The Set Men

Being a critic is a lot of hard work, especially when you're opposing an excellent candidate with pedigree.
Some years ago, I had a female friend at the Polytechnic Ibadan, Eruwa campus.
When I go visiting my friends in the school, I would go to their sport office and watch students play chess and scrabble.
I came across the Professional scrabble dictionary for the first time in that school.
I had grown up in a house where both parents and uncles and aunties played scrabble late into the night. I started playing scrabble in primary school but until I saw these gladiators playing, I was just a local champion.
After months of watching these guys play, I began to study that dictionary and I began to play against them every day.
I got so good playing that game that I bought my own dictionary, made copies of new words, etcetera and it became a passion.

The female friend I had at the time started playing too. She went on to win medals at the Nigeria Polytechnics Games Association- NIPOGA and later played for her department at the University of Ibadan. She still plays with the Scrabble Federation of Nigeria. I can brag that I trained her. I played with her day and night until she got that good. I taught her how to play chess too.

She is highly competitive and would fight me tooth and nail whenever we played. We were both very competitive.
Life happened and I found myself in Bowen University in 2004. I heard the announcement that there was a scrabble club but I ignored it. I wanted to face my studies squarely. I had a lot at stake.

The Scrabble club took off and the players met consistently until they had three best players on campus. Then one day I was at the Chapel when it was announced that Bowen University would be going to Covenant University to play inter-varsity games.

Each student representing the school will be paid 5,000 Naira per day and there would be medals to win. The Vice Chancellor announced this on a Wednesday and the team would be leaving on Friday. The list of all the games and the athletes representing the school had been sent to the student affairs. The budget had also been approved. All the athletes had packed their bags.

I went to the library to study, I bumped into the coach at the newspaper section. I greeted him and said, "I play scrabble and I am the best on campus, I can prove it if you let me play against your selected players today. I should be the one representing the school in this competition.”

The coach looked at me and said, "Come to the sports’ office by noon today."

When it was noon, I went there.

I met the three, star players. 

I smiled and greeted them.
I sat down to play against them one by one.
I defeated each of them four times each.
The coach put my name on the list and told the other three to come and play for a split the following day. They played the following day and Seun Seidu won.

The school had approved only two players for Scrabble and the spot was given to Seun Seidu and I. Of course, those that got bumped got angry.
They went to the coach and complained. “Where was he when we started the Scrabble club?”

“Where was he when we were training and preparing? How can you choose 

this guy above us?”

They couldn't argue against the competence and the excellence. They had to push sentiment and cheap blackmail. The coach couldn't in good conscience pick them above me. They were his boys and all. I was a walk-in guy from nowhere, but how could he justify dropping 

me?

Suddenly I heard rumors that I was a cultist in my former school and I had used that as leverage against the coach. Another rumor was the one about me dating the coach's niece who was in my class. Another was that I bribed the coach.

The losers couldn't tell their friends that I was far better than they were, so they came up with "coping" mechanisms. Stories that helped them keep their self-esteem while they sulked about losing their position on the team to me.

I went on to win six medals for Bowen University in three years, representing them at two NUGA games and three inter-varsity competitions.

That experience taught me a lot about human behavioural methods. You will assume people will pick whoever is obviously the best candidate for a job is, until the least competent candidate is someone, they hold sentimental attachment to. The you will see how easy it is for sentiment to becloud the mind.

Pat Utomi once came to RCCG Victory Chapel's Business breakfast meeting; I was the Personal Assistant-PA to the pastor of the church at the time.) He said a lot of things that I learnt from and still practise till today. He said he was part of the Think-tank team of a certain politician based in Lagos and that team was made up of only the best minds in Nigeria. He said they meet to discuss the challenges of Nigeria and proffer solutions.

One man, Agunsoye, I believe that is his name (a former member of the House of Representatives) also confirmed this at the time as he was a member of that Think-tank team too
I told myself at that time that if the Lord will give me a leadership position, I would have a Think-tank team that would work with me like that man had. The team had a lot of great minds drawn from all walks of life and doing wonders in the Nigerian leadership space at the time.

I later got deep in my walk with the Holy Spirit and I was instructed to study the ministry of King David and Jesus. I did this and realised they both had a unique system of government which was involving others who grew with them and rising into prominence with them.

I have my team today and with them I have taken the gospel all over the world. They registered the ministry even in Nations I have never been to and helped develop our policies and principles over the years. Without them we wouldn’t be here.

I have found this principle of leadership to be the best when it comes to ministry. I can name several mistakes I would have made that the counsel of these great ministers saved me from.
I had gone into certain spiritual dimensions just so that I could lead them into such 

Too. They are all producing glorious, mighty results in their ministries today and yet they are still with me.

We all grew together.

Of course, some people would still find something nay to say.
True leaders don't get distracted by the noise of the naysayers
They set their eyes like a flint and they cannot be shaken from their goal.

To the GSWMI Heads of Ministries (HOMs), Ministers @GswmiFirebrand, @GSWMI_RNation @gswmiWM @GSWMICoZ_ @EuANGELion__ @officialGSWMI @gswmiheal @hamaschiahassembly @GswmiSF @gswmimissions
@gswmihospital

I say Thank you

-GSW-