Olaniyi Olanrewaju

Some days ago, I woke up around 1am and I saw a message on my phone. It seemed as if my brain was suspended for a few seconds as I couldn't think about anything. It was a question and I had no ready answer for it. The message said 'Is God for real?' You know the kind of situation that makes you to ask that kind of a question. It comes after someone has done something you didn't expect or you were grossly disappointed by the person. My residual knowledge of God wanted to defend Him, but I decided to wait a little to see if I can really defend God in this case. Defending God is not something am not used to, but each time I have to defend Him, it's always like a fresh one. It seems that it is one of the job descriptions of a pastor. At times, you wonder why God keep disappointing people. I mean, why can't He prevent it from happening? What was He doing? After all the prayers and fastings, what happened? Or like my friend asked, is God for real? I have ...

My Mum and I plays a game and she has always won since Adam. Growing up has not made me to detect the trick she uses to make sure she stays unbeaten. At the beginning, it would look like I am about to win, but eventually she would come out with the trophy. The game is quite simple. There are some things that cannot stay for long in our house if I know where it is kept. One of it is bottled groundnut. Anytime my mum brings something she knows 'Lanre must not see into the house, she plays the game. Mostly, I would see it when she brings it into the house, but she would take it into her room and hide it. My cunny self would not ask for it when she is around. I would go and search for it whenever she is not around, but I wouldn't see it. When she returns, she would simply enter the same room I had ransacked and bring out the bottle of groundnut. It's can be really frustrating. You see, our God does the same thing too, but in for different reason. My mum hides the bottl...

I had to attend a wedding recently because I had no choice. It's all those far away relatives that would not allow anybody to miss their son's day of joy. My reluctant self sat in an isolated place where I had a broad view of the event including where they were dishing out food. I voted for the self acclaimed best African specie of Jollof. The wedding was really glamorous and the couple must be some talented dancers. The relatives were also not left out in the rhythmic hullabaloo that filled the entire stage. All the while, I saw a man of God I could recognize. He sat quietly just as I was sitting. He seemed to be concerned about something I really couldn't figure out quickly. After a while, I heard the servers complaining that the wine has finished! I didn't want to eavesdrop, but the next statement caught my attention. A woman said: "Go and ask the man of God sitting over there to give you the new wine." He said this pointing at the man of God I had...