Who raised this child...who raised this society?

Who raised this child...who raised this society?

I know, I know...it has been a very long while. Anyway, i finally got a job and after much thought I have concluded it is perfect for the woman I want to be. That woman who successfully marries her career and family...that woman who changes society one little step at a time, one student at a time...

I count my blessings and I raise a glass to a future brimming with many more...

Tari: One Year On

If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. ~ Job 14:14

I just feel like you're away on a long journey, remembering you on your day ~ Baloko Makala

I am just gonna paste a series of tweets from yesterday that I posted in memory of Ebitari Takenah. I thought I might write a little note in your honour but I just cannot summon the words. Rest on dear one.

Jay‏@joyness_247

The coroner said all your vital organs were of natural functional state and had nothing to do with your death so why did u have to go Tari?

Jay‏@joyness_247

You might not walk the earth anymore but u have been alive in my heart this past year, ur voice, ur smile, ha! Ur memories live on dear Tari

Jay‏@joyness_247

Time might deem the pain but the missing never lessens #TariOneYearOn

Jay‏@joyness_247

You were always so supportive of us your friends. As Sophie said, you knew how to see the lovable side in everyone u met. #TariOneYearOn

Jay‏@joyness_247

U were d only one that called me 'E'. I can still hear u on d phone, "Hello 'E'" u wld begin & we'll be on the phone 4 ages. #TariOneYearOn

Jay‏@joyness_247

Right after u left us, I got a msg from an unknown no with me addressed as E. I tot I was going loco, I kept saying, only Tari calls me that

Jay‏@joyness_247

It was actually Chinedu texting frm Ghana & I suppose he called me E becos he knew u did too. We were all so lost dat period #TariOneYearOn

Jay‏@joyness_247

Sleep on my friend. I pray dat when my time comes, I wld have made as much impact with the time I am given as u did with urs #TariOneYearOn

Random thoughts......

I recall as a kid that a man in my village became unpopular for engaging in money rituals just to buy the 80's edition of the Honda Prelude. You wouldn't buy that car for 50k today.

I remember as a kid, my whole street converged to watch a truck deliver a very large satellite dish to my neighbour's house. Today a dish one tenth that size delivers 5 times the value and is in almost every student hostel room.

What of the Volkswagen Santana, Mercedes Benz V booth, all overtaken by Camry and Honda discussions? .... Vanity.
A friend declared drinks for the boys because he just launched the Nokia Communicator for over a hundred grand in 2002. Today that phone would embarrass the owner and is a joke compared to the low cost and everyday phone.

People still make the most amazing sacrifices over the vainest of things, make enemies over worthless material things. What can I say? Look back at that one thing you want to kill or die for today and see what becomes of it tomorrow.
Slow down with the sense of attachment and blind pursuit of things, for today's gold is tomorrow's copper...

~ Anonymous

The Significant Few

"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.” ~ Albert Einstein

image courtesy of istockphoto

The “significant few” was the theme of a message I heard in church recently. The pastor took us through history to see that the progress mankind has made were achieved by outliers. Earthlings did not have a conference to discuss the need for airplanes, telephones, fans, cars or even the needle. One man or woman had an idea, researched it, failed at it and then succeeded to give us the inventions that “the many” enjoy today. This is how it has been since time immemorial and how it would always be.

The truth is mankind can be classed in three different groups. The Achievers - those who make things happen. The Scorners – those who watch things happen and finally, the Drifters– those who have no clue what is happening.

To be an achiever requires being ready to be mocked, gossiped about and derided in the public space yet never giving in. Achievers are not necessarily the most brilliant, the most talented or the most beautiful; they however run faster, run harder and run longer. They are those who stay awake long into the night to dream of solutions. The achiever may not be famous, in truth most people in this category are vilified in their lifetime, only later generations acknowledged their immerse contributions, Galileo anyone? In fact, some may never be acknowledged. However one thing is certain, they are passionate and they change their world even if that world contains only one person.

Scorners and spectators on the other hand know how best others should sow their fields. Funny thing about this class of people is that their fields are overrun with thorns and thistles. However, rather that weeding and cultivating their land, they use all their strength to build a very tall observatory from where they pass comments on those busy working their fields. These are distracters, ignore them!

You do not want to be a drifter, these bunch are out of it. They have no idea what is going on. The truth is that it is easy to be in this group. In fact, most people have been there at one point or the other. There is no harm in that; the problem is remaining in this group. Drifters are totally consumed with “what shall we eat?”, “what shall we drink?” and “what shall we wear?” so that there is no room for “more”.This is a poor life.

Now “more” is not something vague. It is having an interest in something other than you, it is enriching lives, and it is bringing joy. It is adding value to you and others. You know, it is taking the hand of that little old lady at the traffic crossing and getting her safely to the other side of the street. I believe we lose our humanity when we lose our ability to care. Not everyone can be an inventor but everyone can care.

Let the truth be discussed

"Conscience is an open wound, only TRUTH can heal it" ~ Othman Dan Fodiyo.

Image courtesy of blog.hjenglish.com 

 

Today, I have a guest blogger on, my very first and I am pretty excited. His name is Eghosa and he writes like poetry. Maybe that is because he is a poet too. He has written this thoughtful piece as well as graciously allowed me to use one of his poems here. Enjoy.

LET TRUTH BE DISCUSSED

Our world certainly is changing, whether here in a small town in West Africa or in Britain, whether with the Boko-Haram disease in Nigeria or the global economic drain. Surely to me it is almost like certain powers are taking over now, powers that are in control of almost everything and would dictate everything and would exhibit its own character. And then you understand why all sorts of things can happen in our world.

And then another worry is about the greed and strife for power -even though we don't get to live forever? Or that everything is vanity yet? Well, maybe I get personal here, talking from my point of view and of course everyone else have they own. Let truth be discussed!

People don't really care about much these days, we are particular about today like there really is no tomorrow. We do anything to satisfy our own flesh even if it cost our souls. Now the Fame! We all want to be heard about now, no doubt about that really. We want to be on the lime light too, and be treated everywhere like royals. In the news, on the papers and sadly, even to the grave? Don't they say fame is the worse drug known to man? We get addicted quickly and soon die of its overdose. But at the same time something rings a bell here, yes, something is beginning to show clearly here, for it was so written and even so predicted. When such injustice and inhumanity now thrives in our world like new laws, then nations that once was begins the way to its demise.

Although my main intention for this idea isn't just to steer up our minds but that we be cautious of what we do and the paths we choose to follow, and that we educate ourselves and be guided.
I have made up my mind about certain things, not because I accept them really, but you know I see nothing else to do than to pray about them, so I pray about everything.

image courtesy of jamesmuir.com

GREAT NIGERIA

Great nigeria great!
Giant of Africa great!
But isnt there any wonder what's great about the state?
Perhaps its the same thing today we say,
The shame,The prejudice,
Our greed for wealth,and the role we play,

Of what good are we known for anyway?
On what justice have we prevailed?
Indeed our economy is sick,and about to die,
Having suffered of so much ills there comes a time to kill,
For our laid down laws,we by ourselves forbid,

Say it plain,we are but a laughing stock,
This my cousin would rather protest,
How beautiful,what in his mind forsees,

Had he seen the News@nine?
The bunch of jokes,The men of Gimmicks?
Its been so sad and tearful in my mind,

Great nigeria great!great!great!!
Thats what we truely are,in our individual faith,
Collectively we are but a rowdy play,
Spreading the flu even to the dame,
Greedily and Dishonestly,
Loyal to our own game.

Twenty Naira

"The police is not your friend" ~ Anonymous

Image courtesy of hrw.org

Now, I am well aware that police road blocks have been banned in Nigeria, however, this poem was written a long time ago. I got the inspiration to do a poem in pidgin English after coming across one by Wole Soyinka on the back page of either Tell or Newswatch.

I thought about this poem earlier today and decided to share it here.

TWENTY NAIRA

Stop! Stop!
Oga wetin na?
Wetin ai do?
Ai no de speed
Ai no de wrong lane
my seat belt sef, i tie am

Your papers nko?
Oga ai sabi dem
Driver's licence
Ai get am hia
All my particulars de kampe
Even sef, ai get insurance

Correct Sah! we see everything
What about kola for awon boys?
We sef sabi chop
Make you give us N20
Make we take hold our side
Abeg wet awie hand

Twenty naira wetin?
You sabi say ai de share money?
Na because of N20
Naim make una kill dat school pikin last week
N20 send tuke-tuke driver go grave

Oga wetin be your own sef?
Na N20 make you de preach like this?
Una like this wey go school
Na so una dey give us wahala
Na because say na you oo
Or else....

Anyway sef
You sure say this your car
Dey road worthy so?
I don see am sef
This your motor pass the 7 years limit
wey we president give

Oga ( with a very big smile)
You go follow us go station
You must come see we oga
This your car
Na menace for we roads
Na people like u dey cause accident with your akpangiri motor

Wetin you mean?
Ai no fit go station
Ai don de late for my meeting
Oya take the N20 make ai de go
My boss go fire me
If ai no de office in the next 20 minutes

Oga, na my turn now
N20 too small
If you go give me N100
I fit let you comot
Nothing more
Nothing less

Bros abeg, my oga
Ai no get N100
Make ai give you N40
Abeg, manage this N40
Make you remember say
Tomorrow na another day

Oya, bring am na
Na because na you sha
Hurry oo
Remember say you get meeting
But no too speed oo
My brothers de front

The road not traveled....

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" ~ Robert Burns

Image courtesy of emilyhasbooks.com

THRESHOLD

The future spreads out before me
And I stand on the brink
Should I step out
Or fade into the past?

The future is shrouded in shadows
And the past seems all familiar
Warm and comforting
Laurels formerly won

The future is a leap
A leap to heights unknown
Strange places, stranger faces
Am I ready?

On this threshold of womanhood
I stand on the closing gates of girlhood
Aware of the expectations
Should I leap?

But if I leap?
Who is there to catch me
Will there be warm arms
Or cold stares?

And beyond the jump
Is that firm lands I see
Or sinking sands?
Ready to suck me in

Life is so uncertain
Full of sweetness and sadness
Plenty of laughter
But also barrels of tears

So I go into the future
Like the caterpillar
Praying that time
Will split my cocoon

So that this butterfly may be free.

I wrote this poem many years ago when I was just leaving university, I was 21, with plans to travel for more studies. Also there was NYSC, both meant leaving home and leaving behind all that was familiar. In some ways certain things seem so clear then, I had confidence even in the midst of my uncertainties. All these times later, I somewhat feel I am still on the brink and leaping has not got any easier.

In life, I guess, there would always be decisions, duties, obligations, pleasures, really choices that can take us down different roads. We should be careful to make the best ones so we would have no need to second guess ourselves, 'what ifs' can be draining but can also be educative. I saw a quote recently that I thought was quite profound "The road not traveled..." I found that it is from a poem by Robert Frost and I have taken the liberty to post it on here, enjoy.

                                                  The Road Not Taken

Image courtesy of abettercountryheb11.wordpress.com

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A headstone is all that is left....

“They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in one another still.” ~ William Penn

I woke up this morning to pictures of your headstone. Waenemi  had posted them on your facebook memorial page. Your family have fitted a beautiful marble headstone and it hurt so much to see it. Those pictures broke my heart all over again Tari, a stone cannot be all that is left of you dearest. No, your voice, your laughter, your amazing friendship still lives with all of us who loved you.

I miss you so much still.......

Recent weeks.....

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.” ~ Helen Keller


There is always something happening in our world, events that makes us cry, laugh or even leaves us completely indifferent. I guess God made us thus; imagine if we constantly could absorb all the sorrows, the wars, the sadness. I think our hearts would simply burst from the pain. Or even if we could take on all the joys too, there has to be something otherworldly about being constantly happy. As they say, if one has never known sorrow, how can one appreciate joy?

In the last weeks, three stories struck me in the news, the near death experience of Fabrice Muamba, the tragedy of Trayvon Martin and ignominy of the actions of Robert Bales, a much decorated soldier turned villain.

There is a lot that is dark and frightening about the massacre of the Afghan 16 on March 11 by an American soldier who was supposed to be one of their liberators from the oppression and terror of the Taliban. The mental fitness of Robert Bales have been questioned by all and may likely play a major role in his defence, but what frightens me more is the sentiments expressed by some Americans on blogs and internet forums. There is much sympathy for the perpetuator but hardly any care for the victims. I know of course, that the opinion of some online respondents does not speak for an entire country but it worries me none the less. Nobody deserves to be murdered in their bed.

Another aspect of this is the media coverage; we know everything there is to know about Bales but next to nothing of his victims, not their names, their ages, their sexes or their dreams.

Trayvon Martin’s murder and the fact that is murderer is still walking free takes me back to pre civil rights America I have only read about before now. George Zimmerman, hunted Trayvon as you would an animal, he stalked him and shot him down like a dog, this 17 year old man child whose only crime was being black and being on the streets after dark.

Image courtesy of cleveland.com

I think that there is something very jungle like about Florida’s gun laws and the stand your ground legislation; the idea that I could commit murder and my ticket out of being arrested would be that I felt threatened, after all, who would contradict me? Dead men as we well know cannot defend themselves. The law might have been passed in good faith to protect victims but it has become obvious to all that it has only further empowered perpetuators and those who would take the law into their own hands. I hope something good comes out of all these, I hope that the laws are reviewed because that would be the ultimate justice for Trayvon.

The story of Fabrice Muamba countered the weeks of bad news. Here was reason to believe in our collective humanity. I don’t watch much football; however I couldn’t help but take notice when all the social media seemed awashed with ‘Pray for Muamba’ updates. I had to pay attention and the story I found greatly moved me. A young man struck in his prime by a terrible illness and the fight by all concerned to see him well. The prayers, the love, the good wishes, I can’t help but fancy that all of that set him on the path to recovery.

TILL WE MEET...........

“Will it come like a change in the weather? Will its greeting be courteous or rough? Will it alter my life altogether? O tell me the truth about love.” ~ W. H. Auden

Image courtesy of landogsaga.is

Life is like a passing ship
That stops in places
With new people
Tis so sad my ship is pulling anchor
So soon after I met you

I think of things
We could have done together
Places we could have seen
Through each other’s eyes
And i am sad

Perhaps at another port
In another sea
We’ll drop anchor
And catch up on old times

But I miss you
And wonder whether
Those times will ever come
Will I see you again?

THE TRUST BANK

I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you."  ~   Friedrich Nietzsche

Image courtesy of sana.fi

If you take a sample of people and ask them what quality they most value in a relationship, at least 50% are likely to say trust. However trust goes beyond believing I would not cheat on you when you are away or that you won’t cheat when I am absent. Trust is faith, hope, reliance, dependence, confidence, conviction, expectation, belief and a lot more.

Trust involves knowing that I believe in you, your dreams, aspirations, hopes and that I will be there for you whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall.
Trust is supporting you whether I understand your vision or not, it is that ability to say ‘do you want wings or a ticket?’ when you say you want to fly.

Trust is knowing I have got your back when you go facing your fears. It is relying on me to fan the flames of your fire when you need to catch some sleep.

Trust is confidence to tell me about all your business deals because you know I won’t sell you out. Trust is my absolute surety that you will succeed and make me proud. It is expecting nothing but your best from you.

Trust though is a bank. You must deposit to withdraw. This is the reason it is said that trust is earned. You cannot continue to overdraw you account and expect me not to close it or expect not to suffer some penalties for the breach of contract.

VETERAN ACTORS/ACTRESSES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW

“The only thing that endures is character. Fame and wealth – all that is illusion.” ~ OJ Simpson
These actors and actresses were some of the pioneers of Nollywood but seem to have vanished from the silver screen. However, this research shows that they are still very relevant, from nursing to the clergy, these men and women are taking giant strides. Here is what they are up to these days.

PETE EDOCHIE

Pete Edochie is considered one of Africa’s foremost actors. We have all at one time or the other been thrilled by the presence and charisma he brings into his roles. Edochie came into acting limelight in the 80’s from an already successful career as a broadcaster and administrator.  The actor has gifted Nollywood with his two sons Yul and Linc who are also terrific actors. Pete Edochie was kidnapped in 2009 but was released shortly after and has since then kept a low profile although he still acts intermittently.

LIZ BENSON

Liz Benson is regarded by most as one of the golden ladies of Nollywood. This actress who lost her husband before she was thirty had the strength of character to raise her children and combined it with a very active acting profile in her heyday. In 1996, Liz Benson became a born again Christian and is currently an evangelist.

KANAYO O KANAYO

Anayo Modestus Onyekwere aka Kanayo O kanayo can be safely referred to as Nollywood’s premier actor. He made his debut appearance in ‘living in bondage’ which is acknowledged as Nigeria’s first blockbuster movie and the pioneer of the home video industry. In 2006, KOK won the prestigious AMAA for best actor in a leading role. Kanayo O Kanayo has recently forayed into politics; he declared his intention to run for the house of representative elections in 2011 although he did not scale through.

REGINA ASKIA-WILLIAMS

This pretty former beauty queen and model started her acting career in the soap  ‘fortunes’ in 1993 and went on to act in several Nollywood movies winning various awards including the ‘Best Actress in Nigeria’ in 2000. Regina Askia epitomises that cliché, beauty and brains, she graduated with a biology degree from Unilag and is currently a practising nurse in America.

EUCHARIA ANUNOBI

Eucharia Anunobi is probably the only Nigerian actress that is invariably described as sultry. This nollywood bad girl has come a long way from her famed rascality to the ordained pastor she is today. Although she vowed to continue acting, she has not been seen in any movies recently.

RICHARD MOFE DAMIJO

What is there not to love about our RMD? This screen god ruled the movie industry as leading man to go to long before the likes of Ramsey Nouah and Jim Iyke became popular. These days however, RMD is ruling in the corridors of political power. He is commissioner for culture and tourism in Delta state.

ST.  OBI

This tall dreamboat graced our screens for many a movie until the shallowness of most nollywood scripts caused him to go behind the camera. Now, St. Obi plays actor, director and producer in his own movies.

BASORGE TARIAH JUNIOR

This actor has been compared to America’s Martin Lawrence for his ability to combine acting with comedy. Basorge is also well regarded for his elocution and impeccable eloquence. These days, he puts that to practice as public speaker and MC.

SEGUN ARINZE

Segun Arinze is perhaps best known for portraying villainous characters, roles which he perfects with great fanfare with his huge eyeballs. Last year Segun Arinze was embroiled in a court case with fellow actor Emeka Ike for the leadership of the Actors guild of Nigeria.

REBIRTH IN EDO

“A statesman is a politician who places himself at the service of the nation. A politician is a statesman who places the nation at his service.” ~ Georges Pompidou

Last week, one of the discussions I followed on Twitter was the #theworsegovernorinnigeria raised by @ekekeee and it was both informative and disheartening to say the least. The issues examined by contributing tweeps were not new, kleptomaniac rulers bankrupt of quality ideas and a longsuffering people with hardly any hope for political redemption. I was impressed though that with the dearth of inspiring leadership in Nigeria, there are some governors who have dared to be different, who for them it is not business as usual. The likes of Rochas Okorocha, Tunde Fashola and my own state Governor, Adams Oshiomhole. Now these men are not perfect, I’m sure some persons may be able to fill up pages with their errors. However, we cannot afford to lose sight of the progress they have made.

Someone said recently that there have only been three performing government in Edo State, the government of Ogbemudia which gave us such legacies as the Ogbe Stadium, the Benin museum and the University of Benin.  The government of the late Ambrose Alli; which gave people like my mother, the chance to get an education. Governor Alli supplied free textbooks, gave Edo a state University, several colleges of education, as well as polytechnics. And finally, we have comrade Adams Oshiomhole.

Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole went to court to fight for his mandate and since he assumed office, he has tackled his job with vigour. Most Edo roads that were virtually impassable are now transformed or undergoing transformation, from roads in Benin City to roads in the interior, the story is the same. One of the biggest problems for road maintenance in Edo state is the annual flooding which has led to severe erosion. Oshiomhole and his team have mapped out a flood control plan that involves linking the historical moat of Benin to the Ikpoba River. So far, work is going on in earnest and the prayer of everyone in Benin City is that this solution works.

Another aspect that the Oshiomhole Government has tackled is the fixing of dilapidated school buildings all over the state. I have always believed that an enabling environment for learning includes the facility where this knowledge is being impacted. How can children learn when they are exposed to the elements in school? Or when the child has to hide behind a bush and step on other people’s mess to answer nature’s call? These days, I am heartened when I come across these shining new school buildings everywhere in town. However, a fancy school building is not enough; these schools need books in a functioning library, quality teachers, more discipline, a crackdown on examination malpractices etc.

Beyond all of these is that Oshiomhole has given the people of Edo the ability to dream again, hope for the landlord who is now a tenant because erosion has taken over his property. Hope for the child who can now learn under a roof, sitting on a proper chair, writing on a proper desk. Hope for the everyday men and women who have access to the cheap mass transit buses aptly tagged comrade buses provided long before the term ‘palliatives’ became a buzzword in our polity.

SHOWGIRL

Where do I start to tell the story of Showgirl? Is it the day she was born, the first daughter of her mother or the day when she first danced and earned that nickname showgirl that was to be her moniker for the rest of her short life? Is it the years of toil and grime? Or endless days in the farm outside of Benin, where her mother planted yams, melon, cassava and plantain to feed their ever increasing family. Or that shade in the market where her mother sold yards of clothes that Showgirl sometimes had to watch so her mother could run the various errands life sent her on?

Do I tell Showgirl’s story from the times she attempted to write the SSCE? Did she fail because she had no head for books or because she spent too many hours in the farm or the market store that she came home too tired for anything other than her bed? Still she attempted to make something of herself.  She signed up for computer classes.

 However, she soon was disillusioned with this. She saw no way out of the abiding poverty except an escape to Europe. After all, everyday all around her she saw young men and women return from Europe with great wealth. They built houses for their families, bought cars and generally screamed success. All they said was required was handwork and a determination to succeed and did Showgirl not have all of these in abundance?

So she sat her mother down and sold her the idea, her mother cried and begged but her plea fell on deaf ears. Showgirl’s mind was made up. Her mother went out and borrowed some money. It was an investment so that their future might be better.

Showgirl left on a fine day, she told her mother the trip would only take three days but it was to take her a lifetime. She never even saw Europe, only the lights of Italy and Spain as she stood on the Libyan shore.

For three years, she suffered through the Libyan experience as she searched for a sponsor to take her across the sea to the life she had sacrificed so much for. Her mother begged her to return home but she wouldn’t or couldn’t. The desert spirit had completely taken her over. It was Europe or bust.

Back home, her poor mother had not heard from her in six months and was almost frantic with worry until one day when a car pulled up outside their house. Out of it came a woman who said she knew Showgirl. She said she has moved to Morocco and that her son was willing to sponsor her.  However, her mother had to go swear in a shrine that her daughter would definitely pay back the outrageous sum charged for ferrying her to Europe.

Swear in a shrine? It went against everything her mother believed, no, she wasn’t a Christian at the time, she served the gods of her forebears but an oath was not a dimension she had strode before. They wouldn’t let this woman speak to her child without this oath and what would a mother not do for her child?

So she swore and she did speak to Showgirl but it was one of the last times. Not too long after she was called away from her farm to say her daughter was sick. She ran to the phone booth and heard the dying voice of her first daughter. Mummy she said, I should have come home and now I die in a strange land.

For fear of death...

Recent happenings in the country took me back to the Abacha years, the same anger, restlessness, hopelessness....I started to read again the poetry I wrote in those dark days...here are two that is as relevant now as then...

For fear of death
We commit suicide
Like the Ostrich
Our heads are in the sand

We are raped
We are chased
Yet we are mute
And everyday we die

When good men shut their mouths
Evil becomes a blabbermouth
It stands on the rooftop
And screams ownership
Of a house he did not build

Good has gone into hiding
Afraid to come out
From its burrow
To face the warships of evil

Evil walks the streets
Unmolested
Unafraid
For he knows
Good men have gone to sleep

Heritage Song

If I were to sing the song of my country
My song will be in tears
Tears of blood
In sympathy for the children of my country

My country people say
We only know dirge
We used to sing afrojuju
But now it is all dirge

We used to love to dance
Now our feet are heavy
Iron two left feet
And how we used to dance

Then they used to envy us
And came from afar to watch us
Now they come to scorn
And to mourn with us

Some say it is  a curse
Punishment for what our fathers did
But who would curse us?
Who dares swear at us?

We together must break this curse
So we can sing again
Our heritage song
And our feet vibrate in harmony

It is a new year.....

It is 2012, the year started  as a new week, that is on a sunday,  also, it is a leap year so i see new beginnings....and as a christian, I must acknowledge Jesus for keeping me and mine and bringing us into this realm of new possibilities.

Now that aside, you would note that over the last couple of weeks, a lot has been going on in Nigeria and it has caused me to comment on various social media. I decided to bring all my comments together for my first post of 2012.

joyness_247Idemudia Eseosa Joy

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@BBC_WHYS I think I have moved beyond shocked to deeply angry. Still reeling from yesterday's #christmas day bombings in #Nigeria

26 DecFavoriteReplyDelete

joyness_247Idemudia Eseosa Joy

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@BBC_WHYS I think beyond the shock is the constant fear. You hear of a blast and you call friends & family just to confirm their safety.

26 DecFavoriteReplyDelete

joyness_247Idemudia Eseosa Joy

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@BBC_WHYS The govt's response to the crisis is what is shocking. They tell us we need to live with the bombings, It is not unique to us.

26 DecFavoriteReplyDelete

Eseosa Joie Idemudia

The president does not inspire confidence in his govt when he keeps telling us that terrorism is a burden we have to bear. We know government may not be able to close every gap but we expect to see that government is doing something. I was ...very disappointed when I saw in the news that christmas dinner went on as usual yesterday at aso rock. In a sane nation, the president will immediately call a security meeting not continue with his dinner and xmas cards swapping as though we weren't a nation in crisis.See More

December 26, 2011 at 10:16am · · 1

joyness_247Idemudia Eseosa Joy

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@BBC_WHYS Nigerians see humour in all situations hence the jokes & pictures regarding #fuelsubsidy. Fela called it 'suffering & smiling'

joyness_247Idemudia Eseosa Joy

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@BBC_WHYS The new kind of security for an already insecurity battered people. #fuelsubsidy humour http://yfrog.com/gz5r7wvj

19 hours agoFavoriteReplyDelete

Eseosa Joie Idemudia

As an economist, I know all the arguments for deregulation...fuel subsidy as a longterm plan is unsustainable. However, government do not exist in a vacuum, its policies must wear a human face and in situations were bitter pills must be swallowed, sweeteners should be put in place to mitigate it. In the case of the GEJ administration, it has passed a highly unpopular policy at the worse possible time. On the first day of the year in a traditionally dry january! And also let's not forget Nigerians are still reeling from the christmas day bombings; most of us think the apparatus of government should be concentrated on combating the menace of Boko Haram not increasing the burdens of an already battered people.