswered prayers and effectively defending ourselves and our creator. What about the reverse case? When shall it be that they pray and the creator answers? You know that we can't always have only cases of unanswered prayers and we being on the defensive lest they might grow frustrated, suspicious and angry.

ZADOK : that's thoughtful of you, Achim. I am sure Mattan is a step ahead as always.

MATTAN : that's not a challenge at all. We all know that Achim has an astonishing gift of observation that has never failed. We all, except the crowd, are aware of this gift. Achim has observed weather patterns and when it's best to plant many edibles and his predictions has never failed. The people plant anyhow because they don't know when to plant and eventually, when their crops fail, they think the earth is angry and they try to appease the earth through prayer and worship. We can tell them to pray to our creator for a good harvest; follow his instructions to plant on certain days and they shall unfailingly yield a good return. In very very very few occurrences of natural disasters, we can use our techniques to defend ourselves and our creator and blame both the Evil One and the people.

ZADOK : (very amazed) wow! that would be revolutionary. Finally, a revelation supposedly from our creator that works. When they pray to our creator; follow his directives, which Achim shall provide, and unfailingly reap steady harvests for the first time in their lives, they shall say that our creator did it not knowing that it is just a physical process.

ACHIM : (laughing) and we shall tell them that if they disobey our creator's directives, they shall get bad harvest. Of course, plant at the wrong time and get nothing, that's completely natural but when we they get nothing, they shall say that our creator was right and thus our creator is vindicated. Who else can know the creation better than the creator? Who else can have authority over the realms if not the all powerful creator of the realms? This is a breakthrough that shall endear our beliefs to them.

ZADOK : what other physical/natural laws can we bastardize and promote as the creator's doing?

MATTAN : well, there are certain strange diseases that affect our kind and some end up recovering while others don't. How the lucky ones recover is unexplainable yet obviously natural. For those that do recover, we shall say that our creator did it. For those that don't, we know how to defend ourselves using the strategies I previously outlined. If they ask, which I don't think they would since they are f00ls, how others recovered in the past despite not being devoted to our creator, I will tell them that most of them who would have died like others shall be rescued by our creator so they had better be devoted so that they shall have recovery guaranteed.

ACHIM : fantastic! Are there any other physical processes that we can bastardize as our creator's doing? The more the better.

MATTAN : it's easy. We use exactly the same method for success in battles, success and achieving the good things in life, surviving accidents and many more. Our creator did it. In fact, we shall circulate testimonies, both invented and real, of the good works of our creator among our kinds. Imagine someone giving birth and thanking our creator or someone working hard, finally succeeding and thanking our creator.

ALL THREE : (laugh out loud)

ZADOK : why did our creator create our kind, our environment and other living beings?

MATTAN : I never thought about that but it's easy to answer. Let's say he just created everything for his pleasure and to show forth his glory. Besides, to our advantage and to further bind the people to us, we can say that man's purpose is to serve our creator and obey his directives.

ZADOK : well, this is getting interesting. This brings back memories of me, as a little child, sitting around the bonfire listening to my grandpa telling me interesting stories. I have more questions to ask but can we spare few minutes to eat for I am hungry? We can resume our discussion of providing answers to our physical world from the perspective of our belief system.

ACHIM : Few minutes wouldn't be bad. I concur

ALL THREE : (go out to eat)


Cc. Janettee, LordReed, XxSabrinaxX, MhizAngel99, hahn, CAPSLOCKED etc.

Seems your were right after all. I respect your objectivity

mikeycharles:
Imagine thinking Sammy needs to hire rogues to promote an internationally known brand, y'all are deluded and need therapy.

Well, it could be your honest opinion and it could also be a marketing strategy. Don't get so worked up.

As my uncle said, marketing strategies come in diverse ways. Thumbs up.

I have been ruggedly using an infinix phone for three years and still hasn't given me problems. A former friend of mine uses Tecno and that phone is solid.

NB: this is fiction and it's under no obligation to conform with reality.

CHAPTER THREE : still on the matter.

They were happy with the progress they've made but their system of beliefs were far from complete. They had skipped a day for discussion because they all decided to document their plans on scrolls and have decided on a long discussion the following day since they were free for that day. While documenting their plans, Mattan had told them other stories and told them to memorise them for each has it's own purpose. As they advanced in forming their belief system, more questions, that demanded answers, came up and they came to discuss it. So they say down in the morning to continue.

ACHIM : while thinking about our plan, I felt satisfied with the progress we have made and could easily envision our rise to being leaders of crowds. However, I wondered who the Evil One in the story of Job and his suffering is and what purpose he might serve. Can you tell us about that and also the role of the story of Abraham's life to our belief system?

MATTAN : the evil one serves a special purpose. When people become devoted to our creator, they would naturally ask, out of deep personal concerns and not reasoning, why the creator wouldn't take away their problems, imperfections and life sufferings for good. Since we are going to tell them that our creator loves them, they might also ask how could evil and suffering be created by him. For the first case, we can use the story of Adam and Eve and their fall to explain the origin of evil, suffering and our kinds' imperfections and why they are all inevitable. Our creator got angry, cursed them and didn't change his mind ever since. Our creator is not man that he should change his mind and what man has sown is what he would reap. The creator's stance here is final but they can depend on him for a fulfilled life amidst suffering through prayer and devotion till they die. How good is that?

ZADOK : (satisfied) this is believable by the people's standard. I expected nothing less from you. So for the second question as to how evil originated, I think it's obvious that we can simply point towards Adam, Eve and the Evil One and give further explanations and satisfy the people with the story of the fall of The Evil One.

MATTAN : Exactly! The Evil One is the beginning of evil and not our creator and he shall take the blames for bad happenings and tragedy. That shall explain a lot. Besides we have all the tools needed to evade and satisfy opposing questions.

ZADOK : what would you tell them if they ask why our creator couldn't stop the Evil One from causing certain tragedies?

MATTAN : we simply say that the creator, for surely good reasons that the limited mortal mind cannot grasp, lets the Evil One cause certain tragedies. In defending our creator, we must portray him as all loving to his people yet ready to justly punish offenders, all powerful and all knowing and we must absolve him from any blame and responsibility during the events of tragedy and suffering ie. it's never his fault that bad things happen, it's either the Evil One's fault or the fault of our kind. With our previous strategies for defence during unanswered prayers together with my newly added strategies of "praying amiss," "faith as a prerequisite for answered prayer," and "sin as a cause of tragedy, suffering and unanswered prayers," when can further push the blame away from our creator and put our kinds and the Evil One to be at fault.

ACHIM : (gets the idea behind Mattan's plan) Fantastic! so if one claims that he applied all our doctrines and he met blatant failure, we could say boldly that it is so because he didn't have enough faith and there's sin in his life. Many who are not in his shoes and are endeared to our belief system even to the point of denial would believe us because we are the priests of our creator and we cannot lie.

MATTAN : (nods in agreement) Exactly! In many cases, they would have waited too long like Abraham and believed against all odds, like Abraham did, before they realise, that's if they do, that nothing is coming forth. As they wait for many years, they would be off our backs and our dominion would have expanded and we would have exploited them so that even when they leave, it wouldn't matter and we would still have more followers. Given their stupidity and our excuses, I don't expect them to leave anyway. If Abraham can wait for over twenty years, why can't they? Nothing is impossible. If our creator can defy all odds in Abraham's case, then he can for them. So they will keep calm while waiting. In fact, I shall make patience a virtue just like I intend to do with faith. Both shall ease the acceptance of our belief system. If in the end they insist that our creator failed, we know what to tell them as defence. There must a brilliant selection and interplay between the strategies we use for our defense.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (both applaud and cheer at Mattan's idea)

ACHIM : If I may ask, do the other parts of the story of Abraham's life have a purpose? It seems that story is too large for the purpose you outlined earlier.

MATTAN : you would notice that Abraham was a very stupid man and he is a hero of faith for his ways of stupidity. If things go as planned and people believe us, people shall gladly imitate the ways of a hero of their faith, Abraham. They can't judge Abraham as stupid since they believe in our creator, after all Abraham was responding to the call a creator that exists. I can bet my head that a lot of our kinds, even for generations to come, would never ask themselves how Abraham could believe a voice in his head just like that without questioning and then go great lengths to the biddings of the voice and believe the promises made by the voice for so many years. It just stretches, to a great extent, the expectations of stupidity we shall have for our followers. who the hell leaves his family and nearly kills his own son because of a voice in his head?

ZADOK : (chuckles) Let's assume someone asks how Abraham knew that the dreams, visual and auditory hallucinations he had were from our creator?

MATTAN : we say that it is our creator and they must have faith. We just keep repeating this. I don't think such would cross their minds. You guys really overestimate their intelligence. If we say that our creator gave him proof, they will ask for proof, not out of reasoning but out of excitement so we stick to that answer. They are too dull to figure it out.

ACHIM : but how can the creator speak to the people? when does he speak to the people? You know he doesn't exist.

MATTAN : This where we must listen carefully. We are not going to be mere leaders of crowds. To those that believe us, they shall look unto us with respect and reverence since we are the few lucky ones who are in direct connection with the creator. Do you know what it means to have the great privilege of being among the selected few who are in direct contact with the creator? Our creator speaks only to few men who are his priests and the people must get the words of the creator from his priests. We are his priest. For a creator that doesn't exist, that's the only possible way of communication that we can effectively sell to the public without being caught.

ZADOK AND ACHIM : (applaud with deep respect for Mattan)

ACHIM : just like that, you have given us a position of power and authority.

ZADOK : (with deep concern) how do we maintain this position of power and authority for all our lifetime? We will surely have both jealous and hateful opposition and people, openly and in closed corners, shall claim that they are priests of our creator for their own benefits.

MATTAN : we shall have it that we are the only priests of the creator and we shall emphasise that there are no other priests apart from us. We shall denounce others who claim to speak for our creator and turn the crowd against them. The crowd would believe us since we are the originators of our belief and we, as we would portray ourselves, cannot lie. Since we are obviously going to grow old and die, it is fitting that we transfer our power and authority to our children and they shall preserve their monopoly over their position in the same way I just outlined. Our children shall similarly pass it to their own children and this shall continue for all generations to come.

ACHIM : wow, a special generation of priests!

ZADOK : so how can we benefit from our position of power and authority? we shouldn't just stop at people immensely respecting us and listening to our jurisdiction on what is legitimate or not concerning our belief system

MATTAN : did it not occur to you that we can tell our followers to do whatsoever we desire, however irrational, while saying that our creator commands it? They would want to obey in the manner of Abraham since it's virtuous to obey the creator by faith however irrational. At our irrational demands, they shall make a psychological connection with the story of Abraham and be willing to obey us no matter what.

ZADOK AND ACHIM : (applaud Mattan)

ZADOK : Hmmmmm. It means I can tell them to part with little portions of their money and foodstock and they shall obey. We can tell them to do other things and they shall obey. This is fantastic. I worry that we they may grow suspicious if we keep saying it to their hearing, every now and then, that the creator wills it for them to give out their money, food and livestock.

MATTAN : that's simple to solve. Our money from them shall be in form of taxes ie. a fixed small portion of their monthly revenue. A portion too small that they would be willing to part with and yet big enough for us. This way, they would, without being asked, give us their money and it won't, somehow, register into their subconscious that all our creator wants is money and material things and they won't suspect a foul play. Every month, they shall honour the creator with ten percent of their monthly revenue and in return, our creator shall bless them, answer their prayers and open for them the window of his abode and pour out for them such blessing that there would not be room enough to receive it.

ZADOK AND ACHIM : (applaud and cheer at Mattan's idea)

MATTAN : If they pay their taxes, our creator shall rebuke the devourer for their sake so that he will not destroy the fruit of their lands, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for them in the field and nations shall call them blessed for they shall be a delightful land. If the king can be given taxes, why can't the Almighty creator? Besides, the Almighty is not forcing them like the king does but demanding what is his due and it's a way for them to honour the creator rather than forced servitude. Is an all powerful creator not deserving of such honour? Both the story of Abraham and this reasoning gives us the upper hand and ease in this aspect.

ACHIM : we have said enough. Let us meet later this evening so that we can have some time to think through our plan and commit them to memory. I don't want to lose track of any part of this sweet plan and make mistakes especially in the presence of the people and Sephias.

ZADOK : I agree. Let's call it a day. I am hungry and I need to eat. I also need rest for I have a wrestling match in the afternoon.

MATTAN : I concur. We shall continue our discussion and after our next meeting, we shall confront the people to share our message.

ALL THREE : (bid each other goodbye)


Cc. Janettee, LordReed, XxSabrinaxX, MhizAngel99, hahn etc.

As HopefulLandlord said, the world is the way Yahweh wants it. If not, he would have changed it given that he is all powerful and all knowing.

Onyi22:
How can I get any male Celebrity because am tired of all these Broke ass niggas....

Frequent night clubs where celebrities gather and their concerts. Make sure you stay in the front during their concert so that they can see you and be sexy in appearance. Perhaps, you can also be a dancer/vixen in their music videos or stage performances. Like play like play, you go just hammer.

I once thought the people I see on TV actually lived inside the my TV set. I thought that they would sneak out at midnight and sneak in back with appropriate attires for the next day. Those who were not appearing the next day would not bother sneaking in so that they would go and rest.

NB : nobody told me about that or made me believe that, I made it up myself and believed it.

NB: this is fiction and it's under no obligation to conform with reality.

CHAPTER TWO : attributes, need to worship, benefits, prayer and trial.

As they had promised, they met again next evening. Earlier in the day, while at work, they couldn't contain their excitement about the fact that they might soon be leaders of crowds. Mattan's idea seems very believable but it was clear that the idea still needed more intelligent touches as it was not yet refined and fully formed. Now they are ready to continue from where they stopped.

ZADOK : (filled with excitement) the moment I looked forward to is finally come. I thought about our previous discussion throughout the day at work and couldn't help smiling to myself. I made sure not to tell anyone about our plans. While thinking about our plan, I wondered about how it would profit us in anyway and how we would get people to believe and therefore worship our creator. Do you have a plan to cover these aspects?

MATTAN : As to how it would profit us, I have that figured out but first of all, we would have to completely define our creator, his mode of operation and outline the need to worship him. As to how people would be made to believe us, I made some of the techniques that would answer opposing questions clear and I made mention of faith. Once our system of beliefs is completely formed, all we need do is go around preaching it with unshakeable confidence. You don't need proof to convince the stupid majority, just be very very confident, coherent and keep on proclaiming our system of beliefs repeatedly and you shall win them over. Our system of belief is all encompassing and coherent unlike others. We have a great chance here.

ACHIM : If you say so, then proceed as you deem fit for I can't wait to be a leader of crowds and have Sephias and the task masters, especially Naaman, humble themselves before our feet.

MATTAN : If that is going to be the case, we must carefully craft our plan.

ZADOK : so then, let us begin with the attributes of our creator, his mode of operation and the need to worship him.

MATTAN : as I have said and I may add, our creator is all powerful, invisible, all knowing, immortal and since he is greater than our king and created all things, he deserves to be worshiped and he has demanded, through me, that everyone must worship him or face his wrath. To strike the reverence of our creator into them, our creator must be the epitome of all that our kind consider great, mighty, invincible and perfect.

ACHIM : since he is all powerful and invisible, can't he make himself visible by his power? What if anyone asks such?

MATTAN : That's a good question but I doubt people would ask given that they are stupid and desperate for answers but let us not roll the dice. To that question, I would say that no mortal shall see the face of our creator and remain alive for mere mortals cannot contain the glory of his presence and with that, there is a good reason for our creator to veil himself. Besides, we would say that the creator has revealed himself through his creations and it's left for them to believe or not. What the creator has done is sufficient and no one can tell him what to do.

ACHIM : so why should they worship him and what is his usefulness in the life of the people?

MATTAN : the creator, being the originator of all things, can controls everything from the rain, the soil, atmosphere, sun to the events of human life. Shall he not ruin harvest and withdraw the rain if his mere mortals disobey his commands? Shall he not shut the wombs of our wives and let the people succumb to strange diseases and infirmities if they invoke his fury? These are what people fear and we must appeal to their fears. We shall make sure that they don't see this as a threat but rather a natural anger when someone does not get his dues. If our king, whom our creator is greater than, can be revered, why can't the creator be revered as well?

ZADOK : so ultimately, people worship our creator because it's just and deserving and punishment would follow if they don't? As Achim asked, what are the benefits of serving your creator?

MATTAN : Well, we simply appeal to their hopes and desires. Long life, supply of rain, good weather, good health, cure to diseases and infirmities, fertility of the soil and womb, protection, success in battles and many more shall be theirs. The creator has control over all these things being the creator of them and being all powerful. In fact they can pray to our creator and have their heart desires granted to them.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (both shocked and surprised at Mattan's audacious claim)

ZADOK : surely, you didn't intend on giving yourself away. How do you ensure that people maintain their belief in our creator when they put these things into practice and it fails? Obviously, our creator doesn't exist and prayer to him would certainly fail. What shall you tell them when they pray and nothing happens? I don't want to be an object of ridicule in the sight of the people especially Sephias.

MATTAN (laughs) Not so fast. I have yet another set of brilliant strategies. The strategies of faith being tested, our creator's timing, our creator's best answer for them and praying according to his will. We can use these strategies effectively to restrict what they can pray for and buy time and while they wait, they will foolishly think something is happening and being done by their beloved creator. Also with these strategies, we can excuse ourselves and our creator when things don't go as expected.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (instantly get the idea behind the strategies even though Mattan haven't explained them) Hmmmmm. Very nice!

ZADOK : you, Mattan, are the wisest person I have ever encountered. I step down from our friendly rivalry over who is the wisest and maintain my position as the strongest. So when they pray and receive nothing at the moment, we tell them that their faith is being tried and tested and they must endure till the answers to their prayer comes. If the answers to their prayers tarry for long, we tell them that our creator, in his all knowing nature and wisdom, knows the right time to answer them. If they ask for the time?

MATTAN : (laughs) we shall say "he shall do it when and how they did not expect so that all glory shall go to his name." Not only will that effectively buy time but it shall keep them relaxed when things seem not be feasible anymore. With the strategy of our creator's best answer, we can tell them, in the event of blatant unanswered prayers, that our creator, in his infinite wisdom, knows what's best for them and sometimes, what they think is best for them might not be what is best them. Our creator knows best in this regard. Finally for the strategy of praying according to his will, we obviously know how to use this to defend the case of unanswered prayers by saying that it is not the will of the creator to answer certain prayers. In the entire realm of existence, only the will of the creator is done.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (clap and cheer in excitement and awe at such brilliant scam)

MATTAN : remember that I told you two long stories about our supposed ancestors as supposedly revealed to me by the creator during our break at work and while we were coming back. One was about the life of Abraham and the other about Job and his suffering. I told you to memorise them that they shall serve a purpose, a purpose which I am about to tell you.

ZADOK & ACHIM : do tell us!

MATTAN : Let's start with the story of Job. Since our creator isn't real, unexpected tragedies are bound to happen to our followers and that would live them questioning us and our creator. They would ask why such could happen to them despite their devotion to our creator and all his promises. If we properly relate to them the story of Job, when such tragedies happen, rather than see it as proof that our creator doesn't exist after all or that there is something fishy, they will see the tragic event as the testing of their faith and they will want to prevail till the end to prove their faith like Job did. This would ensure that they don't question us and our creator and most importantly, they are steadfast to our belief system despite life tragedies. Besides some might want double blessings in the end and they would successfully persevere to the end.

ACHIM : (bewildered) say no more! despite not implying that the creator blessed Job because he persevered to the end, there is a strong impression that the creator rewarded him for persevering. My goodness! so if they persevere till old age and don't get their double blessings, we can say that we never said god never blessed Job because he passed the test.

MATTAN : brilliant!

ZADOK : let's call it a day for we have discussed enough. Tomorrow's burden awaits us. Let's not extend the discussion lest we have too much to think through and commit to memory over the night before our next meeting.

ALL THREE : (bid each other goodnight).

Cc. Janettee, LordReed, XxSabrinaxX, MhizAngel99, hahn etc.

MhizAngel99:
OP, you have time o

Lol. There is time for everything.

HellVictorinho:
Really?

Lol. It's my first work of fiction. There is room for improvement.

Jonathan:
Why should I read this ?
If I read an make I bend

*roll on the floor and begging* lol. Abeg just read am.

Jonathan:
Why should I read this?

lol. Ask me one more time.

Hahn, CAPSLOCKED, HopefulLandlord, HardMirror, Tozara aka Tollzara, Anas09, Paxonel, Originalkalokalo, 1Sharon aka Sharon6, budaatum, vaxx, johnydon22, dalaman, ranchhoddas, HellVictorinho, MrPRevailer, XxSabrinaxX, MhizAngel99, bloodofthelamb, MrPresident1, 0temSapien, MrBrownJay1, OpenYourEyes1, alfaman3, jesusjnr, lightblazingnow, Seun, Niflheim etc.

I shall continue chapter 2 shortly.

NB: This is fiction and it is under no obligation to conform to reality.

CHAPTER ONE : the making of a god

Many thousand years ago, there sat three childhood friends, who were already adults, on a cool evening. Their names were Zadok, Achim and Mattan. They sat in one of their compounds to discuss the way forward for them and the outcome of that discussion, as it would turn out, in few years to come, would change their lives beyond their expectations.

ZADOK : of what use is wisdom if it does not profit the wise? We are forced to endure a life of hardship and we are being oppressed and have injustice perpetrated against us and our fellow poor, not so rich and powerless men by the leaders and elites all because we were born to lowly men.

ACHIM : That's the world we have to endure. If existence was going to happen, why wasn't paradise for all living beings conjured out of nothing or whatever from the very beginning of things? Why this out of all possible options? A world of harsh and cruel survival and competition and partiality towards the strong and powerful. The strong and powerful men are the ones who take it all while the good and moral men are left to rot. Such is our world and we have to endure. Men like us can only crave the good life from afar but never get it.

ZADOK : I have to endure being a subject to weak, soft, entitled and foolish men all because they were born into the best of families. These are men who are not worthy to kiss my feet if we were to judge by wisdom. Unfortunately, nature favoured them because they are among the powerful and strong.

MATTAN : lamentations won't lend itself well in anyway --- it never has. Why don't we think of something that would take us from the dung hill and lift us into prominence?

ACHIM : do you have any worthy idea? If you don't, I shall have to call it a day and have a good sleep for my body aches from hard labour. Sleep is my best time for in it I forget my troubles and harsh reality. In sleep, I do not feel the impact of my harsh reality.

MATTAN : what if we could control the minds of the people? Don't you think once this is achieved, they would obey our biddings at anytime we please?

ZADOK : (a bit angry at the ridiculousness of Mattan's idea) and how do you suppose to achieve that?

MATTAN : remember that in this present day, a lot of our kind are engrossed with the question of how they, other living beings and their world all came to be. Given that they do not have answers to this question and how things works, they have looked upon the forces of nature and it's elements with fear, reverence and trebling even to the extent of worshipping them. A number of belief systems have emerged from this ignorance and fear and now we have sun, moon and tree worshippers worshippers. They even believe in reincarnation because they refuse to accept and are afraid of what is obvious to them --- that we all die and vanish into nothingness for all eternity. They refuse to accept and live denial of the fact that human life is like a smoke, it's something for a moment and it's gone for eternity. They are afraid of that and it makes them feel better to know that they, their loved ones and their ancestors shall reincarnate in the distant future and they would not be dead unto nothingness for all eternity.

ZADOK : so what are you driving at?

MATTAN : by creating a system of belief that greatly supercedes the current ones, we can be in charge of the whole masses just as sun priests are in charge of sun worshippers. For the first time, we can make a system of beliefs profit the originators.

ZADOK : (sarcastic) what would the main object of worship of your superior made up belief system be? The sun? The ocean? Perhaps, the earth? Or maybe...

ACHIM : (interrupts Zadok) hear him out and don't be in a haste for haste makes waste. Mattan simply is saying that if we can get people to believe in our made up belief system, we can get them to do what we want if we cleverly use that belief to manipulate them. We know that people who believe something wholeheartedly would make life decisions that are influenced by such belief. The problem is to come up with such belief system and that is what Mattan is about to do. Hear him out.

ZADOK : Okay. I get you. Carry on then.

MATTAN : The first premise of my made up belief system is that everything that exists must have a source and all well organised structures, functioning or not, could not have come about by chance. The source of all things is an all powerful male creator being.

ZADOK : and if they ask you to show them this powerful creator being and tell them where he lives, what would you tell them?

MATTAN : I would tell them that the world is deep and mysterious and it consists of the unseen realm and seen realm. The unseen realm is the realm of unseen and immortal beings and that realm is where the powerful creator resides and the creator created both the unseen and seen realm. Everything that there is was created by this all powerful creator. If people are going to fear and rever a creator and that creator is to be undisputed for many generations, he must be all powerful. Branding him all powerful is inevitable if people are going to worship our creator at the expense of their former objects of worship and if our creator is to remain undisputed for endless generations. It makes no sense that any being of worship can displace an all powerful creator and source.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (clap and cheer in excitement)

ACHIM : you know that this unseen realm is a new concept, what shall you tell the people if they demand that you tell them where this realm can be located?

MATTAN : I shall give it a location that is beyond the reach of man so that they can never investigate our claim and prove us wrong. I would say it's above the sky. Good luck to them getting to the sky. Our kinds have ascended the greatest mountains and yet the sky eludes them.

ZADOK & ACHIM : (laugh loudly)

ACHIM : it would be a funny sight watching Sephias, our arch-rival and nemesis, reaching desperatly into the sky from the tallest mountain to prove us wrong.

ALL THREE : (roar with even louder laughter)

ZADOK : Jokes apart, If the creator and the unseen realm are invisible, how then did you know all these things?

MATTAN : Well, the creator chose me and revealed his message to me. If they demand that our creator revealed himself to them so that they might believe, I would say "you can't tell an all powerful being what to do, he can chose to do things as he likes, after all, he is the Lord of all things."

ACHIM : since he is all powerful, the people would demand that there be a miraculous demonstration? You know that the claim of an all powerful creator is an audacious claim and inevitably, people are going to ask for a demonstration, especially the smart ones. If you fail to give an answer, the people's minds would be poisoned against you, you would lose the crowd and no one would believe you ever again. Priests of objects of worship would also oppose you for obvious reasons

MATTAN : you overestimate the people's intelligence. Proof is a stranger to the masses and emotion is the friend of the people. If they like it, they adopt it even at the expense of reasoning. To that question, I would say that my creator shall not be put to the test and mere mortals shall not tell him what to do. Besides to ease the acceptance of our made up belief, we shall use the main tool that makes it easy and that's faith. Why worry? Is there any proof that ancestors reincarnate? We shall make faith a virtue and tell stories of past heroes of faith, in fact it is impossible to please our creator without faith and those that come to him must believe that he exists and he shall reward those that diligently seek him. Happy are those that have not seen but yet believe.

ZADOK : the hope that we shall become head of the masses seems more realistic as our discussion has progressed. Let us shift our discussion to the next day and sleep. I am getting tired and don't want to miss a detail while dozing. Let us leave work as soon as possible and meet here to continue this discussion.

MATTAN : Well, we shall call it a day but not a word about our discussion to anyone.

ALL THREE : (bid each other good night)

If you still support Buhari and you are still shouting "4+4," you are among the set of people Burna boy is referring to. If you support Atiku, you are not excluded. How people can love their oppressors exceedingly baffles me?

Mtewwwww. This only works when you have money. Money, money, money and money. You are broke and you want to serve her the last bite of your food? You dey madt? She no go collect sef.

budaatum:
That's my opinion, and I can be talking through my ass. It does not mean it must be everyone else's opinion, or everyone who disagrees we me hasn't got an ass. I think Atiku is an ass too and wonder if he and Trump are ass related!

Okay.