By Abdu Rafiu
There are a great many events taking place in the cosmos, do I say in our world, to which a majority of mankind close themselves. There are a handful of these events which are of the utmost importance. One of such Events occurred recently — when yearly the Creator inclines to the world specially to bless all mankind, but women in particular in aid of the accomplishment of their very high tasks in life. They receive strength to be able to fulfil their tasks. It is also an occasion they are reminded of their very crucial roles as ordained by our Lord and God and not as thought or figured out by the human brain.
True womanhood is a blessing not just to her home but the entire land. She is a jewel and joy to the home and beyond her environment; indeed, for the Subsequent Creation to which her influence can reach. It should be realized that women are not only on earth but in all Creations. The woman on earth is to regard the woman in the Light Spheres as a model after whom she is expected to fashion her being and activities. The entire Creation is governed by the same and uniform laws. Woman on earth cannot, therefore, make herself an outcast, drawing up roles for herself.
The hallowed tasks, according to the enlightenment of higher knowledge spreading on earth in these times, are the same as in higher regions, namely:
- to ennoble her surroundings; i). it is ennoblement that brings about ascent towards Paradise, the Luminous Heights; ii). the existence of genuine womanhood is alone enough irrevocably to ensure the ascent, ennoblement and continuous purity of the entire Creation;
- to ensure the continuous flow of radiations from the Light — which woman only through the delicacy of her intuitive perception can mediate;
- to maintain connection with the Light, thus constituting the core, the supply of power and the strengthening; i). the power and sustaining force emanate from her;
- being the link, the bridge to Spiritual Realms, she bears the highest tasks in the world. Through her connection with the Light Realm, she is able to disperse evil tendencies and purify her environment. The close connection endows woman with creative power which grants her the more delicate intuitive faculty;
- in the values of Creation, grading downwards, woman comes first, and then the man. She constitutes the flowers of the household which open to and absorb the rays of sunlight for the sustenance of the whole, the trunk and the root; the later fetches the coarse necessity such as water and food from the soil. In other words, they have different and distinct roles.
- her principal task is to make the earth homelike and harmonious;
- woman is endowed with grace as the most beautiful spiritual gift; every look, every movement, every word of a woman must bear the nobility of her soul.
In all the foregoing lie her tasks as well as her power and her greatness. We learn that grace makes the woman; grace alone holds true beauty for every age and every physical form, for it makes everything beautiful, because it is the expression of a pure spirit from which it issues.
A woman who stands at her post is able to get men to strive towards the highest ideal, and ennoblement in all things. The influence is so pervasive that, as I have previously stated, when a woman of dignified carriage enters a gathering, all heads turn in her direction and men begin, albeit unconsciously, to adjust themselves, their shirts and ties; their garment and caps and comport themselves, what they say and how they say it in order to be approved by the lady who may not even look in their direction, who is not aware of any fuss over her; she simply heads towards her seat. Before the right woman, therefore, every man must bow. With the beauty, charm and dignified bearing women are to seize the attention of men and turn their gaze upwards to the Light. The attributes are not for shamelessness and seduction. So equipped are women that they can, in all simplicity and much surely, separate right from wrong and direct attention to the imperative of heeding the Will of the Most High.
The all-pervading influence of the women is derived from the abundance of spiritual power with which they are endowed which men do not have. It is part essence of what is called substantiate substantiality which angels and elemental beings carry as their embodiment. With the endowment, these serve the Creator unconditionally. Part of this women bear with added instrumentality of free will which enables them to more easily appreciate the Will of God and heed It than men.
Thus, men and women have different natures and logically different roles and duties. As it can be seen in the foregoing, the differences are spiritual. Were men to have the essence with which women are imbued, they will be inhibited in their active coarse activities. As women carry such heavy responsibility of furthering maturity, development and refinement of mankind, it is essential to recognise that womanhood holds the key to the spiritual development of humanity.
It cannot be out of place for the Lord in His Love and Perfection to set aside a period to remind them of their high tasks and renew their strength. Dr. Stephen Lampe, formerly of the World Bank in the United States, says in his invaluable work, Building Future Societies…” “As we seek to eliminate the injustices against women and to improve the condition of womanhood in every way, the key goal should be to redirect her primary and natural task on earth – which is to provide spiritual leadership; to lead humanity back home to Paradise.
“It is necessary to explain what is meant by spiritual leadership. It is not a matter of holding key offices in religious organizations, or a preoccupation with religions as they exist today. It is a question of setting and clarifying values that are worthy of human beings, of sensitizing humanity to good and bad, of constantly reminding us of the spiritual goal of human existence, of drawing our attention to what to what accords with the Will of God and what deviates from It.
“As spiritual leaders, women would set the human agenda; they would decide what goals humanity should pursue. They would inspire dedication and commitment to such goals, and monitor human progress using yardsticks that accord with the highest values. Genuine womanhood is fully endowed with the necessary talents to provide this kind of leadership and is able to ensure followership. Such leadership is neither coercive nor aggressive, nor does it require the power that earthly offices confer.”
From this, it is easy to see that in most religious activities, women are in their elements. In the festival of “Iyemoja”, the worship of nixies, also called water sprites, the goddess of the river, women are in the front, for example, leading the procession. They are attired in white. A good number of Christians would tell you they started to go to church as a result of pestering by their wives, otherwise the men would be content watching football matches on television on Sundays or go to play golf.
With such powers and pervasive influence of women, it is easier to understand the lamentation of Donald Duke, a former Governor of Cross River State, when he said it must be that the men who are involved in corruption do not have good wives, otherwise how do you explain unearned income to an upright and good woman at home! Even a timid wife who is unable to face her man would feel palpably ill-at-ease, such that the wrinkling of her face, the squeezing of her mouth would force a conversation with her husband.
The statement by Sir William Osler, the renowned British Physician, is apt here when he once said: “It is better to know the patient than to know the disease.” We must know women first and then what are the afflictions that have assailed them? The blessings mediated by the Lord every year mainly for women to aid them in the fulfilment of their high tasks flow past mankind untapped every time.
In the special and unique Work, In the Light of Truth, the Grail Message. Abd-ru-shin, says: “Above all the call is directed to womanhood once more! Through their more delicate intuitive perception womanhood has the ability to distinguish with infallible certainty what belongs to the Light and where there is still hope for it, and what irretrievably remains a prey to the Darkness and must perish with it.
“For this, however, womanhood must first be purified itself and rise from the swamp into which it has frivolously led the whole of mankind! And only when vanity has fallen away from her will woman again be able to perceive intuitively in the right way!
“Of all the developed ones, womanhood has allowed itself to be reduced too willingly, to descend from that step which the Creator graciously assigned to woman, to spread ruination instead of God’s blessing, and to distort all that is noble, when she was meant to keep it upright and also undimmed.”
The Work continues: “It is womanhood, the woman, whom the Creator once chose to be the Guardian of Flame of Holy longing for the Light in all His Creations, bestowing the most delicate intuitive ability upon her for the purpose! She came into existence in order to absorb the radiations of the Light without hindrance, and to pass them on in the purest way to the man as well as to the particular surroundings.
“For this reason, she exercises an influence no matter where she may be! Through her nature she has been blessed for this! And she has used this Gift of grace for the opposite! The influence given to her by God she exercises to attain egoistic and often condemnable ends, instead of uplifting her surroundings, keeping the longing for the Light alive within the souls during their wanderings through the dense plains that have to serve for their development and maturing towards the Spiritual Height!
“Thus, they were meant to be a steadying and supporting influence to the wanderers, to offer upliftment and strength through their being, and to keep open the connection to the Light, the Prime Source of all Life!
“They could have already turned this earth to a Paradise in the World of Gross Matter, swinging joyously in the purest Will of the Almighty!
“The Guardian of the Flame of Holy Longing for the Light, however, has failed as no creature has ever failed before, because she was equipped with gifts the possession of which should never have allowed her to fall! And she dragged down an entire section of the World with her into swamp of the Darkness!…
“Wake up, women of this earth! Become pure again and faithful in your thinking and your actions, and keep your entire volition firmly anchored in the Holiness of the Will of God!”
For all men, it is time for us to seek higher knowledge. Through it we will see how our world, nay, Creation is governed. The Laws manifesting the Will of the Creator provide the foundation for the explanations of all life’s mysteries and perplexities. Tony Robins states: “It is your decisions and not your conditions that determine your destiny.” By the wise saying, we see that power flowing through man is directed by his decision. He is then accountable for the way that power has been used – for good or for ill. He bears responsibility for the consequences of his choice made through a free decision.
DOYIN ABIOLA’S DAY
I can see a great many thronging the funeral rites venue to witness today the burial of the remains of Dr. (Mrs). Doyinsola Abiola, the newspaper amazon who bestrode the journalism world like a colossus. Doyin Abiola passed away last month, precisely on August 5, 2025. She was aged 82. Indeed, she had been off her beat for a long time after the death of her husband, Moshood Kasimowo Abiola, MKO, renowned businessman, publisher, philanthropist and politician who died under controversial circumstances.
After graduation in 1969 from the University of Ibadan where she read English and Drama, Doyin then Doyin Aboaba joined the Daily Sketch in Ibadan. During her time at the newspaper, she wrote a regular column she titled ‘Tiro’ which was to indicate it was a woman’s column and it would discuss women’s affairs. But Doyin went beyond that to discuss the world, every subject under the sun.
After a year, she took off to pursue her Master’s degree programme in the United States. On her return, she joined the Daily Times as a Features Writer. At the time, it was the Features arm of the Editorial Department that wrote editorials, making two women who were involved in editorial writing at the Daily Times in that period. The other lady was Dupe Adeogun. At the time there were a handful of brilliant women in the Editorial Department such as Bisi Adebiyi, woman editor; Agbeke Ogunsanwo, editor of children’s magazine and Margaret Cole who was science editor, and who signed her writings as Peggy Cole, assisted by Terry Agbelemoge. When Doyin came in, Ekem Nwankwo the novelist, was head of Features and Deputy Editor, (Editorial) and chief leader writer. Others in that arm were Chike Ezimora, Olu Idowu (Akaraogun). Levi Okoroafor, later Senator, soon joined.
After Nwankwo left, Doyin Aboaba took over as Features Editor and was in the saddle until she left to take a PhD in communications and political science. She returned in 1979 and was redeployed to the newly established Editorial Board by Dr. Patrick Dele Cole. Dr. Cole brought Dr, Stanley Macebuh as Editorial Adviser and Chair of the new editorial board. It was when Doyin Abiola became Features Editor that our paths crossed properly. Quick witted, Doyin did not waste time in showing her class. She did not shrink in throwing punches during our editorial afternoon conference, the conference of line editors in the Editor’s Office to consider materials going into the paper the following day. Line editors took turns to brief the meeting and the subjects were heatedly debated.
Doyin was the chief leader writer at the time of Areoye Oyebola’s editorship and that of Olusegun Osoba. Interesting times that witnessed a gathering of very bright and informed minds! You could trust Doyin Abiola with power-packed, hard-hitting editorials, predictably in a language that was her indisputable forte. One of her draft editorials that stuck to my head was “The Unanswered Questions.” The editorial was in response to the defence by Joseph Gomwalk, Governor of Benue-Plateau State, who had been accused of corruption by Aper Aku, a public-spirited man who was later to become a politician.
Doyin Abiola was able to squeeze time in her tight roll call schedule to lecture at the Daily Times Training School. For her, punctuality was the sole of business. She was not known to keep meetings waiting. Being warm-hearted, she laughed easily. She was as warmed hearted as she was unsparing when incidents called for it. We worked fairly closely. She was Features Editor and yours sincerely was Chief Sub-Editor. She left the Times in 1980 to become the founding editor of National Concord and later its Managing Director. May her path be blessed on her continuing journey in the Beyond and through Creation with gaze prayerfully turned to the Heights.
The Guardian
