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.

I'm being read

I didn't know my blog was being read. That's exciting to know. WOW!!! I guess I'll have to improve and update my blog. I really do find blogging an effective way for me to express my self and opinions. Afterall, I'm not a talk show host like Funmi Iyanda or a singer like tu face and not yet a writer like Chimamanda Adichie. But, blogging can be really tasking, especially when you're a student. Notwithstanding, I still enjoy it.I'm going to try my best to blog my opinions and rioting thoughts as much as possible.

BEST NIGERIAN MUSIC VIDEOS

Hardly, do you find good Nigerian music videos that meet up to international standards. Reasons such as funding, lack of right equipments have lead to production of very poor videos. But, there are still some very memorable music videos that can be classified as good. Though, these videos are not awesome in their use of technology, but the artiste have been able to use the little they have to make good videos.

When it had become the numb for Nigerian videos to be void of graphics, styl-plus changed the scene. Prior to this, most videos were with people singing in front of the beach, village setting and stuff like that. But the Olufunmi video changed the way music videos were made

NIGERIAN ENTERTAINMENT

Firstly, I'll like to recognise the fact that entertainment in Nigeria, has come a long way. One can now survive on Nigerian entertainment. I'd also like to start with the Nigerian music scene. Without any doubt, Nigerian music is now at an appreciable level. A few years back, most people would rather listen to foreign music. But these days, Nigerian music is the "bomb". This is as a result of the fusion of western style of music with indigenuous Nigerian rhythm, sound, language and so on. I guess we have all been influenced by western culture, that we prefer to listen to music like that only with some Nigerian spice.

Can't blame us, even in China and Japan, music is becoming more westernized.

Thanks to good Nigerian music that fostered the production of other good songs. Eg: Plantashun boys: brought rhythm and r n b into nigerian music scene...styl-plus -adding smooth r n b with nigerian language, who knew that could sound so good..p square-even if they are guilty for sampling other people's works without permission, they definitely deserve an appplause for fusing dance and hot steps into nigerian music. Lagbaja-for also making fela kinda music sound funkier and jolly. Kush for taking the bar higher. Femi kuti-big ups for making nigerian music international. As for videos, we are yet to make good videos to good standards, but we have to give it up to a few people.

Not forgeting those Nigerians in diaspora that are into music . Its cool to know they are infusing their Nigerian roots into their music.

Here are some artist.

Though, Nigerian music is blossoming, there is still a long way to go.

Nayo- has a soothing and mesmerizing voice n she's beautiful

visit her on www.myspace.com/nayo or www.nayomusic.com

He raps really gud. Love the lyric "put by zoom zoom in your boom boom" from collabo with p square.

Visit his myspace on

Don't expect me to show sade or seal, cos I have not heard or seen this people come out to identify themselves with Nigeria.