A true naijafrican

hey everyone, am so terribly sorry i have not been able to blog as often as i would have loved to. I mean no one told me it would be this.......whatever. Anyway am back again. am guessing you've been doing great in my absence?Of course, you have....cheers!


My mum sent me this as an email and i thought i should share it here.

You know you are a true naijafrican if.......

1. You unwrap all your gifts carefully, so that you can reuse the wrapper on another occasion.

2. You call a person you've never met before 'uncle...' or 'aunty....'

3.More than 90% of the music CD's and cassettes in your home are illegal copies. (You dubbed it from your neigbour or recorded it when it was shown on TV)

4. Your garage is always full of stuff because you never throw anything away, just in case you need it someday.(a gum boot without a partner and the babywalker - baby's now 12 and you are 48)

5. You have a collection of miniature shampoo bottles from your stay at hotels. (Go cool, Sweet heart, African pride....)

6. You have almost always carried overweight baggage when traveling by plane (You claim its because...'you never know'

7. If a store has a limit on the quantity of a product, then each member of the family will join separate queues to purchase the maximam quantity possible. (sugar,soap, rice, cooking fat etc etc during the old good days)

8. Children have annoying nicknames (De- Boy, De-Girl, Bomboy, Aboy,Mummy...)

9. Nobody in your family informs ahead of the time, you that they are coming over for a visit. (Uncle, wife, sis-in-law, two nephews and a neighbor have camped at your home)

10. You stuff your pockets with, mints and toothpicks at restaurants. (Murray mints, wrappers, and salt shakers!)

11. Your mother has a minor disagreement with her sister and does not talk to her for 10 years.

12. You only make telephone calls at a cheaper rate at night (especially flashers).

13. You never have less than 20 people to meet you at the airport or see you off even if it is a local flight.

14. You keep changing your Internet Service Provider because the first month subscription is free. (I know some people oh!.....)

15. Office supplies mysteriously find their way to your home.(Yes, staple machine, office pins, punchmachine,cellotapes, post-its,etc. )

16. When you were young, your parents would buy you clothes and shoes at least two sizes too big so that they would last longer.

The truth is i think my mum could really identify with No.4 and me, i can identify with one or two...or three...or four....gosh! Well let me know which ones you really 'feel'.

Have a great weekend.

The cat in the bag

'..Let the cat out of the bag before it turns into a lion.."

i heard a woman say this a couple of days ago on the Tyra Banks show and i ended up turning and twisting and pondering these words almost my whole day through.I remember growing up as a little girl under the disciplinary hands of my parents (thank God!) and the one thing my father would always remind us of was that there was a whole lot more trouble in store for us if we lied than if we told the truth.

There was no peace for lieing and the freedom you think it brings is virtual and only lasts for fleeting moment. I remember him saying once that he would be ready to defend any of his kids for whatever crime we commit if we'd tell him truth of what happened.But you know kids would always be kids and even though i heard all those sermons, sometimes it just seemed like that moment of freedom bought by lies was worth more than being scolded after telling the truth.Thinking about it,i came up with different reasons why people lie...

1.to cover up the truth (obviously the basic reason)
2.to protect themselves from being hurt 9or so they think)
3.to protect others from being hurt
4.to cover shame and avoid disgrace (what about in the long run)
5.to avoid being looked down upon or being rejected

am sure you can come up with so many other reasons in addition to those.
The truth of the matter is that no matter how wonderful and well thought of or properly concealed that lie is, the truth would always find a way out, it might be from that tiny hole in the wall, but it'll eventually rise to the surface.i heard something about a man who didn't know until he was about 60yrs or so that the woman he thought was his sister was actually his mother and the woman he always called mother was actually his grandmother (what!!).
By the time he found out, both mother and grandmother were dead already.so even though the originators were long gone, the truth never died.
Back to the cat and lion thing, lies can only work effectively as they are duplicated and multiply but then, the harder you try to create more lies to cover the one that "begat" that one, the more complicated it becomes and the more entangled you remain in the web..............to be continued

The battle

I was thinking today (thats about one of my favourite past times) and these words just came up....i put them down. I just thought i'd put it down here too.


its a battle..... or is it?
its a war, a strong contentention
where the opinion of the contended is hardly an issue
it is tossed from one end to the other
each one wanting to be the master,ruler,king and lord

am contemplating,
"is that such a bad thing to do?"
"who would know anyway?"
"no one is harmed, so whats the big deal?"

i know the answer to those questions yet i try to deny it within,
one contender is glad, things are working the way he wants them
he is in control, he muses

am roused by the awakening of the stronger of the two contender
rising within
questioning my actions, pondering
"...he is faithful and just to forgive..."
my knees give way and tears flow freely

in that moment the feeling of peace drives all uncertainty
am back where i belong, sweet peace comforting my soul

confidence springs up again and with it the guard are let down once more
the devouring contender creeps and guilt sets in

these knees subjected once again to the usual posture, tears flow again
and peace is renewed

its a cycle am tired of, the up and down times
i cant stand no more
i want to break free forever!!

My Sister

She needed to get a new hair do and a manicure too,
suddenly her old shoes are not good enough and she must get new ones,
new shirts, may a blazer or two, skirt suits or trousers,
a new wallet.....anything new would do.



My sister resumed work today and i could just feel the excitement all around her as she walked around to ensure everything was in the right order; the make up, the clothes, the everything.



She wants to make a good impression, she even wants to be the employee of the year at the end of the financial year...She'd make new friends, impress her boss, everyone would love her.She is armed with dreams in one hand and aspirations in the other as she finally begins her journey into the corporate world (she'd done so many tests and interviews in the past 6 months after NYSC, i suggested she wrote a book on job interviews)


She could hardly sleep the night before...ironed her clothes till they came alive, polished her new shoes(again) , everything even her undies all had an inkling of the fact that something new was happening.
Am happy for my sister and so is every other member of the family and am hoping and praying in my heart that in the months that will follow, she will have neither regrets nor rueful feelings

My sister, this piece is dedicated to you and to you alone (my first dedication). I hope you enjoy your new place and make the best out of it because i believe it is going to be a stepping stone to greater things that lie ahead; and of course now that you'd be earning some cash, am really happy to be at the receiving end.