Ask Chuka

My friend told me recently that their new employee resigned after her probationary period was extended because of her performance. HR had a conversation with her and pointed out areas where she needed improvement. She was given a one-month extension to work on those areas, but instead of taking the opportunity to grow, she chose to resign. A few days earlier, I also spoke with my mentor. He struggled to relax during our conversation because he had just come out of an argument with a Gen Z employee regarding expectations on a task he had been assigned. These days, you hear many stories about what it is like working with Gen Z. It often feels as though a new generation is trying to redefine how work, commitment and responsibility should look in this era. The challenge is that everywhere you turn, someone is saying, “Things are no longer done that way.” The message seems simple: accept the new way things are done or insist on your values even if you have to stand alone. To be honest, I ha...

 We had the privilege of printing the T-shirts and brochure for the Service of Songs held in honour of Ifunanya Nwangene , a prolific young soloist whose life was cut short following an unfortunate snake-bite incident . Since her passing, the internet has been abuzz. In my opinion, this is not merely because of the tragic incident itself, but because Ifunanya lived a phenomenal life , however short it may seem. Many people have passed following snake bites without drawing the attention of their communities, let alone the media. Others have lived such unimpactful lives that the world silently wished they had come and gone unnoticed. But Ifunanya’s life was different. Her presence mattered. Her voice counted. Her impact lingered. The Bible says in Psalm 90:12 : “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” No one knows when life will end, but Ifunanya’s passing, despite her young age, reminded me of two profound truths: 1. LIVE PURPOSEFULLY If the purpose of a t...

  When we go to the hospital, we do not ask about the tribe or religion of the doctors, nurses, or other health practitioners before receiving the care we need. When we go to the market to buy our daily needs, we do not concern ourselves with the tribe or religion of the sellers. We simply get what we need and move on. When we rent houses or attend schools, we rarely pause to consider the tribe or religion of others. What remains stunning, however, is that during elections, politicians suddenly remind us of our differences in tribe and religion, using them as distractions from the things that collectively benefit us: healthcare, infrastructure, education, security, and good governance. Today at Mass, the Church marked Interfaith Week. The service was beautiful and deeply moving. Three Imams visited our parish and stayed through the Holy Mass. They were given the opportunity to address us as brethren, different in faith, yet united in many core beliefs: 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐆𝐨...

  King Musko had a clever jester whom he considered to be a very yeye person (𝑨𝒔𝒌 𝒂 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒈𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 😊). One day, the king summoned him, handed him a staff in front of everyone, and said, “Take this staff and keep it with you as the most yeye person in my kingdom, until you find someone more yeye than yourself.” Months later, the king fell seriously ill and became convinced he would not survive, even though friends tried to comfort him with false hope. Knowing that his jester always spoke the truth, he summoned him and said he was going on a very long journey and might never return. Curious, the jester asked, “My king, do you have friends or anyone to welcome you when you arrive there?” The king answered, “No.” “What preparations have you made for the journey?” the jester asked again. “Nothing,” the king replied. The jester smiled wryly and handed the staff back to the king. “When you gave me this staff as the most yeye person i...

  One of the saddest feelings I carry about 2025 is that my friend, Michaela Moye, popularly known as Mickey, passed on before the year ended. If you are reading this, I am glad you made it. Even so, with every part of me, I wish Mickey had made it too. But I am not the author and finisher of life, and my capacity for some things is limited. Mickey was a good person. By human standards, she truly was. She was educated, honest in her dealings, vocal about the things she believed, and never ashamed to share her struggles until the very end. I am grateful that I reached out to her after she posted on Facebook about how weak she felt and how difficult it had become for her to stand due to a shortage of blood in her system. I could only reach out because she shared her struggle openly. That openness gave room for concern, connection, and help. Eventually, a nurse was by her bedside, along with someone she had called and waited hours for to come and assist her. Sadly, those interventions...

  A few weeks ago, I was at Anglican Girls Grammar School Abuja for the sweetest Harvest Thanksgiving service for year 2025. The only downside was the amount of time we spent, perhaps because we were all too excited. At some point during the programme, the Chaplain asked the audience if he could have a few more minutes to round up a section. The students thundered 𝐍𝐎! While everyone laughed because parents were obviously ready to agree with the Chaplain, I saw something entirely different. I saw a new generation of young people who will be bold enough to transform Nigeria. This morning while studying scripture, I landed on Luke 19:41 to 44: Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes… While reflecting on this scripture, I concluded that many of us in Nigeria and in different facets of life do not like peace. We may not even desir...

 Yesterday, the anchor scripture on the YouVersion app was Jeremiah 29:13 : “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” In our home, Saturdays are usually our rest days. We don’t insist on a family prayer time because everyone deserves to sleep in after a long week of early mornings. But since it was the first day of November, I requested a general devotion once everyone was awake. We began by exploring what it truly means to seek God with all our heart. Each of us shared experiences of times when we desperately called on God for help. The children spoke honestly, and soon the conversation shifted to our daily lives and the things we want to achieve. My daughter started by sharing her battle with mathematics,  a subject that once terrified her. She laughed as she confessed that she used to cry whenever the maths teacher entered the class because everything sounded like gibberish. Thankfully, at Anglican Girls' Grammar School, Abuja where she studi...

  A few years ago, during a period when I travelled frequently for work, my driver and I were involved in a serious accident. The cause? Large stones used as roadblocks by security operatives were left unattended on the road long after duty hours. Even those living in that community didn't find a need to take it out.  That experience reminded me of an old story titled “A Good Deed Rewarded.” The King’s Experiment King Arund had grown tired of his people’s constant complaints. They wanted the government to handle everything, even the most trivial tasks. To teach them a lasting lesson, he secretly ordered that a large stone be placed in the centre of the City Square one night. The next morning, people began to pass by. A merchant, annoyed at the obstruction, refused to move the stone. He insisted it was the government’s responsibility. Others also complained, cursed, or found ways to manoeuvre around it, but no one made an effort to remove it. The Farmer Who Chose Action Hours...

There was a blind man called Bart. Some people in his community said he was born blind, while others believed he became blind at a very young age. Whatever the true account was, everyone who knew Bart knew him as the blind man. Bart was loved by many in his community. He enjoyed the support of his friends, especially whenever he became curious about his surroundings. When they visited the beach or the riverside, he would ask how clean the water was, whether it was blue, green, or turquoise. Other times, he wanted to know the colour of the sky, what kind of birds flew above, and even what his friends looked like. Because Bart absorbed so much information, his friends created a blindfold game called “No Cheats.” They would ask questions about their environment, such as “What colour is the sky?” or “What bird is flying up there?” Most times, Bart won, because when his friends told him the sky was blue, or named a bird, he could identify it by the sound it made or the feeling in the air. T...

  Midlife Crisis Is Real. It’s either you accept it and do something about it, or live in denial and face consequences you cannot deny.  I’m almost certain that, for the past month, I have declined to take a lot of phone calls; business, personal, even intimate ones from my mum and a few others. The bad part was, I knew the consequences: lost business, strained relationships, and growing distance from people I care about. But I didn’t care. To make sure I wasn’t sliding into depression, I threw myself into lawn tennis. I’m usually regarded as someone without great stamina on the court, but I played harder than usual, sometimes twice a day, because tennis became my escape. My driver even asked if I was training for an amateur tournament! 😊 For those wondering what a midlife crisis is, Gemini defines it as a period of self-reflection and emotional turmoil, typically occurring between ages 40 and 60, when one begins to question their identity, life choices, and accomplishments....

I am not sure if King David had another war to fight, because it was not stated. But I read that God was angry with Israel, so He incited David to take a census of Judah and Israel and enrol the fighting men. Now, this was the same David praised in Scripture, Saul killed thousands, but David tens of thousands. When did statistics (the number of fighting men) suddenly become more important than trust in God, who had been guiding them to victory irrespective of numbers? Scripture records that David was incited to do wrong because God was angry. Please don’t ask me what David did oh 😊 but I am certain he did not take another soldier’s wife this time 😊. Not long after, the prophet Gad visited David. David already knew he had sinned, and Gad told him to choose his punishment. Wise David chose God’s punishment over man’s. (If you think he was wrong, try remembering a time when someone decided to “deal with you.” If men were gods… hmmm 😅). Even with mercy, the punishment was great, 70,000 ...

What if money isn’t the best thing someone could ever give you? They called the gate of the temple Beautiful. It was there that Emmanuel (not real name), a man lame from birth, was dropped daily to beg. Perhaps it was called “Beautiful” because kind people passed by, often generous enough to give him something. For years, this man never went anywhere else, he grew comfortable with his lifestyle of begging. One day, however, everything changed. Peter and John, unlike others, had no money to offer. Instead, they told him: “In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.” Instantly, he was healed and there was no record of him ever returning to his old trade. Reading this from Acts 3 today reminded me of Cosmas Maduka ’s words: “If all a rich man gives you is his money, he has cheated you.” Too often, when we meet wealthy or influential people, we only want money, forgetting that a connection, a referral, or even a miracle could be far greater than money. My prayer for you and me is this: may we m...

  Something I read this morning reminded me of my time working under one of the best bosses I’ve ever had, Mr Abu Ugbede, when I served as a Supply Chain Data Officer. 😲 I was genuinely surprised that someone would prefer a spreadsheet to a database management system built with Excel. When he resumed as Head of the Supply Chain Unit that year, he carried out a thorough audit of how our department functioned and the tools we used. He then told me he wanted us to use Microsoft Excel to track health commodities at the warehouse. I tried to justify my existing system, including highlighting the risk of errors with spreadsheets, but he stood his ground, maybe because I didn’t follow his instructions. I kept saying, “But this system I’m currently using provides all the data and indicators you need.” Still, he insisted on Excel. I disagreed, and refused. In plain terms, I was being insubordinate. Unfortunately, one of the privileges of adulthood is that nobody can flog you when you err. ...

  While reading my devotional by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, I learned that Charles Finney, the evangelist, was also a lawyer. In the 1830s, speaking in a New York church, he often made altar calls, asking people to step forward publicly while they still had the chance to give their lives to Jesus, and many responded, especially lawyers like him. One night, however, the Chief Justice of New York, deeply moved by the gospel Charles preached, wrestled in his mind with the idea of stepping out like the ordinary people. He wondered if it was appropriate given his prestigious position as the highest-ranking figure in New York’s legal hierarchy. After a long time pondering, he finally thought, ‘Why not? I’m convinced of the truth, why shouldn’t I do it like everyone else?’ Perhaps afraid, like Nicodemus, he went backstage and quietly told Finney, ‘When you call people out to give their lives publicly, I will come out.’ An excited Finney wasted no time. He announced to the whole congregation,...

  "Am I not better to you than ten sons?"—Elkanah asked his wife, Hannah. The first time I saw "PROVOCATION" in a positive light was while listening to T.D. Jakes break down the story of Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. As recorded in 1 Samuel 1, Peninnah had children, but Hannah’s womb was closed by God. Yet, Elkanah loved Hannah so deeply that he doubled her portion, perhaps to prove his love. But no matter what he gave her, Hannah remained unfulfilled. She longed for a child of her own. Elkanah, puzzled, asked if he wasn’t worth more than ten sons. But Hannah knew better—her co-wife had both companionship and the gift of bearing children. Why should she settle for just one? And when Peninnah taunted her, it provoked Hannah, not to despair, but to action. Hannah’s desperation led her to the temple, where even the prophet mistook her silent prayers for drunkenness. Yet, God answered her with Samuel, a son so great that he outshone anything Peninnah h...

YOU ARMED ME WITH STRENGTH FOR THE BATTLE – KING DAVID (Psalm 18:39) In December 2024, I found myself tuning in to several discussions on prostate cancer and its prevention. One talk, particularly by the ever-vocal Dr. Rasheed Adedapo (see the link 👇🏾 https://www.instagram.com/asliceofnaija/reel/C3BLkhpxccB/ ), stood out. He recommended having sex at least 21 times a month as a preventive measure. That caught my attention—not just for the health advice, but also because I wondered where I’d find that frequency! 😊 Not long after, while taking a shower one morning, I noticed a small bump on my private part. Fear gripped me instantly. I couldn’t even focus on finishing my bath properly—I kept checking it under different lighting, using my phone and mirrors, waiting for dawn so I could rush to the doctor. When I finally got examined, the doctor burst into laughter (and even bought me lunch) because it turned out to be absolutely nothing. Yet, in my mind, I had already jumped to the wors...

  You’ve probably heard about the monkey experiment, which shows how individuals can be conditioned to behave in certain ways without ever questioning why. If you haven’t, here’s a link to check it out 👉🏾  The Monkey Experiment This concept plays out in our daily lives more than we realise. Let me share a few examples: 👉🏾 The Lent Tradition & Questioning Norms As a child growing up in a Catholic home, I knew that meat was off the table on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I never questioned this—I simply followed the norm. It wasn’t until I Googled it (yes, do it too! 😀) that I truly understood its reason. 👉🏾 Workplace Conditioning & Missed Opportunities At one organisation I worked for, earnings were commission-based. Strangely, most employees complained about low salaries but made no effort to earn more from the 2.5% commission offered. Had I not stopped to reflect, I might have joined the crowd—frustrated yet unwilling to break the cycle. 💡 The "Monkey Effect...

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." I am often reminded that I am not in church whenever I say these words among my friends. But I believe that the Bible—Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth—and the guidance we receive from religious institutions are meant to shape our daily lives, not just our moments of worship. Let’s consider a few everyday examples: ✅ When the rule says resume work at 8 AM, but we show up at 9 AM, we haven’t done right. I’ve seen businesses lose customers simply because staff were tardy, giving competitors the edge. ✅ When employees steal from a business that faithfully pays their salaries, they contribute to its downfall. Without proper checks, it’s only a matter of time before the business collapses. ✅ When tenants and estate residents delay rent or service charge payments (I admit, I have been guilty too), it becomes impossible for landlords and managers to deliver quality services. But progress happens when we hono...

  I often tell my friends that it’s easy to follow the scriptural instruction to “love your enemies and pray for those who curse you”—when you have no known enemies. We all laughed and debated the point over some delicious Nsala soup my wife, Linda, had prepared. But just a few days later, my friend Roland stormed into my office, fuming about being passed over for promotion again and receiving a lower bonus last year. Before I could even say, “Bros, calm down,” Roland blurted out, “God will punish my boss and the entire management for treating me so badly!” Smiling, I encouraged him to pause and think. I’ve been in his shoes before. I told him that anger wouldn’t solve anything and that it’s in moments like these that we need to choose forgiveness and love—no matter how hard it feels. I reminded him of the scripture that says, “The hearts of kings are in the palm of God’s hands.” Sometimes, in this our Nigeria, promotions don’t happen because of your talent or hard work. You even s...

  PLEASE DO NOT LOSE FAITH Tonight, I reflected on my younger days, when people were drawn to the choir because they loved my voice and the way I led worship. I was passionate about worshipping God and seeing others join the choir excited me. Some of those who joined were ladies who felt connected to me because of how I led them. I never saw anything wrong with what initially drew them in—after all, anything can inspire us to start something good. But I always hoped that over time, their focus would shift to a deeper connection with God, the One we worship through all those beautiful sounds of praise. Unfortunately, I got close to a couple of these ladies, and they agreed to date me because they believed that with a "church boy," you couldn’t go wrong. They assumed that being in church meant I perfectly reflected God’s nature. But I was far from perfect. No matter how righteous I appeared, my righteousness was like filthy rags before the God we served. When some of these rela...