A Sonorous Dirge By Livy-Elcon Emereonye
People who are out to score cheap points for political correctness are never economical with sycophancy instead they remain shameless masters of the act. They betray confidentiality and rape trust.
Some people don’t just manufacture lies but they do everything within their reach to spread such lies and make some other people believe they are truths. With this, they elongate the span of deception, maintain the tempo of falsehood and perpetuate the circle of enmity.
Real or imaginary, nothing can unite a people more than having a common enemy. Where this plays out, abuse becomes the new normal and retrogression reigns. The concept of enmity and the propensity to deal with it at all cost, sometimes without proper diagnosis or even an attempt to know if it actually exists, is the primary cause of the problem most people have.
When we hear what we want to hear, we can jump into conclusion and take action without making any effort to verify what we heard – and every hasty decision with its resultant action can be counterproductive. Apart from making costly avoidable mistakes, the law of cause and effect or action and reaction is always at work. To every action there is a corresponding reaction. And retaliation is a dangerous form of reaction.
It’s also been observed that some people for no just cause can inherit another person’s enemies and suffer grave consequences thereafter with or without the knowledge of the person they inherited his or her enemies. Like crying more than the bereaved, some people can sheepishly go to any length to defend what they believe in even when such belief is false or unhealthy. Belief and conviction can make one a fan but with an untested and unexamined fans comes fanaticism – and fanatics are difficult to relate with.
People tend to amplify negative things just to make a mole out of mice. Evil news spreads at the speed of light while good news gets little or no attention. And the things we persistently hear have ways of affecting the way we live. Our view of others can be affected by mere things we hear about them even without knowing them or having personal dealings with them.
We gather and exert much energy to pull others down but will be too scared to make a little sacrifice to advance their cause. We excel on the darkling plain of primitivity, using primordial sentiments to feed the flame of division and enmity. This should stop. If we cannot build, let us not destroy. It will be better to keep quiet when there is nothing good to talk about than to open the mouth and malign an innocent person for selfish reasons.
Don’t forget that what goes around comes around. The same measure we use for others will be used for us but most times in many folds. Even in the thick of darkness, no man can run away from his shadow. The time of harvest will surely come. Yes, there will always be a payback time.
When they cannot manipulate and control you, they will resort to devising means to eliminate you but the way of man is different from the way of God. It is only God that gives and preserves life. Be as wise as the serpent and do all you can not to play into the hands of the people that want you down and out at all cost by all means.
We live in a wicked world with many people having a penchant for evil but fear not. Conduct your life with goodness and mercy having respect for the dignity of life. Strive to give your affordable best all the time. Learn to expect the best but be out to live with the worst when inevitable. There can be no gain without pain.
Watch your back and be mindful of your actions. Observe how people react to you and matters concerning you. There is no smoke without fire; there will be no condemnation without a cause. Most people who criticize and fight you do so out of the stories they heard about you – and you might be surprised that it is someone close to you that painted you black before them and without confirmation they formed their opinion and go about attacking you for no just cause.
Some people feel that the only way they can get attention is by using your name so they can stop at nothing to malign and blackmail you. For making it and causing things to happen, you are not just some people’s prayer points; you are their dominant aspiration and greatest desire. Being a star attracts attention which may be positive or negative. Rejoice and be glad indeed for it is only the tree with succulent fruits that receives pebbles. No one can waste energy and time talking about nobody. People will only talk about you when there is something special about you. Your exploit will attract attention and the bigger the more.
Fear not if your hands are clean otherwise amend your ways while there is still time. Keep up the good work and you will finish strong and die empty.
Do great things with passion and ease. With conviction, live larger than life. Turn things around for better. Rule the world with great ideas. Strive for onward and upward movement. Re-make the world – your world – and become a celebrity.
There is really no competition in destiny, and delay is not denial. Know the reason for the season and get the best of the situation. You are here for a purpose. Discover and fulfill it in time.
Arise by lifting up others. Give a helping hand. Show little kindness and propagate unconditional love even when it is abused and trampled underfoot.
Those who go out to do good rarely go down without achieving results. Again, it is better to try and fail than not trying at all.
They are more fulfilled that reached out and touched lives in diverse ways, solving problems and adding more values to life than those who clinched their fingers to conserve their possessions. The hand that gives never lacks for release leads to increase.
The society is better, and the people rejoice, when a lasting solution is found for a ravaging persistent problem – and anyone who discovered the solution will become famous and wealthy. Embrace this challenge. Discover something new and great. Go out and seek solutions to big problems – and you would be glad that you indeed do.
It has been established that people often have idea problems, not really money problems, and ideas rule the world. To rule the world therefore, come up with ideas – great ideas that will add value to people.
Develop the capacity for meaningful new ideas and go a step further for implementation. Action, timely action, matters. Task yourself for meaningful work and work for results that will leave your world better than you met it. This is a sure way for a sonorous dirge when the time comes to answer nature’s call!
My voice broke at puberty and I lost my sonorous voice (I sang in a school play, Hobson’s Choice in 1966/67 staged at Government College Ibadan). Hosting a live radio programme on Radio Nigeria as a medical student was with trepidation. 
TONY TOKUNBO ETEKA FERNANDEZ 