Resolve - Recovery

My soul, the ruins of Pompeii.
Once beautiful, now an island of graves
No eulogy, no gravestones.
Once blooming with flowers
With beautiful sunlight streaming in.
And the silent moon radiating the streams at night time .
The robins and swallows on the tree top chipping away like the world needed to hear their voice.
Yes that was my soul once.
Then the rumblings started and I knew they were fatal.
Flee? I couldn’t flee, I couldn’t leave myself behind.
Could I avert this impending danger?
Did I have the courage to suppress this tragedy?
I had to know how strong I was. How strong my good was
Now the smoke rises and the ashes settle on dead ground.
The eruption is over but in its wake lies the destruction I could not phantom
Words elude me. I stare into the bleakness of the dark that now surrounds me.
Streams of water now streams of fire.
Everything is not as it should be.
I am left with this task .
To rebuild my souls civilization.
From these ashes must come hope and the birth of a stronger soul.
This is the sole purpose of my survival.
This shall not go to waste .


Happy New Year .

How to make money in the new year without leaving the comfort of your home.

Have you seen this pop up ad when you are online?
I've seen this advertisement pop up many a time while online "make 50000 dollars daily from the comfort of your home" or "i just made 3000 by logging on to this site". Well , I have not taken the liberty to visit any such sites because in the words of Eminem, "if something seems too good to be true, that's because it is ".
Here , however is a very legitimate and authentic way to make a load of cash without moving a muscle and if all these tips are followed strictly, in no long time you would have so much money (mainly naira)
Here are the easy to do steps
1. Stay indoors
2. Do not do anything at all
3. Do not eat.
4. When you feel sick do nothing about it.
5. When anyone offers to help with food , money or a job blatantly refuse it.
6. Do not bath or shower or brush your mouth .(ever)

These tips have not been tried by anyone I know but the odds are if followed aggressively and thoroughly, whoever is involved will fall really ill and most probably die, if not from starvation then from the other depressing and sickening causes. This will give way to a flurry of spending on your behalf and thus generate a lot of cash (and well wishes) for you. The down side to this is that, you won't be around to see the cash generated but you can be guaranteed that it was gotten by you.

The kid in You

Have you ever noticed how little children fight for some level of independence from their parents even if it's just to play ? Have you observed how they run around and often glance around in search of their parents while they play? Have you seen their reaction when they fall and are about to cry? They still look around for their parents. They actually expect their parents to be watching and ready to offer some help or consolation, or sometimes with fear for the spanking to come.
This actually reminds you of you, right? Not when you were a child but right now, as an adult. You have won the battle of independence from your parents and you are enjoying your life. And for those whose parents are still alive and in good terms with them, they would tell you that they talk to their parents once in a while. Of course they won't always run to mama or papa when the chips are down, they have grown to the point where they deal with whatever comes their way. That is adulthood right? But you would agree that from time to time, you find yourself longing for the responsibility to be taken from.you, or for the approval they gave you that showed and reassured you that you were on the right path.
You still long for that parent figure from time to time, sometimes from people who are not your parents or in any way or right, positioned to be your care giver or guardian.
That's just the kid in you, the kid in us. And no matter how old we are, how strong we think we are, at some point you will have that longing, the difference is, will you act on it?

Away for far too long

Apologies my dearest people and no excuses for my long absence . I'm still committed, however to bringing to your screens the truths that would be my version of events . Thanks for your support and encouragement. Would say "I'm back" but I never really left.

THE GOOD OLD NOLLYWOOD DAYS

I am not a movie critic or at least I don’t make my bread from it but I have seen my fair share of Nollywood movies recent and not so recent and I must applaud the industry for coming this far. Many 80’s babies would always argue that the movies of the 90’s and early  2000’s were and still are the pure breed classic movies of all time in Nollywood and with the micro infiltration by the Ghanaian movie industry would say has the industry is worse off than it was. I have seen quite a few movies of late and so I base my assessment on not solely on what i have seen but also onhearsay and well professional movie critics. and the assessment of the new movies hitting the market is far from impressive.
Going back to the good days of “living in bondage” , “igodo”, “blood money” , “the oracle”, “raging storm”, "rattle snake", "Nneka the pretty serpent" and many other classic movies of the 90s, where the special effects were not so special, the industry flooded the movies produced with content;  Loads of moral content and fewer sequels. Now we have more movies with little or no content, no special effects, profanity and lewd behavior bordering on soft porn and horrible acting.
What is to blame for this decline? Is it the marketers? I’m sure you would say piracy, but the ‘alaba boys' have helped the industry but have actually done more harm to the art itself. New producers like Desmond Elliot, Stephanie Okereke, Geneviève Nnaji and the likes have found a way of shunting alaba out of the picture at least up until they have made their through cinema views before they release on DVDs. You will agree that the movies worthy of cinema in Nollywood are not as many as the daily release in alaba but the difference in quality is massive and that is enough evidence that alaba is not really interested in quality but in making millions off the same movie by branding it different names and giving it numerous sequels that overlap each other in content and duration.
However, I must acknowledge the efforts of the private corporate bodies and some state governments who have identified the importance of this sector and supported it in various ways. The Nollywood studio in calabar is a very vivid example. Hopefully in the near future, we would have our cinemas flooded with Nollywood movies of international standard and the writers and movie makers can reap the fruit of their creativity.

Aliens among US.

Consider this for a minute. What if, we humans are the alien race on earth? What if the asteroid that condemned the dinosaurs to extinction was our mighty space ship crash landing on earth and the beginning of what we now know as the human race? What if our search for alien life, alien intelligence outside of this planet is our way of finding our way back home. What if mother earth has been trying to eliminate this alien race by disease, scarcity and oxygen?
Where did we come from? Where did all the inspiration and revelations that have shaped civilization originate from?

Diary of an involuntary celibate: PART 1

It's been 2 years since I last had sex. Yes it has been that long. Not because I lost interest or because of one health reason or the other, truth is I just lost it. I wonder if I ever had it in the first place. I have doubted myself more and more with each passing day. I figured out my problem a few months ago. I couldn't seem to seal the deal, I was always stuck in the unwanted zone of friendship, the initial flair that attracted the ladies seemed to die out after a few dates, actually after the second date. I just became boring and what promised to be a blooming romance died even before it could smolder.
I couldn't seem to trace the origin of my problem though the last lady I dated was not really the origin, I however noted the events that led up to my dating her. Her name was Esther, and before I dated her, I was on a mini draught. I just broke up with my high school love Oyin. We had dated for about 3 years before she found out she was too good for me. She got a job at one of the biggest audit firms in the country and moved to the high brow areas in the city. We both lived in the same town but seeing each other became a burden. So she dumped me for no reason and my friends Victor and Hassan scouted Esther after 3 months as a suitable replacement. Esther was sweet and lovely and the sex was good but I found out I had forgotten how to woo a lady or seduce her. I never had to seduce Oyin, she loved sex and was very open about what she wanted and when she wanted it. I and Oyin had sex on the 2nd date of our official dating and it had been very frequent after that. With Esther I faced the rude shock of how unskilled I was at seducing the opposite sex . Most of the flings I had while I was with Oyin were either her friends or girls who saw Oyin and wanted to steal me away from her. Oyin had a way of making me look more desirable. No, I wasn't a saint with Oyin but I was discreet in my affairs. Truth is I really missed Oyin and wanted Esther to be her or at least the sex should be like Oyins but it wasn't and I didn't know how to ask, never had to ask with Oyin and I guess I never really learnt the tricks.
So its been 2 years since my last sexual relationship with Esther, the one and only sexual relationship I had with Esther before she left town and I never heard from her again and now I am at girlfriend potential number 13 and I think I'm beginning to genuinely like her and now I am getting myself prepped for the disappointment of failing to seal the deal yet again. What is a man to do?

GENDER EQUALITY AND THE REGULAR BRUHAHA!!!

EQUALITY: from a mathematical or scientific point could be argued to be more than a mere substitution, so the ‘equal to’ sign or the ‘=’ was invented to indicate that whatever is on one side of the ‘=’ is exactly the same as what is on the other side. In theory, this is easy to appreciate when 3 is equal to 2+1 and stuff like that. In reality and more often in human beings, it seems to be just a non-pragmatic view. ‘all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others’, that is from the Animal Farm by George Orwell, but this isn’t about animals or humanity, it is the battle of the sexes that has been going on for ages. Some say men are superior and are branded chauvinist while those who think otherwise are simply branded feminist or plain ignorant.

I was asked a while ago if I believe in gender equality and I replied with a resounding NO! Does that make me a non-feminist or a chauvinist? May be but what equality are we talking about? Equality as humans? Of course, I do not think any human is superior simply based on their sex; I however think and believe that all females are equal and all males are equal. To begin to ask for equality between the male and female gender would simply be to start asking who is a better footballer. A keeper who saves 50% of the penalties shot at him or a striker who scores 50% of his penalties.

Are men the same as women? Are they both wired in the same way? You may argue that both can do similar things and all that, but the fact is that men are predominantly dominant, and women are not. Men are more aggressive; they had no choice in the hormones that flow in their blood as the females too will argue. Menstruation, PMS, pregnancy, labour and child birth, menarche, menopause, men have no idea how it feels to go through all these in one life time, some, more than once in a life time, but they have their own cross one of which is not physical but mental, EGO.

Men are not equal to women, never have and never will and it isn’t because of the men are up there but simply because they are not in the same field. If a woman wants equality with a man, she should ask why she has to ask for equality from a man. Women are not below men either they are just not equal. In science we have the equality signs. (=) equal to; (>) greater than (<) less than, (≤) less than or equal to;(≥) greater than or equal to(≠)not equal to. There is only one relationship in terms of equality between the sexes and that is simply NOT EQUAL which means that they should not be equated ever.

If you can argue that they should be equated then you should prove to me that they are the same. Asides from the singularity and unity of humanity, men are from mars and women are from venus. That is 2 planetary bodies revolving around the sun at different orbits.

3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JULY (ALREADY)

The month of July ushered in the 2^nd half of the year and a lot of promise. Many would argue that this year has been tumultuous and unpredictable with many trends disappearing and our girls still missing. The unrest in some parts of the country and the world indeed doesn’t seem to abate but it may seem that the worst has past. However, 3 things have already occurred in the month of July to indicate a trend that would seem to persist till the near future.

1.       The world cup. Predictable or unpredictable? No one can comfortably bet that they have foresight into the outcome of any of the remaining matches, both in terms of score line or in terms of overall outcome. With the Netherlands thrashing of the defending champions to the surprise inclusion of Costa Rica and Colombia in the elimination stages, few would bet that the host, brazil would be getting a football tutelage at the hands of the Germans but that is why this world cup has in its right being coined the best one yet.

2.       The embers are approaching (ember month). And with them the high crime rate, already stealing and robbery have been on the increase and that can only be checkmated by the security forces who we have concluded in our minds are ineffective. The missing girls may yet return and the bomb blast may halt or reduce but the general security within our borders still is a bother. Community policing however is a sign of hope. If it is successful in Lagos hopefully it would be implemented nationwide and maybe we can start feeling at home in our country.

3.       Hope is high. And why shouldn’t it. The 2^nd half gives a seemingly new start to everyone and the outlook is like the first of January albeit without fun fare and parties or holidays. Most people would like to look back and correct the mistakes of the first half or improve on it if no mistakes were discovered, but the general consensus is one of optimism. That seems to be the way to go even in the face of stiff opposition and harsh criticism, optimism smolders the flame of hope and second or new chances as the case may be.

So the second half is still in its infancy and a lot can still happen. We are going to see a new world champion come the 12^th of July and it wont be brazil or spain or Nigeria, but it will be a glorious final.

SUPER EAGLES, TWITTER AND THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE: NO GOOD RESULT

Living is generally difficult, but living in Nigeria is another reality. Everyone is angry at one thing or the other. I am not just talking about those on the streets but every single Nigerian living within the shores of this country who has a good idea of how this country works. The fundamental cause of all the problems we have is bad leadership and of course NEPA or whatever it is called these days. These problems in any other country of similar status would be embroiled in a major war or invasion from Europe or The USA but we are Naija and “we don see tings”. Lagos is just a mad house on its own and we Lagosians are so accustomed to the constant madness that its absence is never craved. We long for the fight between the conductor and the “agberos” at the bustop, or the police vs Army fight, or the Lastma vs Other Government officers fight. We long for the opportunity to cross the express when the pedestrian bridge is not far off just because the bridges are too steep or shaky. We rely on what we have and expect it to be enough. We expect the Super Eagles to fight for wages and still go on to win the world cup simply because we are Nigerians. We would love the first Lady to come on air and lament the display of the super eagles so we can have something else to laugh at, like she hasn't done enough already. Our missing girls are still missing and we are waiting for Jack Bauer and co to go capture the Militants threatening our country’s sovereignty. Nigerians are just proudly frustrated and all these episodes are ways to channel these frustrations. We do not expect the government to proffer any long term solution or any solution at all for that matter. We have given the government plenty of occasions to prove that they are a government and not a cabal of cake hungry politicians, they have failed miserably and so we know we can’t do anything to them. They are like military men in civilian uniforms and we see it as a "no alternative" government because the military in military uniform will Jail you for hash tagging an officers name. At least we have freedom of speech in this government. So if Jonathan doesn't bring back our girls or the super eagles disappoint in the world cup, whether it is their fault or the fault of unseen circumstances, we take out our collective frustration on whichever scapegoat comes our way. This is our means of escape from the ever increasing sources of anger, twitter, BBM, Facebook. We rant and rant until whoever we have marked has committed suicide then we collectively blame social media and the devil.

So to my fellow countrymen, be careful of the numerous frustrated people out there. They prey on your weaknesses and failure and exploit your silence. They hide behind hash tags on social media to vent their national disappointment. We know it is the fault of the government and we know the government is not a person so we look for the most recent “F-UP” and label them. This won’t solve the problem in anyway, just like the National Conference wont, but we do it anyways and delight in the activity devoid of results. This is the Naija way. For now we try to change it as we live with it. I am rather sure we won’t always need a committee to seat before a solution is proffered to the why we are not a world power or No. 1 in FIFA ranking. The Blame game however is not the way to go but as the saying goes "na u get ur mouth"