This third installment in the Nicholas Said column series expands on my previous pieces and brings the discussion to a conclusion.

Perhaps the final straw that broke Nicholas Said’s back and drove him to leave combat duties during the Civil War was the imposition of an inexperienced 18-year-old white boy named Lieutenant Robertson James — described as “one of the least qualified officers in the regiment” — as the leader of his platoon.

On the day Said finally received his long-denied back pay of $200, he voluntarily resigned his sergeantship, demoted himself to private, laid down his arms, and requested a secretarial assignment. He later left that role to work at the army hospital.

Dr. Burt Green Wilder, a physician at the hospital, sought an assistant who neither smoked, drank excessively, nor ate pork (and who could write well), criteria that Said, a linguistically gifted ex-Muslim and teacher, met easily. He secured the job as a "hospital assistant." 

Soon after, most of his Black comrades in the Civil War were killed or severely wounded in battle. The wounded were brought to the hospital where Said worked. He experienced what Dean Calbreath called his "baptism in blood, which soaked his clothing and clung to his flesh."  

Dr. Wilder, impressed by Said’s intellect, described him as “very philosophical in his mind and interested in unusual things, religious problems, etc.”

On May 13, 1865, about a month after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered and the Civil War ended, Said married in South Carolina. The marriage lasted only two years. There’s no evidence it produced any children.

Dr. Wilder, who later became a leading professor of anatomy at Cornell University, refuted the findings of a racist post-war commission that claimed Black people were innately inferior by singling out Said, a "multilingual intellectual from the very interior of Africa," as a direct contradiction. 

Instead of returning to the North from where he enlisted in the U.S. Army or to Borno, Said stayed in South Carolina, devoting himself to teaching Black people to read and write for free while farming on the side. 

His work caught the attention of General Robert K. Scott of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, who praised Said as “a thoroughly educated man and a distinguished linguist, who converses fluently in ten languages and who is equally conversant in both the Greek Testament and the Koran.”  

Southern newspapers, incredulous at the idea of such an African, mocked the claim.

Despite the racism he faced in the military, Said found warmth and respect from many white individuals, including Southerners, precisely because of his sharp intellect and unusual multilingual aptitude. That’s why he once remarked, according to Calbreath, that “the kindest people with whom he had ever met and domiciled [with] are the Southern whites.” 

He also became one of America’s first Black people to devote their time to getting scores of Black people registered to vote. His accomplishments were so noteworthy that the New York Times’ William Swinton, himself a polyglot, profiled him extensively on August 13, 1867, in an article titled “The Negro Pundit.”

“He has certainly made himself a remarkable philologist. Remarkable it would be in even the most cultured of Caucasians, but still more so in one who bears on his black visage the symbols of his savage race [i.e., Said’s Kanuri facial marks],” Swinton wrote. “For he knows, in addition to English and his native tongue, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Hebrew, Greek, German, French, and Italian…. Nor is it merely a parrot-like faculty of imitation, for he has a deep penetration of their genius and affinities and, in some instances, a fair, and in others, a profound acquaintance with their literature” (208).

The New York Times profile was republished in over two dozen newspapers. The Nation, a liberal newspaper, even suggested that Said was “was so talented he might make a good candidate for vice president someday, or at least a cabinet secretary or maybe an ambassador to Russia.” 

Two months after the New York Times profile, Said wrote about himself in the Atlantic Monthly, one of America’s most iconic magazines. His article, titled “A Native of Bornoo,” caused his profile to soar in South Carolina and got him a more prestigious teaching job at a private school where he taught English and French.

After actively participating in Charleston’s politics, where many Black officials were elected—triggering violent white backlash—Said left the city. He became a peripatetic teacher in rural South Carolina before moving to Georgia.

To gain acceptance in the South, he concealed his Union Army service, even falsely claiming he arrived in the U.S. post-war. His autobiography completely blacked out his participation in the Civil War.

In Georgia, he encountered Lucius Bryan, a virulently racist aristocrat who had written that Africans had “never built a city, never bridged a river, never made the smallest discovery having any tendency to widen the little space that separates him from the gorilla.” But after meeting Said, Bryan softened his stance. He grudgingly acknowledged that Said’s intelligence and learning equaled that of any white man.

So, he encouraged Said to tour Southern states to demonstrate “the possibility of elevating the colored race to a standard of equality with Europeans.”

Said agreed, arguing that Africa “has been, through prejudice and ignorance, so sadly misrepresented that anything like intelligence, industry, etc., is believed not to exist among its natives.”

Beginning his lecture tour in March 1870, he electrified audiences. Though often introverted in one-on-one dialogic engagements, he transformed to a spine-tingling orator on stage. “On the stump, he seemed as one inspired. His sentences were short, clear-cut, and logical. When gesticulating with his arms, the eye could almost see sparks dripping from his fingertips,” Calbreath quoted one observer to have noted.

Attendance at his lectures initially cost 25 cents (about $5 today), later increasing to 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children. Subscribers also paid similar amounts for his forthcoming autobiography.

During a visit to The  Atlanta Constitution (the flagship newspaper in Georgia now called the Atlanta-Journal Constitution) on July 22, 1870, the editors described him as “a very intelligent son of Africa… [who] talks intelligently on almost every subject.” 

Said let the editors read a rough draft of his autobiography. They wrote that they were “astonished to find it well written…. The contents are novel, and, as far as we read them, very interesting.” 

 Other Southern newspapers dubbed him the “wandering African celebrity” or the “learned African.” In Florida, a star-struck bank clerk inscribed on Said’s account application: “This is the wonderful Nickolas [sic] Said, doubtless.”

As his fame grew, so did lecture fees, rising to 75 cents. Fame also made him a magnet for girls. A teenage Georgia girl named Annie from a small town called Bainbridge (which now has a little over 14,000 people) threw herself at him. Their short affair led to a pregnancy, which Said wasn’t aware of. 

Annie gave birth to a girl whom she named Nancy Said. No one knows whether her descendants are alive. Short of getting DNA samples from Said’s relatives in Kukawa and comparing them to the probable descendants of Nancy Said in Bainbridge, Georgia, we have no way of knowing.

Despite warnings, he moved to Alabama, a perilous state for educated Black men. Yet, he found surprising warmth there, even impressing a former slave owner and Confederate soldier, Mitchell Smith, who recommended him to local politicians in another Alabama town Said moved to, saying, “Nicholas Said…is, by far, the most intelligent and best-educated man of the African race with whom I have ever conversed.”

Settling in Bladon Springs, Alabama, for four years — the longest he had stayed in one place since his forced displacement from Kukawa — he earned “the highest esteem of the white citizens,” as James S. Evans Jr. (whose son would later destroy Said’s reputation) wrote. “He had a dash about him that was fascinating…. He knew something of political economy, had studied the principles of law, possessed a smattering of knowledge of physics, and had read much on religious topics.”

There, he taught, completed his manuscript, and married again on September 24, 1874, to Rachel Thornton, a 24-year-old single mother with a six-year-old son. There is no information that he had a child with the woman.

In 1877, he left Bladon Springs without his wife and resumed his lecture circuits in Mississippi and Tennessee, carrying his autobiography. This time, he began calling himself Mohammed Ali ben Said, though he later reverted to Nicholas after settling in Haywood County, Tennessee.

In Haywood County, Tennessee, Nicholas Said mysteriously vanished from public view. It seems he fell into depression because of a series of injuriously libelous falsehoods written about him by James Evans Jr., a popular but notoriously mendacious, drunken, and unapologetically racist Alabama journalist whose father respected Said a great deal. These fabrications were republished in multiple newspapers.

Evans conjured stories about Said entirely from his imagination, claiming he was a South African criminal, a linguistically gifted forger and thief serving time in prison. There is no record of Said fighting back to reclaim his reputation.

Some believe he died in Haywood County in 1882, but no official record of his death exists in the United States. Or, as Dean Calbreath speculates, did he return to Borno unnoticed? No one knows for sure. 

I have carefully read and listened to former Nigerian military president, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babagida's public remorse and regrets over the atrocious annulment of the June 12,1993 presidential elections. He did this 32 whopping years later. I want to very quickly say that it takes a man with strong guts and balls and a man who has become repentant, born again and has seen the face of God to publicly recant his earlier wrongful deeds and offer public apology to the entire nation. This was no doubt meant to heal gapinng wounds and balm wounded and bruised hearts.

The polls, the best, most transparent and credible elections, ever held in Nigeria till date, were meant to end decades of military d The annulment threw Nigeria into turmoil and widespread unreast, protests, maimings and killings. This forced Babagida to "step aside"; the enthronenent of the Enest Shonekan's Interim Government; and the arrest and detention of Chief Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner who later died in Aso Villa in questionable and suspicious circumstances. Of course, General Sani Abacha who was his second in command later sacked Shonekan in a bloodless coup. For years, IBB prevaricated on the annulment, claiming he did it in the best national interest. But on Thursday the 21st of February, 2025,Babangida during the presentation of his memoirs, "A journey In Service", pointedly regretted in the public: "I regret June 12. I accept full responsibility for the decisions taken and June 12 happened under my watch. Mistakes, missteps happened in quick succession. That accident of history is most regrettable. The nation is entitled to expect my expression of regret ". And wait for it:: he acknowledged for the first time that Abiola won the elections fair and square, trouncing his major opponent, Alhaji Bashir Tofa.

I want to salute Babagida for having the courage and humility to own up like a man; that everything that happened during the June 12 crisis took place under him as the head of state and the president who was also the Commander- in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I salute him for acknowledging that his government which actually organised unarguably the freest, fairest and most credible elections in the electoral history of Nigeria when it introduced option A4 from electoral books that were hithenlrto unknown to Nigeria or to the world. But unfortunately, regrettably like he now admits, he again turned around to annul the same elections in a way that was most bizarre, curious and unnatural.

To me, that he has come out to open up to doing something wrong and egregious to a bleeding nation should be appreciated. I believe that Nigerians should forgive him because to err is human and to forgive is divine ( Eph 4:32 ). I personally have now forgiven him because I was also a victim of the June12 crisis. It threw up all manners of challenges to me as a person, where in my very youthful age; in my thirties, I found myself marching on the streets of Lagos every day- from Ikeja bus stop roundabout, to Ikorodu road; up to Tejuosho market; from there to Ojuelegba, Surulere; to Mushin; to Shomolu and Igando, Alimosho.

Everyday, we were on the streets, protesting the mindless annulment. Some of us were killed in process; some were lucky enough to escape abroad on self exile. But some of us- very few indeed- refused to flee our dear country; we stayed back. We stared at the military eyeball to eyeball. We challenge authority and spoke truth to power. We challenged impunity and repression. I suffered several detentions across different detention centres. I virtually could not find means of livelihood for my youthful family because I was profiled, my phones bugged and no briefs were coming in. But I personally forgive him because it takes tons of guts to make public confession of having erred and atone for same as he has now done.

It is confession that leads to penance and penance leads to restitution and then forgiveness. If Babagida were to die today, I believe that he will see the face of God because he has prayed God to forgive him; and he has prayed Nigerians to forgive him. Beyond that historic and epochal mistake of the annulment of the June 12 election which constitutes his original sin, let me place it on record that Babagida is one of the greatest presidents that Nigeria ever had in terms of his ingenuity, rulership mantra; ideas for national resurgimento; ideas that contributed greatly to nation-building. These were aside the IMF-induced loans and pills which he introduced and which we again valiantly fought against successfully.

Babagida it was who gave birth to the Federal Capital Territory and laid the solid foundation for virtually everything you see there today. His government was peopled by intellectuals and not by half illiterates and quacks. He recognized and used intellects. He was luminous and he built bridges of understanding, friendship and brotherhood across Nigeria. Nigerians, please, accept IBB's confession and forgive him his sin of annuling the June 12,1993 elections. Let the wounds heal; let the heart melt; and let the spirit of national triumphalism prevail.

At over 90, this is not how Pastor Shyngle Wigwe had planned to spend the last few years of his long life. For the last 30 years, he’s been living a good life in a peaceful retirement, enjoying the support and benevolence of his industrious and wealthy second son, Herbert, and his other children. But the tragic death of Herbert, together with his wife and son in a helicopter crash in California last year, has not only upended Pa Wigwe’s life in retirement, but has also set him on an embarrassing course of action. By instituting a legal action against his granddaughter in a Lagos High Court and seeking unlimited access to the assets of the deceased son, Pa Wigwe is giving a wrong impression of himself. The optics just doesn’t look good and the general comments out there is ‘’what could this old man be looking for at his age?’’. The unfavourable judgment handed him by the court should be enough reason for him to retrace his steps. In the suit filed by Pa Wigwe and Christian Wigwe as the claimants; and Uche Wigwe; Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and Otutochi Wigwe as defendants, the claimant sought the court to appoint Pa Wigwe; Otutochi Wigwe and some companies as interim administrators for the son’s estate; appoint Pa Wigwe interim guardian to Herbert’s minor children and order Access Bank; Coronation Merchant Bank and United Securities to release the details of Herbert’s wealth to him.

The court, in its judgment delivered last week, turned down Pa Wigwe’s request, but in the court of public opinion, Nigerians are unanimous in querying the real intentions of the old man. Is Pa Wigwe being nudged on by his other children as is widely assumed? What are they up to? The true intentions of Pa Wigwe could be gleaned from the claimants’ affidavit filed in court to support their case which alleges that the Will left behind by the deceased is only meant to administer the deceased property in Florida, USA, and has no application to the properties in Nigeria. The affidavit also claimed that Aig-Imokhuede has ‘’a strong influence on Uche Wigwe who is the sole Representative of the Will’’; and as the sole trustee as well as business partner of the deceased, Aig-Imoukhuede ‘’does not have the interest of the minors at heart and his position will conflict with the deceased’s position’’. The affidavit further requests the Court to appoint Pa Wigwe and some professional property managers to manage the estate of the deceased. In other words, Pa Wigwe is not only questioning the validity of his son’s Will, he also wants to be in charge of the minor children and the estate of his deceased son. Clearly, this is too much responsibility for a 90-year-old man to ask for.

 In their affidavit, the defendants stated that Otutochi had already been ‘’granted legal guardianship of the minors of the estate in a Family Court and is representing them in this suit’’; and that she and Aig-Imoukhuede do not want to be joined as the interim administrator of the estate. The defendants further argued that since Pa Wigwe is the grandfather of the minor children, he does not need a Court Order to see the minors and provide moral counseling to them. He has the right to see them anytime without a court order. They added that Herbert left behind only one Will and that is applicable to all his properties at home and abroad.

It is notable that the Court had in its ruling dismissed all the reliefs sought by the claimants; meaning that Pa Wigwe and others have not been appointed interim administrator by the Court and Access Bank, Coronation Merchant Bank and United Securities have not been ordered to make any disclosures on Herbert’s wealth. But there are a few lessons and questions to ponder. Why were Pa Wigwe and his children excluded from Herbert’s Will? It’s probably because Herbert did not ever imagine that he would die before his aged parents and most likely that his relationships with his siblings were very frosty while he was alive. In fact, those who attended Herbert’s funeral service at the ballroom of Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, last March were puzzled, if not embarrassed, at some of the nasty remarks made by some of the siblings about their deceased brother at the event. Such an open display of bile, ill feeling and ill will towards the dead from his siblings is not a natural occurrence; it’s all the more unnatural for the same set of people to turn around and jostle for the wealth of the dead man. But that’s morality. Legally speaking, Pa Wigwe and his children are not included in Herbert’s Will and they do not have any business going after whatever Herbert left behind. His Will should be obeyed. The Will made Uche Wigwe, the executioner of the Will and appointed Aig-Imoukhuede into a Trust that he should set up and chair; and this Trust would handle his affairs on behalf of his children. In the Will, Aig-Imoukhuede was also appointed the legal custodian of the children, and this much he said at Herbert’s memorial service on Sunday, February 9. Even then, the trustee and the executioner have pledged to use their discretion and sense of compassion to accommodate Herbert’s father and the rest of the family in the scheme of things.

And herein lies the burden of Pa Wigwe at this very difficult moment of his last years on earth. He has lost his beloved son; grandson and daughter-in-law in such a tragic circumstance. He should allow himself some peace of mind and space to bring the family together and bless the grandchildren. The number one duty of every grandparent is to gather the family together, bless the children and grandchildren and prepare to go back to his Maker. By the way, the old man should also perfect his own Will.

Systems, practices and cultures of different peoples are observed and documented to form a body of knowledge. So is the behaviour of man under different circumstances and environments, be it in politics, or economic pursuits. Reports of such behavioral studies abound. If we consider that we cannot see far and we cannot see everything within the range of our sight, vision and perception, we will become persuaded that what is left unseen or perceived can someday constitute a different body of knowledge. Meanwhile, what is considered knowledge is documented and stored as material for learning so that knowledge can become widespread. What is learned thus becomes different from what is known, that is that which knowledge is. If what is learned is not internalized, that is digested and made one’s own it disappears from memory. But that which is knowledge is permanent with him who knows it, who has experienced it. This is saying that there may be a gap between what is learnt and that which is known, that which is knowledge. Learning may thus be defined as familiarization with or study of knowledge. And knowledge is the experience of a person which gives him recognition. Knowledge can thus be said to be familiarization with or study of recognition of others, recognition which could be profound or merely exciting.

So as I was saying last week, learning can be imparted to a person at a very early age. A child of three, depending on exposure of his parents can be introduced to learning, but at a much younger age to knowledge. A child of eight months knows that, although fire is beautiful, the tongue that billows is attractive; it could inflict harm and pain. It burns. The child carries that knowledge for life. Knowledge and learning are documented in books and are passed for knowledge for all ages. If we accept that knowledge is derived from experience which gives us recognitions, which recognitions are documented to be learned, it follows that our knowledge can only go as far as the depth of our experiences and the range of our perceptions and recognitions.

As there are problems in the economy, politics and social relationships, the signals are that our knowledge is limited and shallow. A limited knowledge needs to be widened and deepened. The vital knowledge of how and why we as human beings can and should live in peace and harmony with our fellowmen is lacking. Our knowledge of nation-building and international relations is deficient. The result has been that there are wars and the possibility of more wars rises by the day—the Russian-Ukraine war despite the scale of mindless destruction remains irresolvable. No party is backing down in the Israeli-Hamas bitter war. Turn to the Congo. Go in the direction of Sudan it is the same story. War merchants are prowling in the dark alleys; they are prowling in the shadows in the wee hours of the day.

Of what use is all that is paraded as human knowledge if so much problem defying solutions are still confronting mankind? If all that our knowledge for which many lives have been sacrificed and are still being wasted, has produced are the labyrinth of chaos and confusion; the knowledge that has made the world unsafe. It is a great indictment that rather than be a blessing man has been the cause of chaos and confusion that have engulfed our world.
Thus, the knowledge we human beings need greatly and urgently today must be that which reveals how we are to live with our neighbours and how to perfect international relations. It must be the knowledge that reveals the truths of life and existence and their inherent immutable principles. We have been made to be aware that given our limitations, human beings cannot have this knowledge without help.

Long before we sank this deep we had always been afforded help to guide us to true knowledge. As pupils and wanderers in Creation, we human beings need to be taught and guided. We need to be guided. We need to be familiar with how Creation works and the place of creatures that we are in it, our tasks and responsibilities.
The import of that need is driven home with greater impact when man first has knowledge of himself. Who is man? How is he to wander in this world? What are the gifts of Nature placed at his disposal on his path? What is the purpose of his sojourn in this deep valley of matter? The knowledge of Creation and how it works then enables us to be conscious of whether the purpose of that sojourn is being met. How are we to wander on earth without coming to harm?

There are pains; there are tribulations in all parts of the world. The fear of escalating global distress is raised with the emergence of Mr. Donald Trump, his pronouncements and actions. Washington Post had this to say about him: “The President-elect has a record of stepping on his own sunny promises of optimism with darkness and division”. That was before he was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States. He lived up to this billing when on Tuesday he called Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky a dictator to which the latter said in response: “Unfortunately, President Trump – I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us – unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.”

The deficiency in knowledge can only be remedied and covered through total wholesome knowledge. This immeasurable knowledge cannot be found in man for our needs and the needs for all time; what we urgently require is true knowledge. Thus true knowledge is truth itself. Because Truth can only be found beyond man for it is eternal, perfect and consistent, not subject to any alteration, to war or revolution or ideas of men, attributes man does not have, so can true knowledge be found beyond him. It is beyond his calculations or avarice. It is incorruptible. In other words true knowledge can only come from Above. Now we are in the Age of knowledge that gives explanation for all happenings.

Dr. Stephen Lampe says in his great book, The Primordial Laws of Creation, “On account of the Law of Movement, it should be expected that revelations from the Creator would be progressive. Therefore, we should expect new knowledge and new revelations which advance older teachings at critical periods in the development of Creation. Without new revelations, there would be stagnation and retrogression and advancement to the next higher level of spirituality and consequently of civilization would be impossible.”

As I stated last week, if we accept that there is life in the non-physical, we must also accept that beings in the non-physical have knowledge. Does knowledge gained here end with a person’s demise on earth? If the answer is in the negative, it is logical to appreciate the fact that human beings in higher planes, in the Light Region or Paradise must carry higher and richer knowledge. If any of them were to be sent to the earth, it must follow that he will come with higher and richer knowledge. We must by now have been familiar with accounts of such blessed ones among various peoples in different communities and at different times—the Prophets of Old, the Teachers of mankind and so on.

It stands to reason that the Lord Christ and the prophesied Son of Man Who is to appear in these times of chaos and perplexities will bear all the knowledge, indeed complete knowledge, coming from the Highest Heights, being parts of the Almighty in Whom the Father works and They work in the Father as Love and Justice. And so the Lord Christ said “…whatever the Father does the Son does.” Any wonder, therefore, the statements of the Lord are so unfathomably deep that Scribes and Pharisees, His hearers in general, said aloud: “Where did this Man get this wisdom from and these miraculous powers? Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon…?” (Matthew 13: 54-55).

So, it is said about the Son of Man in the great Work, “In the Light of Truth” The Grail Message by Abd-ru-shin: “Ever since the crime committed against the Son of God, the Bringer of Truth, Jesus of Nazareth, the fact that men did not recognise this most important prophecy has lain like a curse upon mankind, and even today they stand before it unsuspectingly as if their eyes were closely blindfolded! The terrible consequence will be that a great part of mankind will stumble on towards destruction, past the only possibility of saving themselves from being cast out.

“This is the prophecy of the Coming of the Son of Man, which the Son of God held forth as a star of hope and also as a serious warning in the face of the constant attacks upon Him by the masses, who through their subservience to the Darkness naturally hated the Bringer of Truth.”

The Message states further: “Jesus spoke of the Coming of the Son of Man as the last possibility of salvation, and also pointed out that with his Coming the Judgment would commence. Therefore those who are still not willing or, to express it differently, those who are too stiff-necked or too indolent to be prepared to accept enlightenment would be irretrievably cast out! From this the conclusion is to be drawn that there will be no further opportunity for consideration and decision. This undoubtedly contains the announcement of great tribulation which will bring to an end a period of patient forbearance. This in turn indicates the impending struggle of the Light against all darkness which must end with violent destruction of darkness!”

Proofs of the point that men come with knowledge gained in centuries of their wanderings in different planes of the world abound around us. We may also ask, for example, what explains the phenomenon of prodigies in different communities. Exactly a year ago, 20 February, 2024, an eight-year-old boy, Ashwath Kaushik, was reported to have beaten a grandmaster, 37, from Poland at a chess tournament in Switzerland. There may be others who may not be prodigies but who strike us in a certain way. Take Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe or Mr. Buffet. I have said before, treating this subject that we may ask who taught Aliko Dangote business—the university he went in Egypt? Or the super rich recluse, Michael Adenuga or Femi Otedola, Michael Ade-Ojo or Mrs. Alakija? Take the financial tigers Jim Ovia, Tony Elumelu, Atedo Peterside or Fola Adeola. They were young when I first wrote drawing attention to them in 1993, so I called them young financial tigers. Before them there was the class of Adeola Odutola, Ugochukwu, Michael Ibru, Mobolaji Bank-Anthony, Nathaniel Idowu, Lawrence Omole, Wahab Folawiyo and Dantata. What of men of profound thoughts and deep insights of ages past we are quick to quote? Daniel Swarovski says in his priceless book, The Time is Ripe: “what some regard as a special gift or talent, is in my opinion, the fruit of long experiences gathered in many lives.” Many will remember one of such prodigies who began to compose music before he was 12 years and Johann Bummel who in fact gave public concert at the age of 11. There was the publicised case of a little boy in the East a long time ago who was a preacher and who held his audience spell-bound. Are we going to be surprised when Soyinka goes and comes back he begins to write and stage plays from the age of three years and Achebe turning out his first novel at five? There are talents, Bongos Ikwue, Dan Marayah Jos of Ibrahim and Abraham fame during the civil war, trying to broker peace with his music!

Knowledge lies only in experiencing. Some grain of this truth has been sensed and made to reflect in the saying: “Experience is the best teacher.” All knowledge can arise only out of Truth and we human beings were permitted splitting of this Truth until Christ the Truth and Life Himself descended to our world and in these times, the Age of Knowledge, the Age of the Son of Man promised by the Lord Who is to bring to our remembrance all that Christ had taught us and is to lead mankind to all truths, thus giving the world the secret of Creation. The knowledge so brought is to be absorbed and experienced so it can be internalized by us human beings to make it our own. This knowledge is all and total, overseeing all and it answers all questions of life and existence. And being Rays of the Truth that is Light it awakens and nourishes the spirit. Plants serve to nourish our body, but the Word of Truth is the food of the spirit. Given the chaos and confusion in our world today, and the collapse that is so self-evident in every part of the globe today, total knowledge is imperative.