Pain runs deep to humanity’s core, connecting us in ways only love can reach, using humor to light up the way. 

– Osasu Oviawe

There is evidence for every argument you choose.

It is not the evidence that makes you choose.

It is your choice that seeks out the evidence.

To be open to other evidence, you must first choose otherwise.

– Osasu Oviawe

Love is the hardest work you will ever do.

If it does not light up your heart early, you will give up on the work required, and without the work, love deserts you.

All that I have loved, I have loved at first sight.

– Osasu Oviawe

A trained lifeguard saves lives by first making sure their own life is not in danger.

An untrained lifeguard thinks the best way to save someone drowning is to put their own life at risk.

A trained bodyguard protects his principal best when their own life is protected.

An untrained bodyguard thinks putting himself in harms way is the only way to protect his principal.

An appetite for unguarded risk is evidence of a lack of training.

– Osasu Oviawe

Do not spend so much time reaching into the pit to pull up your weakness that you drop your strength, which is in your pocket.

– Osasu Oviawe

One thing Nigeria teaches you is to double check what is important to you.

You lock the car door and check that it is actually locked.

You say safe journey to a loved one and check that they arrived safely.

You step to the side of a one-way street and check that there are no vehicles coming from either side.

A double check is a drag to momentum but a buffer to uncertainty.

– Osasu Oviawe

Where we pay attention becomes our likeness, and in turn, we become its image.

Look at the people who have the habits you are nurturing, and ask yourself if it is an image you desire.

If it is, carry on.

If it is not, set it down.

– Osasu Oviawe

My favourite subject in Senior Secondary School was biology.

I was great at other subjects and got comparable grades to biology, but I did not get as much of a thrill as I did with biology.

And it came down to one thing – continuous assessment.

The teacher had a discipline with continuous assessment that was unmatched.

After every topic, you were sure a test was coming. The test did not just cover the topic he just taught but all topics he had taught until the last.

The results were published with each student’s name.

There was only one way to do well in his class – continual review of lesson notes and recommended reading.

It made the exams that came at the end of the term feel unnecessary to me because it was like re-answering questions you had already mastered.

Biology was the one subject I did not need to read during exams. I understood it so well that I used the preparation time allocated to it for other subjects.

In every aspect of my life where I have taken the learning of continuous assessment and applied, I have excelled beyond my wildest dreams.

In aspects I wait for a target date in the future to assess progress, I have always fallen short of my expectations.

For what is important, I have learnt to have a continuous assessment loop to keep me grounded.

– Osasu Oviawe

Anger unmasks us and reveals parts we prefer to hide.

If you are aware of them, explore them before you are angry. Otherwise, your image in the mirror will scare you.

If you are unaware of them, capture them on a page after the anger passes and explore them.

If you like what you see, leave the parts as they are.

If you do not like what you see, change it.

– Osasu Oviawe

“Feedback is a gift that is given with the wrapping that is available to the giver.” ~ Akin Oparison

Whether the wrapping is beautiful or ugly, you will have to take it off.

If it is beautiful, you can take a picture of it and use it as inspiration for any gift you want to offer in the future.

If it is ugly, throw it in the bin.

But never reject the gift because of the wrapping.

– Osasu Oviawe