WHAT IS YOUR REASON TO HOPE ?

So some days back I came across the post by CNN world, ranking Port-harcourt international Airpot  as the worst airport in the world. Where others cursed this country and said we are hopeless, i smiled and said we are not. So what? What if our airport is the worst in the world. We are not the first country to grace the news in this sad light. I refuse to join millions of nigerians who without shame, non patriotic nigerians took to the media to bash this great country under a foreign post. Some Nigerians reposted pictures and made mockery of our short comings to the world, tagging CNN on many pictures they haven't even seen for the world to see our nakedness. Yes it's an out cry for shame but we should learn to lick our wounds inwardly at the same time we shouldn't sell out this great country.
WHAT IS YOUR REASON TO HOPE?
Let me use this meduim and remind you all of spectacular moments in Nigerian history. Moments that have restored our pride and dignity, moments CNN and the world forgot to eulogise but preferred to put Nigeria on the news for having the worst airport. Let's start at the beginning, October 1st Tafawa balewa stood alongside Queen Elizabeth's representative as we got our Independence. We survived a war and in 1970 millions of soldiers took to the streets to celebrate when they heard the Nigerian civil war has ended.
Festival of arts and culture was the largest cultural event ever held on the African continent, attended by more than 17000 participants from over 50 countries.In 2008 Aliko Dangote worth
£ 3.3billion at that time ,now he is worth over £ 17billion took his place among the richest black men on earth. Chimamanda Adichie ' s is one of the most successful African writers in the world.In 2001 Agbani darego became the first Nigerian and black african to be crowned Miss world.In 2014 the Nigerian Economy became the biggest in Africa over taking South Africa.In Oct 20 2014 Nigeria was declared Ebola free and became the first African country to achieve this feat ( Without international support ). Col CHUKWUEMEKA ODUMEGWU OJUKWU'S father - Louis ojukwu was one of Africa's richest black man.He was the founding president of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, he was also either chairman or on the board of companies like Guiness, Costain West Africa, SHELL etc. (One of the brains behind Shell who helps to drill the oil you foreigners buy greedily. ) He was so Wealthy and respected, he was allowed to enter United Kingdom without a VISA. We are among the top five producers of cocoa beans in the world.The pastor of the largest church in United Kingdom is a nigerian, pst Mathew Ashimolowe. We are the most travelled and the most enterprising people in the world.It is mostly said as a joke that anywhere in the world you would find a Nigerian, it cant be said for most countries and if that's not part of growth then what is. I can go on and on but for ink sake I would stop here.
My point is - yes we are struggling, yes we have our flaws, we might not be growing as fast as we want to but we are definetly growing. We are just 55 years and I can't remember America or Britain having the best airport in the world at 55. When I look back at our past, where we came from and where we are heading there is hope. These and many more are my reasons to Hope, What's yours?

TIME FOR A REVOLUTION

There is hope even in a country were there is job Glot and nothing seems to be working. Hundreds of graduates come out every year with CV in hand looking for a place to work, there is hope and hope starts from RE-ORIENTATION. It starts with providing a need,gradually the euphoria of reading engineering(Mechanical..civil..etc )and the rest of the courses so to work in oil companies and federal parastatals is coming to an end .Where are the oil companies?They are laying of staffs everyday? Where are the federal parastatals ?They are owing,as the government is struggling to stay afloat.The banks are downsizing and taking few staffs and we think the end is near,but it's not.There would be an INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION a time for us to know that it's not what you learnt on paper that counts , but creativity,practical application,providing a need to the society to put food on your table.THE era of connection is gradually ending, but what have you to offer to the SOCIETY is what's TRENDING.What value,what skill?what creativity do you bring to the table to carve a niche for yourself.Many nigerian entrepreneurs are springing forth,I see make -up artist charge 150k for just a bridal make -up on a weekend which equals to what most bankers earn in a month. I see young ladies own big fashion houses and are recognised internationally,i have seen some boys from the yoruba tribe who didn't go to school, they didn't read mechanical engineering or any of that stuff but are skilled in Fabrication .They fabricate machines for companies and are paid in millions to save them the stress of ordering from China and cost of maintenance.Here in NIGERIA,I have seen housewives who are skilled in cooking now run there own private buisness and deliver fresh home made meals to different houses at 5k and in a month they get 200k just cooking.My point is it doesnt matter what you want to do, do it well.If you are an accountant be the best, if you an architect be the best.If you sew or you are a cloth merchant strive for the best in quality and in service.
Hard work can never go unrewarded and would eventually pay off. The old dirge of a failed country with hundreds of graduates roaming the streets is becoming to sound like a toothless old woman forced to chew raw meat. We cant all have white collar jobs, we cant all be politicians.Lets learn to lay less blame on the government and more on ourselves. Search your self and discover your skill today.Think outside the box,think of a skill You have and think of what the need you have to provide to your society to make things easier and bring in income .Nigeria is still a developing nation and untapped skills abide everywhere, future business empires and big enterprenuers would spring forth in this revolutionary stage . Lets all be part of this revolution , a change in thinking, a change in action , change in the way we see life and this reformation starts from us.

THINGS FALL APART IN NIGERIA

Taking my mind back to the event of last week,my younger brother who is a graduate told me he has never read or come across or seen the book THINGS FALL APART by chinua achebe.He was stuck in traffic and saw them hawking his books and decided to get THINGS FALL APART out of curiosity to read and know what all the hullabaloo is about the book.I just kept on gaping at him with my mouth open in shock.THINGS FALL APART is probably the most authentic narrative ever written about life in Nigeria, Thousands of copies are still sold every year in the United States alone and millions of copies have been sold around the world in many translations .Things fall apart was a ground breaking work,  We took our place as a country among other great works by other authors around the world in popular schools like HAVARD, OXFORD etc.Yet in our own country this classic is almost a visitor to this generation.What happened i asked myself ? Where have we lost it ? The Americans still preserve histories till date in her books by her authors and generations of americans grow up to know the stories of the battle at the watergate ,stories about Abraham lincoln and how America came to be.What then is happening to Nigeria and our educational system? Are these books only meant to be read by writers or people that read English or literature? I don't think so.A child would pass through primary and secondary school and would never read or see these classics? It's a Sacrilege in my opinion, almost an abomination. It means one day I would ask a child in this generation if he/she has ever heard of CHINUA ACHEBE and the answer I might recieve is NO , is he a musician? We have gotten to that point and I feel sad that in this generation,most children would not be privileged to read the works of these great historians, most of these authors age gracefully with most of them dead and their books buried with them.These books are now considered old and extinct and removed from the educational syllabus.I was born in the 90's ,practicaly in this generation but I was privileged by some divine encounter to read the books of these historians,taking me to the 70 ' s and preserving the history of our fore -fathers in my head so I can tell it to my kids someday.Stories of the NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR,Stories of the tribes and there origin.A yoruba child might know how to speak yoruba but he/she might never know why his customs came to be, why they postrate on the floor to greet their elders or how they settled in the west.So much knowledge wasted, unknown and lost to this generation.Godbless chimamanda adichie author of (Half of a yellow sun and Purple hibiscus ) at least her books are in still in circulation,she tried to tell only a fragment of what would have been.I am privileged to read and to have connected to these writers somehow through their works and that to me is a blessing I can never take for granted.These men, these authors are true icons and pacesetters, please let's try to preserve history and may we never forget what was to what is . If we don't know what was or where we are coming from, we can never be certain of were we are heading.Let us all pick a book today , a book that matters, a book that spans across generations, a book that preserves history and may we never be lost in our own motherland .

ODE to MARRIAGE in NIGERIA

1st STANZA


Dear marraige ,why have you caused so much pain and panic among people these days? Why have you given so many ladies and some men undue high blood pressure and constipation. Marraige do you know that so many people have wept for you,so many have sowed huge tithes and offerings in the church of God concerning your matter. Marraige do you know that so Many people see you as their last monument and achievment on earth? They hold you so high, above self esteem, above morals, above even God. Money is nothing to some ,respect is nothing neither does pure happiness for they have placed their happiness in you. OH MARRAIGE! because of you and the power you exude in today's society,alot of calamities befall your people. Do you know what you have caused in today's society? Do you know the anguish and desperation you have caused in todays society?

Incase you don't know let me enumerate a few


(SECOND STANZA)........

Marraige please open your ears and listen
You have caused great harm as your meaning is lost to most people... You are now a do or die affair as many people marry for different reasons. Some marry for money, some marry because they feel they are of age and they just need to settle down. Some marry to please society and friends while some marry to please their parents. Some marry to show competition and some marry just so there pictures can come on soft sell magazines, Bellanaija blogs, linda ikeji and other blogs. ..
You have led so many people into Financial CRUNCH after spending so much on elaborate expensive weddings they can't afford. In this society you are Alpha and Omega, to them a woman's worth is not based on her Achievments, morals, qualifications, intelligence but until she finally captures you by hook or crook... Your three main values which is LOVE, FRIENDSHIP,MUTUAL LOVE AND RESPECT, are lost in this fading times...


Now the trend is anyone you see carry go, it's a buisness proposal, it's a sham, it's deceit, it's make believe, its an ambition, its a glorified trophy, it's a meal ticket, it's a fantasy to many. So many of your sons and daughters are weeping inside your shackles but are prepared to die on the inside because of what society might say. So many are in loveless marraiges but are prepared to tarry to Co-habit for the sake of your name. So many men have been turned into the spawns of Satan using your name in vain to lie and to decieve ladies just to end up using them.I can go on and on, the crimes committed in your name can fill THE BOOK OF ELI but I will stop here.
REFRAIN: (STANZA 3)

Please tell them that marraige is a beautiful thing with the right patner Please tell them to close their eyes and ears to a HATEFUL JUDGEFUL PREJUDICED SOCIETY.Tell the SINGLES that they shouldn't draw arms and go to War to find you, that you visit their doorstep at the appointed time.

Tell the people Who developed HIGH BP in your name that they should take single doses and look for love , friendship, respect each day and they will find you easily. Tell the people who are already in a deceitful relationship that it's ok and allowed to return RINGS if your marraige or engagement is not founded on these basic facts, tell them they are allowed a chance at happiness too. Tell your people that for each woman there is a man and that for each man there is a woman. Tell them to sheath there swords and enjoy life, you are becoming to overrated and not all are meant to be under your canopy,some are meant to soar like lone EAGLES and many would find there happiness in different places instead..

The road to HELL and BACK (Port-harcourt/owerri road)

....I stood there lost in space in Shock that we have come to this ..in this 21st century.Children from the local villages around walked around with pants covered in mud looking like the ghost like characters in nollywood films  and their parents looked half mad covered in splatters of mud from the environment ,I could not differentiate a mad person from a normal person.Local boys filled the area at once collecting money from the passengers that had to use some inside routes through there villages to cross some gulleys,half looked like thieves in my eyes ..as I clutched my bag in fear and made sure my phone was buried deep inside my bag .With shaky hands I removed my sandals and rolled up my jeans to the best of my ability ...in my mind I said to myself there was no way in hell I would cross this gulley ..but I saw myself walking towards this blessed river like John the Baptist about to be baptised by mud..the rest of the story I would leave to your imagination. ..I am sad ..I am weak..I am not even angry ..I am shocked ...that Govt officials ply this road everyday or are their eyes closed when there exotic cars and escorts ply this road? This is a major link road linking Port-harcourt and Owerri is left to dilapitate to this state and nobody has raised any alarm over this? Do we have leaders ? Is there a govt ? Are there people leading us or are they Ghosts..? We talk about celebrating independence. ..We talk about one person stealing billions...We talk about development ..We talk about change...A particular governor put up his achievements for his 100days in office ..and i ask myself which achievment ...charity begins at home ..Yes it's a federal road but where are the local govt chairmen and senators representing this constituency?. ..after all we have had governor's in the past who took to it upon themselves to repair federal roads ..so nobody is free of this blame ...for chrissake if you cannot lend your money or efforts to change this decadance, at least lend your VOICE ..just ur voice.What happened to the media and the papers who write headlines everyday concerning unrelative issues ? Has everyone suddenly gone blind?I myself can go to War for this road but I am only just a girl with a blog and a Facebook page with my quill in hand (this the much as I can do)...why have we come to accept abnormal things and behave normal accepting it as a NORM, it is dis - heartening i would stop here .God save us and save this country nigeria ...I feel as if I did not do justice to this piece ..cause words fail me ..but I hope at least I have passed on a silent strong message ..

THE ROAD TO HELL AND BACK (owerri/port-harcourt road )PART ONE

I dont know what hell looks like but i am sure that the road to hell is better than what i passed through to get into OWERRI..The reason for my absence from this blog for two days is due to what I experienced two days back on the road to owerri.I have not yet recovered and am writing with shaky hands . I decided to take a trip to owerri to settle a pressing issue,i asked my mum if I could drive her car down there and she replied shaking her head ...have you not heard of the road to owerri?...its uncommutable she said ..you would need a boat to ferry you across. I looked at her with my eyebrows raised and said to myself,this woman has come up with another of her exaggerated lies so I won't use her car(lol) . Let me hire a taxi then and ask him to take me it would even be better for me ..I can rest through out the journey and write while the cabman drives me.I called my cabman to please come and take me to owerri ...He replied in pidgin ...*am sorry ma buh I no fit go that side ..that road na death trap..* I even agreed to double the cab fare for us to dash into owerri and come back that same day, but he refused .I was shocked when did EMEKA my cabman refuse anything that has to do with money ? Even after I doubled his fare? Emeka an ibo man? The thought that EMEKA my cabman who i have known for years, would reject the generous offer of money to take me to owerri was disturbing ...all because of this so called GHOST ROAD ...I really had to get to owerri the next day and was prepared to be in owerri through any means by hook or crook...the road can't be that bad I said to myself . My last option was to go to the park and board a public commuters bus heading to owerri ...when I got to the park i paid my fare , i paid for two seats and settled in a comfortable seat to accommodate my long legs ..We left Port- harcourt by 6.30 am and I said to myself ..owerri is just about one hour thirty minutes by at least 9 oklok giving the bad road we will get there.. I slept off shortly after the bus moved ,only to be woken up by a sharp jolt and a voice shouting * make una come down from this bus we don reach the part wey una go trek cross this water I go turn my car meet una for the other side* ..I opened my eyes and looked around dazed and still groggy from sleep ...what is happening I said to myself as I squinted to look out of the window... Lo and behold I saw a SEA of muddy WATER...and the biggest gulley I have ever seen on a road in my life ..after the gulley were several GIANT potholes that can Bury a child comfortably ..then tires of big trucks(911 trucks) buried deep unable to move ..stuck in the water.. I still cannot put to writing what I saw before my eyes .. cars were stuck..in some cars the passengers put there legs inside the muddy water which got up to there waist to push the cars across the gulley (I wish I was exaggerating) the only thought that came to my mind was the level of wickedness shown to me by my cabman and my mum for not explaining in detail what I was to face passing through the valley of this shadow of death. .. to cap it all I wore high platform white sandals ..and my best pencil jeans..imagine the trauma I was passing through at that moment . I got down from the bus reluctantly and watched other passengers eagerly alight ...the men rolled up there jeans ..the women strapped there bags to their waist ..some rained curses on the past president GEJ...Others on BUHARI ..some on ROCHAS OKOROCHA... but the intriguing part is I did not care for the insults or putting the blame on anyone ...all I was saying was is this the way I would end ...how can I put my leg inside this muddy river and trudge foward in a place where tapeworm and hookworm gather for post sallah party .. My jeans ...my white sandals ...my health ..nobody noticed me standing frozen in time ...lost in space... I have to stop here and gather momentum to write PART two..to be continued. ...(winks)

The SACRIFICIAL LAMB ( DEZIANI ALLISON MADUEKE )

Just like the unlucky lamb caught among the bushes when Abraham wanted to sacrifice his son and God saw his faith and provided a lamb instead....so also is the sad tale of the former minister of petroleum...am not disputing the fact that she has to come and answer in relation to the corrupt allegations ...on the alleged misappropriated missing funds in the NIGERIAN NATIONAL PETROLEUM COMMISSION amounting to 20BILLION DOLLARS. I am a firm believer in justice ...I believe if PERSECUTED and found WANTING she should go in for her crimes.I congratulate the president on the steps he has taken to reform the oil sector and i applaud the swift action take by the Chinese to intercept ship loads of crude oil stolen from nigeria under her watch...she deserves to go to the slaughter house ..but these are my thoughts.I have seen the papers carry her stories like masquerades dancing in the new yam festival..I have seen the fan fare put up by the EFCC as many pictures flashed on the news while searching her house and shutting it down ,finally arresting her in the UK...Her so - called colleagues and many Ministers are having a field day trying to have a spot light on the news and donning the WHITE HAT. ..my question is who is the KNIGHT?. ..who among the lot is CLEAN?..Who among them would stand tall and raise there hand high coming to justice with EQUITY?.....NO one ..Who is the DANIEL that has come to JUDGE? ...so instead of riding high on her self imposed corrupt familiarity. ..let's all be sober and learn from her crimes ...that the mighty has fallen is an eye opener for us all. Nobody is above the law, when we point accusing fingers to other people , four fingers point back to us .DEZIANI of the lovely eyes ... DEZIANI the soft spoken ....DEZIANI is on the DOCK and like the lamb she is led to slaughter, as an example to all ..as the scape goat ...that true justice is not a respecter of anybody ...let us all be sober and have an inner reflection and use this lesson gained from this to amend our ways .... and let many more HEADS ROLL ...its time for a revolution