Reflections of a random rebel.

Two weeks ago, my dearest brother, Fikayo, gave me a book called -the way to happiness (a common sense guide to better living). One of the beauty of this book is that its not meant for you to read alone. You are supposed to read and buy more to distribute to people around you.People, who you think your happiness is somewhat dependent on theirs. In other words, people who you know that if somehow they are unhappy it can result in you being unhappy. Then on the third page there is a part that says,"why i gave you this book-your survival is important to me"-who would have thought that? lol..

Asides from the fact that i was glad that at least am that important to my brother(smiles), i also think the book is a great book. it's easy to read and really cute like that , u know? It summarizes in few lines the basic things and habits you can do to make yourself live a happier life and and have peace of mind. The best thing about it is that it is not a religious book so basically anyone can read it and adapt its teachings.

It summarizes the rules as follows:
1.Take care of yourself-get care when you are ill,keep your body clean,preserve your teeth,eat properly, and get rest.
2.Be temperate-do not take harmful drugs and do not take alcohol in excess.
3.Don't be promiscuous-be faithful o one partner.
4.Love and help children.
5.Honor and help your parents.
6.Set a good example.
7.Seek to live with the truth-do not bear false witness
8.Do not murder
9.Do not do anything illegal.
10.Support a government designed and run for all people.
11.Do not harm a person of goodwill.
12.Safe guard and improve your environment-take care of your own area and help take care of the planet.
13.Do not steal.
14.Be worthy of trust-keep your words once given.
15.Fulfill your obligations.
16.Be industrious.
17.Be competent-look,learn and practice.
18.Respect the religious beliefs of others.
19.Try not to do things to others that you will not like them to do to you.
20.Try to treat others as you would like them to treat you-justness,loyalty,good sportsmanship,fairness,honesty,kindness,consideration,compassion, self control,tolerance,forgiveness,benevolence,belief,respect,politeness,dignity,admiration,
friendliness, love and integrity.
21.Flourish and prosper.

That is a really long list I know but imagine if everyone read this book and makes attempt to follow these rules? one of the rules that always seem to cross my mind is No. 18.RESPECT THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OF OTHERS. Recently i heard and read the news of the senator who did go ahead to marry a thirteen yr old. For me, the interesting part was the fact that he said he was not bound by any other law asides from the Islamic law and that the Islamic law allows for him to marry a thirteen year old-if at all his latest bride is thirteen. So for like a week i wondered in my mind, is he really right? Since his religion allows it, then what he is doing is not wrong. I must respect his religious beliefs. Then i thought, if we all go around acting based on only religious laws there would be chaos.

I always say that Nigerians are like the funniest people when it comes to religion. when we want to do something wrong, we always seem to find someone in our religious books to point to who did it and that makes it okay. Well it is not, the fact that Prophet Mohammad did marry a young girl as well does not make it okay to do it now. That was then, this is now! what he did contravened the child rights acts of 2003 and although this law is not ratified in all states of Nigeria, as a senator he should be the one upholding these laws not bending it.

Regardless of whatever physical, educational and mental growth a thirteen yr old has, as far as i am concerned, he or she is still a child. The worst thing you can ever do to anyone is to deny them of their childhood. When you suddenly force adulthood on a child it somehow has a way of backfiring. Nature itself does things in stages and there is a stage and time for everything.
I do not have the power or influence to fight this man but heaven knows if i had it, i would have fought him. Don't get me started on the girls parent, let's just leave that for another day.

So i came up with the "AT 13" movement. Lets all update our statuses from time to time, on facebook and twitter, whatever you can think of stating the childish things we were still doing at thirteen.Doing this will make people see how young a 13 yr old really is and somehow prevent things like this from happening in the future.