I HAVE A DREAM

" I HAVE A DREAM

"I HAVE A DREAM " An african soul is a soul of greatness, a soul of great aspiration, the soul of great dreams.

 I believed and firmly believed that all human aspire for greatness, we all want to be great and phenomenal, our body cherish greatness, our mind and soul dream big , at times when we sleep, we dream a lot of great ventures, which we hope to acheive, some dream where they had acheived thus, some dream when they were about to achieve the outstanding dream and unlucky to open their eyes and observed that it was just in dream.

Firstly , "Dream " can be defined as ; a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep, or a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. It is pertinent to note that dream can happen while one is awake, not only while one was asleep as most of us may concur. I had a dream yesterday and this dream keep reverberating and suffixed this morning, as I was reflecting on this great dream of mine, I remembered biblical dreams of Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, other prophet whom God had spoke to during dream, I also remembered the famous " American Dream " by Dr. Martin Luther. King Jnr in 1963 , which read thus ; I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

 Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beckoning light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languishing in the comers of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. We all have come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to change racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice ring out for all of God's children. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted citizenship rights. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. And the marvelous new militarism which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers have evidenced by their presence here today that they have come to realize that their destiny is part of our destiny. So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its Governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and before the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the mount with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the genuine discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, pray together; to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom forever, )mowing that we will be free one day. And I say to you today my friends, let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the mighty Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow capped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! But not only there; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain in Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill in Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we're free at last! However, as I reflect on the exact words of this great icon of the blessed memory,

 I picked up my pen to inspire the youth of my clime, in a time like this when it looks likes things are getting hard, when the economy seems not to be improving for the masses, in a time when vengeance, bitterness, acrimony and agitation is on the high side, in a time when regions seems to be angry with the centre, in a time when dollar keep shooting to the sky against the crawling naira, at a time when unemployment and mass job dismissal is on the increase, at a time when graduate roam about looking for jobs and the 5000 monthy payment campaign promise and massive job look unrealistic, at a time when the price of petrol moves up from 86 to 145 per litre, at a time when the price of valuable commodity like food stuff increases beyound proportionality, at a time when our income per capital didn't worth basic expenditiure of the day, at a time when nothing seems to be moving fine. I asked myself, what can a honest Nigeria youth do at this point in time. I heared a voice which echoed " ENTREPREURSHIP AND SKILL ACQUISITION "

Furthermore, as I meditate on this answer I received, I decided to go and read on my daily devotional prayer book " Our Daily Manna and Divine Touch " . Two of them appears to concur on this great dream and answer I was given. The Divine touch pinpointed on " Be more Conscious of God" while " Our Daily Manna , elucidate on Serena William Power of Concentration " . I decided to go down to the world of intellect to borrow the intellectualism towards these today prayer reflection as regards to my dream. This is what I got ! All great dream are revelation from God,.... Jeremiah 29 : 11. God has great and good plans for us, the plans of prosperity and not disasters. God reveal great achievable things to only those who are conscious to his presence, . "And we know that in all things God works for good of those who love him , who have been called according to his purpose... Romans 8 to 28. An Nigerian youth is challenges by a lot of things, failure has been the greatest fear of an Nigerian youth, God reveal achievable dream to us, but we usually develop fear of failure. You come against me with sword and spear and javelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty ...... I Samuel 17 : 45. In case you don't know, that was David, David understood God's ability to save and deliver because he had strong believe in God"s power and his presence, he faced the giant Goliath and was victories. The youth of Nigeria and African included me, are faced with Goliath, we depend on Government and Rich private Citizens on practically everything, nobody want to be creative anymore, nobody want to an "Entrepreneur". You have been disturb and harass by failure and poverty, or your business is not moving at all, why not diversify and try new things, why not write a small scale achievable project or business proposal, You must arise like David did and arrest such situation . David didn't look down on himself, he was not afraid of the macho physique of Goliath . He depend on God's ability to save.

MY SUBMISSION

Serena williams is the current world No 1 female Lawn Tennis Champion just like Serbia Djokovic is the male No 1 for years. In fact Lawn Tennis game in the world can be called Djokovic Serena show because their winning streak spree was unprecedented, they were beating the unbeatable , winning tournament in gland slide. Serena williams was asked , What your secret ? , she said " I have that focus of winning in and outside the court". When I am in a competition at the end, I experience more mental exhaustion than physical exhaustion because I put so much mental work in it , you may not be a world champion but you can and must win in your little corner. Your focus determines your reality . Success occurs when your dream gets bigger than your excuses. Be focus and concentrate on your final destination . Be a rebel and be stubborn against every opposition to your dream. Learn to see your final destination, see the victory ahead daily ! You are not permitted to fail. Failure is not in the convenant. ! . Your only alternative is to win.

Moreoso, the Philosopher Mr Longfellow said " Great is the art of beginning , but greater is the art of ending. Many people begin a thing but can't pull through to the end . The ability to start a thing and inspite of troubles and distractions stay with it to the end is called "CONCENTRATION ". Despite threats of pain , paul still made his trip to jerusalem..... Acts 21 : 13. Jesus endured the cross, because of the joy before him , he kept imagining in his mind the life after the cross, he pictured that a new name would be given to him , he pictured how at the mention of that name ,every knee would bow and he decided to endure the pilate of this world. This is the second quarter of this year , learn to see what your are believing God for with your gift of imagination. Winners have this million dollar asset or quality of focus. Resist distractions, see the victory ahead, your not allowed or programmed to fail.

LET US BE PRACTICAL

1. Do you have great dream or idea or great vision, or mission you want to actualise

 2. Write them down with red pen as if your existence depend on it .

3. Pray and prophesy on them, use God words on Lamentation 3 : 37, Zachariah 4 : 6, Mathew 18 : 18 , Philipian 4 : 13 and Ezekiel 37 : 1 to 14. Ask for the open door which no one can close using Rev. 3 : 8. .Submit to God, resist the devil and come close to God... James 4 : 7. Ask the holy spirit of God to come and take control with 2 Timothy 1 : 7. Pray extensively on this dream of yours. 3. Prepare a scale of preference in terms of easily achievable dreams base on your location, needs of the people around, the resources and financial requirement it need. Let number one be what you the one more likely to be acheive first, draw this scale as a small scale business

4. Write a simple good business plan, if you need help seek someone your convince can help, if you have to pay for this help , don't hesitate to do so, but make sure the help won't cost you so much . A business plan is a written plan on how to actualise a business dream. Your business plan should include your financial projection , expenditure and plans on how to acheive it.

5 If you can finance this business plan, go on and start it, if you can't seek for help, help here can mean honest partnership, financial institution that partners small scale business, government agency and financial institution that partners with entrepreneur.

 6. Protect your business, make it legal, register and draw terms of service.

 7. Your business will grow, think of , enlarging your ideas, create more jobs, think Big and grow rich. # Remember God first others next, Prepare yourself mentally , for a man that is prepared, has won half the battle, stay focused ! Keep seeing where you are going daily and make the devil mad ! . Do not pay attention to the magnitude of your problem , rather look at the mightiness of God and he will deliver and save you . With God all is possible. Be prayerful, pray in and out of season. With God, you can achieve anything good you can think of. My prayer and honest wish is that God will make your dream come true, Amen

 # Dedicated to all Afrcian Youth who aspire to acheive his or her African dream, God bless African, God Bless Nigeria.#

References

1. The Holy Bible

2. Our daily Manna

3. Divine touch

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