WHO WANTS TO DANCE SHOKI?

Sometime in September 2015, we were invited to a teens’ forum to speak on, DRAW THE LINE, which was based on one of the books the Lord helped us to put together and which urges young people to stay away from pre-marital sex. 

I really commend the organizers of the event because they did not only mobilize the young minds that turned out in a large number, the forum was involving for the teens as it was full of varieties and anything one may call a dull moment was nowhere to be found. 

After our presentations, a co-facilitator, Pastor Peter Oyesiku and myself, had a major issue to confront with when it was question and answer time. One major question that kept popping up was, Can we dance Shoki in the Church? As the two of us said No and presented our reasons to these teens, more of these teenagers kept asking the same question and we insisted that Shoki was not meant for the church and not only that, anyone who professes to be a child of God should not even dance Shoki in or outside the Church. Were they satisfied with our answers? Time will tell…

I got a shocker when I turned to page 37 of the Sunday Punch of, October 4th, 2015 and I saw this headline, ‘I don’t know the meaning of Shoki—Orezi.’ Just because it sounded unbelievable to me that someone who sang a song did not know its meaning, I quickly read the full page interview in which the Delta State-born musician, Esegine Allen, aka Orezi, who sang the hit single, Shoki replied to the question, what is Shoki? By saying, “Shoki is just a dance step which I stumbled upon while I was relaxing at an African Shine. I felt it was interesting and I needed to make a record about it. I do not know what it means; I only know it is called Shoki.’’

Hmm! We, as the next generation must really learn to censor what we watch and listen to irrespective of where we are or at any point in time. For some of us who do not know Shoki; it is a type of dance that stylishly portrays a kind of indecency that I do not approve of and again, the dancers usually use one hand to wipe one eye as if they want to see clearly from a blurred vision. It is a dance step that has taken over many places, including religious houses. It is really making waves among children, teenagers, youths and adults. 

If the man who sang Shoki does not know what it means and he also borrowed the dance steps from an African Shine, why is it that that is what we want to employ as a means of praising our God. Don’t you think we are losing our bearing and gradually denying our paternity since we want to follow after the dance step that is danced godlessly in an African Shrine?

For me, the challenge of creativity comes up here. Like we told the young guys in that forum, if you call yourself a child of God who is filled with the Spirit of God, why is it that you cannot introduce your own dance steps which will make waves and glorify God?

Also, it shows that some of us do not edit what we watch on our television sets and internet, especially some songs or films that we watch on You-tube. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says, ‘For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.’ (KJV) In the same vein, we also drink into a spirit that is not of God when we indiscriminately swallow strange songs, by singing and dancing to them. You know what? There is a spirit behind every song!

It is rather unfortunate that many of us do not bother about the lyrics of some of the songs we sing or dance to. As young people, I know that many of us are mostly interested in the beat more than the lyrics. But I think we should also learn to go through the lyrics as we dance to the melody of any song.

You know what? Shoki will soon go into extinction and another dance step will come on board; are we going to cave in to that too? By now, we should know that evil communications corrupt good manners.

Going by the information supplied by Orezi; it does not matter whether it is in the Church or outside the Church, I think we should stay off shoki. Choose To Be Different!

AN UNHOLY MIX

        

                                                                                                                    SHAMBHALA BRACELET

HIGH-LOW HEM

It was a beautiful Sunday morning when, a young man prepared himself for a journey to one of the states in south-east, Nigeria, in order to upgrade himself academically. Although well dressed, his parents discovered that there was an unholy mix somewhere; this guy had a wristband with the inscription of a Christian message on one wrist and a Shambhala bracelet on another wrist. What a combination! His mum seized the Shambhala bracelet and asked him where he wanted to be placed; a Christian or a Buddhist.    

As young people, we sometimes embrace fashions, fads or anything in vogue with so much ignorance. According to Wikipedia, Hindu texts such as, the Vishnu Purana mention the village of Shambhala as the birthplace of Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu who will usher in a new Golden Age (Satya Yuga). Shambhala is also seen as a Buddhist pure land and a fabulous kingdom. If I may ask at this juncture, what accord has a child of God with a Buddhist kingdom? Yet, many of us put on Shambhala bracelet as if we are proclaiming Jesus’ coming!

What of this horrible style tagged, High-low hem which is fast gaining grounds among ladies of different ages. High-low hem comes in gowns or skirts; sometimes, the frontal of the skirt or gown is short and the back is long while at times, it is the back side that is short while the frontal is long. Sometimes I ask myself why this? This is because, your thighs must be very cheap for you to want to expose it to everyone when you sit, because a skirt must move up when you sit and since the skirt or gown is short already; it helps to show off the thighs. If it is the back side that is short, the indignity is still the same because, the bum helps to push up the skirt or gown and we begin to see some fat thighs which are not pleasant to the eyes at all. A very awful combination indeed; yet we wear these styles as if it is an in-thing that we must partake in!

Another horrible style is one shoulder or single strip dress. In actual fact, that style portrays the person who wears it as indecent. This is because; the dress covers one arm beyond the elbow while the other side stops at the shoulder. Even if these dresses were presented to us as gifts, we should simply tell the one who gave us that we do not put on such? Moreover, before anyone gives such gifts to us, our dress sense must be questionable in the first instance! Sincerely, it does not show that we are current with the trend in town, it simply shows that as a young people we are lost, blind and naïve.

There are some ingredients that we put together and they produce a positive result; on the other hand, there are some mixtures that are awful, demeaning and sometimes send a wrong signal about our person. For instance, how does a young man approach a Buddhist to present the gospel of Jesus to this lost soul when he himself unknowingly acknowledges that Buddhism is good through his Shambhala bracelet!

I often wonder what we do with our internet aside from posting our pictures or some dry jokes! Let us try and do some studies on some personal effects before we jump at them and let us not consent to the fact that our parents are oldies who do not know what is happening in town!

As a young person, we must not feign ignorance when we engage in a vice; if as a lady you tint your hair to wine and gold and an elderly woman gave you a run-down look, you may not like her but you will know in your heart of heart that something is wrong with your style which makes it an unholy mixture.

You know what? When you have something as small as a wrist band which promotes God, it attracts divine favour, protection etc to you; in like manner, if you have a Shambahala bracelet on you, then you must know that either Hindu or Buddhist spirit will locate you! What is your combination like? Always make sure that your combinations attract His presence.

TWO BOOKS BY HIS GRACE. CHECK OUT THE NEW BOOKS BY BUKONLA

DRAW THE LINE challenges young people to stay away from pre-marital sex while YOUNG AND CONFIDENT, IMPACT 003, encourages young people to move on despite obstacles. Read and be transformed

You can become a CEO at age 15 -Akinwande

 

Bukonla Akinwande

Motivational writer, Bukola Akinwande, speaks on her latest book, Choose to be Different, AKEEM LASISI writes

Not long after Bukonla Akinwande joined Redemption Light, which is the official magazine of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, where she anchors a column titled ‘Youth Alive, she discovered that she could do more than conventional journalism. She discovered the real writer in her and started working towards her first book. Today she has four motivational books, while three more are due to be out by July.

The titles of the book readily give her out as someone aiming to bring out the best in readers – youths especially. They include Take a Step, Young and Confident and the latest, Choose to be Different. On the 15-capter latest book that treats topics such as ‘Build a Good Name’, ‘Sleep’, ‘Complacency’, ‘Excellence Marks you Out’, ‘Can you Pay the Price?”, ‘The Power of Vision’ and ‘The Invisible Hand’, a reviewer, Damilola Ayeni, notes that Akinwande, among other points, stresses the need to shun complacency of vision, thought and deed. According to her, success does not come on a platter of gold, as it has a big price attached to it.

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“Focusing on choice in Chapter Eleven, the reader is told that life is about choices and the choices we make today have a lot to do with our future,” the reviewer adds. Concerning the progress she is recording as a writer, Akinwande tells our correspondent in an online interview that God is her driving force, while she is also propelled by a desire to touch humanity positively.

 

On her preoccupation with motivational books, she says, “My works are motivational’ because many of us do not know the stuff we are made off. That is why we look down and even talk down on our person. Once anyone walks with his/her head bowed, then inferiority complex and low esteem are playing out. So, we are challenging us that, as individuals, we need to know that we are not a bundle of rubbish. You must annex your talent and fulfil your destiny.”

She explains that in Choose to be Different, she is out to challenge young people to discover themselves and make impact positively anywhere they find themselves. “I have passion for young people and I want them to make waves right from a tender age. I mean, you can be a CEO at the tender age of 15. I trust God that this dream will come to reality more in our nation,” she adds.

 

But there is the fear that some motivational/financial/religious writers in Nigeria ape foreign authors, while others argue that most financial principles do not work in Nigeria. What is her reaction to these? She says, “Aping other writers is bad and very wrong. Sincerely, if you don’t have what it takes to do something, why go into it? Your work must be original. That is the beauty and it shows creativity. Those who do that should stop it. But I do not agree fully on the application of principles. Let us have laws and enforce them, and then you will see great changes in Nigeria. Well, you must study your environment too, especially when it comes to starting a business.”

 

On her writing habit, she notes that once God drops an idea in her mind and she works on it, a book is on the shelf in no time. She sums it up as ‘Grace!’

On the challenges she has faced as a pen pusher, she recalls a physical torture she once experienced: “When I was putting the second book – Take a Step – together, because I had done a lot of typesetting, my third finger became sore with pus. Well, I just went ahead to burst it and I wrapped a paper tape around it and I continued with the typesetting. That is just one of the numerous challenges. But the whole pain turns to gain when the book is published and people are challenged.”

One of her about-to-be re a leases books is titled Draw the Line.

Copyright PUNCH  June 2, 2015 : Akeem Lasisi  

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