One of my short stories

More than a Thousand Miles from Home

“There is a wave of stupidity that crosses the regions in the tropics” he explained,

as he drew an invisible line in the air that demarcated the north temperate zones from the

tropics. His cheeks that usually looked bulbous, now had a flat appearance as he

enlightened the listeners on the backwardness of Africa, most especially Nigeria. “All

third world countries have the same brand of stupidity” he said with a grin on his face.

Josephine, whose new pride was being married to him, could not agree more. She placed

her arms that had the color of white chocolate over his shoulders, and for a moment, she

thanked Jesus that her white mother had insisted on leaving Jamaica. The thought of her

walking the streets of Kingston, because of her father’s love for his home gave her mixed

feelings. These mixed feelings bordered between victory in living the west and

amusement of what she would have turned out to be if she lived in Jamaica. She

loved his ebullience that sparked as he spoke of his homeland, Nigeria. He smiled as

Josephine winked at him. He knew what she was thinking in her head. He was convinced

that her adoration for him resonated in her head like a John Legend song. And that gave

him more drive to speak on, as he waved his arms and described to the listeners who were

all Canadian, of the corruptness of his people. He also did not forget to mention the

several cultures that were just evidence of his people’s foolishness.

The Canadians had enjoyed his rant. And one of them had remarked how

theatrical he looked, as he gestured and raised his voice. They were surprised to see him

speak so loudly and unrestrained. The Canadians had never seen so much passion in him,

except when he spoke about the new projects that had potentials for huge profit. May ,

the only female among the Canadians giggled flirtatiously as she commented on how he

spoke badly of his homeland. While, the males laughed loudly as they stood under a tent

peeking at him, the Nigerian and Josephine. May laughed harder almost spilling the

Alexander Keith’s beer on her denim pants, as she remarked on his trying to separate

himself from the stupidity he claimed his people had. One of the males, who was drunk

and had temporarily lost the Canadian politeness, stated that Africans were undoubtedly

primitive but the Nigerian man did not need to state to obvious to them. Their hysterical

laughter slowly dimmed as they all agreed to themselves that what the Nigerian man had

said only proved that guilty notion they had of Africa.

Soon he and Josephine walked up to the Canadians who were about to leave the

artificial palm-leaved tent that stood mismatched in between two tall buildings. He

looked up at the fourth floor of the building, with his eyes focused on the room where his

office was located. A smile was stamped on his face as he spoke to the Canadians.

“The sculpture is beautiful, and what remarkable detail it has” May said, trying to

conceal the guilt she felt on mocking the Nigerian and his homeland. He looked up to the

sculpture that was hung on the wall to give the tent a wild and more African look. He then

smiled briefly at May and turned again to see the sculpture ,which was a replica of a Yoruba

bronze head. The hollow eyes and metallic luster of the bronze head reminded him of his history
classes back in Nigeria. A black framed picture of him sitting in a class and listening to a

lecture on the lost wax-casting process, formed in his head. He could remember his

teacher describe this technique of creating bronze sculptures from wax, brass and clay.

These sculptures that were intricate in their structure and creation techniques that date back to

the 6th and 12th century had intrigued his teenage and impressionable mind. Slowly, the black

framed picture faded in his head. He turned away from the bronze sculpture and continued his

conversation with his Canadian friends.

Revamping....

I'm now a free man!!!! Free from school work atleast for the next three weeks. I'm staring at my blog that is like an abandoned child, whose mother or should I say father stares at him every day, but doesn't feed it. As a result, I've decided to save my dying blog from starvation. Christmas is already here, and money has started flying out of people's pockets (mine included). Chai!! I just got this i pod touch, which is the most aesthetically pleasing i pod, I've seen. Still, as I stare into this black coloured device that is not more than an inch thick, I fight myself from asking if it is really worth it. Well, I am not going to answer that question to my self. But I will prove to myself in every way possible that the fact that my device has touch screen tech, Internet (wi-fi), 8GB space, and even calculator, makes it worth the price. Even if this task of convincing myself that my new i pod touch is worth it, just shows the extent of how affected I am by popular culture. No doubt, I'm loving the i pod and how sleek it is, but still there's that part of me that knows that the underlying drive for me to suddenly change my mind from buying the "every day" i pod is my "Long throat" and my yearning to be impressive to others. I am not going to put all the blame of this covetous attitude on the Nigerian youth culture of celebrating what is "fly" "tight" "tush" and all those crap talk that glorifies excessiveness and materialism. Still, as I try to understand all that is me, and know if I am a person that is simple or "oloju kokoroed". Maybe, I border simplicity and Oloju kokoro (greed). Anyway, I'm also dying for an i phone too. I guess that makes me fit into the latter side of the border.

YAHOOZEE

The long awaited yahoozee video. This song is just a feel good song that makes u feel like u're worth a million bucks. The video's okay, still ama sere, jaiye,..eh yahoozee lol. Guys leave ur comments

OJUJU IS COMING

Last week I got into a heated(boiling) argument with my naija friend in the midst of my other roomies(Canadians). At first the topic was religion and everyone was talking about the bible. Claims were made on how parts of the bible are discriminatory against women. The ever popular issue of the bible not being complete and having books( eg Judas version, incomplete chapters from the book of peters etc). Then, the discussion shifted to other religions and Islam, Christianity's nemesis (you can beg to differ with this) was mentioned. Y'all know there's a lot of BS to be said about Islam. Suddenly, my naija broda claims authoritatively that Christianity is not a religion. I hear some people saying an amen to that. That's alright, we all have our personal opinions. Still, I'm going to break this down in my own way. We're(roomies and I) are all seated down talking about various religions; Buddhism, Islam, Taoism and BAM!!!Christianity should not be put side by side with these others. This claim that Christianity is not a religion implies that it is superior and in another level from other ways of worshiping and communicating to God.

If there's one thing never to do, never argue about religion, In fact I'm never doing it again. Regardless, some Nigerians tend to believe that Christianity is on another level from other world religions. We have this view that other religions are "heathen" and ours is the only true religion. This belief might have originated from the brain washing of the colonial days. While growing up as a kid, I had the belief that my native Nigerian religions were of the devil, thanks to the manner in which they were portrayed. As children we got scared by the names of native Nigerian gods. For reasons that bordered ignorance and intolerance, we believe that those who practise their native religions were devil worshippers. Some people might argue that if you're a true Christian, you should believe that Jesus is the only and true way of communicating to God. Well, the Muslims think the same way of Mohamed. Most "born again" Christians would ask you to choose if other religions( African traditional religions is right or wrong). Well, I do not have any right to judge if the wooden image, or Deity, worship is wrong or right. I can only see it as being a different way of worship.

Porn Palaver II

I was surprised to visit Linda Ikeji's blog and find the pics of a naked grown man and woman. The pictures show two individuals who were starked naked and humiliated by a mob on the streets. And the crime is adultery. Like wtf, so what if they commited adultery, it's none of the crowd's or anyone outside her family and friends' business. Again, adultery is a moral issue not a crime that should be punished by such jungle justice. Visit Linda Ikeji's blog for a more comprehensive post on this issue.

Don't Tase Me..

Police Brutality (not really) at its funniest.

Fimisile- leave me alone....yay..I can speak yoruba

Sorry to all of you guys, who have been visiting my blog, but don't find any new updates. I've been busy and lazy (do these two go together). Well, you get the idea, there's school work and every time I'm free, I get lazy to blog. Anyway, how y'all doing this fall. Life's going good (thank God) for me. I'm more relaxed now, even if my mind can't escape the fact that my dad is travelling via a Nigerian airline. Even if it's virgin or aero, which I hope, I still don't feel comfortable with Nigerian airlines. Honestly, I try to convince people that aviation in Nigeria is not as bad as we see on tv. I mean how many air line crashes or accidents, do we hear of. Still, it's the fear that even when these unforeseen accidents happen, there are usually not good enough rescue services. Also, we hardly hear of the causes of this crashes. So, how can we solve a life threatening problem, if we do not know the causes. Still, I give a short prayer, believing that all will be well.

My classes have been just there. I feel bored in most of them, owing to the fact that it's like I'm learning stuff, I've heard before. Still. I know it's going be better, when we get deeper into the courses.
I'm presently listening to Sunny Neji's Prisoner of love. And, love songs definitely sound differently to me these days. I now understand what Ne yo meant when he said he was sick of love songs. Love, love, love, so many people(which I belong to) really use that word inappropriately. Is it just a physical attraction to someone? or just a deep connection to someone. Unarguably, infatuation can be mistaken for love. They're like cousins. Anyway, have to go now, my roomate just brought this crazy and hallucinatory alcohol drink ever (that didn't sound right. Right?). I'm not drinking though (there's a shot of irony in this sentence). Peace people!!!!!!

Fire On The Mountain - asa

Asa is back with this original video and good song. I'd love her to add those sweet yoruba melodies to her song though.

History X

"Hate is baggage" one of the characters in the movie American history X describes. I am a staunch believer that people are generally of good heart, and that a lot of people live lives of hate due to the legacies they have inherited. Regardless of the environment or back ground we grow up in, we often are left with legacies of our predecessors. These legacies shape our lives and determine some choices we make. There are different races, ethnicities, and tribes blamed for promoting various vices. People of a same race are usually stereotyped to fit a certain vice. There are the aboriginals here in Canada that make up a huge percentage of those living in poverty, even with all the benefits that comes with being Aboriginal. I believe they are living under unproductive legacies set by their predecessors. I spoke to someone, considering the state of aboriginals in Canada, and he claimed that a huge percentage of these people are lazy and expect the government to do everything. There was a certain truth to what he said, but I still believe that most of the aboriginal youths, I saw roaming downtown winnipeg were living under legacies set by their parents and elderly ones. They have learnt attitudes and cultures that do not promote their personal growth. Imagine waking up to see your parents depending on welfare, and demanding for benefits. Most people will grow up, and simply inherit such unhealthy attitudes. This is one of the reasons why I do not support that unnecessary benefits and welfare be granted to people in the Niger Delta. Yes! they deserve a whole lot from the corporations making blillions in their land, because these corprations have to compensate the damage done to their land. Still, I do not agree with the exploitation of this right.

Back to the title History X, even if a huge number of us (which I am included in) don't have a deep understanding of our Nigerian history. it is still undeniable that we have a history of a whole lotta bad things. Even after our independence as a nation, legacies have being passed down from generation to another. Unarguably, these legacies are filled with the very infamous and sly corruption, bad leadership, poor and unproductive mentalities and so on. If you go down through our political, social and religious history, the legacies that have been passed down are just terrible. Change can not just occur, we have to enforce it and transfer it from one generation to another. My generation will provide leaders of our country, and imagine these same future leaders claiming that when they get to power, they are going to steal enough money. And these future leaders sugar coat their plans by saying they'll steal but still help. Yeah yeah!! we all know money is intoxicating, once they start, it's the end. The main reason why such mentality is in the minds of young people (which I belong to), is because we have inherited legacies our elders have given to us. We cannot blame our elders for all our problems, because we as individuals that belong to families, we as individuals that are brothers, sisters, cousins have the responsiblity to set examples for our young ones watching us closely and ever hungry to learn something from us. I used to think, that as an individual, I could do and say anything I wanted even with my siblings watching. But the truth is that they learn a lot from what I do. Though, I cannot be perfect, but at least, I could be responsible.

If Anne Frank had a blog

The name mentioned above might sound unfamiliar. But, if you know who this young girl is, you might already know the world she lived in. A world filled with discrimination, persecution, anarchy and abuse of power. I had read of this young Jewish girl called Anne Frank , and I had the chance of getting hold of the book. The book chronicles the life of Anne Frank and her family in hiding. It is based on real life account of Anne Frank and her Jewish family, who hid in an office building for up to two years, due to Hitler's persecution of Jews. The book which is a recreation of her diary, was to me enlightening to what Jews faced due to Hitler's psychotic hate for a particular group of people. Although, the book is really slow and tiring, since it is basically an account of people living a very boring and monotonous life in a building, it still gives its reader a connection to the characters. Fortunately, I was lucky to tune into the movie which was being shown on TV. It was a black and white movie, in fact, the first black and white movie I have ever watched from the start to end. Surprisingly, even if the movie was in B and W, it still was able to give the audience a very visual version of the book. Also, the movie freedom fighters which is about a class of young and irate teens, who get inspired by their teacher, through the help of the book Diary of a young girl. The students get to meet a real character from the book, and this consequently inspires them.
Anne Frank's diary of her last years, helped and saved these teenagers from the anger they felt inside. Still I wonder what this young lass would write if she had a blog, like most people reading this now.

Porn Palaver

I should have updated my blog earlier, but i have been quite busy working. And working at the orientation office isn't that bad, I get to work wiith new students and enjoy their benefits.
My head right now is in a riot of issues to blog about. But, I'm going to take it slow, bringing out these issues slowly.
If you are very conversant with what's happening in Nigeria, you might have come across this news. It talks about an hausa movie star(you didn't know they made movies right?) who is been accused of being in a porn flick. While, her partner is really not featured in the news, he is rather named as witheld. Typical right? I don't like being tribalistic and generalizing, but most people from the north are plain sexist. Surprisingly, they are proud of it, and do not realize any depravity in this sexist culture. Sexism is present in every part of Nigeria. It is embedded in our culture, even if it differs in its gravity from one place to another. The overall fact is that most tribes in Nigeria put men and women into certain roles. Even if the Yoruba culture is one of the few cultures in Nigeria that is less sexist, as every gender is entitled to the same things, but we still subject each gender to certain roles. You can't really argue that it is bad, as men and women are different in many aspects, and it is only human for us to assign them into roles based on these differences. The west that we use as a yard stick for measuring what is fundamentally right also puts people into roles based on gneder. Even if they are at a certain level of gender equality, they still assign people to certain roles, based on gender
Back to the juicier issue on hausa porn. The women are always blamed in such cases by the Sharia system, while we never hear anything about the men. I have gotten to know a few hausa men, and the way they regard women in general is quite appalling. I remeber when we had a gateman, and he got into arguement with me on the way women caress men who are not their husbands all in the name of movies. As for me who even thought the romance and sex scenes in Nigerian movies are crap. I was surprised to see that he was offended by it. It was through him that I saw my first hausa movie (never trying it again). There were no sex or romance scenes. That didn't bother me, but the fact that if there was, this guy was going to be angry not at the couple but the woman. We have heard of various cases of women accused of adultery or fornication, and are to be stoned to death. And most northerners I have met are in support of it.
Well, guys that's Nigeria for you, it's so complex with many problems. Hopefully, there will be an end to all these nonsense we hear.

MOVE YOUR BODY

d banj's new video with the guys from mo ht records. Tight video for naija standards.

Me and the rest of them

As a victim of growing up under cultural clashes, and being a very observant person of the cultures and behaviors of the people around me, I have observed that the Nigerian culture is a very communal one. The Nigerian culture supports the idea of an individual gaining an ideal status with aid from the rest of the community. This culture encourages being responsible for those in the community you belong to. No matter how large of a city one lives in Nigeria, you are still connected in the very tightly stitched fabric of the community. The community can even range from your extended family, your neighbours, teachers and basically everyone you know. However, the western culture teaches individualism and independence. It doesn't allow reliance on others (even your family) for aid. I have come to observe that people here start getting independent from a younger age. They really don't form bonds with others in the community. I'm not saying people don't make friends, it's just that you aren't stitched to the community, as much as what we experience in Nigeria. I guess this is the reason why capitalism is popular in the west. I recently read things fall apart(which is the only written record of the igbo and even Nigerian culture, which I know of). It's a book about machismo, strength, communalism, colonization, self fulfilment and so on. Chinua Achebe emphasizes on the manner at which the community as a whole is more important than the individuals. Not only is communalism prominent in the east, but in all parts of Nigeria. This consequently leads us to be people who are highly conscious of our society, that when we make some choices, we think of the effects these choices will have on the society. Surprisingly, this subjective choice making is often reflexive.

There is always this constant battle between individualism and communalism. The former allows one to make choices based on his personal reasons and learn from those mistakes, while the latter usually does not give room for those mistakes, as you are expected the follow the laid out rules the community has set up. They both have their pros and cons. Although, individualism is often blamed for causing people to stick in their sometimes destructive shells thereby fostering anti-social behaviors(which is common in the west), while communalism puts pressure on people to place their society in high esteem, even more than themselves.

Still on the topic, and on Things fall apart, there is a part of the novel which I think depicts this topic.

Does anyone remember where Nwoye (Okonkwo's son) experiences an epiphany. On hearing the Christians preach, he embraces this new religion not for its teachings ,but the simple fact that it answers the personal and deep question plaguing him. He connects a hymn of two brothers who were in darkness, to his friendship with Ikemefuna. His personal choice to become christian and shun his community's beliefs enrages everyone, as he is seen as a traitor. Finally, I believe that a fusion of these two ideologies in moderation, can create a stable, free, and well knit society.

Your side of the bar

I'm recovering from the Nigerian event, I went to yesterday. Okay, I'm exaggerating, it wasn't so bad, that I have to recover from it. Nevertheless, Nigerian events can give someone a serious head ache. It never starts on time, it is unnecessarily prolonged. It was a reception program for one of the commissioners. The event was nice, but just too long. It made me freaking tired that I wished I was back in school. Even the speeches were so long and most of the speakers were just saying stuff that I wished I had an ear plug. There was this guy representing the Sudanese community(mehn!! these people are coal black). His speech was interesting . He reminded the audience of those killed in the Darfur war, which the Nigerians closed to me expressed their shallowness and lack of interest in issues affecting other parts of the world. He specified that there are about 2.5 million Nigerians in Sudan. Honestly, I didn't know that. Of course, the Naija man behind me said "Kini won shen be". Which was what I also thought of. "What are they doing there". This is another proof that Nigerians are in almost every part of the world. The Sudanese guy said a line which I loved. He referred to Africa as "a rich continent with poor people". The commissioner was quite nice and friendly. He was very energetic and outspoken. Most times when one meets people in government, they seem like nice people who don't fall into this corrupt group, we all put them into. Okay this is going to annoy some people. When I met president Obassanjo(not personally oh!!) a few years ago, he was so nice and polite. He greeted everyone and shook hands with people. That impression of him being this cruel and corrupt president didn't match with what I was seeing. It just made me wonder if these people put up a front, and at the back do all the.......I was chatting with someone who isn't Nigerian on Nigeria. Surprisingly, this person who has also lived in Nigeria said there was alot of indiscipline in Nigeria. I know alot of Nigerians will be quick to refute that, and claim there's more discipline in the west. Well, there's indiscipline in both parts of the world. Though, we view ours mostly as not respecting your elders, not following the customs. But, indiscipline here goes beyond that. It's failing to obey the traffic light, because the police isn't present. It means your lecturer trying to take bribes from you , in order to give you good grades, or being disorderly in an event. I have discovered that alot of people place their values mostly on what side or group they belong to.

I had this random memory of when I was writing my exams in high school. I peered at my friend's work (malpractice) to see what he was doing. What I saw made me laugh my ass off, that I was lucky, I wasn't caught.
Here is his answer to this question

Ways of controlling vector insects
Use of insecticides----good
Use of sleeping nets----good
Clapping with hands-----ahhh

SNEAK PREVIEW 5(I think)..

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to mamarita , for making my one day tour of Toronto exciting. She was sooooo nice and fun to be around with. THANKS A MILLION mamarita(don't want to use ur real name). Hmm, finally, in winnipeg and damn it's hot. I wasn't expecting this, but its all good, just had a barbeque party with my family here(mehn didn't know pork tasted better than beef as burger).
I opened the newspaper and to my surprise I see a column saying a 3 year old british girl had been kidnapped in Port harcourt while she was being taken to school. WHAT!!! I couldn't believe that she was kidnapped by militants while the car was in a traffic jam. The fact that PH city(where I live) is this unsafe scares the shit out of me. Last year my dad called to tell me that parts of shell camp (where I hung out sometimes) was bombed by militants. The question of how a little girl could be kidnapped in broad day light, and ransom is being requested, bothers me. Well, its Nigeria and we have a way of surviving this things. Yes, God protect my family,when they are in PH.

Banky--Ebute Metta- Umbrella Naija Remix

I heard this and I think it sounds good and funny...ebute metta metta...lol..sampling rihanna's umbrella

K....NOW I'M STUCK

Why Me!!!!I decide to plan my summer and all plans go bad. My friend who is supposed to take me in Toronto suddenly refuses. It isn't really her fault, since, her family is going through stress presently. Parents divorce and stuff like that. So, I don't have any place to stay. I'm seriously thinking of other options, and the hotels are fuckin(mind my yoruba) expensive. Oh so much for hanging out with my blogger buddies who live in TDOT. All the same, I have no other option but to head to Winnipeg. The annoying part is that I'll have to pay connecting flight to Toronto (scream!!!!)., without seeing around (middle finger to air canada). Hope my summer doesn't turn sour.

BEST NAIJA MUSIC VIDEOS

Okay, I tried posting clips from the BET awards, but the videos were not showing for some reason. Since I now know how to post videos from youtube and other sources(so easy all along), I have decided to post a compilation of the best naija music videos(in my opinion). And I'm sorry chicala and y'all who couldn't view the clips. Yeah, could you guys comment on this post.

Fight to win

Femi kuti the undisputed speaker of the people(hmmmn) and the flag bearer of nigerian music has fought to win the spot of no 1 video. It's a classic video which I can show to anyone

cRY by Modenine

This video tells the saddening story of the song. It's well put together and has an international appeal

Weird MC - Ijoya

Wierd MC makes animation lool cool and hip in this video. Ijoya awan lan ni joya lol

Why me - Dbanj

What will a video chart be without the very enigmatic d banj. The Koko master and his crew did a good job in this video.

olori oko - infinity

I remember when I was about to leave Naija, and this video came out. It's not a very sharp or cutting edge video. But, the sound and the ethnicity of the video makes it smashing

Forever

tight video no doubt, and the video tech. used is advanced

Never Far Away

This video is on point. The location Abeokuta is jaw dropping with the vivid colours. The vocals from Ego matches with sharpness of this video. It's a clear example of fusing Nigerian culture with western culture.

p-square temptation

This video is a cool video,that personifies p square and their sampling antics. Still, it's cool to watch.

STYL PLUS- OLUFUNMI (Nigerian Music)

When I saw this video and heard the song, I felt naija music was changing for the better. And it's videos like this took the bar higher for the Naija music scene.

2FACE : African Queen

This video which is quite unrecent and not so technologically advanced looks crisp and will meet any standard whether mtv or soundcity. And not forgetting, its african queen awesome song (mtv music video award...tired of hearing this though)

Lee lee

When Abiku met Zeus

Ok, I'm going to be jobless through out this week. I don't have anything to do, just been chillin in my room all day. So, I decided to post the peom I read out during a short story and peoetry reading event. I got the inspiration thinking about Nigeria, and how we would be, if we fused our Nigerian values with western values. It's unarguable that the world is now controlled by the West. The world now runs in a system that is western oriented. You cannot achieve most goals, until you have gone through the system. You have to go through western styled education, gather knowledge on innovations and so on. Nigeria has values which I believe are great, and values can also be borrowed from the west that will be beneficial to Nigeria. Hence, I used Abiku(goddess or spirits known for preying on children if not appeased) to represent nigerian values, and Zeus (mythical greek god, leader of Mount Olympus) to represent western values.


When Abiku met Zeus

The brown grass shriveled in fear as her feet thumped on it
It has lost its essence. Its greenness is now hidden in the dry and grey pelt of pain
Her eyes roll in pride as she is oblivious to the curse she leaves behind
Even the cold and skin sucking wind becomes a storm on trying to caress her legs
Legs longer and straighter than the stream that meanders through our homeland, move in unison to the clump of her hair bundled like compressed black wool.
The sounds of the bronze anklets precariously tied to her ankles and the sobs of the children
Serve as music that inspire her rhythmic moves
Yes, her hips sway moving to the strands of coral beads
Picked from the shores of the sea, where childrens’ tears flow
Yet, her eyes do not loose focus of staring at her reflection on the scarlet sea
Taking glances at the tear impregnated eyes of the children
Leaving a quick impression of captivity in their heads.
"This is our chance" won’t even trickle out from the splintered lips of the children
Their mothers will stand helpless behind the mahogany tree
Even their fathers will be held still, as their spears get blunted by Abiku’s palms
Their gun powder will not burn to propel the wooden sticks that mere mortals dread
They should have known better.
The trees were wiser as they let their branches sway to Abiku’s call
The sea had foresight, as to pour libations at the feet of Abiku
The sea even cast its harvest of fingerlings
Abiku dances casting pain at the enlarged belly’s of the mothers
Waiting patiently for their unborn,
The mothers tighten their hands to their talismans, reciting their prayers
Still dreading the inevitable.
The sound echoes through the dark walls of the chambers
Pillars that hold the slate roof tremble
The foundation lying majestically on the smoky and fluffy clouds
shake as it tries to call out Zeus’s name.
His roar conquers all ears that fail to be covered
His horses pace swiftly, trying to lessen the pain from Zeus’s whip
The steel wheels held to the chariots sculptured by Persian gods
Move over huge clumps of cloud that pass for rocks
His voice startles the eagles that have come to revere him
Thunder bolts tear through the clouds as he roars in anger
All who have failed him are now stemmed to ground as they are lifeless
Like the rocky facade they now possess
Yet, she failed him, The thought intesifies his anger
His eyes gleam in red as he hurries to the traitor who dare defies his wife
His hay-like silver hair shines through the paths that have been darkened
By the ashes from the thunder bolts
The sun starved roses that now creep around Mount Olympus,
Twirl in pity for the traitor
But, Zeus rides ahead, with revenge in his eyes
Soon the wrath of his anger shall befall he that deserves it,
The smell of the traitor clings his nose.
The deed shall soon be done
Suddenly, the rattling of the anklet
The clapping of flesh and singing of beads draw his ears.
He halts, bringing the horses to a rest
He peers through the shrubs on the mahagony tree
Surprise sculpts the face anger had tampered with
Her coal black skin that glimmered, stole his eyes
Beauty like this had eluded him through out his timeless existence
He leaps off his chariot still not seizing her attention
He held her hands and she turned to him, not even venerating his presence
She breaks loose from his hands, and disappears into the woods
He chases her leaving all behind
Finally, he grabbed her and she submits to his powers
A union they formed as they vanished from all of existence

I was watching videos on youtube and came across these short films. I guess they were shown on mnet, and I found them quite interesting and real.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=2LlrHpiPZn4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lYa2PS1itIo

Sneak preview 4

My week has come and gone so fast. Did well in my exam, with an A. Relieved I did well. Today was quite exciting. I went hiking for the first time. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if it was going to be boring or hectic. But, on getting there, it was cool. Felt like I was on survivor or even ultimate search. The hiking was organized by the outdoor group. We were not so many who went summer, guess everyone wants to chill in their house. I made sure I had y sandwich, water, pop, choc bar for hunger. The journey to the cove took about 1 and half hours. As soon, as we arrived cedar cove, the view was already beautiful. The atlantic ocean chanelled through mountains. It was beautiful. The hiking started proper when we all had to climd a fairly easy hill. We then walked through a trail. It wasn't all that exciting, until we got to this spot that had a lake and the atlantic ocean. It was beautiful!!!!. The atlantic channelled through massive rocks and the shores had little rocks that were visible through the clear and transparent sea. We all ate lunch on the rocks, and I daered myself to walk in the water even on hearing that it sometimes is shark infested and freezing. But what the hell, few minutes in the water won't give me hypothermia. I stepped my feet in the freezing water, while the other guys watched me probably thinkin wat this black guy from nigeria is doing. But all the same, I came out alive and we decided to climb the rocky hill. Lucky enough, the hills, had trees and shrubs on it, to make climbing easy. After hiking on the mountain for up to an hour, due to different breaks, thank to the girl who kept getting exhausted. On getting to the top, I had the feeling that everything was worth it. I felt like I was in a scene from lord of the rings. The view of the atlantic from the mountain which was about 4000m from the ground was breathtaking. And a movie was shot in this location starring Jim Caviezel http: outlander . The interaction while hiking was fun also. Especially, with this hilarious guy and chick. The hilariousness starts when she starts talking about a show on discovery about the 40(i think) sex accidents. First, was a man caught humping his old vacuum cleaner and had his jnr cut. Then, this guy caught humping a donkey and got kicked by the animal, and the perverted guy who let a horse hump and got his insides destroyed. And the organiser of the event had this funny name Rich HARD Butt. u but it wasn't spelt like this o!!!. This girl made fun of him for having a name like dick butt. I didn't get the joke until I called out Rich HARD. LOL. Anyway, hiking was great and an unforgettable experience for me. The next day, I performed my peotry and short story at an event. It was okay, but expected better.

Sneak Preview

WOOHOOO: Exams are over and I'm excited about that. No more studying, at least till september. My exam was good anyway. Can't wait to see my result. Now I'm wondering what to do through out my summer. I'm planning on going to Toronto, that's if all goes well. Probably going to chill there for some few weeks. I wish I knew alot of Nigerians there. Anyway, I'll see how everything goes.

Here is news on Nigeria

Omg, I can't believe this road is still in a terrible state. When my parents are being tight fisted, and don't agree to pay my flight ticket. I usually don't have any option but to jump into Abc. A journey that is just 6 hours takes up to 12 hours. And this happened like last year. So Obassonjo and his cohorts didn't do anything about the bad state of roads. But he was quick to increase fuel price.

Read in one of the Nigerian newspaper website that during Obassonjo's tenure, comedians were asked not to make jokes on the president. Here is a funny clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=r6io2A5rTC4&mode=related&search=I read that the SSS contacted Opa Williams the guy in charge of nite of a thousand laugh warning him of comedians making fun of the president. Nawa O! Where is the freedom of speech. Certainly, I know this isn't libel or slander. Where is it, that you can't make unharmful fun of the president. Here is president Bush being made fun right in front of him http://youtube.com/watch?v=X-oMlBSiX3g&mode=related&search=.

The 2nd edition of the Thisday music festival is holding this year in Lagos. It's going to be held in a 15,000 seater venue. Artists like Shakira (ye!! why am i not there), John legend(cool) UB 40 ( who are they), P square, 2 Face(notin dey happen), asa(really want to see her perform), and a bunch of other artists are set to be on stage.

Here is an interview of p square in Thisday newspaper.

It’s interesting how far you guys have come; do you have to pinch yourselves sometimes? Paul: Yeah we do. But everything is too fast. Sometimes successes like ours takes a long time to happen, ‘it happens gradually.’ In our case, it’s totally different, everything is happening with speed. Each week we travel to like three countries; it’s amazing, it’s something that should happen but it’s happening fast. Too fast.Peter: We expected it to take longer, but it’s all so fast. We go to a country, and we’re like no, this can’t be happening, the name PSquare is heavier than we are. At times we wonder if we’re the ones called PSquare. It’s amazing how far our songs have gone. In Sierra Leone we had 68,000 full capacity stadium.Many people want to take the credit for discovering you, who would you say gave you your breakthrough?Howie T. He discovered PSquare. He did a lot for us. He discovered us. A lot of people saw us, and left us, we can’t deny the fact that he helped us a lot. He saw us and liked us ...we never knew anyone, he heard our song, it doesn’t take him up to a minute to know if you’re good. Then of course, our family members.What if you didn’t make it in music, what was the back-up plan?Peter: Football. We were supposed to be footballers. We used to play football. Paul was a goalkeeper. We were in the same team (Pepsi junior team) with Mikel Obi. Football was our back up. We don’t play football anymore, if we play football, we can’t dance as easily as we dance because of injuries and all that.What would you say has brought you this far, is it talent, good luck or hard work?Hard work! That’s the simple answer. The talent has been there. The thing is if you have talent and you don’t work on it, you lose it. The luck was there too. But what worked for us is hard work. In our videos and songs, we always try to bring out our best. People say we do everything ourselves. Why not? We believe we can do it ourselves and we always come out with the best.Do you still hear people complaining about your interpolations?Peter: They used to but no more. They are now convinced that we are here to stay. They say we’re sampling and we’re still selling records. Everyone samples. Even P Diddy, R Kelly. We used to hear that before but not anymore. People like what we bring out. That’s the most important thing. So, at the end it’s about doing what you do well.And then, to think that they compare you guys with Usher!Peter: That question is for me. People say I look more like Usher. They want to say we are copying Usher because we look like him and we dance like him too. But there are dancers all over the world. They don’t say they’re copying anyone. Who’s Chris Brown copying? Who’s MC Hammer copying? We’ve just kept our fingers crossed because even when we travel abroad, they still say we look like usher.From ‘Temptation’ to ‘Senorita, ‘Best Friend’ and ‘Last Nite, you talk about romantic experiences are any of these personal?Paul: most of them are personal. Sometimes in relationships,... When we started, like me, I was dating a girl and music was rough then, she left and when things were ok, she wanted to come back. And then we started seeing other girls. Temptation will come because of the nature of our work. As an entertainer, you’ll see girls all around and you’ll be tempted.Peter: In every song we do, you’ll see about 25 to 30 percent of what has happened.But Peter, you’re in a serious relationship, how’s it like being in love?I will say having a relationship doesn’t stop anyone from being with me, playing with me, talking with me. I’m involved with someone who knows showbiz. If the person I’m dating doesn’t like it then there’s no point being with me. There are a lot of distractions but my music comes first. My career is No 1. My relationship doesn’t prevent me from being with my fans. I’m not married. I’m still single. The fact that I’m with someone doesn’t mean I’m married, I’m still very single.Are your folks okay with your dating a Yoruba girl?Of course my parents don’t have any problems with that. I can marry anyone I like. I can marry a Muslim tomorrow. It doesn’t matter. It’s my own choice. We made up our mind to be musicians and we are successful. So any other thing we make up our mind to do, it’ll be okay with them.Is marriage on the cards?No, not yet. We’re still young. We’re going to be 27, so marriage is not on the cards for now. It’s not even close because, I don’t think I want to get married now. It’ll make us lose 50 percent of our female fans. Even in five years. I’m not thinking about that yet.Do you see marriage breaking you up?Paul: It’s very possible. Maybe someone like me. I may decide to get married just because I think I’ve seen life, then I settle down to avoid some temptations. By doing that it’ll definitely affect the music. How you relate to people, if you look at most of our colleagues that are married, they’re different.Peter: If we get married now, it can bring some kind of confusion to us. We may have to be at the airport, he might say his wife is sick, or he has to see his son, if one is married, they’ll say the person is a snob. It will bring a lot of misunderstanding. That’s why we’re not thinking about it right now.You think nothing can come between both of you that to separate you?Paul: We’re not God, we can not predict’ even though there’s going to be anything, it’s going to be an understanding, we’re equal partners and we’re twin brothers.But you find cause to quarrel, don’t you?Peter: We argue, we fight, but it makes us better. Arguments bring better songs, better videos. We are humans. I remember when we were recording ‘Get Squared’ we quarrelled for over three months. We were living in the same house, and we didn’t talk. I didn’t like ‘Bizzy Body,’ Paul didn’t like ‘Get Squared.’ And those two songs blew us up.What happens when you quarrel over some things, who has the final say?Peter: I give Paul more respect when it comes to studio production and when we are working on a song. But when it comes to stage craft, he leaves it to me. Musically, Paul handles 60, I handle 40. But on stage, I handle 60 while he handles 40. And at times, our manager, Jude steps in.Paul, looking at Lola Omotayo and Peter, do you at times feel left out? Or you have a partner we don’t know about?I don’t see it that way. It’s a normal thing. I don’t feel somehow about it. The person I’m dating, we go out together when she’s around. It’s the same thing, unless you’ve never seen me with my girlfriend... I’m not that outgoing, I’m an indoor person.So tell me about your girlfriend?She’s a great person. She understands the difference between Paul and Psquare, and at times she doesn’t. We met when I was about to graduate from the University. Her name is Anita. She’s so beautiful. You know I won’t go out with someone that’s not beautiful. And because I’m not outgoing person, most people don’t know herIs PSquare getting married on the same day?Paul: I don’t like it. We are different people. If we do it, it’s just for the public. Even dressing the same, I do not like it, there should still be individuality.By the way, who gets the most attention from the ladies?Peter: For me, I get more attention because I’m a very crazy person. There’s no time I perform that I don’t take off my shirt. When people talk about PSquare, they talk more about Peter. I kiss ladies when I’m on stage, I love playing with people, so I get more attention because I give freely. During one show, I pulled out my jeans and gave it out, it was crazy. The love they showed me was too much. A guy was crying that I must give him something, so I gave him my jeans and ran backstage with my boxers, before then I had given them my earrings, my necklace, everything.Paul: It depends on the ladies. Some of the girls are crazy about the rough guy. They say I’m the quiet guy. Fans are crazy, so they believe its Peter. But when they come closer they believe I’m the right person. Peter gives great vibe. But when they come closer, they find out it’s me.Has there ever been a time when you both had to compete for a particular girl?Peter: There’s never been a time like that. We’ve never had any argument on a particular girl. We don’t do that. Maybe one way or the other we find out that a girl walks up to us... about 65percent of the girls we know walk up to us.How do they even know who’s who? Most people can’t differentiate you?Paul: They know now. Then, they didn’t know because we used to have the same shape, but now, Peter is built so they know. I want my people to love the real me and not what I’ve formed myself to be. That’s why I do not gym. I love when people scream at Snoop more than when they scream at Usher.’ Snoop, why would a lady like him? It’s only for the music, not that he’s fine, or sexy' I want to be loved for my music, if I had a way to look uglier I would do it.Peter: They know the difference now. I used to braid my hair and he had low cut.Tell me the truth, growing up, did you guys ever think you were going to be such big stars? Was it something you thought about?Paul: Personally I always knew. I knew something was going to make us great. It could be music, or football, or anything we’ll do that will be popular even if not me. When I was younger I loved creating things, but all of a sudden those things were fading away. I realised that the product and the person have to be popular.Peter: Yeah we knew. Even when we were little, we started selling some of our stuff just to be in entertainment. We once sold our Xmas clothes to buy a radio, or exchange some of our things for music gadgets when we were as young as 14. Up till now, we risk everything we have for music.Didn’t your parents try to discourage you from doing music, especially since your elder brother Jude, had failed to make in with music?Paul: Using Jude’s example, he was doing music, but no one supported him. He thought maybe what happened to him was going to happen to us, but we were stubborn. Our parents said we should choose between music and school. Later, our dad stopped paying our fees in the University. Our mom was always there. At times she’ll get tired, she just wanted to see where it’ll all lead to... I’m happy she’s reaping the dividends now.And now that you’ve just invested a fortune in your family bakery, they’d surely be proud of you?Peter: They are really proud of us.Paul: They used to think musicians make money and chase girls but they see that we don’t want to go back to where they came from, we don’t want to go back to those days in Jos. It was rough. Hustling and gambling just to make money to eat and all that. We don’t want to go back to that kind of life. It was rough. We’ve invested in music and other areas that we can run back to even if music stops working.You reportedly bought some plots of land in Jos too... tell us about it?Paul: It’s in Port Harcourt. We finished a bakery; “Twins Bread.” We’re hoping to move to Abuja. The land in Anambra is there too but we’re looking at all that. We bought 20 plots of land in Jos. We donít even know what to do with it. It’s so large!And the ones in Lagos?Yeah! like our house in Lagos now.. It’s our property. It’s not easy to pay for a house like this automatically. Even if you are paying for it gradually, it’s yours already. We’ve got a plot of land in Lekki too. We’re just investing in these things.After all the hype and drama, a lot of stars are usually boring and lonely people, do you still keep in touch with your childhood friends?Paul: Yeah, we keep them all.Peter: We were in Jos last week and we invited everyone home to be with us, everyone.. We had a party in the hotel, when the bodyguards were pushing them, we were like no, these are our people, everyone... we were close to tears, even those that had problems we solved as much as we could, we did it and we were happy about it, we can’t solve all but it’s just to show how much we appreciate them.What fond memories of childhood do you have? How was it like growing up?Peter: Growing up was hell.Peter, there was this particular rock behind our house... we’ll climb the rock, sing and disturb everyone... then a woman used to sell “akara,” we’ll buy from her...we were doing that because someone said if we wanted to sing, you have to climb a very high place and sing so people can know you can sing.Peter: When we went home last week we went back to every where we grew up in. I remember growing up, my mom was a tailor and my pop was trying to run a bakery. It wasn’t easy.Now you’re working on a new album, do you think it’ll be better than ‘Get Squared’?Paul: There’s always fear that you can never do better than your best album... it’s like MJ doing better than Thriller... but we do not have any fear, we know people will just say: These boys again! It’s all about making people happy now, music that’ll make you happy.Peter: Our fans, those that love PSquare. Even those that do not like us, they’ll see that we’ve come to stay that we’re here to stay. We are bringing a serious revolution to the music industry, look at our house, someone came here and said, why are you guys always trying to show others how things should be done? We’re bringing out good music because we live in a comfortable environment.You sold your two cars to finance the first videos for “Get Squared’ what if the album had failed?Peter: If the album had failed I would have been somewhere hustling, trying to get myself back to football. Even my dad was like, ‘so you sold your cars because of video?’ But we did it, we knew what it meant, even after that. We took another risk when we were shooting Temptation...we emptied our account, we rented camera alone for £300 per day and we shot for two weeks, we paid for insurance... over £4000 it was a great risk, but we are happy it worked out.What are you thinking of selling now, to execute your new project, or you’ve saved up enough?We don’t have to sell anything now, we have everything we need, we can afford anything we want to do now... there’s a risk but we can afford the risk now, what we’re about to do will shock everyone, we have to do better than what we’ve done before.What’s the greatest thing about being twins?Peter: Twins always have luck... they’re always lucky... two different brains working together.And what are the downsides?If one is wicked or totally different from the others, like if one is a criminal, he can put the other person in trouble, if Peter is a bad person, they’ll always point fingers at Paul.You run your business as a family thing, your brother directs your videos... Another one makes your costumes, one manages you, what are the advantages?Peter: We’ve always worked with different people. They keep disappointing you... but working with your family... you work with one mind, knowing that if you fail, you fail the whole family, then they see you as younger ones, you can always rely on your brothers..And the disadvantages?Peter: When you have your senior one who is working for you, you try to talk to him. And you remember he’s your senior brother... you shouldn’t talk to him, that way, your manager does something wrong, you want to talk to him and you remember he's your elder brother.Your mother has a pastoral ministry?Paul: It’s all about healing and miracles... they see dreams, vision... she has an orphanage home, free people that are disabled and all that, whatever is happening to us today, she had seen the vision, we consult her before doing anything.Peter: She doesn’t mind that we do secular music, we believe in God... we pray always, it’s not wrong to do music, this is what God told us to do.Do you see yourselves taking up her work someday?If God says so. If it’s His will. But for now, we’re still doing what we do best.You make a lot of money, say the truth, when was the last time you paid tithe?Paul: This last Easter. I paid in Lagos and in Jos.Peter: Same thing. We do it for PSquare, we even do more than that. When we were in Ilupeju, there were kids that we were paying their school fees... their father rides an Okada... we bought it for him. We’ve taken up paying the kids’ fees even after secondary school. These are not Christians they are Moslems... About 12 of them. These are things we do for God more than paying tithe. We like to give back and pray that God remembers us for ‘not for putting off our clothes on stage.’ You felt very bad when you didn’t win the MOBO for best African act in 2006, do you really think you were cheated?Peter: We were cheated. We were used. Even at a point in that hall the person that won, let him come and play a show in Nigeria and let’s go and play a show in Ghana, even if it was Lebo that won, we wont mind, but not Batman, we were used, he had been in London before us, the whole thing was a set up.. But the best award one can win is the one from our country. Not the one outside... That’s why we cherish the hip hop world awards... It’s authentic, first and second year, not because we won, but it’s good when we won NMA again, even though we couldn’t go, it was great.And then you shunned MTV Europe Music Awards in Denmark, what were you protesting?Paul: Two things happened and we got the visa late and again when we were supposed to travel was when there was a plane crash, we got our visa and had to return the next day, if we had travelled that day, the weather was bad.. We just thought let’s not go again but the time was gone... we would have arrived the evening of the award, then we saw a mail they sent to the media suggesting that Freshlyground was going to win, so we were like, it’s not worth it, it was painful because we cancelled three concerts because of the awards.Your marketer TJOE keeps giving you brand new cars and SUVs’ what do you think he’ll give you next, a house?Paul: It’s possible. He has done a lot, people used to say a lot of things about him. But they’re wrong. Except he decides to disappoint us tomorrow. He’s been good to us and I believe we deserve it.

Taken from Thisday newspaper interview.

SNEAK PREVIEW 2

This week has being going well so far, except that I'm pissed at myself for making silly mistakes in my test. In fact, I need to start working hard since my exam's on monday. I don't want to get a low score, since I'm trying to improve my gp. Oh my God! I'm sitting in my room wishing I could be in Toronto for the Nigerian canadian reunion. But, my exams fall close to the date. I have decided to stop blogging till next week, cos of my exams o!! Immediately my exam is finished, blogging starts full force. Anyway, I'm going to write about my weekend. I hang out with a bunch of people. But lately they've been cold to me. At first, I didn't get it. But when I went over to my friends" place on saturday, they gave me the low down of what was on their mind. Firstly, they talked about self respect which is very prominent in their culture here. I don't really mean dobaleing (prostrating lol) or greeting your elders, but just plain respecting other people's ideas, privacy and stuff like that. Ok, the player syndrome that is high in naija is detested here. Shocked and embarrased to know that guys could be called sluts here. They cautioned me on things they didn't fancy about me, and what they said really got to me. So I've decided to change some (not all) of my ways. Later guys..get back to you guys on Monday night...hopefully...WATCH OUT FOR PART 3

My night with David

I was supposed to post this yester night, but just couldn't, went to this random party. Ok, before anyone starts putting ideas in their head. The title shouldn't be taken directly. I'm just trying to be an attention seeker . Wondering if anyone knows David Suzuki (writer, broadcaster, environmental activist). Anyway, you might have come in contact with any of his works if you study in Canada. Well, it was an honour to listen to the 4th most important person in Canada speak. The guy was 71, and was still very active. The night which I expected to be filled with environmental talk, was exciting. I expected to hear about global warming, ozone depletion and stuff like that. But, I went to the centre where the show was being held. I got two free little tree plants, which I left at the ticket stand. Went into the very huge auditorium. I almost went 360 degrees round hoping to see anyone I know. Finally, I found someone I know. She was sitting with her friend. I was happy to see them, and she offered me to seat with them. I agreed to that and in a few minutes three girls walk up to the stage. They sang folk music which sounded like country(not a fan of that). After their rendition, a guy came out on stage. He talked about when he first met David Suzuki and how he was blown away by his speech. My friend and I went to the front seats so we could have a very good view. Then, David Suzuki smartly walks up to the stage. Everyone stood up to give him a standing ovation. He jokingly said that the audience shouldn't do that yet, but after his speech. He said he was going to talk more about his personal life, wich some people really didn't like. He started the speech by talking about his background living as a Canadian japanese boy with parents who were of Japanese descent but where born in Canada. He talked about the struggles they faced for not being white. They had to move from camps to another, lost their property, lived very poorly. Slides of his early life where shown. He made me laugh my head off when he told the joke of him reaching puberty. According to him he was so horny and wanted a girlfriend desperately. But, his father wanted him to get a Japanese girl, but David said there were only 10 Japanese girls in the camp and three were his sisters. His father recommended chinese, but David couln't get a Chinese girl. His fahter also recommended a Native American(red Indian) girl, but that couldn't work since the natives stayed in another reserve. His father told him to get a black girl then, but there was only one black girl, which David was sure didn't like him. Then his dad recommended a Jewish girl and didn't want any white english girl. But finally he got married to an asian woman (chinese I think). Soon, he "knocked her up"lol. He went on to talk about how he was an assistant professor and was so engrossed in his work, that his marriage crumbled. He shared complete custody of his children. After narrating on his family, he talked about his show "nature of things" . Also, he spoke on how he met his second wife. This time she was a white woman who made him make a good speech. After dating and everything, he got married to her. They both were actively involved in protesting against environmental degradation. They went to Brazil, where the natives were fighting against logging of the amazon trees. He narrated the story of how the natives had gathered to protest against logging and where told by the leader of the loggers that they were going to cut the trees and destroy their houses, but money would be given to them. One of the protesters who was native on hearing this, rebuked the native men as not being warriors they claim they were. She was so angry that she slapped the leader with a machet. The soldiers who were there suddenly corked their guns and aimed at everyone. David Suzuki said he was extremely petrified. After all the fiasco, the native people won and the trees which existed even before Columbus arrived the new world were saved. The woman in particular was wanted and was going to be killed. And it wasn't an issue to kill a native Indian in Brazil at that time. After much delibrations by David Suzuki and his crew, the woman and her children were takken to Canada, where they were promised that a plane will be hired to take them back to their home. The native woman and David Suzuki's family formed a bond together. It was the relationship between these families that inspired David Suzuki's daughter to set up a foundation called ECO (environmental childrens association). Severn Suzuki, David's daughter, through her foundation raised 14,000$ and these were just 13-14 year old children. Here is a clip on her speech in rio de janerio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8cmWZOX8Q . It was very thought provoking. David Suzuki's speech was hilarious, yet, he spoke about his personal life infusing it with issues on the environment.

in the hippie phase of his life. lol GUYS LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. ANY

Sneak Preview

I never thought I'll be sharing my personal life to other bloggers. But, I am kind off becoming more comfortable to share things happening to me. I'm sitting in my little office(first job) and surprisingly jobless. But that doesn't matter, as long as I get paid my $7.50 per hour. The muscles in my arms are in excruciating pain. I guess this is what I get for trying to attain a fit physique. If you know me, I might be the skiniest person you've ever met in your life that eats 4 times a day. To worsen matters, I consume processed food and typical western fat-filled diets. Yet, I am still this scrunny dude. I am now on a quest to gain weight and mass. I spent $20 just for a small sized protein shake and increased the amount of money I spend on groceries. Those things taste good anyway. And for the first time in my life, I did 20 "real" sit ups. The muscles in my arms and arm pit are aching. The problem is that I haven't even started yet. I have to go to the gym tonight. Just can't imagine the pain I'm going to face. Anyway. it's all good, afterall, no pain no gain. I'm just doing this to get a new image for the next semester. So all these white chicks will know the big stereotype black guy just stepped in. At least, I don't have to give the impression that I'm like this, because, I come from malnourished Nigeria.

In a 100 years

Now we have a new president,Pres. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, . This is just a relief that at least we have democracy to an extent in Nigeria. I was reding the guys credentials, and it looked like he is an intelligent and experienced man. At least, he didn't serve in the military for anytime of his life. Its so typical now for most Nigerian leaders to establish facilities as soon as they arrive into government. President(former) Obassanjo on entering into power developed telecommunications( Good work) and life in Nigeria became more free, and people were more outspoken (JUST A LITTLE). Even, the governor of Rivers State Odili put in place free school bus schemes, which after a few years of his tenure none were seen again. He also constructed traffic lights and a major bridge. There are still other cases of government officials who establish positive things in their first year in office. Sometimes, I wonder if this country is developing at this rate, it might take us a 100 years to finally reach a developed stage, by this time the west and the rest of the world would have been a century ahead of us. Who knows Yar'dua might improve electricity supply in Nigeria (ohh love for that to happen). And maybe change our anthem.

IDOLS WEST AFRICA: Inspiring

Though, I haven't been able to watch the full show on tv, cos I'm not in Nigeria right now, I am still impressed by what I have seen so far. I have seen clips of idols wa on youtube and the website http://www.mnetafrica.com/idols. At first I was disappointed with "The spectacular", because I expected something bigger and better. But the talent and personalities of the contestanrs have been able to carry the show. I also have to admit that I was captivated by Timi's heart felt and powerful performances. And I think that if he is managed and packaged very well, he could be the next Seal. Also, watching him been announced as the winner was inspiring. Even showing the transformation of his very dull and poor looking face to this very bright performer was on itself inspiring. From the show, I gathered he didn't come from a very priviledged home, yet, he has so much talent. This just reveals to us the amount of talented and young Nigerians we have in our society today. Imagine if there was no Idol WA, he'd just be in Bayelsa, and probably his talent would have gone to waste. I really do hope shows like this and other youth empowering shows come up. Less I forget, hope he does get the sony bmg contract and these Mnet people shouldn't repeat what happened to Dare on Timi.

FIGHT THE POWER

This statement, I guess, brings memories to those who loved rap music during the 80s-90s. "Fight the power" which are the words of the rap group public enemy. In every society, there is injustice, corruption, abuse of power and so on. But there are people (who I call martyrs), that stand up to protest and fight against these vices, even in the midst of opposition and oppression. We have had a couple of these enigmatic and charismatic individuals who have stood up against our very notorious government. However, my point here is the way we as Nigerians treat these fighters. The Nigerian culture always celebrates the rich rather than the worthy. Also, we have the attitude of always accepting everything that comes our way, without objecting. The truth in the words of Fela Anikulapo Kuti "I no won die, ...I don build our, I never build house". We don't have the attitude of fighting for what we believe in. To make matters worse, we sometimes see people that oppose wrong doings as being foolish or simply "ode". Also, we do not honour these individuals that have fought, not to mention continue their legacies.

Here are some individuals through out Nigerian history that have stood their gorund for the cause they believe in.

Definitely, he has be a top gun in this group. Although, he was a radical pan africanist, he spoke and sang against corruption and westernization of the Nigerian society. Even in the face of oppression from the government, he still persisted in his beliefs and spread the gospel of Fela Anikulapo Kuti.

Thank God for him, at least we have people to brag about on how intelligent Nigerians are. He is the first African to be awarded a Nobel prize. As we all know he is the excellent playwright, poet, that also spoke against the Biafran war and recommended peace between the two warring parties. He was arrested under the Yakubu government.

He is one of the few activist in Nigeria that I was familiar with, since I was a kid when he was in active duty. Since, I lived in Port harcourt, his name resounded during the Abacha era and in my house. He was an environmentalist, television producer, and author who was against the destruction and deprivation of the Ogoni land due to the oil exploration. He was executed under the Abacha government.

Chief Obafemi Awolowo who I must mention is from Ikenne Ogun State( where I am from), lead the action group. He believed in Nigeria's independence and nationalism.

Not forgetting greats like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Dele Giwa and so on who opened their voices, so that things could change positivelhy for the Nigerian society. The one way we can repay these people is continue their legacy.

The voyeurs in our midst

I really am now fond of blogging. It's sort of a diary for me. When I was in London last year, I was inspired by the numerous cameras and cctvs that were in almost every public place. Although, these cameras are highly efficient in creating a crime free society, I just thought of an extreme case. An extreme case, where the world governments have complete access to the life of all its citizens, through cameras and cctvs. I used Nigeria as my focal point. It's also lon, but read and leave your comment.


Oju

I could swear someone was behind that wall, piercing me with his eyes. The wind isn’t blowing

the way it is supposed to. Someone is interfering with it. I know that I am not seeing things, when

I see a silhouette cast on the steel ceilings. It is fleeting and acting like a shy bride that is meeting

her groom for the first time. But, don’t be fooled by that calm face and subdued eyes, those

talons strike like hunger.

“When will you stop staring at that cameras” Tolu burst out. I knew she was

disgusted by my loss of focus. She was whispering to me on her ravings on the

government. She spoke in a manner that I only heard her. No one certainly wanted those

venomous chameleons to hear us. Yet, Tolu told me, how she wished she could see a

butterfly again. She holds me close to her, tears trapped in her in sullen eyes. I knew what

she was thinking. She wished she could see our father again. I close my eyes; I sure did

not want everyone to see me cry. Not here! Certainly not in this ravenous gathering.

Those beasties are still staring at me, watching my every move. I certainly will not give

them the pleasure of seeing me cry. “We are on our own now” Tolu says. I nod my head

in agreement. It is funny how time can be so cruel. One minute I am sitting in the park

playing catch with my father and sister, the next two years I am here in this camp with

my sister. It never was really good anyway. But, it was far better than this. At least, I

could go anywhere, without being chased by these voyeuristic chameleons. My father

would open the newspapers, and rave all he wanted, but now, Tolu can’t rave openly

from newspapers. There are no newspapers, those things are constitutions. There’s no

freedom here, neither is there west. They came like wind and we all danced to their tune

like branches sway to spring breeze. “How did all these happen?” Tolu whispers

covering her mouth. I look at her with an empty face. She isn’t surprised either, she just

pats my head. I know we were all too greedy to see. That life was too perfect to refuse, at

least by our standards. No work, no struggle, we all lay on our backs. We were fed like

dogs owned by the elites. We were all blind to see what would befall us. Those

chameleons placed fear in our food. By this time it was too late, they were masters, and

we were slaves.

The chimes moan, as we all sit, expecting supper. We are all having soup. I know

that. In fact, that is what we have the days the chime rings thrice. The older people are

resting their backs to the walls. Their eye bags impregnated with grief. One would expect

that their skins would have gotten stuck to the walls. They stayed there all day. Even after

Tolu had come back from tilling the field with other adolescents, she still saw them there.

When I come back from the concentration schools, I still met them there. I guess that is

why they are tagged “reliant”, while Tolu and the rest “tiller”. Tolu hated to till the fields.

She would whisper to me, on how there is so much from the fields, but little for us to eat.

We all queued as soup was served.. I really didn’t know if it was tomato or mushroom

soup, it was just soup. I sipped the soup, not expecting my tongue to wallow in sinful

pleasures. This days,my stomach is of higher priority than my tongue. Tolu didn’t look

up, she kept gulping the soup. One of the older men stared into my eyes, while sipping

his soup. He didn’t look at his hands. He really didn’t need to look to steer his spoon, the

soup was cold. He looked at me and then stared at the cameras. “Oju” he blurted. He

looked down into his soup, like he was expecting a chunk of meat. He raised his head to
me and said “the eyes have ears”. After lunch, the chameleons took him. The executioner was sure to have a thrill tonight

DID YOU KNOW!!!

Apart from blogging, I enjoy writing. Since I was 7-9, and I saw the Alaadin movie, I grew an interest in writing. I write short stories, poems, books(that haven't been published yet). Everyday I wake up in the morning, thoughts and ideas come into my head. I can't go talking to people about these. "Abi were ni bobo yi" (mind my yoruba)will be in everyone's mouth.But writing is the only way for me to share my imaginations and ideas. This is a SHORT STORY I read during the April rabbit poetry and short story reading event. I know it's kinda long, but just read through. I tried picturing the scenario of a woman running with her child away from an abusive marriage and the biafran war.


OMO

The night was drawing near. Its arms were soon going to embrace mother earth. Even the sun was no where to be seen. "This is our chance" she kept whispering to her baby. The faith she had was too strong that she spoke to a baby who was not only deaf from his inexperience with words, but also from the horrific sounds of war. Her legs kept swaying but her head had no idea of its destination. The baby fastened to her back was a burden. But, she cared less. After all, she was running for him. She was tired of that place. It wasn’t home any longer. The thought of her choice kept ringing in her ears. The thoughts clogged her ears, that she failed to hear the voice of the incoming mob. They were furious, each with eyes stinging with hate. They held their batons and spiked edged clubs ready to devour. She stood under the frangipani tree, watching the scarred chested men. Her face had no expression, it was vague. Even her eyes were lax in unconcern. She wasn’t moved my their masked expressions of hate. She had seen it all before. They yelled at her swinging their clubs and batons near her. She didn’t utter any word. Then, a man walked out amidst the crowd. He was stern looking with a tribal marked that traveled from the ridge of his nose to his jaws. He walked towards her with his face focused on her baby. She saw this and turned her back, so her baby wouldn’t see his face. He sensed this and smiled briefly. He surveyed her body like she was a map work. He walked around her mimicking the oblivious mosquito that spun around her baby’s head. She wasn’t a beauty, certainly, if he was to judge from now. But, he had so much experience with women as to see that she once possessed a striking beauty. Her sullen eyes and ridged lips could already tell her story. "Woman, where are you coming from and where’s your husband"he asked. She didn’t utter any word, neither did she look at him. She just kept staring at the red ground. The mobsters wondered what sort of woman wouldn’t reply their leader. "Aren’t you afraid" one of them yelled. She still didn’t answer. Her silence was too piercing for him to bear. She made him look too stupid for a man. Suddenly, he raged at her, grabbing her baby by his neck. She yelled and pushed herself from his grasp. The wrapper she used in fastening her baby to herself, flew off her dead breast.Her eyes were suddenly filled with tear soaked rage. She threw herself into red ground with her arms wrapped around her baby. The man stood watching her with shock and a masked pity. He swallowed very discreetly a lump of saliva . He didn’t utter any word but wondered what pain would befall a woman, for her to act in such a manner. The background noise from the mobsters rioted with the pity he had for this woman. He turned to them and yelled for them to be quiet. They suddenly stopped barking. He held his hands towards her. She didn’t move. He smiled at her in a peaceful way, revealing a set of tainted white and chipped teeth. She took his hands and he raised her up. The baby cried as the man tried to hold his arms. He was used to weeping at the sight of men. This was no different.

As she sat facing the burning and chattering fire wood, she wondered who the mobsters were. They were probably the freedom fighters who fought against the chameleons. The night had finally come. Its scintillating yet conniving arms swept through her skin, as she shielded it from her baby. It reminded her that she couldn’t stay in the same spot. The chameleons would get her. She had to keep on running.