Brosdee's view

And the drums rolled out in her memory

2011-12-15T13:34:00.030Z

Yesterday, the Octagon at the University of the West of England, Bristol was filled with beautiful sound, songs and stories from Africa. The atmosphere was adorned with the colours of various drums from the motherland as I hosted an evening of drumming to raise money for Africa Oxford Cancer Foundation (Afrox) in memory of my mom who died of cancer around this time last year.
As I wondered about what to do in her memory, to celebrate her life, I couldn’t think of anything better than raising money for any organisation that supports fights against cancer and its incisive fang. When I came across Afrox and learnt about what they do in Africa, no organisation seems more appropriate. I couldn’t stop wondering what would have happened if Afrox had been operating in Nigeria when she was battling with cancer. Nevertheless, I deemed it better for her memory to support the organisation in their effort to help many other African women like her. This is going to be the first among my many other fundraising efforts I will be hosting for Afrox. The drums were rolled out yesterday, but the masquerade is still in the market. The dance goes on.
I will like to thank everyone that came out to enjoy the evening yesterday, and a special thanks to all those that donated. You can still make your donation through the giving page uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DotunOlowo.

Nick Clough leading the final dance session

Temporarily out

2009-07-29T19:15:00.001+01:00

Thanks for visiting, but I will be out of here till I submit my thesis.

Solitude in Reason: The son of Àkeé

2009-03-06T09:57:00.001Z

My grandmother, Àkeé was a witch, however. Not in the sense of the nocturnal-meeting-attending witch-mistress that the wooli would like us to believe. She had a strong personality. In spite of her lanky frail looking figure, she was always the strict disciplinarian who commands the respect everyone around her. Respect, which I must admit was borne rather from her uppityness than admiration. After all, she was a princess, having been the daughter of Oba Shiyanbola Ladigbolu, Alaafin of Oyo, Iku baba yeye, alase ekeji orisha (the second in command to the gods). She probably couldn't understand why Yaayi wouldn't be in awe and fear of her in the kingdom of her father.

For Yaayi must have overstepped her boundary by marrying her only son and holding claim to his heart in the process. That I think is the reason for their disagreement: both women were asserting their importance on the same territory. For Àkeé had been the only woman my dad was ever afraid of.

There was the story of how Àkeé beats up a police man. The story goes that in the early 60s, my dad a young graduate from the police college at Ibadan was summoned to Oyo by her. She must have heard something wrong about him. He went fully dressed in his crisp uniform and shiny black boot. Perhaps to impress his mates and neighbours or to pacify Àkeé who must be proud to see her son commanding such ardour. This was the days when the Nigerian Police Force was a respectable profession, when the officers carry a big baton thereby earning the nickname olopa (the one with the stick). The present officers are mostly underpaid, ill-equipped and gun-wielding officers, some of whom, in my opinion, are part of corruption-ridden cartel whose commitment to the law is limited to the amount of bribe they can exploit from the public.

When my dad arrived in Oyo, he earned the respects and admiration of almost everyone except the one he desperately wanted to impress the most. Àkeé, I was told, wasn't just unimpressed but slightly dissatisfied with his response to her queries.

"Gbosa" the neighbours heard. The old woman had slapped the tall policeman.

Rather than arresting her for violating the exalted Nigerian Police Uniform, the officer took to his heels and fled. When asked why she had risked the wrath of the government by slapping a fully-uniformed olopa, her response was apt as the previous action:

"He may be an officer to you, but he is still an errant boy of mine, and no child of Àkeé can grow beyond her punition"

Growing up in Lagos under the military dictator governments and witnessing the brutalities of uniformed officers against civilians, I find it hard to believe that story. I cannot imagine any woman daring enough to raise her voice, much less her fingers against the brutish khaki boys. However, every doubt I had in that story was permanently dismissed many years later during a later visit to Oyo with my dad when I was a little boy of nine or probably ten. As always, we were to stay at Ile Aare. By interpretation Ile Aare means the house of the prince. Although she wasn't meant to be there, since royalty in Oyo Kingdom is strictly patriarchal, however she had inherited the mud multi-bedroom house from the Alaafin when she refused to stay with her husband's other wives at Isale-Oyo.

We arrived at Oyo just before the dusk slides underneath the golden clouds. I knew we were nearer home when the smell of the fields at Ilora gave way to the noise of the traffic and children selling bread at Owode. Each passing vehicle is welcomed to the ancient town by the billboard depicting the picture of a smiling man with a talking drum saying; A ji sebi Oyo laa ri, Oyo o sebi baba enikan (Oyo can only be imitated, Oyo imitates no one). It reminds each visitors of the town's glorious past, when it used to be the capital of a vast empire. Days before the empire were weakened by combined forces of internal corruption, Yoruba civil wars in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and the contemptuous subtlety of the colonialists who exploited its people with unequal treaties.

But my dad is not ready to go home to his mum yet. He picked some of his friends and decided to do pub crawl. We must have visited about three beer parlours that evening and I was offered Fanta, Coke and occasional pepper soup at each one. When he finally decided to go home, we must have spent more than five hours since our arrival in the old town. As the car pulled over at the back of Ile Aare and we made our way in between the compounds to Àkeé's, nearly everyone is asleep apart from the roaming goats that were either looking for food or resting place. Holding my hands he knocked, half expecting his mother to jubilantly answer the door. Àkeé answered the door with a voice that does not betray any stint of expectation. She must have been awake, waiting for us, but pretended that we were unwelcomed intruders.

"Ta nu?" ("Who is it?")

"Emi ni o" ("It is me?")

"Iwo taa ni?" ("And who are you?")

"Emi Layi ni" ("It is me, Layi")

"Ni bo lo nti bo ni woyi?"........... "ire o laago ni?".......... "se bi alakowe le pe ra yin?" ("Where are you coming from at this time?".... "Don't you have a watch?"...... "And you called yourself a learned person")

The last questions my dad did not bother to answer. He knew his mum. She was annoyed.

Annoyed that he had not come home straight to her on his arrival. She must have heard from her friends at the Akesan market who cited his car around town about his arrival. "Ahh............eku a mo juba, a ri ọ́kọ̀
ọ́mọ́ yin l'Owode, ari ni Isokun". And then she must be annoyed that he came home late, keeping her waiting and allowing the food she had prepared to go cold. She decided to rebuke him, despite the fact that he was old enough to be a granddad then. To Àkeé, this was her house and he is her son. She refused to open the door until an older uncle who heard the conversation came to beg on his behalf. When we entered the house, it was obvious she has been expecting us for she had prepared ẹ̀ko and ẹ̀fọ́. Her action didn't escape my young mind. I saw the only person who could discipline my dad.

Despite her initial lack of enthusiasm at his late arrival, it was obvious she had missed him; they talked into the night, updating each other about what had happened since the last time they met. Such was the affection between them that on her death-bed few years after, she sent for him to be beside her despite the presence of her other children and grandchildren. When he heard, he left everything he was doing in Lagos and made the trip with Yaayi to her side. When she saw him, she ate for the first time in days and died in his arms. The son of Àkeé.

Solitude in Reason: The son of Alhaji

2009-03-05T10:53:00.003Z

Growing up in a mixed-religious home provided me with the confusion and perplexity that comes with my naive understanding of the difference between Christianity and Islam. I remember going sometimes to Ile 'kewu (Madrasah) during the week and to the Sunday school during the weekend. These activities plastered my young impressionable mind with a sense of dual personality. I am Abdul- Hafeez (or Hafiisu when stressed by my Yoruba-accented Arabic tutor) on Friday afternoon, and Oladotun on Sunday morning. However, I later realised that I was more influenced by my church-going Christian mum than by my nominal-Ramadan Muslim dad. A situation which was rather facilitated by the sweets and biscuits at the Sunday school and the spankings I endured whenever my coconut head couldn't grasp the Arabic recitals and alphabet (aleph, baa, taa........).

Although my mum, whom I have always nicknamed Yaayi (a name which my other siblings now call her) is now someone I can call a Charismatic-Baptist, she like most wives in Lagos in the 80s also flirted with the temporal comfort and escape from reality provided by the spiritualist church of the Aladura (particularly the Cherubim and Seraphim Church). I usually attended (or rather packed along to) these churches with her, where I enjoy the songs, dances and trance-like demonstrations of the Wooli (prophets) and Elemis (someone in a trance or in the 'spirit', a kindf of hallucination usually for weeks without eating). I remember the wooli as a cross between unkempt Rastafarian and an average ward captain at Aroo Mental Hospital in Abeokuta. In hindsight, I think Yaayi attends the church primarily because they confirm or reiterate her believe that her mother-in-law, my grandmother Àkeé is the alpha and omega of all her troubles. Àkeé, as confirmed by the wooli, is the witch who wants to convert all Yaayi's children into the ogbanje cult, particularly my elder sister who looked like her. In my pre-teens years, I could easily imagine myself as a part-time member of the ogbanje, the blood-sucking cult who flies into the nearby Iroko tree for their nocturnal meeting deciding on who to eat for supper.

But I am also the son of Alhaji, for my dad is referred to as one even though he has never been to Mecca. Alhaji is the title earned by Moslems in most parts of West Africa after their pilgrimage to the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. I reckon his friends thought he was too big not have any title, hence the honorary Alhaji. But his adherence to the Islamic faith is confined only to occasional recital of Quran, giving of Zakat and the Ramadan months when he is required to fast from dawn till dusk and abstain from his love of beer. He neither observed the five pillars of Islamic faith nor attends the mosque (except on Eid ul-Fitr and Id el Kabir). However, he has been influenced by his own mother, Àkeé, whose dedication to the five-time daily prayer and the totality of the Islamic faith is unshaken. During my stay with Àkeé when on holidays in Oyo (my dad's hometown and by default mine if I want to claim one), I couldn't help but struggle with the images of her as a dedicated Muslim woman juxtaposed with that of oyiboyi the witch-mistress from the Ajileye TV series. She looks old and that is enough evidence that she is a witch to me. And the Wooli confirmed it. I kept waiting for her to wake me up in the middle of the night and initiate me by the tree in her garden. But she did not. The only noise I hear from her whenever I'm asleep is when she wakes up to say her prayers...

Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar

laa ilaaha illAllaah

Allaahu akbar, Allaahu akbar

wa li-illaahil-hamd

Perhaps she is not a witch, l later understood. Àkeé and Yaayi didn't just get along with each other. Perhaps due to religious differences or the fact that Yaayi came from another town to marry her only son, without her permission. Whatever maybe the reason behind their dislike for each other, I know Àkeé is not a witch. The wooli is wrong after all and Yaayi has been wasting her time and money attending those churches. Probably she realised this when she later committed her life to Jesus and was taught the Bible in a local Baptist church.

I was influenced by Yaayi just as my dad was influenced by Àkeé. The son of Alhaji.

Ill continue this later..............

What an Obama victory means to me

2008-11-05T13:34:00.002Z

As a black immigrant presently living in the United Kingdom at the stage of starting a family, the election of Barrack Obama is very emotional and significant to me. To me it means I can tell my children to look beyond Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela as a role model. These figures were great people who were confident enough in their skin colours to stand up and fight against the injustices thrown at them for being black. While that generation fought, we are at the receiving end of the fruit of their labour. Barrack Obama presidency signifies the start of a new generation. I can tell my children to see beyond their colour in achieving their dreams. While I'm not under any illusion that this is the end of racism, I will confidently teach my children to make the case for their education, promotions or aspirations without bitterness or anger. They can look at the son of a Kenyan as a man who did not make race an issue in his run for the most important office in the United States, and yet confident in his skin. There are too many black people who are still unnecessarily struggling with the prejudice of anger against slavery, colonisation, segregation and apartheid. To me, an Obama presidency signifies the triumph of a mentality which does not totally blame the white people for all the problems facing the black race. It is a victory over the idea of 'we against them'. Yesterday's landslide paves the way for a new beginning. An assurance that my children will be evaluated based on the content of their character and not on the colour of their skin or the weirdness of their name.

My Greek Experience I

2008-10-06T21:48:00.004+01:00

20 September, 2008

The day started very early. After a long day before, with crazy deadlines to meet it was very difficult for me to wake up that early. But I had to. I had volunteered chauffeuring three other colleagues to the airport in the rented car. So I got to the first address by 6.30am to pick my supervisor who was also going to the conference. We left Bristol around 7am after picking the last person. The drive to London Heathrow was not eventful (thank God it was not, because eventful could mean flat tyre or worse), we got to terminal 5 just few minutes before 9.

When we got to Athens in the afternoon, the weather wasn’t as cold as I had hoped. While waiting at the airport for the connecting flight to Skiathos, I had a bit of history lesson from my supervisor who was more than happy to answer my prodding questions on European politics and history. He took me through the 15^th century to the early 20^th century and concluded that war, coups, counter coups, corruption, dictatorship and even genocide had been part of Europe’s political experience. The flight to Skiathos was rather bumpy, partly because it was raining, but mainly because (in my opinion) the plane is an air ‘molue’. It was scary for me when it was landing that I was regretting that I didn’t say enough goodbye to my wife. But it did land well, and I live to die another day.

22 September, 2008

Today is the first day of the conference and I am relieved to find out that my English accent is far better than most of the delegate’s. 90% of the delegates speak English as a foreign language, and I salute their courage to present in a language that is different from their working language. I can’t imagine myself presenting in French. Disaster! The first day of the conference was rather laborious as there were so many papers on air pollution modelling and stuffs that ‘eficos’ (studious people) do. Boring. I struggled not to sleep and could not ask any question other than…please can you explain what your research is about? Since that sound stupid, I kept quiet and wonder what I am doing here, when I should be watching CNN.

The conference is a United Nations gathering of a sort, as it has people from every continent of the globe apart from Antarctica. There were so many things I now know as a result of meeting people at the conference. For example, I never knew there was a place called Baha California in Mexico (someone was from there), I never knew a Saudi Arab can wear jeans..........I met one, and if you have a first degree in Italy, you are referred to as Doctor (can you imagine). There were delegates from Japan, India, Australia, Portugal and Spain, and almost every other parts of Europe and then from Canada, no one from the Caribbean or other parts of Africa, apart from Egypt and South Africa. I feel sad about that, because it shows something I don’t like. While my other Nigerian colleague and I tried to flaunt our ‘Nigerianness’ with our accents and green passport, our badge says we are from a university in England.

However, I love the feel of the conference and the way everybody interact with each other. It shows how good it is to be an academic. Go to conference in an exotic Greek Island, listen to boring papers and bore everyone with yours, then intersperse that with drinks and good Greek food. What a life!

Decision and Partnership

2008-09-17T18:38:00.001+01:00

Our focus here will be to examine how we arrive at decisions and the process of affecting them through forming powerful and God ordained partnerships. These two principles i.e. qualitative decision making and divine partnerships have been in use since the Garden of Eden. For instance, before God began creation, He first made His mind up to do so. After meditating on the chaotic state of the earth, He arrived at the decision of putting things right. The principle of partnership is then seen at work in Genesis 2:18 when He said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone I will make him an helpmeet for him.' However, it should be noted that this principle of divine partnership is not limited to the husband-wife relationship. It encompasses all God-ordained relationships that are fulfilling the purpose of fruitfulness because for every right decision that we make, there are connecting people that God has ordained to help bring these resolutions to pass. These decisions are not just good ideas that man devised but refer to a man's resolve to execute God's counsel.

In order to successfully execute His counsel, individuals need to realise that there is more to God's counsel than just receiving the idea. People need to go a step further to inquire about the connecting persons that God has ordained for that particular project. Once these principles are followed, the multiplying effect rests on such an assignment and will make seemingly impossible tasks possible.

With a full understanding of these principles, Jesus paired the disciples before sending them out. The principle of partnership was utilised to it's fullest in the process. The precision with which God selects people for various projects in our lives can be clearly seen from the example of Paul and Barnabas. In Acts 13:2, the Scriptures say, 'As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, 'separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.' It must be noted here that the Holy Spirit was very specific about the individuals that He required for the task at hand. The effect of this precision contributed to the great power that was found in the joint ministry of these two apostles. Likewise in our individual lives, specific sets of people are required for different tasks that God has apportioned for us. We need to ask Him to direct us to them (and them to us) in order to fulfil His plan and purpose and the results He has ordained. (Proverbs 3:6)

Is the lipstick wearing off?

2008-09-15T15:52:00.003+01:00

The democrat's opposition researchers are earning their wages. Is this the beginning of dim light on Sarah Palin, or do we expect her to shine more for few weeks? By far, this is the most interesting American election I have ever followed (not that I have followed much, apart from Gore-Bush). However, for Sarah Palin, these are nest of times. Either way (whether McCain loses or win), she wins. She has been shot into the national limelight and will always be the republican darling girl in 2012 if McCain loses now. Then she can campaign on 'change', and paint President Obama as 'more of the same'. However, if McCain wins, Vice President Palin, will be more than experienced to be the number 1 in 2012 or 2016. I agree with this guy on what team Obama needs to do, in order to turn the tide. And the electoral map is not looking bad either.

Back here, the lipstick has worn off for PM Brown, and some of his hair dressers are calling for a challenge. It's rather interesting to see that the majority of the 'back benchers' calling for the leadership challenge in the labour party are women. While I personally think that there are more than meets the eye on this i.e. there are some male 'frontbenchers' kicking the ball, we cannot deny that this is what some people have termed stiletto revolution. Maybe the next decade is for the women. Maybe our children won't see women leadership in the world's top countries as a strange thing. Maybe the future G8 summits will have leaders (mothers) carrying toddlers around, there will be sufficient breaks to allow madam presidents and prime ministers feed their babies. I wonder the implication of that. But it will be interesting to see.

Long time, no hear..........even me

2008-09-14T14:28:00.003+01:00

I haven't been checking my blog. I'm quite sure my fan base is close to nothing. Apology to those who have been checking for the last few months. Snowed under. I have been enthralled by the US election, and it's needless to say where my loyalty lies now. However, how number has been going down since the arrival of the new girl on the block. She was misunderestimated (to use dub'ya's word) and now she is eating our numbers. I was initially fretting over this, thinking this will be a repeat of 2000, that Alaska will be Obama's Florida........not comparatively, but in a way. She was sending a lot of liberals to their cardiologists until I read this. Then it makes sense to me that Karl Rove may be a genius but David Plouffe rules ok! And this is the year that the tide is turning.

Howbeit, I'm experiencing a personal paradox when I consider this election. Shouldn't I be supporting Palin, since she is a bible-believing, tongue-speaking Christian like me? Should my African affinity to Obama trump the affinity I should have to a sister in Christ? I'm sure lots of Black Evangelicals in America will be thinking the same. However, I'm not voting anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me. I still support Obama. Sister Sarah can wait.

In the next few days I will be off to Greece, first to the Island of Skiathos, for a conference, then to Athens and then I'll be putting my feet up in another island close to Athens. What a life. It's a shame that iyawo won't be coming, and I really wish she could. Meanwhile, in order to resurrect my blog, I will posting pictures of my previous holidays in France and Italy so that the Greece pictures would be in order.

Writing papers and watching West Wing

2008-04-21T16:20:00.003+01:00

I'm getting busy again, writing papers, preparing for presentation and analysing questionnaires. I the midst of this, I keep the Obama vision alive, by watching the season 7 of The West Wing. Also, I have been saving towards the inauguration, should Obama win, and I’ll like to tell my grandchildren that I was among the folks that waved at his motorcade on his way to destiny.

Meanwhile, I'll like to leave you with this. It's about being Chris Okotie........

A NORMAL PERSON: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
Chris Okotie : Individuals who make their abodes in vitreous edifices would be advised to refrain from catapulting perilous projectiles.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Chris Okotie : Scintillate, scintillate, asteroid minim.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : All that glitters is not gold.
Chris Okotie : All articles that coruscate with resplendence are not truly auriferous.
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Beggars are not choosers
Chris Okotie : Sorting on the part of mendicants must be interdicted.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Dead men tell no tales
Chris Okotie : Male cadavers are incapable of rendering any testimony.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Beginner's luck
Chris Okotie : Neophyte's serendipity.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : A rolling stone gathers no moss
Chris Okotie : A revolving lithic conglomerate accumulates no congeries of small, green, biophytic plant.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Birds of a feather flock together
Chris Okotie : Members of an avian species of identical plumage tend to congregate.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Beauty is only skin deep
Chris Okotie : Pulchritude possesses solely cutaneous profundity.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : Cleanliness is godliness
Chris Okotie : Freedom from incrustations of grime is contiguous to rectitude.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *********

NORMAL PERSON : There's no use crying over spilt milk
Chris Okotie : It is fruitless to become lachrymose of precipitately departed lactile fluid.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******

NORMAL PERSON : You can't try to teach an old dog new tricks
Chris Okotie : It is fruitless to attempt to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******
NORMAL PERSON : Look before you leap
Chris Okotie : Surveillance should precede saltation.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******
NORMAL PERSON : He who laughs last, laughs best
Chris Okotie : The person presenting the ultimate cachinnation possesses thereby the optimal cachinnation.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******
NORMAL PERSON : All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
Chris Okotie : Exclusive dedication to necessitous chores without interludes of hedonistic diversion renders Jack a hebetudinous fellow.

************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *******
NORMAL PERSON : Where there's smoke, there's fire!
Chris Okotie : Where there are visible vapours having their provenance in ignited carbonaceous materials, there is conflagration

Obama's pastor in the thick of it

2008-03-19T13:17:00.001Z

There has been a lot of media flogging lately about what Rev Wright, Obama’s pastor said. I do not expect less in an election year. My father used to tell me that if you want to hear your family’s scandal, go into politics. Your opponent will fish out all the stones they can possibly haul at you. But I kind of like Obama’s response, he took it beyond the level of his distractors, and got a 40 minutes free media time to give a speech that has been compared in some quarters as a variant of ‘I have a dream’.

But one cannot deny media hypocrisy in this thing. It seems the press wants to be an important kingmaker for the next US president. They seem to exercise their influence at any given opportunity. Initially they were on Hillary, but when she accused them of double standard, they switched their blade on Obama. And they seem to be drawing some blood, from Louise Farrakhan to Tony Rezco, and now Rev. Wright. I kind of like the way this commentator put it here;

‘When Senator Obama's preacher thundered about racism and injustice Obama suffered smear-by-association. But when my late father -- Religious Right leader Francis Schaeffer -- denounced America and even called for the violent overthrow of the US government, he was invited to lunch with presidents Ford, Reagan and Bush, Sr’

What I smell here is a media confused about their role in an historic election. I wonder how history will judge them later……oh, I’ve forgotten that they are the ones that will write history through the documentaries, blogs and Wikipedia entries.

Radiopalmwine.com

2008-03-14T18:36:00.002Z

This is the best discovery I've made on the internet in recent time. This station has got everything you may be looking for as far as Nigerian music is concerned. You request for any music, by artiste or genre, and they play it. From Wura fadaka's sanmari adugbo to Victor Olaiya's omo pupaa. Nice site.

First African-American

2008-03-12T16:34:00.002Z

The state of New york is having its first African-American Governor, in a rather sad circumstance, howbeit, making a record. I wonder if this is a good omen for Barrack Obama.......

The Apprentice Africa

2008-03-06T17:14:00.002Z

I'm impressed with this. It shows a good part of Nigeria many mainstream western media ignore; organisation, structure and economic muscle. With Dangote's inclusion in the Forbes list, it shows they have started listening to us, rather carrying the pictures of hungry children with flies in their eyes, or machete carrying men.

I got my Obama T-shirt

2008-03-03T14:26:00.002Z

A friend just came back from Washington DC on Saturday, and got me the best memorabilia i have recieved this year…….Obama T-shirt. I think every citizens of the world should be able to vote or have one-quarter of a vote in US presidential elections. Since the decisions in the West Wing affects most people in the world ..'war on terror’! Anyway, I am doing my bit to help our man into the Oval office, which is why I have his picture in my office corner and ill be wearing the T-shirt tomorrow while watching the Texas and Ohio primaries.
Last week, the Federal Appeal Court in Nigeria upheld the last April general elections, against the protest of the opposition parties. Comparing this development with what happened in Kenya recently, I have been asking some questions. Were the aggrieved parties in Nigeria more civilised than their Kenya colleagues for them to go to court rather than the streets? Or is it that they are not sure anyone will yield their call to fight? Or are Nigerians suffering from ‘June 12’ fatigue (reference to the nationwide unrests and demonstrations against the annulment of the presidential election held in June 12, 1993 by the military dictator, General Babangida), which makes them unwilling to fight against any electoral abnormalities?
While I disagree with most of the things Rueben Abati said in this piece regarding the court case, I tend to buy the idea of floating an ‘Electoral Fraud Agency’ which should be as impartial and strong as the EFCC.

Yes he can

2008-02-13T21:14:00.001Z

There is something about him that radiates his message more than his speeches. He is not the first, and will not be the last politician that promises hope, change and better future. Yet his personality, radiance and background echoes that message more than any other would-be great men. Each generation has got their own, my grandfather had Mahatma Gandhi, my father had JFK and MLK. Now we have him.
As a Black African, studying in the UK, there is something about him that gets me excited. His core message – audacity of hope (this video). The courage to hope that my children can aim to be whatever they aspire to be in this nation. If, and when he becomes the president of the United States of America, he would have demonstrated to the world what hope is really like. That the grandchild of an illiterate village chef can be the most powerful man in the world. Yes he can.

‘Death stares at every one of us in the face'

2008-02-05T13:11:00.000Z

‘Death stares at every one of us in the face, the best we can do is to stare back’. I’ve really forgotten where I got that line from…may be ‘Gladiators’. It takes death to bring me out of my ‘blogoholiday’. A friend just died this morning. He was actually one of the leaders in my church. Murray Aldridge was a man of faith and passion. His love for Jesus is contagious, even when he was sick. As I heard that he passed this morning, I decided to listen to one his sermons, ‘Do you know how to die’, (you can listen to it here), he preached just few months before he was diagnosed of cancer. He spoke about preparing for the afterlife, and living a life that puts the eternal life in constant remembrance. One of the catching phrases from the sermon is
‘can I suggest that the only place where someone will tell you how to prepare to die is the Church of Jesus, and if we are not doing that we are not doing our job.’
That is a fundamental truth. Murray has confronted what all of us cannot escape. Every minute we spend is a minute less than the deadline we have with eternity. It really matters how we prepare for the life afterward, more than career, money, power, influence, prestige or name,. The last time I was with him, he radiated such a hope and strength that stems from his confidence in the One he has trusted in this life and the One he knows will be with him now.
Where I come from, talking about death is a taboo. It’s a subject you can only think but not mention. But I’ve always differ from that. I want to live my everyday life in preparation for it. That’s one of the reason I trusted Jesus with my life. Yet, I do not wait for death, rather I live to die, in order to die to live. I live a full life, and enjoy what I am given, give back what I can, and make as many impact as I can. I want to live a life void of the fear of death. Life in abundance. I believe that is what gave Murray the hope I saw in him the last I visited him.

First christmas together

2007-12-20T11:09:00.000Z

For Iyawo and I, this will be our first christmas since we got married. Loads of expectations abi. The green christmas tree is in the lounge, and we've done our bit of christmas carbon footprint contribution by putting some christmas lights on our window, including the several trips to the shopping mall. Its Christmasy all over here, some of my neighbours have turned the streets in Bradley Stoke into another Neverland. I’m yet to understand how people think during Christmas season. People who wouldn’t put on the light in their toilet for more than 30 minutes will light up the front of their yards on Christmas. So much for global warming she. I can imagine how Tejuoso, Oshodi or Balogun Markets in Lagos will look like now. Pandemonium, shouting, rushing, pushing and hustling. A lot of buying, selling and stealing. There will be festivity in the air, people travelling and moving everywhere. Chickens and rams praying that the cup will pass over them. Food and monies changing hands. It’s been bitterly cold for sometime now. To be sincere, I don’t do cold. Today its minus 2 degrees. Haba kilode? Iyawo has made a habit of always checking my car thermometer every time she is in. To her, the colder it is, the sorrier I should be for making her to leave Nigeria. And am I sorry? Don’t know.

We were at a Christmas party yesterday, organised by Iyawo’s office. Cool. I like the idea of turning the British Commonwealth Museum into a Las Vegas Casino, with everyone feeling like, you know it……..Bond, James Bond. I lost the complimentary $100 I was given to gamble with, after which I didn’t bother to try my luck again. By the way, the money is just a piece paper, I would have pocketed rather than gamble with it. I wonder why people gamble, when you lose so much money. In the entire roulette table I visited, nobody went out a clean winner. Though it was fun, with no real money involved, I couldn’t help but think about people who do the real thing in some Vegas Casino. Losing their money and hoping to win later. The party was fun, lots of dances, I was begged to show my legendary dance moves. Some people were drunk, and some were just having a laugh.

Today may be my last day at work for this year. Hurrah! I have been asked to write two journal papers before the end of January, so it has been hectic lately. You can imagine how much I am looking forward to this holiday. May be ill spend tomorrow doing the late shopping, as Iyawo is working tomorrow and Monday. May be ill buy her gifts by then……..and the turkey.

What has age got to do with it?

2007-10-16T18:20:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, Sir Ming Campbell resigned as the leader of the Liberal Democrat after a long melodrama of media-driven obsession with his age. The surprising thing is that he was seen as too old to contest for the post of the Prime Minister in the 21st century Britain, given that the Conservative party, in their conservativeness, has put forward an handsome boyish looking David Cameron as their own leader. What amazes me is that a 66 year old man is seen as too old to occupy one of the most powerful position in the world, when in Nigeria it is the other way round.

I remember arguing with my dad – as we always do during election since 1993 – about who should be the Nigerian President. We argued over Donald Duke, and my dad, like many other card-carrying members of PDP says he is too young to be the no 1 citizen of Nigeria. For heaven’s sake, at 46 the man is older than David Cameron.

What is all this fuss about age, sef. I seem not to understand why a 66 year old man is forced to resign because he is seen as unpresentable to an ageing population where one in six people are aged over 65, and why a 46 year old man is unvotable in a nation where the life expectancy is less than 40. Can someone help me please?

And we dare to forget them

2007-09-08T19:55:00.000+01:00

Recently, I have been drawn to the Nigerian-Biafra war stories. I’ll say a lil' bit obsessed. I’ve been reading everything I can about the events that surrounded the war. I’m sure Femi is sick and tired of my impromptu and unsolicited history lessons. “Do you know that Azikwe would have been the first premier of the Western Region instead of Awolowo?”. “If the British High Commissioner in Lagos had not advised Gowon otherwise, the North would have seceded” Boring.

I’ve always been fascinated by the 1960s. In my opinion, it’s the most interesting decade of the 20th century. It represents political intrigues and melodramas at its best. JFK, MLK II, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Dag Hammarskjold, Che Guevara…..the list is on and on.

Nigeria was no exception to the happenings in the sixties. It was the decade of independence, the military coups and the war. Reading Chimamanda’s ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ drew my attention especially to the war. To the people and events we try to forget. The Nzeogwus, the Ironsis, the Ifeajunas, the Banjos, and Okigbos.

These words accredited to Christopher Okigbo touched me deeply. “You know, I learnt to use a gun right in the field. I had never fired even an air-rifle in my life. But this thing [Biafra War], I am going to stay with till the end.” ( To Wole Soyinka in The Man Died, 1972) And till the end he stayed.

People had to defend themselves, their dignity and what is left of their pride. Lecturers had to fight alongside their students to fight in a war they wished did not happen. Mothers, who before the war wouldn’t allow their children to engage in village wrestling, willingly gave them up for the cause. And we dare to forget them, because they lost. Chimamanda claimed they were cheated but not defeated. I couldn’t agree more.

The war could have been avoided, yet it happened. Now that it did, why can’t we remember those that fought and died valiantly on both sides? Why can’t every major towns and villages that lost their sons and daughters in the war have a memoriam with the names of these heroes? What about remembering the battles of Nnewi and Ore, the Asaba massacre, the air raids in Umuahia? Must we forget, because they were cheated?

While I may not totally agree with everything Ojukwu says, especially during the war. Yet, I would have proudly worn the shirt bearing ‘On Aburi We Stand’ if I was alive in the sixties.

Wondering and wandering in Bath

2007-08-28T21:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday’s bank holiday was boring until Femi and I decided to go out. We went to the historic city of Bath. The city wasn’t as disappointing as I expected a British-hyped tourist attraction. It was cool. We managed to park in the city centre, directly opposite the river. And we didn’t have to pay for the parking ticket. Bank holiday.

We walked on the street, admiring the Georgian houses in the well-laid out roads and corners. We narrowly missed the summer flea market where I was planning to buy a cowboy hat. We wondered how much have changed in this city since it was built. Or lets say how much have changed in the city since 1807. Cars, ipods, cells phones, and more non-white tourists, like my wife and I. We wandered into a bookshop near the centre, and while we browsed through the book shelf, the shop-keeper offered us tea while we are looking. Amazing, isn’t it? Though we politely declined his offer, but we told ourselves that it will be a sin for us to walk out of the store without buying a book. We ended up buying Chimamanda’s ‘Half of the Yellow sun’.

I wonder if the bookshop keeper offers every customer that walk into his store tea, or is it because it is a bank holiday? Or is it his own tea time and he wants us to be part of it? Or is it rare to see black African couple browsing through a bookshop in Bath rather than the clothe and jewellery store? Questions I couldn’t answer, but I couldn’t help but compare his offer with my experience the last time I went to Tejuosho market in Lagos. Rather than offering me tea or Ogi, they were pulling my hand into their store, and I ended up buying from one of the hand-pulling traders. If hand pulling works for them, so be it. It might be wrong for me to compare them with my tea offering friend in Bath. Two cities, different traders, abi.

Progression viva in september

2007-07-29T21:55:00.000+01:00

I've always believed that you do a viva at the end of your PhD. I don't know who invented a progression viva in UWE. And its the reason why Im still in my blogging hibernation for now. I may be lucky to have a go before my viva in september. May be.

Chimamanda on African stereotypes

2007-06-08T18:43:00.000+01:00

It happens that Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has more things going for her than winning the Orange Prize last Wednesday. She is politically frank. Hear her "What I find problematic is the suggestion that when, say, Madonna adopts an African child, she is saving Africa. It's not that simple. You have to do more than go there and adopt a child or show us pictures of children with flies in their eyes. That simplifies Africa. If you followed the media you'd think that everybody in Africa was starving to death, and that's not the case; so it's important to engage with the other Africa."

She challenged the media-driven, Hollywood-promoted stereotypes of Africa and Africans. I wouldn’t comment too much on her views rather than say I agree with them. She and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (in this video) dragged me (temporarily) out of my blog-hibernation. I just want to say…….preach it girls, preach it.

Virginia Tech........naija election

2007-04-18T14:11:00.000+01:00

And by the way.........it will be nice to talk about the orgy of violence this week in the US and Nigeria. My heartfelt concerns and prayers goes to the families of the victims. VirginiaTech reminds me of the aluta days in Unilag, especially the one that claimed the life of one of my friends.......Niran Onikan.
I also pray for those who lost their lives during the weekend 'election shame' in Nigeria........Are we still walking in the bush, after 47 years?

missing in action

2007-04-18T14:06:00.000+01:00

marriage, honeymoon, back to work.......lots ofwork to do, responsible for a wife, more work to do in the office.......too lazy and busy to blog. missing

It was fun

2007-03-07T18:58:00.000Z

It was a star-studded party...........

I am King Jaffe Joffa, the ruler of Zamunda
Queen Aoleon
Semmi

shiny stars.........(believe it they are celebrities)

Destiny's child

chatting and mingling

Lots of dancing

2007-03-07T18:41:00.000Z

At the party last friday, my friends came up with lots of dance steps.........here are some I have tried to define.

Fulani's harvest

going down

learning the steps

ko ma roll..............

lets go round

2007-02-28T20:03:00.000Z

Musing about 'Blood diamond' and the Niger Delta question

2007-02-19T17:47:00.000Z

I was thinking I’m too busy to blog because I’m preparing for my wedding in few weeks. There are many things to do before I ‘dobale’ at my iyawo father’s house. Then I saw the movie ‘Blood Diamond’ yesterday and the blogger instinct in me is awakened. To me, it was both emotional and provocative, partly because I was in Freetown last December and I can testify to the devastative impact of the mindless war on the people, the economy and the infrastructure of the nation.

Nigerians are going to the polls to elect a new (recycled) government in few weeks. I’m really saddened that nobody is talking about some of the important things prior to the election. Even the media that are supposed to be the custodian of the people’s conscience are carried away with more of sensationalism than substance. Each day I read the Nigerian news, I’m appalled with what I see. I’m disappointed with the news writer and their ‘pot-bellied’ editors than with the people they are writing about. What is new or news in government officials stealing millions of public fund in Nigeria, eh? What is news in two political parties accusing each other of corruption? Have they not been doing that before I was born?

They write about Adedibu stealing voters registration machine and they expected me to exclaim with surprise and thank them for their investigative journalism, as if the man has not been in that business before I was born. They waste pages of newspaper on stories about Obasanjo and Atiku trading words and blows, and they expect me to say……… “na wa o, how can this be happening?” As if my dad didn’t read similar stories about Awolowo and Akintola in the 60s.

Whatever happened to the legendary and formidable ‘Lagos-Ibadan’ press can only be attributed either to bastardisation of collective corporate psychic or sheer brain drain. I suppose the guys that fought Abacha are either dead or retired. By death, I mean taking a leave of their political conscience in exchange for economic survival in this era of ‘Ghana-must-go’ politics. If we lose the last of these guys, then we need more than the natural. May be we need angels to be our journalists now.

We need angels to provoke more substantial public debates on important matters before the April election. We need the public office holders to articulately answer the Niger Delta question. Or, is it until someone discovers mass grave burying a whole town before we admit that what is happening in the region is a full-blown war. Is it until a Shell worker is killed on video posted by hooded gun carrying militias on CNN before the Nigerian government wake up from their hallucinating statements that ‘all is under control’. We need angels to tell Frank Nweke, the foreign minister to direct his energy away from accusing CNN reporters into a more useful debate. Someone needs to tell him that the amount of weapons in the Niger Delta is more than the ones that triggered off the conflicts in Sierra Leone, Burundi, Angola or even Liberia.

While the Niger Delta problem is multifaceted, it is time we started holding some people responsible for the poverty, anger, environmental injustices and killings in the region. I do not think one person has the answer to the Niger Delta question. That is why we need the media to instigate a national debate and hold whoever is vying for public office accountable for taking part in such discussions. While I won’t agree with my latte-drinking Nigerian friends in London that the country is heading for doom, I won’t be naïve to assume that because children are still going to school in Port Harcourt, Asaba, Calabar, or Warri that the same is happening in Ogulagha, Oporoza, Ogoni, Finima, Oweikorogba, Akinima or Oloama. There may be some devils nursing the idea of collecting books from those children in exchange for guns. We shouldn’t wait for another Hollywood movie probably titled ‘The Curse of Oil’ before we hold the ‘babaringa’ wearing politicians ransom.

This is Lagos

2007-02-19T17:28:00.000Z

Behold the future Nigerian football star, and he may exchange that kaftan for an Arsenal jersey..
.......before then, please can you wear something bruv, we are playing football here ok.
My alma mater, while studying in this university for 4 years, I never really appreciated the beauty of this road........now I can see
This is nothing close to a busy Lagoss traffic.......multiply the figures in this pictures by 100 and you'll get what I mean.
If you have never entered a Molue before................you shouldn't die yet, please.

Back from Lagos

2007-01-16T14:01:00.000Z

Full story and pictures later..............................

In London.........again

2006-12-11T15:21:00.000Z

In London
on my way to Lagos
meeting friends
hanging out in 'old joints'
walking on Oxford Street.................to shop or look
enjoying every bits of it..............sha

Contradictions within

2006-12-01T10:25:00.000Z

‘In Nationalist thought there are facts which are both true and untrue, known and unknown. A known fact may be so unbearable that it is habitually pushed aside and not allowed to enter into logical processes, or on the other hand it may enter into every calculation and yet never be admitted as a fact, even in one’s own mind.

Indifference to objective truth is encouraged by the sealing off of one part of the world from another, which makes it harder and harder to discover what is actually happening. There can often be a genuine doubt about the most enormous events.

Probably the truth is discoverable, but the facts will be so dishonestly set forth in every newspaper that the ordinary reader can be forgiven either for swallowing lies or for failing to form an opinion. The general uncertainty as to what is really happening makes it easier to cling to lunatic beliefs. Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakable fact can be impudently denied.

What a Nationalist wants is to feel that his unit is getting the better of some other unit, and he can more easily do this by scoring off an adversary than by examining the facts to see whether they support him. Some Nationalists are not far from schizophrenia, living quite happily amid dreams of power and conquest which have no connexion with the physical world.

All nationalists have the power of not seeing resemblances between similar sets of facts. A British Tory will defend self-determination in Europe and oppose it in India with no feelings of inconsistency. Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits but according to who does them, and there is almost no kind of outrage – torture, the use of hostages, forced labour, mass deportations, imprisonment without trial, forgery, assassination, the bombing of civilians – which does not change its moral colour when it is committed by ‘our’ side. The Liberal News Chronicle published, as an example of shocking barbarity, photographs of Russians hanged by the Germans, and then a year or two later published with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians.’
George Orwell Notes on Nationalism, Penguin Collected Essays, Pages 410-431 (Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 3 As I Please, 1943-1945.)

This quote best explains the confusions I struggle with in my mind on the contradictions that exists within the whole concept of the ‘war on terror’. This are the questions I usually ask; what is the difference between Saddam and Mugabe? Why is Darfur not ‘saved’ like Kuwait? What is democratic about Musharraf’s Pakistan? What has changed about Ghadaffi? Are we fighting ‘war on terror’ or ‘war for the West’s economic dominance’? I was appalled by 9/11, I still do, but I don’t (and may never) understand the rationale behind what is going on now.

Eko ile

2006-11-21T14:55:00.000Z

I have been going to work late lately. It has been lazy mornings for me. Thank God it’s a PhD and not a real job with a real boss. If not, I’ll be editing my resume by now. It’s getting colder and colder. My mind is in Nigeria, in Lagos. I want to walk on Oshodi Oke Bridge and stare at the sea of moving heads under the sun. I want to haggle with the traders on the railway lines at Mushin Ojuwoye, and laugh as they call me alaroro (the shrewd one). I want to hear the conductors at Isale Eko shout out the bus destinations in a way that will harass you to patronise them. I want to thrill myself with D.O. Fagunwa’s classic ‘Ogboju Ode ninu Igbo Irunmale’ under the kerosene lantern in the night during the usual power cut. I want to listen to the folklore songs on Radio Lagos, ‘tiwa n tiwa mititi’. I want to be in Lagos now.

I want to sing the song
Eko Ile, Ilu ogbon
eko akete
Omo mi ma gbagbe ile
ajo ki n dun, ko didere gbagbe ile

I’m still in Bristol.
It’s still cold here.

Calling Nigeria

2006-11-14T10:45:00.000Z

If you are a Nigerian living in the UK, you will identify with this situation. You bought an international calling card with a PIN number. After dialling the access number and the PIN number, you were allocated a talk time, based on the amount on the card you bought. And after some moments of talking, a voice tells you that you have three minutes of talk time. You looked at your watch and find out that you haven’t spend up to half of the time you bought. And after less than 30 seconds the line is off, telling you have no more credit to call. You wonder what kind of time scale their system is based on.

Is this some kind of 419 or what? I don’t understand. I have tried several brands of the cards, and all of them seem to be the same. The only difference lies in how deeply inefficient they are. Some of them would even take ages to dial the number you are trying to reach out to.

Are these cards companies not regulated by OFCOM?

musing about the democrats' victory and Donald Duke's blog

2006-11-10T12:19:00.000Z

I can’t deny the fact that I love the democrats, for reasons I can’t explain. If I’m a US citizen, I’ll vote for them. Maybe it has a lot to do with Bill Clinton, I don’t know. Anyway, I was happy after we won both House this week. Did I say we? I mean when they won. Yea I know the reason why I loved the democrats. President Jed Bartlet is a democrat. To the uninitiated, President Bartlet is the American President in the political TV drama, West Wing, which happens to be my favourite TV drama. Bartlet is the best American president that will never be, and he is a democrat, so I love the democrat. I am a democrat, and we’ve won. And not only that, we are producing the first woman Speaker of the House, and who knows, we might produce the first Madam President and Commander-in-Chief.

I don’t know how the next two years will be for George Bush, I really don’t know. But I wish the democrats wouldn’t take irrational decisions on Iraq that may jeopardise their chances in 2008. Iraq needs a ‘new perspective’ but not a reactionary one, which will leave the state in the hands of the insurgent. That will definitely defeat the goals of going to the war, and will not help the interest of those calling for the troop’s pullout either.

Why I am even musing on Iraq? I should be talking about my local MP in South Bristol, who happens to be a LibDem. I can swing from Labour to Tory (mainly because of the fine boy Cameron) and then back to Labour, but never to LibDem. So you can understand my plight of having a libdem as my member of parliament. I think I should I write him to tell him my feelings.

Why am I even talking about my British MP, I should be talking about Nigeria. I should be musing about plane crash which is almost forgotten until another one occurs. The Anambra state political coup and the usual money laundering scandals of Andy Uba. However, amidst all this, there is good news. One of the present serving governors, acclaimed to be one of the best, is taking his presidential campaign to a new level. Like David Cameron, he is appealing to the internet generation. He started a blog. Isn’t that a good trend in Nigeria where the politicians are far from the electorates, separated from them by an army of yes-mens and sycophants. Donald Duke’s blog is a silver lining in a dark cloud. However, I need to say this, was he proud, shy or lazy to write his own profile that he had to reference wikipedia to tell us who he is? I think one of the reasons for blogging is to bridge the gap of the conventional media in expressing yourself to the public.

I have a friend in London, who believed so much in Duke’s candidacy that he opened a website on his behalf. The cynic in me is beginning to think someone is doing this blog for him too. Whichever, I think it is still a good step in the right direction. The 2007 election in Nigeria will surely be a close run between the good, the bad and the ugly. I really hope the best guy wins. It may be Duke, who knows?

Do you sit on the can

2006-11-02T11:13:00.000Z

I was listening to a tape while driving to work this morning and the speaker talked about wealth, materialism and greediness. The fascinating to me is his definitions of some of they key terms in the sermon. Greediness he said is ‘get all you can, can all you have and sit on the can’. I wonder how many times in my personal decision making process I fall into that category. I wonder how the world would have been if there are fewer people in that category, especially in Nigeria, where respect is determined by how many 'cans' you can sit on. Another astonishing interpretation the guy gave to materialism is ‘using the money you don’t have to buy what you don’t need, in order to impress the people you don’t like’. Wise words for those of us with flashy credits cards buying stuffs we don’t need to show them. I wonder who 'them' are.

Nigerian plane crash: another symptom of the 'folorunsho' syndrome

2006-10-31T13:42:00.000Z

There was another plane crash in Nigeria last Sunday. The fourth within 12 months interval, claiming more than 300 lives in total. My intention is not to really talk about the possible causes of these mishaps, which many rightly believe to be corruption and professional negligence. I really don’t want to blog about that.

However, while watching the coverage of the unfortunate event on CNN, I couldn’t help but notice another factor. Folorunsho syndrome, which literarily means 'God is in charge of our safety and security'. One of the ministers went on air, few hours after the incident, at the scene, while rescue work is going on and reiterated this concept by saying ‘…may God, the Lord of host not allow this to happen again’. The implication of that statement epitomizes one of the decays in the Nigerian system and governance. This is a system where politicians do not take responsibilities for their actions. They place everything on the shoulder of God. By saying ‘may God not allow this to happen again’ it means that this mishap is God’s doing, hence we need to beg Him so that it won’t happen again. It places the mishap in the category of a hurricane or tsunami, beyond human help. It means all we have to do to prevent this again is to pray and possibly fast.

I think one of the problems with the Nigerian system is religion and the misinterpretation of its principles. The minister’s statement is a reflection of government’s reaction to most issue. Shift responsibility to God. Preliminary investigations into the cause of the crash shows that the pilot refused to heed to a warning from the control tower. When he was told to wait for some minutes due to the bad weather, he was quoted as saying ‘God is in control’. Just like the minister, he shifted the responsibility of safety and proper procedures to the hands of God, and then killed his 100 passenger.

I am a Christian, and I believe in God. But I do not understand the ways Nigerian officials deal with that God. They cowardly use God as a shield the way terrorists use children as human shield. Few months ago, a politician was assassinated in Lagos by unknown individuals. He was a gubernatorial candidate who is still planning to run in next years’ election. The president went to pay his family a condolence visit, and what did he say? God again! He cursed and prayed that God should reveal and kill the assassins. Isn’t that ridiculous? I think he should be asked why he hasn’t sacked his Inspector General of police and appoint Angel Michael in his stead. He should then replace all the police force with angels, there are lots of them in heaven. The same way the pilot said ‘God is in Control’, all the politicians in Nigeria should have resigned in Nigeria and literarily put everything in the hand of God.

The Bible is so wise when it says ‘Faith without action is dead’. I agree with that statement and I wish Nigerian government should start putting action into their faith by discussing and implementing real policies. People should start asking their elected officials and those that are vying for such post in the next election about their intentions on issues such as poverty alleviation, urban regeneration, housing, employment, road safety, urban and rural transport, food programmes, social services, education, environmental protection, security, trade and industrialisation. They should stop peddling petty issues about which region or religion should produce the next leader, who killed Dele Giwa, who stole what and when. This is the 21st century, we shouldn’t live as if we are in 1884.

Saturday breakfast, relationship and saving the planet

2006-10-26T11:15:00.000+01:00

It is needless to say that I had a great time in London last weekend. I caught up with few friends at Jubilee Church, relived the customary Saturday morning breakfast at a local restaurant, where the table is always alive with discussion that ranges from theological debates to relationship advice. Talking about relationship, one of my friends in Jubilee was bold enough to ask another friend to marry him. Good guy. He was lucky, she said yes. And what did he do afterwards? He stood before the church the next Sunday morning and announced the deal. Maybe it’s for insurance purpose. In case she wants to change her mind. Why would she anyway, they are both fit for each other, and moreover he is one of the good looking guy in the church. I spent most of the Saturday bullying Angelala and trying to eat all the food she’s got. Unfortunately they are not as spicy as the Nigerian meal I’m used to. Saturday meal with the Taverners was great. I stayed with them for the two nights. They treated me like a son coming home after a long time.

Okay, enough of London and my friends in London. I’m back in Bristol. I couldn’t believe I made the return journey in less than 1.40 hours on M4. I was really fast. I kept telling myself I need to drive as fast as I could now, because I won’t be able to do it again when I’m married. Married men are more responsible on the road, so I think. Anyway, I made up for my fast-pace, energy-wasting, CO2-emmiting, global-warming, planet-destroying journey by riding my flatmates bike to work today. Mistake! It was pure pain. It’s been almost a year since I rode a bike. All the muscles in my body are crying blue murder. I don’t know what a Nigerian guy like me is doing on a bike (keke). You need to see my face while riding up hill. It was pitiful. Anyway, I survived it as I hope to survive the lonely season I’m going through at the moment here.

Missing London

2006-10-20T11:38:00.000+01:00

Bristol
It will take a while before I call this place home
I don’t know why
May it has to do with my not having enough friends here
Or not settling with a church yet

Whichever
I still don’t feel like home
That is why I’m really excited
To go to London this weekend
At the invitation of a friend who is having a going party
He is going to Sri Lanka
To start his dream job

I’m happy for him
But I wonder whether
He will feel like me afterwards
Missing London

It might not be as boring as I thought

2006-10-05T19:41:00.000+01:00

Im in Bristol already
Ive really met very interesting people here already
everyone seems to be very nice

The guys I'm working with in my office
really dissapoints my expectations of them
Because they are 'PhD' researchers........
I really thought they will be a bunch of boring intellectual snubs.
Mistake!
They turned out to be guys you really want to hang around with
May be I have a cultural problem here

Where I came from......
PhDs are intellectual giants (sometimes crazy people)
that you cannot approach lightly,
they must be respected (if not worshipped) for spending 6+ years
of their life getting the degree.

But the guys I'm working with are rather different...
they are just as normal as the guy next door.
We call eachother by the first name.........(forget the Dr. Who stuff)
I like that.........
and it gives me a bit of comfort, that at the end of my three years here
I won't be as crazy as I thought I would be.
I will still be my normal blogging Naija boy.
And people do not have to bother about making me look boring by
putting unnecessary appellation before my name.
Good.

By the way Bristol is a village compared to where I'm coming from
Too quiet..........no action
Maybe not yet!

moving on

2006-10-01T00:30:00.000+01:00

There are boxes all over the place
My stuffs are neatly packed
And by this time tomorrow, I’ll be sleeping in Bristol

I think life itself is a journey, as many have said
And we are all migrating through it.
Anyway, tomorrow, I continue my own migration to start a new job.

I'll start another season of my life
and for the next 3 years, I’ll learn to call Bristol my city
And call London…… ‘their’ London

Introducing Spiral Universe

2006-09-12T22:50:00.000+01:00

Spiral Universe is a virtual christian community. The fact is, internet is shaping our world. Changing the way we relate, buy, sell and even marry. Spiral universe is a christian voice at such time as this. It’s good to know you have a ‘safe’ site to meet other believers.

Keno, the major brain behind this concept is friend I have known for some time now. I really respect her commitment and passion for this dream.

I won't shoot the messenger.

2006-08-31T22:23:00.000+01:00

I saw the provocative drama ‘Shoot the messenger’ on BBC yesterday.
Missed part of it
I was at the closest place I have ever been near Portugal
My favourite place when eating out……..Nandos

I suspended my TV strike to watch the drama.
Stopped watching TV for the past few weeks
Since Hezbollah-Israeli war
I’m really appalled by the British media coverage of the war
Can’t stand it.
BBC……..ITV
They are annexes of Al-Jazeera, in my opinion
My opinion is even mild
Someone told me the war was between the Israeli and the British media
Can’t disbelieve that………if all they did in Beirut during the war is anything to go by
Anyway that’s not the purpose of this post
Ill blog about the war later………

Sharon Foster’s ‘Shoot the messenger’ was a good political and social satire
I am sure some members of the Black community that saw the film will feel like shooting her
I don’t.
I quite agree with her.
Although I must confess I felt a bit awkward about some of its portrayal
And the way she said it
But they are quite true

Until a Black man decides to forget about the pain of slavery and colonisation
His emancipation will always become illusory
We are a product of our history, but we should not be imprisoned by it

One of the arguments in the drama piece
Is about how slavery has distorted the Black man’s destiny
The questions that keeps ringing in my mind is this……..
Were all black people enslaved?
What about the ones that weren’t caught by the ‘evil’ slave traders?
What have their government have to show for their ‘luck’ and ‘freedom’?
You guess is as bad (sorry good) as mine
Corruption, poverty, military dictatorship and oppression of the people

I heard someone saying…….
That is a product of colonialism……….another White man’s evil invention.
I beg to disagree
Weren’t India, Philippines, Indonesia, Canada and even America colonised?
Are they displaying political and economical idiosyncrasies which defy reasonable definition like we see in Sub-Sahara Africa?
Liberia became an independent state in the 19th century
What have they got to show for it?
War!
So who are we kidding?

Let’s stop the blame game
Just like Sharon Foster
I don’t have the answer to ‘the trouble with the black people’
But I know how I deal with mine
I do not define myself only by the colour of my skin
I’m proud of it, but that is not all about me

I do not allow my historical, cultural or geographical limitation determine my destiny
If God creates us all in different colours (because there are no white people, everybody is coloured)
There is a purpose for it……….
Beauty in diversity………abi!
I fight every form of ‘we-they’ mentality.

Tourists or terrorists?

2006-08-22T19:18:00.000+01:00

"Mr Bin Laden doesn't want us to use hand lotions and vaselines in the airplanes anymore"
"What do you mean?"
"Isn't that the essence of the hand luggage restrictions on air travels recently?"
"Have you been out of this planet?"
"No! Why are you asking?"
"Because, I’m rather surprised you are asking such question, didn’t you read about the failed ‘Titanic’ plan to blow up airplanes across the Atlantic"
"I heard about it, but from my perspective the government’s reaction makes the plot a success."
"How?"
"Terrorism is basically actions directed at instilling fear in peoples’ mind in order to meet a demand. The terrorists want to be heard and they think the best way is to blow people up or attempt to. They want the West to change their lifestyles, and restrict their freedom. They seem to be succeeding."
"They didn’t blow the planes………..they were nicked."
"But they were successful……they have succeeded in imposing another form of Sharia law in airports and airplanes. Now our freedom has been restricted by their efforts."
"I do not agree………..the restriction was a precautionary method to reduce the risk of another attack."
"Did you listen to John Reid’s speech on the day of the incident?"
"Yes."
"Did you hear when he said we are on an imminent danger comparable to that of the air raids in WW2."
"Ehn…what does that imply?"
"It means the terrorist are winning………. we are on a siege, just like in the 1940s. The only difference is that unlike the Nazis, the Mujahadeens are besieging our minds. They are besieging our governments, and they seem to be winning."
"I still don’t get it."
"That was what John Reid also said………..he said, those of you who are critical of the governments anti-terror policies simply ‘do not get it’. And nobody seems to. Did you hear about the incident of the plane divert last week. A plane was diverted because a passenger was found with vaseline. This is the days in which tourists become terrorists, and terrorists are tourists."
"So you want the government to soften their policy."
"No. I want the government to be tough on terrorism; I want the government to continue their anti-terror war as much as they can. But I don’t want the government to react to terrorism in the way that will justify the actions of the enemies. I don’t want the government to act as if they are at the mercy of Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri. I don't want the government to determine the freedom of the majority by the dictates of the bomb carrying minorities. If this continues, we won’t have Olympics or World Cup again."
"How?"
"Because Mr Bin Laden doesn’t like bikini-wearing ladies running around in the full glare of men. "
"And so what? He can’t do anything about it, if he doesn’t like it, he should stop watching the games."
"You still don’t get it. What he had to do is get his boys on the move again. And they are in abundance, who awaits such privilege and promise of 40 virgins in the after life. What they need to do is simply attempt blowing up one of the stadiums……….they don’t need to succeed….an attempt, even arrests is enough for the message they are sending."
"Can we change the topic?"
"Yes, but I have to go now.......I've got a research to do."
"About Bin Laden?"
"No! his comrades..................global warming and climate change."
"So when are we seeing you here again?"
"When I'm bored with Ken Livingstone's policy on Energy and Sustainable Development."
"Now, I am getting confused."
"I am as well. I think that is the whole essence of writing a thesis .........to confuse yourself and others."
"I never knew that."
"Now you know...........see you later."
"Bye......"

Runaway Blogger

2006-08-13T18:27:00.000+01:00

'Again, you’ve absconded with from this blog'
'I’m sorry I didn’t mean to'
'When will you be serious with this blog?'
'Am I not?'
'Not with your 'on and off' attitude'
'I have been very busy recently with lots of things'
'I think that is one of the purposes of blogging……to talk about your busy life'
'Well may be I need some lessons on what blogging is about.'
'Well, I think so'
'But not from you'
'Why?'
'You don’t have a blog, do you?'
'I don’t have a blog because I chose not to be a runaway blogger like you'
'Then you are not the right person to lecture me about blogging'
'I need to because some of us read your boring blog'
'Thanks! I take that as a compliment'

'Learnt you are going to Bristol in October'
'Yes…. I got a research position there for the next 3 years'
'I hope you won’t leave your blog for the next 3 years'
'I don’t think I will'
'So you are researching for three years, wont that be boring?'
'It may but I’ll blog about it'
'So what are you researching on?'
'I’ll blog about that later……………'

July 7: Where were you?

2006-07-06T23:14:00.000+01:00

I can remember being at work that morning
It started with a hush
Then spreads like a rumour
A phone call
Apprehensive voices on the other end
Fear!
Horror!
Another 9 11
Only this time it was very close
Less than 20 miles from where I was working

Then the rumour was confirmed
There was a staff briefing
We are currently under attack
Some people are bombing us

Who are they?
The usual suspect
Nazis?
No! Which year are you living?
1945?

The terrorists
The guys who fights their war by instilling fear on others
They are the true messenger of the devil
What is their message?
‘Put fear in them then they live by the creed of darkness’

I used to work in Edgeware Road
And I frequent one of the station that was bombed
I could have been in the train that morning
So I was targeted too
We were all targeted
Everyone

So we have to fight back
How?
By saying ‘No fear’
We won’t live in fear
Give no room to unnecessary discussions
That excuses the terrible act

They said it was because of Afghanistan and Iraq
Was there any foreign occupation of Kabul and Baghdad, on the morning of September 11?
That is the question they should answer
They’ve always wanted to rule us by fear
And they won’t succeed if we don’t allow them

Where were you on the morning of July 7, 2005?
Share your story here
In memory of those who lost their lives.

Let's hope this guy is back again

2006-07-05T02:03:00.000+01:00

"Hey brosdee, how are you?"

"I'm fine, and you?"

"I dey fine o, my brother. Where have you been?"

"I've always been in London."

"I know, I mean what is happening to your blogsite"

"Ooh, you mean why have I not been blogging"

"Yes!"

"Were you checking it?"

"Of course, is it not meant to be checked?"

"I never knew you were my fan?"

"Who told you I am?"

"I thought anyone that not only checks my blog but have the concern to inquire about my absence qualifies as one of my fans."

"You wished I am."

"I'll probably wish for better things."

"Like what?

"Like France winning the World Cup?

"Why?

"Because they are the only African team still in the tournament"

"You must be joking; did you do geography at all?

"Yes"

"So your teacher told you France is somewhere between Sahara and Kalahari deserts?

"No"

"So what made you think France is an African Country?"

"I didn't say France is an African country"

"So what did you say?"

"I said they are the only African team; there is a big difference between 'team' and 'country'.

"So what’s the difference?

"The French team parades more African players than any other non-African nations, hence if the French team carries the cup like they did in 1998, its going to be a proud thing for all football-loving African"

"Ok, I get your point, so where have you been?"

"I haven’t been anywhere, I was just caught up with lots of other things"

"Other things apart from blogging?"

"Yes."

"So you ain't serious about this blogging thing"

"It depends on what you mean by seriousness"

"I mean dedicated to it"

"I am, maybe some other things are of more importance"

"I think you need to apologise to those who have been checking it regularly"

"Are you asking for my apology?"

"I am not your fan"

"Ok, I will apologise to my fan."

"Fan?"

"Yes, I only have one."

"And who can that be?"

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you."

"Ok, we just need you to get back to your boring blog"

"But you said you ain't one of my fans."

"You don't have fans."

"Please yourself, I have to go"

God 101 by Aima

2006-05-03T16:41:00.000+01:00

He is the code that broke the Davinci Code. Even though it was murder she wrote, it was salvation He spoke……. When He speaks up, cancer backs up……..I got this from a friends' blog. listen to more at soul central.

Talking about Lagbaja

2006-04-29T06:20:00.000+01:00

I have been listening to Lagbaja’s new album, Africano. I had mentioned him in one of my previous post. His new work is the rave of the moment in Nigeria. He has, inter alia, consolidated his position as one of the most creative music genius Nigeria has seen since the days of Fela Kuti. He is consistently raising the standard of Nigerian music.

I have heard him talked about this album in an interview he gave few years ago. In which he claims to define his erstwhile unclassifiable style of music with this release. However, having listened to it several times, the style is still not without mystery similar to his characteristics facelessness.

From this work, Lagbaja confirmed lots of suspicion I have had of him. One of which is his feministic view. Through some of his earlier songs he had hinted on this. Although, he hasn’t sang in praise of womanhood, like Nico Mbarga’s popular ‘Sweet mother’, but he had used his lyrics to subtly fight against men’s domination over women. An example of such gentle but strong message is the line from the track Tokunbo; ‘ori e mama je o bawon foko tokunbo…….aloku okunrin’(From the album We, 2000), which indicates his sympathy for African women who are ostracised by the society (especially men) because the are divorced or widowed. Underlining these lyrics is Lagbaja’s deliberate attempt to indirectly hit at men’s ego in favour of women. Many Nigerian musicians would have gone the other way without blinking. In Africano, the track ‘Who Man?’ bluntly voiced his feminism philosophies in such a way and manner that will make organisations such as AWID proud of the song.

Also, Lagbaja confirmed in this album his strong Christian background. Despite being a top secular artiste in Nigeria, he unashamedly articulated his view about the Holy Spirit in the track ‘Emi Mimo Sokale’. The style in this track is very much like Nat ‘King’ Cole’s, yet with infusion of Yoruba culture. I love his use of the language, especially in expressions like….. ‘Be olojo o dekun kika, Ekolo iboji won nreti eran ara yi’. Superficially, one will think he was singing another gospel song; rather he was making a political statement about the nascent and unstable democracy in Nigeria. The marriage of style and culture in the track is breathtaking.

However the track putting his name on top of the chart, I presume, is ‘Never far away’. In my opinion, the quality of music that went into that track might take it to the Grammy. It’s a kind of song you want to continue to listen to on your ipod over and over again.

Although I agree with him that his music is more of African drums and ‘grooves’, but I think the sound of some of the drums are rather too heavy and almost over the top in some of the tracks. Songs like ‘shout’, which is a hip hop song had too much of ‘iya ilu’ (talking drum) on the background than necessary in my opinion. Apart from that, Lagbaja has used Africano to confirm his place in the heart of many Nigerians and his worldwide fans, as one of the best guy in Nigeria music scene.

What is the difference between miracle and magic?

2006-04-18T01:30:00.000+01:00

Recently I was accosted with this question by a young boy, while I was half-awake. I had to think very fast and carefully too.

My answer was a bit similar to this. Magic is the manipulation of the course of nature by the devil or his agents, with the ultimate purpose of deceiving, impressing or harming human beings. Miracle, on the other hand, is the supernatural intervention of God in natural events or circumstances to help his creation.

What do you think? Write your comment on this.

The Pilate in us

2006-04-14T16:22:00.000+01:00

When Pilate gave his final verdict on the treasonable felony case involving Jesus of Nazareth, he knew the truth. He knew that the man of Galilee does not deserve death. But he convicted him nonetheless.

Pilate was in between the devil and the deep blue sea. He made his choice. He opted for the devil. Between God and pleasing the people, he chose the people. He chose the political power that comes with people’s approval. He chose to be in the Caesar’s good book than that of God.

We cannot deny the fact that there is a Pilate in every one of us. The kind of Pilate that will rather please men than please God. The kind of Pilate that will go for instant gratification than the delayed. We need God’s grace to refuse the Pilate in us every time God’s will is put on trial before us, as is the case every time.

On Abdul Rahman, the faithful christian in Afghanistan

2006-03-25T14:32:00.000Z

In my opinion, the Afghan prime minister has little or no control over the situation at hand. This is a religious situation that carries sentiments beyond any political imagination. The impending death sentence of Abdul Rahman by the Islamic law is a big statement on the religion itself. It brings to perspective all the roller coaster we’ve found ourselves in since 9-11. There are many Abdul Rahman, in Indonesia, Sudan, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, where unpublicised executions takes place because someone dared to accept the eternal life given by Christ.
Ansarullah Mawlafizada, the trial judge said "Islam is a religion of peace, tolerance, kindness and integrity. That is why we have told him if he regrets what he did, then we will forgive him," I don’t understand his or Islamic interpretation of ‘tolerance and kindness’. Just as I don’t understand why some youths decided to burn embassy and kill people because they are protesting a cartoon that depict Islam as a violence religion. This is an irony beyond my comprehension.
I pray for Rahman’s safety, but if does die, I hope it will be an eye opener to the public ignorance about the Sharia Law.

I'm an African Boy: blogging in Yoruba

2006-03-01T13:42:00.000Z

There are so many things I love about the language, Yoruba. A sensible speech is not complete without the rich infusion of proverbs and analogies. 'Owe lesin oro, oro lesin owe,' my grandfather will say. You can only get the actual meaning of words spoken by a Yoruba man through the proverbs he uses. And if there is a question to be answered, Baba will say ‘toro ba sonu, owe la fin wa’.

Such is the rich background I have in the language. Although I grew up in urban Lagos, but my family was in constant touch with their Yoruba roots. My great grandfather, Alaafin Ladigbolu was the king of the Oyo Empire, it was he who signed the Peace Treaty with the British Government in July 23, 1888. That provided me with known family history that dates back to centuries. Even if I don’t want to know it, someone in Oja Akeesan (the major market in Oyo) will offer his service as a history teacher. Such a person will tell me how great my ancestors were and why I should always remember the son of whom I am….'ranti omo eni ti iwo nse.'

I use to think that phrase was from the Bible; because everyone seems o quote it. It is always handy anytime a child is leaving his parents’ house. The last time I spoke to one of my aunt on the phone, she went the same path again. Sometimes I try to figure out the actual meaning of the phrase. For I know the Yoruba language doesn’t really imply what it literally says. As my grandfather taught me, 'Amusan eru e wo, o ni oke len wo, e o wo isale,' it means you need to look into the depth of a matter before making a reasonable conclusion. So I try to find out who my parents are, and why I must always remember that I am their son.

I was born in a land where you are defined by your family history. Your resume is an accumulation of the deeds (sometimes wrongdoings) of your ancestor. People can deduce almost 20% of who you are (or supposed to be) from your name, ile la n wo kato somoloruko. Hence you live your life not only for yourself but for the generations after you. When my aunty warned me to remember the son whom I am, she is encoding a sermon in history, character and family ethics in the statement.

I'm an African Boy

2006-02-24T13:10:00.000Z

I was born where the sun never set or rises
I was born where the heat is like a second skin.
I’m an African boy...

Over sea
Over land
Over mountains in the wild
I’ll be brave and I’ll be strong
I’m an African boy...

Seven drums
Seven wriggles
Seven cowries
Seven nuts
Seven lives that’s what I’ve got
I’m an African boy...

(From Beautiful Nubia’s album Seven Lives)

I’ve been listening to Beautiful Nubia for most of today. It’s been reminding me a lot about home. Thanks to Edward Popoola who provided me with the link from his blog, Jangbalajubu.

When I preach

2006-02-24T11:59:00.000Z

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity of preaching in my former church, New Cross Christian Centre, South London. This came at a time I was thinking I won’t be able to attend a church within the seven weeks of my work experience research which happens to be on Saturdays and Sundays. The guys that schedule the research for those days must be fans of Dan Brown. They’ve got no regard for those of us that goes to church.

However it didn’t prevent me from talking about faith in New Cross. It was two weeks after I had the rare honour of preaching in my church, Jubilee Church where I also talked about faith.
You may be thinking I’m a good preacher, far from it. I think such accolades should be for Tope (my pastor) or Adrian. I was just privilege to be able to speak in two different churches within a month. I also think God is speaking something to me on faith. This week, I had my faith and all I have preached about it tested when I faced a particular situation that requires me to exercise faith or fear. I choose faith. And it worked.

Every time I speak God’s word to people, the word speaks back to me too. The word encourages me to live by the standard I’m urging people to live on. The challenge is always there for me to do it. I hope to, always.

Ajo ki n dun kodidere gbagbe ile

2006-02-23T13:55:00.000Z

I deliberately choose the topic of this post to be in Yoruba for further emphasis. The phrase simply means the sweetness of ones sojourn abroad can never replace the nostalgic feelings about home. ( I hope I got it right, I think I need a better Yoruba speaker to help me here).

If I want to really boost my nostalgia, I listen to Lagbaja. His music takes me away from Chingford to my mother’s village in Oke-Ogun. Whenever I choose to remember the folklore stories of ijapa (Tortoise), nayinbo and other characters that used to animate my mind on the raffia mat under the lulling eye of the moonlight while listening to Mama Ile-Balogun (my grandmother), I conjure the songs of the masked-one. Whenever, I’m really tired of the London street lights blocking my view of the stars which I used to conveniently count while eating akara and eko prepared by mama, I call on Omo baba mukomuko to take me to the Motherland.

Bisade Ologunde, the man behind the mask of Lagbaja is my favourite Nigerian musician. His creativity with the Yoruba language in his music can only be compared to that of Wole Soyinka in his literatures. Early this week, while listening to Eko ti mo wa, I fought back tears. It reminds me of how far I’m from home and how much I miss those things I take for granted while in Nigeria. Today, I stumbled on the website of another similar artist I really appreciate, Beautiful Nubia. I couldn’t resist singing his song out loud in this library……….Jangbalajugbu

Another reason to go to church

2006-02-13T17:56:00.000Z

Yesterday while working on the weekend project I undertake in South London, I was really pressed and desperately in need of a rest room. There was no public toilet around Bermondsey station. I decided to walk to London Bridge with the hope of seeing one along the way or using the one belonging to any eatery I can find on the high road. When I sighted a pub just along the road I entered hoping to buy a glass of orange and a chance to use the gents. Just as I was about to open the door the bar man politely told me the pub isn’t opened till 12:30. My hope was dashed.

As I was about leaving the pub, then I saw it. I felt like Christopher Columbus. It was just beside the pub. I knew the church will be opened on Sunday, ofcourse, and they won’t turn me away for being late either. So I entered the church, listened to the sermon, it was a short one (and I still remember it), sang some hymn and took the excuse. Isn’t that another reason to go to church?

Goodbye Konkolo, welcome Ritha

2006-02-13T17:52:00.000Z

I never knew how deeply I am involved with my car konkolo until I changed him for a younger friend. He has been a good friend of mine since I bought him late last year, but recently I started noticing some ‘unfriendly’ sound in its engine, since I’m a student with low income, we both decided that it is better for us to part before things starts getting worse. So, over this weekend I drove Konkolo to its new owner.

God actually gave me favour in getting my new car which I have decided to name Ritha, because it is a red Nissan Micra. I have always wanted a Japanese car, because unlike the British they consider your pocket while designing their cars.

Ritha and I are still sizing each other up; we are trying to get familiar with each other. I have a feeling that Rita is still suspicious of me, I can’t blame her, it takes some time to get used to a new owner who happens to be a student after leaving a comfortable family she has known for years. I’m still trying to get used to Rita too especially her gear system. But I will soon. Though, Ritha is younger, ‘sleekier’ and better than Konkolo in different ways yet it will take me sometime to forget my old mate.

How do you see yourself?

2006-01-28T14:54:00.000Z

"I am fearfully and wonderfully made".

Self recognition is the first lesson in life. Probably one of first thing you learnt in life is to know who you are: your name, your sex, your complexion and the language you speak. There are some things they told you about yourself and there are some things you discovered. The question is, do you believe the right thing about yourself? or do you believe the negatives instead. It's so sad how we easily believe the negative things said about us rather than the positives, we tend to default to the darker side of ourselves than the bright side.

Coming to agreement with the reality of whom God has made you to be is the fundamental thing you need. Listen, the scripture declares that 'And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father;' It's either you accept that or you live below it. The value of knowing is doing. You cannot operate beyond your knowledge. It is the way you relate to yourself that others relate to you. My thought for you today is to see the better side of your life. It doesn't really matter what others says about you, it is how you see yourself that determines your reaction to life. It doesn't really matter how life is treating you, (because life will always treat you whichever way) it how you react to life that matters, and this is underpinned by how strong you are on the inside. Do not attempt to negotiate life from the weak side of the table. you are more than conqueror through Christ.

You are important to God's programme, as far as God is concerned, you are a VIP (very important personality). You don't need to be proud about it. Pride is different from commanding the respect of your person. After all Daniel was humble enough to be the best in the University of Babylon.

Listen to Ralph Waldo Emerson when he says 'Make the most of yourself for that is all there is to you'. Let that be your thought today.

Two things tommorow

2006-01-20T15:55:00.000Z

I've got two outings tommorow. First is a friend's wedding and reception in South London, it's going to be a Nigerian fanfare and I'm really looking forward to it. I will be reminder of the Lagos owambes. The interesting thing is that it is taking place in Peckam, which, in my opinion, is the NigeriaTown in the UK. Amot everyone is a Nigerian in Peckam. Tommorrow will give me the chance of keeping up with my 'owambe' dance moves.

The second thing that'll make tommorow thick is that I'm ice-skating in the evening. Before you say anything, I know I'm going to fall on the ice, but isn't it worth trying? I'll give it a go as long as the phone is working well, because there might be need to call the ambulance.

Confidence

2006-01-20T15:46:00.000Z

The calibration for exploits in the spiritual is confidence. The degree of how confident you are is the degree of how far you’ll go. Your strength is determined by your confidence. Before slinging the shot that fell the giant, David slew the giant in his mind with the weapon of confidence. I am of the opinion that Goliath wasn't expecting anybody to really challenge him, he was half-defeated when he saw the ruddy shepherd boy.

I haven't stayed much in this world to know this: Life is as difficult as we see it. There are situations that just need your sheer confidence, which is based on God's word.

There is always a temptation for us to confuse timidity for humility. And God boldly declares that such spirits of timidity and fear are not from Him. Looking at life from the mirror of defeat and what-gonna-be-gonna-be is not a christian life. That is from the devil.

‘Let us come boldly…’ that is the language of the spirit to you today. Nobody attains great heights for God without some measure of audacity and confidence. As you move in life, learn to work and speak with confidence. Such confidence springs from the knowledge of who you are, and what you really want. You need clarity of mind and purpose. You need to know where you are actually going. Spend more time to know God and you’ll be strong and act confidently.

Tribute to Sewlyn Hughes

2006-01-14T14:11:00.000Z

It might not be a national news headliner in Britian, but it surely will be a major news in Nigeria, that Sewlyn Hughes is dead. To many Nigerians, he is in the class of Roberts, Spurgeon, Wesley and Wigglesworth.

Sewlyn is the most popular British preacher of the gospel in Nigeria with his daily devotional ‘Everyday with Jesus’. Nearly one in five Christians in the country uses the spiritually uplifting material daily in their walk with God. His death last Monday will really come as a shock to most of this people. I doubt if there won’t be memorial services for him in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. He has really been instrumental to some people’s spiritual growth.

I was in Lagos the last time he came visiting, though I couldn’t make the meetings but I know the venue would have run out of space for people. Such is the power of touching the lives of people you may not even meet in life.

Sewlyn’s thoughtful writings are spiritually inspiring to me. There are moments I have picked up his devotionals to get encouragements and answers to life threatening issues. His poetic way of writing is an additional plus for the English language. His story is genuine and spiritually motivating.

It might be a loss to us that he is gone, but it is another grand welcome in the heavens for another faithful servant.

A friend needs your prayer

2006-01-13T11:05:00.000Z

It’s not every time you get an emergency prayer need to cry to God for. I got one through an SMS this morning from a friend whose sister critically sick. The doctors feel she’s got a virus that is making her blood to clot; they said the next six days are critical. But we believe in a God who created the whole universe in six days, isn’t it? This same God raised his friend who had died for four days, and He is the same God who promised us healing in his word.

Could you join us in praying for Michelle’s healing and miraculous recovery in the next six days? Will you?

when it becomes bad

2006-01-12T14:42:00.000Z

I think blogging can be sinful sometimes, especially when you find yourself leaving the purpose that brought you to the computer. I should be on my knees right now begging for forgiveness or going to a local priest for a confession. Not that I’m a Catholic, but there are some sins that needed to be heard in the box…..like blogging while you are suppose to be studying.

Now you see the reason why I left my post during the heat of my studies. I can’t believe I went sleeping yesterday thinking of what to write next. Strangely enough I ended up posting none them ….they are still hiding somewhere in-between my brain’s hard disk, I suppose. I don’t know how the chronic bloggers cope with that and still manage to eat and live in real life. I don’t want to be like that.

I think I have to go back to the work I’m really suppose to be doing in this library before I end up going home wondering why we have 24-hour day and not 36-hour. May be we’ll change the time someday. It doesn’t matter when the sun rises or falls, after-all the British move their time forward or backward as they wish. That’s another thing I don’t understand about being English (sorry British) because I really like to excuse the Scottish from all blames.

naija bloggers

2006-01-12T14:12:00.000Z

I can’t believe my luck this morning when I got a comment from one of the Nigerian bloggers. Checking his post led me from one site to another finding lot of Nigerian bloggers in my trail. The exciting thing about it is that most of these guys live in Nigeria and they are the kind of youths that keeps the nation’s hope alive.
I was elated to find out about the Lagos Pidgin English dictionary compiled by Baba Willy. That is going to help the flow of my writing because it means that I don’t have to worry too much about Dave (by the way, those who think beggars can only be found in the developing countries should look at Dave's picture of Waterloo) or Martin understanding my yarns. The only problem I can foresee is that the language is too complex to be compressed into a dictionary as new words and new meanings to existing words are formed everyday on the streets of Lagos and Warri. But it’s good to know that there are basic references on the internet for the people wey no sabi.

What is your price?

2006-01-11T15:38:00.000Z

Yesterday I had a tea room argument with a colleague at work. It didn’t last for long. Tea time. But it made a long impression on me. The squabble was about placing price on people’s conviction and believes. My colleague was of the opinion that anyone can compromise his belief or stand, if the right monetary price is offered. I was of the contrary opinion. I believe not everything can be quantified in monetary terms.

Some convictions are still bigger than any money offer.

If I was asked how much I can be offered to give up my education. I will say none. If financial gain is the only reason I came to study in London, I will be nothing short of being a fool. Because I don’t need a degree (worst still a second one) to be a millionaire. If my goal in life is to be another Bill Gate, I don’t need to be studying all night, writing coursework, researching and writing dissertation. I had the option of acquiring money or pursuing my dream………..I opted for the latter. At the end of the day, fulfilling my vision will not only pay me monetarily but will give me the inner satisfaction that money cannot give. I want to say to my grandchildren that when destiny called, I was man enough to stand up to it.

My colleague asked me yesterday whether I’ll leave my studies if I suddenly posses £100,000 in my account. I said no.

Why?

I happen to I hold some values higher than money. The first of them is my relationship with God, and I believe it is His plan for me to be where I am presently. The second is the relationship with my loved ones. The other is the satisfaction and fulfilment that comes in serving God and being involved in this end time revival. I hold this dearly than a million pounds.
There is a price for my pair of glasses but I don’t have a price for my vision. I do not doubt the fact that there are people who can sell their mothers grave for dollars. I know the love of money, the influence, the comfort and the security it provides has driven many men to indescribable actions. But to say that everyone can be bought with a pen and a cheque is to say the earth is flat. I beg to disagree.

In the history of humanity, great revolutions have occurred not because of the want of money or lack of it, but because some men sought answers to a deep-seated question in their soul. They sought for fulfilment. I do not think Bill Gate was seeking to be in Forbes number one list of the world richest man when he started Microsoft.

I believe in prosperity, but living my life just for the sake of increasing the digits in my bank statement is not the kind of bread I’ll like to eat.

The fuss will go

2006-01-09T13:09:00.000Z

Submitting my dissertation proposal today brings mix feelings. It means that I am about to engage in rigorous period of research and writing, and also a countdown to the end of this programme. I do not really know how intensive the research might be but I'm sure to give it my very best.
I will take time to read the Da Vinci Code before embarking on my research as I intend to do a critique of part of the book myself. However, before doing that, I want to say that the fuss raised by Dan Brown will soon sublime like others that have tried to question the validity of the Bible.
It will be good to know that the scriptures has fought and won many wars, and yet still remains more current than tommorows newspaper.

My teeth, my hair and my brush

2006-01-08T21:37:00.000Z

I strongly hope I'm back with this new look. I have the pleasure of showing my teeth on this blog to as many that may admire or criticize it.
The other picture facing the computer was basically Adrian's invention, he took the picture while I was wondering about which one to put on that spot. By the way, I must say that I'm writing this piece from his computer...........where most of his piececomes from. Talk about 'protegeing'.

Da Vinci confusion

2006-01-06T18:14:00.000Z

I think I'll like to get involve in the debate about the Da Vinci Code as La Shawn suggests. Although that may not happen until I manage to beg, borrow or steal a copy from someone. I was in Paris last summer and there was so much fuse about the book from some people I met there. I've tried not to get involved in the whole argument about the book until I read it myself. But I must say this........I will be reading it with a bias. Yes! a bias. I cannot be objective because my views are already sharpened by the validity of the scriptures and my thinking is molded by the Bible, I judge everything with it's truth. If you call that craziness, I think I'm delighted to be mad.

I'm just trying to come back

Too much choices

2006-01-06T17:34:00.000Z

One of the disadvantages of living in London is that you have too many choices whenever you want to buy anything. I can't count how many hours I usually waste at shopping malls in making up my mind over little things like a CD.
It's just ridiculous today having to waste litres of fuel while driving from Enfield to Edmonton just because I couldn't make up mind over a mobile phone. And when I finally did........guess what? my choice isn't available in the store. How dare they do that to me?
I wonder how much time and resources people waste over different choices that stares at them daily. It's so good to know that there ain't that much choices about salvation, as some would have us believe. There is only one choice and it is through the crucified One, Jesus Christ. If there are so many choices to God, some of us will spend all our lifetime trying to decide the cheapest, safest, easiest and well-guaranteed way to heaven. But the good news, even if there are other choices (which isn't), the way of the Cross will still be the best route..........it's the best deal anyone can sign. Why? Because someone else paid the price of the deal, all we just have to do is be part of the contract.
I think I'm coming back.

I hope I'm back

2006-01-05T20:37:00.000Z

Blogging like Adrian would be a 'mountainous' dream for me, the man virtually lives on the internet. I had the priviledge of sharing a meal with his family few days before the New year day. I siezed the moment to ask his wife about coping with his consistent blogging............her reply was as sweet as she looks..........'everybody has an hobby, some spend time watching tv, Adrian's hobby is blogging'.
That was very cool to me...........
I have been missing in action for some weeks or months or so...........I can't just juggle blogging with coursework at Middlesex University. It was very hectic for me few weeks prior to Christmas. And I moved.
Anyway I hope everyone had a lovely holiday.
It was a bit sad to hear of plane crash in Nigeria few weeks before christmas............and I lost a couple of distant friends there. It was so bad. Apart from that, last Christmas was pure fun.
I spent the whole day in my new home, with Mike and Daphne Taverner................it was a very English Christmas for me.
Anyway, Im back now...........hope it will last before the University catches up with me agian.

Do not miss the critical point

2005-11-20T15:57:00.000Z

“How is this possible?” the people exclaimed “He’s just a carpenter son and we know his mother and his brothers…. And his sisters, they all live here. How can he be so great?” And they became angry with him! Matt 13: 55-57.

When the critics comes calling please do not miss critical point; that some people are meant to talk against you and what you are doing whether good or bad, that their comment should not stop you, but rather sharpen you for the better. If they speak against Jesus, sent from God, then you are not too holy to be excluded. Every great man that walks upon the surface of the earth achieved their greatness not because they do not have critics, but because they do not forget the critical points. When the fang of the critics points at you, stay in there, fighting towards victory.

Theodore Roosevelt, the former American President once said “it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweet and blood; who strives valiantly errs and comes short again and again; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; and who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement ; and who at worst, if he fails, at least fail while daring greatly; so that his place shall never with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat”.

I've been in the village

2005-10-31T21:19:00.000Z

The last time I wrote about how busy I am, I never knew that is a child’s play to the busy days I have now, and from the look of things it wont get better until Christmas. I need help from my tutors. Last week, I was in Exmoor National Park for six days on a field trip with 15 other mates in my programme and 2 lecturers. The trip was intensive but fun. I was miles away from civilisation; we were staying in 'Abule' (Rural Village), there was no mobile phone network, internet or TV. The electricity we were using was from the wind farm…….from my window I could only see sheep on the open moor. From the farm cottage we were lodging you will have to drive more than 10 minutes to see another building or light. It reminds me of my mother’s village in Oke-Ogun.

The local people are mostly farmers, they are simple and unassuming……….. I had the privilege of forgetting my bag on the chair in the pub, a luxury I cannot imagine in London.
I walked on the moor, looked at the untouched woodland, relaxed on the rocky Exmoor shore of the Atlantic ocean, with a feeling that a part of the ocean stretched to my Lagos too, visited the 12th century old castle at Dunster village, and enjoyed the company of my classmate while knowing them better.

However, my major headache is that I have to write an extensive (not descriptive, but analytical) report of the trip……..and that is a major part of my assessment for the module.
So those of you who think I’m a bad blogger……….. I won’t say you are wrong, except that it might be good if you can see the ‘trouble’ called education I’m putting myself in, and it is worse to know that I’m paying for it.

Martin Short thought I wasn’t fair when I said he can’t dance, I’ll humbly challenge him to a dancing competition against me with David Routledge as the judge.
To answer Seun’s question about the expenses of my car…………. I can’t really say if Konkolo is taking more than Transport for London used to take, all I know is that he has been an understanding friend.

I hope to write another blog before Christmas………………if coursework allows.
Just a quick question to Pigwotflies……………….are u going to Cambridge with your car?And on Adrian's matchmaking...............I'll comment on that later.

Giving Konkolo a chance

2005-10-15T11:26:00.000+01:00

I just got a car and I’m naming it Konkolo, which is a Yoruba word for something small. Konkolo has been serving its purpose, taking me to work, university, church and bringing me home except that he (my car is a male) has been welcomed with cynicism and deep suspicion. The suspicion can be understood considering his age (I won’t tell you his birth year, except that he has just over a decade of road experience) but the cynicism I find difficult to comprehend even though it is coming from me and some others who had seen its engine. Apart from the re-oiling needed on the engine and changes in some other things, I think he deserved better than I have been thinking of him. But you have to forgive my pessimism, I’m kind of getting used to all the terms that comes with car ownership in this country……MOT, Road Tax (this one gets me annoyed), service history, first, second, third and last person insurance, RAC (or whatever).

I hope to give Konkolo a chance and believe in his further ability to perform. I hope Konkolo will be of help in the coming winter months when I really needed it. I hope Konkolo will not take more from me than I give Transport for London. I hope so, I seriously hope so.

Believe me, I've been busy

2005-10-11T15:06:00.000+01:00

It has been very busy around me recently. I’ve got lots of papers to submit and assignment to do. It’s so amazing that I paid heavily to do my postgrad and now I’m crying under its heavy demand. What an irony of life.
To those of you who think I am a lazy blogger………..you may be right, but I also assume you are a bit far from the truth because the gentility of a tiger is not a sign of his timidity. I’m just in a season of rigorous academic study that will prevent too much blogging.
To Dave Routledge who think my Boston Transcript is an archaic journal, I’ll say that the paper is sometimes worth more reading than watching ‘Doctor Who’ that does nothing but inform little children that the Big Ben is his place.
Let me not answer everyone today because I may not have anybody to fight with tomorrow.
Now that we’ve had an African day at Jubilee church, I hope that will improve the dance steps of Martin Short………………at least a bit

Do you want to be a critic?

2005-10-06T13:03:00.000+01:00

Sometimes it is good for us to critically look at issue and give our opposing view. But not every time on every issues. When you seem not to see the good side of everything then you have made yourself a critic. When nothing is good except the ones you do then you have made yourself a perfectionist nuisance.

When people ask for your opinion and all that you do is to disregard theirs and enforce yours. You make them feel inferior and you become a dictator.

God wants everyone to be saved through faith in Jesus. But not everyone accept His offer. What did he do? He didn’t force His opinions on them. He respects their will, even though everyone will be judged by the same standard through his son Jesus.

If God didn’t force Himself on man, then you don’t need to. Avoid being a critic over other people’s opinion. Learn to see the good sides of things. Benjamin Franklin once said: “if you argue and rankle and contradict, you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponent’s good will”.

The Boston Transcript once printed this:
“Here lies the body of William Jay,
Who died maintaining his right way
He was right, dead right, as he sped along
But he’s just as dead as if he were wrong”

When we disagree

2005-10-04T09:50:00.000+01:00

Disagreement is a normal and welcomed event in any relationship. When we don’t have contradicting opinions, it’s either we are insincere with ourselves or we are deceptive. Remember the saying, “When two partners always agree, one of them is not necessary”.

As friends we should be truthful and honest with each other about our feelings and opinions. We should be able to look at each other in the face to correct ourselves.

However when we disagree, we should be careful not to allow sentiments becloud our sense of reasoning. It makes us foolish rather than wise. We should hit the issue not the person. We should avoid naggings and remembrance of mistakes done in the past. Friends are meant to subtract from the bad past and add to the future. They are meant to divide sorrow and multiply joy.

When we disagree, our temper should be in check. It is better to keep quiet when you are infuriated. Words spoken in anger are always senseless.

When one yells, the other should try to be quiet because when two people yell, there is no communication, just noise, bad vibrations and some madness.

Lastly, when we disagree, we should learn to promptly apologize. The sentence ‘I am sorry for getting mad at you’ has healed many relationship and has driven better point home than the shouting and yelling.

When the first wine finishes

2005-10-03T10:37:00.000+01:00

“And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine”. John 2:3

Every relationship exists in phases. Be it courtship, friendship, partnership, fellowship, leadership or even marriage. The earlier we understand the phase of our relationship the better. It reduces strains, stress and frictions

There are times in our relationship when the first wine finishes and the intoxication we once enjoyed fades. During these times we should learn not to take irrational decisions that will permanently affect us negatively. Rather it is the time we must call on Jesus to change our water to wine.

When we start experiencing unnecessary hitch and frequent quarrel in our relationship. We should recognize and admit that our first wine is finishing. We should not be too proud to admit and accept the phase our relationship has gotten into. It is the time to sit together and ask Jesus into that relationship. He specializes in supplying the second wine, which is always better than the first.

However, we should be wise enough to know the timing and purpose of certain relationship. We must be able to identify the relationships that are for a reason, a season or for a lifetime. It will help us to peacefully end a seasonal relationship that has expired.

On brosdee and his view

2005-10-02T21:13:00.000+01:00

I have been privileged to receive comments on my welcome piece. I really appreciate those comments and questions raised. I will like to treat most of the questions as a further introduction about myself and my style of writing.

On who I really am....
The question of who am I can be too objective to be answered correctly. Sometimes, however in my finite understanding and knowledge, I try to define myself by what am presently doing (student) or where I lived, live or planning to live (‘African living in London). As much as all this gives a good description of me it does not really answer the question of who I really am. The reason is because all those facts tend to regularly change about me………………but who I am will not change. Ok, let’s stop all the playing around, who am I? I am an image and likeness of God the creator of the universe, born into this world few years ago into the African nation of Nigeria, (I think that will answer Jonathan’s question) blessed with an ebony skin colour, accepted God’s offer of salvation 16 years ago thereby receiving eternal life and a privileged relationship with Him through Jesus.

On my style and language.....
Before I start sharing my views and thoughts on various issues from this platform, I’ll like to tell you a bit more on my style of writing. Though my thoughts are in English language, but they are formed and shaped within the concept of my mother tongue, Yoruba. Hence, my conversations are painted and marked with the colours of the language, its idioms, proverbs and sometimes phrases (which I try as much as possible to translate correctly, so David Routledge will understand me). By the way, we had an African day at Jubilee Church today and someone prayed in the language.
I tend to write with a bit of sarcasm larded with humour, animation (I actually write the way I talk), interactive conversations and name droppings of individual and places that I hope my readers will be familiar with ( I just hope Martin Short, Adrian and Becky will, too).

On my philosophy....
Since I became a Christian at an early age, my philosophies and concepts are sharpened by the word of God. I try as much as possible to see my views with my bible goggle on. (Most of the time the KJV version, with its ‘thous’ and ‘thees’)

Look the other way……please!
It is also good to know that my writings won’t be scored by any of my lecturers (especially the ones in the University of Lagos), so it gives me the liberty to ‘freestyle’ them. It will just be magnanimous of you to see any of my grammatical blunders as typographical errors or another form of comedy.

Lastly, I’ll like to satisfy the inquisitiveness of those who want to know what ‘brosdee’ meant (It sounds like an obscure hardware tool in a DIY store, innit?). It’s from the name Dotun. (So where does the ‘bros’ come from?), since most Nigerian Christians address each other with the prefix brother or sister, it wasn’t long before mine was ‘funkified’ to its short form, hence Brother Dotun becomes brosdee. And I think that’s better for your jaw than my multiple barrelled surname………….Olowoporoku.

Exciting isn't it?

2005-09-30T14:07:00.000+01:00

Hey...........its good to be part of a wider world that connects without neccessarily seeing eachother. Knowing about blogdom through the prince himself, Adrian Warnock is an exciting thing.
For about 4 years I have been writing bits and pieces to my friends email (probably annoying some of them in the process by appearing to be another spam mailer). However recently, amongst other good things that have been happening to me since I joined Jubilee Church in London is knowing Adrian who introduces me into the world of blogs, and was kind enough to set it up for me on my computer.
So what do I say................its good to be part of this great thing and exciting too. And I beleive it will be a relieve to my friends who will not have to delete my mails to create space for the new one.