GRACE OF 3-IN-1 CELEBRATIONS
58TH YEAR BIRTHDAY
35TH YEAR OF MEDIA PRACTICE
22ND YEAR OF BECOMING AN EDITOR
This is a reminiscence of strategic aspects of my life, capturing the journey from my very day of birth, on April 14, 1966, and what i call 58 years undulating metamorphosis.
Closing to SIX decades is a special grace, particularly in a country where issues relating to life expectancy rate, is always a matter of public discuss. That I am also the only surviving son of my parents, who regrettably died, one after the other years back, is also instructive here.
To Him alone i return all glory, praises and adoration. He keeps me in the hollow of his hands, I am grateful for His preservation.
His Holy Spirit didn’t stop protecting me as the days passed bye, and He surrounds me with inexhaustible list of wonderful people across board.
As a voracious reader that i always tried to be, right from elementary school days, the more i read, and tend not to really need any introduction to any assorted books, the more difficult it is for me, up till today, knowing the real meaning of divine grace! It is better experienced than imagined.
It then occurred to me that as mere privileged humans that we simply are, if the broad analysis of our contextual historical experiences, and the narrative of our history is evaluated, it will be found to be contending so incurably with brambles and potholes.
It is also with delight to note that this year’s birthday is unique, as it coincides with celebrations of my 35th year of consistent journalism practice, right from the couple years of freelancing, up til becoming a paid Reporter since June,1992 in Daily Times of Nigeria, in the Ibadan/Lagos axis, rising through the ranks to become Correspondent, Senior Correspondent, Senior Staff Writer and later State/Chief Correspondent in 1997, before leaving, along with others, as a result of FG’s privatisation programme, in 2002.
This celebration also marks 22 years of becoming an Editor, having been appointed Deputy Editor of The Herald Newspapers by Kwara State Government in 2003, doubling as Member/Secretary of the Editorial Board, and later as Asst. General Editor in 2004, before resigning voluntarily to join NAN same year, to later serve as Personal Assistant to the then NAN MD as well as combining Editorial posting. In the last 20 years sojourn in NAN, editorial appointments so far held among others, include; Principal Correspondent, Editor, Senior Editor and currently Asst.Editor-In-Chief. It is also to the glory of God that the administration of another MD of NAN, late Mrs Oluremi- Oyo, sponsored me on editorial course to London, UK in 2012, among other local courses in Nigeria.
In-between the lines, i served briefly as Personal Assistant to Presidential Adviser in the Presidency, and later got recommended and got appointed as Special Assistant(Media) in office of Minister of Special Duties.
No doubt, the long career journey has been both brambling and slippery, and many atimes, fraught with challenges, but God has been most faithful, seeing me through all the hurdles.
Which of God’s torrents of blessings would i then say i can remember or deny in a jiffy? Definitely none! I do not think i have the mental capacity to so recall. They are just beyond human comprehension!
I am a product of unimaginable grace.
Not because of cheating death many times, but because God has continually demonstrated His unfailing promise that man’s life, is for Him to take, or preserve, even in the midst of the wishes of the enemies and ill-wishers alike.
The wise ones say plans are not perfections, but for the God that never fails, life is not about power or might, colorations or manipulations.
Thus, giving glory to God for joy, without boundaries, is a daily routine.
I am happy to be blessed with this reality, very early in life.
I am eternally indebted to the Almighty God, and a crop of good and benevolent individuals, who i call destiny helpers, who always make things happen for me without any charge. I am indeed a living miracle, fortified and fashioned, in God’s visual and spiritual imagery.
Therefore, every time i see another breaking of a new year, i say thank you Lord. I am not taking God for granted, concerning all He has done, and is still doing for me.
Please, join me to thank and appreciate God, while also celebrating with me on these very milestones in my life.
It is my 58th BIRTHDAY!!!
Idowu Ariwodola