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Art with a Purpose

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From what you have seen and read about my paintings and my book, you may have noticed that neither is offered for sale in the conventional sense. Over the years, I have carefully curated a selection of my paintings for display at my solo exhibitions. For me, however, these works are more than objects of artistic expression. They have become a means of connecting creativity with compassion, art with service, and personal passion with a purpose greater than myself. I am therefore happy to make selected paintings available to anyone who would like to have one, in return for a voluntary donation towards a charitable cause that is very close to my heart — the Matthew Adekunle Medupin Foundation (MAMF). The Foundation was established with a simple but deeply meaningful purpose: to support widows, orphans, and people living with sickle-cell disease in Ogidi-Ijumu and neighbouring communities in Kogi State, Nigeria. I believe art should not only be something we look at; it can also...
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The Mind Is a Garden

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“The mind is like a garden. You can grow flowers or you can grow thorns.” Our minds are gardens, and every thought is a seed. What we repeatedly think about, dwell upon and give our attention to is what we gradually cultivate. If we water our minds with gratitude, kindness, hope, forgiveness and wisdom, something beautiful begins to grow. But if we constantly nurture anger, resentment, fear, envy and bitterness, those too will take root. The important thing to remember is that a garden does not become overgrown with thorns overnight, nor does it bloom in a single day. It is shaped by what we choose to plant, what we choose to water and what we choose to remove. We cannot always control the seeds that life drops into our minds. Pain, disappointment, betrayal and loss may leave behind weeds we never intended to grow. But we can decide whether to keep watering them. Sometimes, cultivating the mind means having the courage to pull out an old thorn, a painful memory, a destruct...
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Awolowo and Tinubu: When Vision Meets Strategy

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It is difficult to discuss Yoruba political leadership without eventually comparing Chief Obafemi Awolowo and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Their political trajectories share striking similarities, yet their approaches to power could hardly be more different. Both built their political fortunes from the Southwest. Both understood the importance of political organisation. Both created formidable political networks and eventually sought to translate regional influence into national leadership. But here is where the story gets interesting. Awolowo was the visionary; Tinubu is the strategist. Awolowo wanted to transform Nigeria according to a clearly defined political philosophy: Federalism, Education, Social welfare, Regional autonomy and Disciplined governance. He built an organisation around ideas. Tinubu, on the other hand, has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for political calculation, coalition-building and adaptation. His genius, whether one admir...
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When the Numbers Keep Improving but the People Are Still Suffering

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Each time I think about Nigeria’s worsening socioeconomic reality while listening to the Tinubu administration celebrating improved macroeconomic indicators, I am tempted to ask a simple but profound question:  Who is deceiving whom? The government may point to GDP growth, rising foreign reserves, increased government revenue, exchange-rate stability and other macroeconomic indicators as evidence that the economy is recovering. But the fundamental question is: recovering for whom? Macroeconomic statistics may be reassuring to economists, international financial institutions and foreign investors. But what meaning do they have to the ordinary Nigerian whose income buys less every month, whose food bill keeps rising, whose rent is becoming unaffordable, whose children’s education costs more, whose healthcare is increasingly out of reach and whose sense of security is being eroded by the day? An economy is not an abstract spreadsheet. It is ultimately about people. What is...
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The Widow Who Gave Everything

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Jesus sat quietly near the temple treasury and watched people as thry brought their offerings.  The wealthy came and gave generously, and the sound of their substantial contributions must have attracted everyone's attention.  Then came a poor widow who placed just two tiny coins into the treasury. The amount was so insignificant that, by ordinary standards, it could hardly be called a meaningful giving. Yet Jesus saw something others did not. The wealthy had given from their abundance. Their gifts were large, but giving them did not threaten their wealth. The widow, however, had almost nothing. She was poor. Those two coins represented everything she possessed. Her gift was small in quantity, but immense in meaning. Therein lies the philosophical wisdom of this timeless biblical story. Human beings have a natural tendency to measure worth by quantity: wealth, status, possessions, achievements, influence and numbers.  We often assume that the person who gives t...
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The Wisdom of Distance

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“Igi gógóró má gun mi lójú, òkèrè là ti ńwò ó.” “A tall tree should not poke my eyes; it is from a distance that we behold it.” There are people in life whose behaviour, words and attitudes can become toxic to our peace of mind. We may wish to understand them, change them, or remain close to them because of affection, history or obligation. But wisdom sometimes lies not in confrontation, but in distance. Just as we admire a thorny tree from afar without allowing its branches to wound us, we can learn to keep a healthy psychological distance from those whose toxicity repeatedly hurts us. Distance is not always hatred, resentment or rejection; sometimes, it is self-preservation. We cannot always control how others behave, but we can choose how close we allow their behaviour to come to our hearts. Some people are best loved from a distance, some understood from a distance, and some simply left at a distance. Keeping psychological distance from toxic people is knowing that prot...
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Hunger Is an Invitation, Not a Command

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When we feel hungry, the stomach is not simply sending a command to fill it with whatever will silence the hunger. It is an invitation to nourish the body with the right food: food that will help the entire system function at its best, providing strength, health and wellbeing. But, I see a deeper lesson here. Not everything that satisfies a craving necessarily serves our wellbeing. In life, we are constantly confronted with appetites,  not only for food, but for money, recognition, power, success, pleasure and acceptance. The temptation is often to satisfy these appetites with whatever is immediately comes our way, without considering the consequences. Yet, just as the body needs the right nourishment to remain healthy, the mind, character and soul need the right values to remain strong. Hunger may tell us that we need to eat, but wisdom tells us what is worth consuming. Perhaps this is one of life's greatest lessons: learning to distinguish between what satisfies us mo...
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