Coke: Proudly Nigeria

At times, i wonder for how much we've all sold our sensibilities for, that some white man or his copycat protege would think they are worth less than a penny. Imagine, the new Coca Cola billboard ad that "proudly" tells us that a canned Coke is "Now proudly Produced in Nigeria"! Okay! Lets say we have to flaunt it when we've got it, but what's the idea behind celebrating a soft drink that was already being put in cans by 1955, some 58 years before now. So we are now catching up, abi? Please Nigeria Bottling Company, stop offending my senses by either removing this "proudly" something (dont really mind the celebrating because they are guzzling can Coke)or getting this billboard off my Junction...abeg!. At least i wont have to be confronted by it every minute. Once again, na beg i dey beg.

That i live...Pt 1

Confined in a metal egg
At a masters call
Life tastes of brine and rusted metal..
Then the bitterness of squashed hopes
This anvil pleads for respite
From this scorching comfort
As all fliuds inside of me remain in flux
Can i go home now,
Suga, can i come home?

Wetin dey happen?

For the while i decided to stay off the blogosphere, its been like walking feeling lonely in a crowded room. I'm glad to be back, though not fully, but back anyway..at least in my mind.

So i will start with my favourite topic. "Polls, Politics, Politricks and Politicians" . You will all have to forgive, maybe next time i will blog about something less boring...

Now this is my post for the moment ; "Wetin be our president agenda sef?"..Anti corruption, fixing infrastructure, eco-management...etc. I dey ask because i no actaully dey see wetin dey happen. I know, forget about the seven point blah blah... you neva ask yoursef this question? Till i come around again. Ciao.

Matchday Zero

Matchday Zero. Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0. Hmm, whooping Chelsea's A**. Exhiriating.

Ondo Dog eating

Hmm, interesting times are coming.I am facing the dilenma of how to view the unfolding events in Ondo State. Whether wrong or right, considering that the issue at stake is an inherent illegality, at least by name. Just heard on BBC's Focus on Africa programme that 11 PDP members were abducted in a meeting. The abductors ( i prefer that to kidnappers) were requesting payment for helping the PDP out rig the other parties, notably the Labour Party in last April polls.Well, i dont and wont sanction illegality, but when illegality begets illegality and both of them cancel each other out, what do you say?

The point is this actually. Kidnappers, abductors, criminals, whatever we call them should let us ordinary folks be and face those who sent them in the first place, in a classic case of dog eat dog... (unless, of course the Labour Party is stage managing this).

So now the dogs are barking at or better still eating the dogs.And if THIS is happening , it cant be wrong, or can it? The chickens will definitely come home to roost.

Port Harcourt : A State of Emergency

I was already late. So after waiting a while for a taxi and seeing none, I "climbed" on an Okada to the park where I was to join a bus to Owerri. But I couldn’t make it to the park. A series of sporadic and close-sounding gunshots make sure of that! Preferring not to be the subject of a tragedy, i quickly scanned the surroundings for a concrete post or wall. Not finding any, i hugged the murky ground at my feet and with this action went my precious white shirt and my traveling to Owerri that morning. Everything happened in a split second; in emergency mode.

That’s the nature of living in Port Harcourt these days. You can encounter danger in the next minute and equally lose you life if your chi is not awake. The city is now a state (city) of emergency. Though everyone still pretends it’s not. But when I think of it now, I ask myself, when has the city not been tethering on the brink of strife since I grew conscious enough to make my choices. Back then it used to be one of the numerous inter-ethnic conflicts: Andoni –Ogoni, Ijaw – Okirika, Ogoni –Andoni etc.

It’s only enjoying attention because it now involves the kidnapping of expatriates and the direct threatening of governance. When it happened only at the “watersides” – the slums, nobody paid any attention or when attention was paid, it was out of political expediency. Now all those who killed and maimed in the name of ethnic conflict has drank the concoction of penury, vengeance, criminality and of course, courage. They are attacking the larger community. Its just an example of what happens when politics is played with just about everything, from checking religious fanatism to tackling poverty. Peace takes a walk when this happens, and unfortunately with it my precious white shirt. But I am too glad it was only my shirt.

HIV TESTS IN COVENANT UNIVERSITY: THE BURDEN OF JUDGESHIP

HIV TESTS IN COVENANT UNIVERSITY: THE BURDEN OF JUDGESHIP

I’ve been off the blogging circuit for a while and though I’ve been itching to lend my voice to issues, somehow, I’ve been cocooned off by constraints. But when this issue of subjecting would be graduands of Covenant University to compulsory HIV screening before the award of degrees to them came up, it also drove up a couple of latent questions from the depths of my mind.

Not to bore you much, I helped myself to the answer to one of the questions that plagued my mind. It’s about Character. What’s Character? The dictionary says that character is “all the qualities and features that makes a person, a group or a place different from others”. Character is the reason Covenant University is doing what it’s doing. We all know that an awardee has to be found “worthy” in “learning and character” before a degree is awarded him. But that is where my dilemma steps in. What constitutes Character? …all the qualities? Tallness, Thinness, HIV status? What? So my questions began.

Does the health status of anyone contribute to character when viewed in the light of the education environment? If a person is dying, and insists on acquiring formal education, does anybody have the right to deprive them of such? Where the persons health status (You might want to read “HIV status”) does not affect their physical, mental and emotional strengths, does that state of health merit being used as a tool as against such individuals in their pursuit of academic glory?

Who has the absolute right to condemn someone by such standards and thus deprive the person? The Chancellor, Registrar, Senate….? Who? Does it mean that if somebody makes straight As or a First Class, the person would not be given a certificate, just because of their HIV status? Please.

Probably, the University authorities believe that whosoever got the virus had it as a result of the sexual promiscuity while forgetting there are tens of ways through which the virus can be contracted. I ask again, within whose purview does the right to administer spiritual cleansing fall? Chancellor Oyedepo or God through Christ (when you sincerely seek His face). So whats the news that they would not be allowed to graduate except they undergo spiritual cleansing about? To me it sounds like info straight out of Gulu, Uganda (apologies to the people of Gulu ).Christ! Even Christ didn’t discriminate!

A persons HIV status does not stop them from contributing positively to society. Rather by depriving someone who has studied for 4 years of their right to a certificate, you would be encouraging them to become bitter and vengeful. They might even want to spread the virus around in order to spite the earth that treated them badly.

A judge, administrator or someone with the responsibility to make decisions that drastically affect peoples lives has to look at the bigger picture, and in an instance where such a person is a minister, he has to be careful not to sin and be seen to sin! Deprivation of civil liberties under whatever guise is a very sensitive issue especially when such deprivation inspires one to criminality and hate. In more radical societies, The Covenant University authorities could easily be in trouble.

I implore them to show the students all the Love they can and stop this issue about HIV screening before graduation. I wonder what it’s meant to achieve, anyway, because the positive still moves into the wider society, screening or no screening. It’s Ok to screen before you admit, though. That in my opinion can help save the lives of the other students. Somehow.

Mr. Nathaniel (I think that’s his name) the Registrar was on TV last night dousing the flames of this controversial issue, but Sir, am sorry to say this. You did not convince me of the rightness of your cause. And oh, for the denials, there is surely no smoke without fire! My constraints are still here, so I will rest my case for now.

Till sometime soon!

Due to some unavoidable circumstances, i'll have to curb what i really love doing-blogging.But i just have to go away for a couple of weeks....and will soon be back as i'm midway into my "unavoidable circumstances". Even when you visit and didn't find a new post, be rest assured i've been reading yours...My dear brothers and sisters, may your toes never break from kicking a**es.Its your duty to speak out. And oh!, may you never tire to commend too.Till sometime soon.

New Nigerian Anthem

Claws from the Past

Bring it!
What?
We right here
We're not goin anywhere
We right here
This is ours and we don't share
We right here
Bring your crew cuz we don't care
We right here
Uh, uh, uh..

Chorus of Rapstar DMX's song "We right Here".

For sometime now, i've not been frequent on Blogland. I'd say why next time. But i couln't resist sharing the new PDP anthem with us.This is most intended for those who are seeing a new dawn where there is actually none.Its still the reign of the leeches. Doubt it? Read your lecture notes on LEG 101 (Course Title : Politics of (s)election in the 6th Nigerian Senate) .....Obviously,
the leprous claws from the dark not too distant past still pulls the strings. GOD HELP US!

Dear Brother!

My dear Brother,

Thanks for the concern. I’m OK now. It’s healthy to be in shock once in a while (there should be a study that affirms that). Just as you insinuated the last time, the deed has been done. The battle lost and maybe the trenches already silting up. Musa Yar’adua has “coasted home to a resounding victory”. By now you must have heard he won with over 60% of the total votes “cast”. The glasses are clinking and you can be sure the growth of pot bellies will witness another astronomical increase. The Nigeria Decides and Elections 2007 reporters are already going back to their routine. I can see them chatting away in excitement. It’s been a unique weekend. The day “we” will hand over to another civilian regime is getting nearer. INEC offices across the land are been swept. Eagle Square too. Life has continued. Though the frame has changed; the picture has refused to be replaced.

Electricity was just restored a few minutes ago and I caught the President on TV congratulating Nigerians for a job well done. We didn’t do no job! We are about to do that by embarking on good old siddon look. I wont have you sitting there thinking I did such a bad job. Jolly good Baba knows who did the job. He said aggrieved politicians should head for the tribunals…but I was waiting to hear where the families of the victims of this election would head to. Well, I don’t really believe the courts would change much. Of course, they wouldn’t want to truncate Nigerian “fledging” democracy (Nobody is using “nascent” now).They would rule in the all-conquering national interest. You know, National Interest is the fluid with which we swallow our bitter pills. The ones the kleptocrats and charlatans gave us.

Last time, we were asked to defend our votes. But we did not vote, so what are we going to defend? It wasn’t our fault Bro, it really wasn’t. The INEC people never came to our area and in places were they came, they came without result sheets. So we really don’t have much to defend, see? Besides they are asking us to defend, defend, defend… but nobody wants to say how the defence would be. I guess nobody fancies a visit from the guys in black, especially now ( in their season of anger).Remember, their colleagues are been targeted everywhere. So, we can only run to the law.Yea, law –abiding citizens. You know we love the law so much. Baba even said we should put our hope in the law. I think the yoke on the law is going to be great in the coming days. We are already praying the load doesn’t give it a K-leg as our Baba is wont to say.

Bro, have you ever voted digitally? Nigerians did in the last elections. It was so exciting. The whole process was “digitally ours” in fact. That EDC and EVC machine was da bomb. With it, 500 registered voters can actually multiply to 10000 when the results are announced. That Iwu surely rocks! Such genius. I heard he’s been held from returning home by handshakes. If you can reach him,…I don’t know….but I heard he recently changed some of his telephone numbers…tell him that one day we would meet him on the other side of the river. We want to congratulate him too. And yes, tell him not to forget to come with his helmet. They say rocks like people who rock. Am not sure, but in case it rocks, the helmet would come in handy. I don’t know how you can reach him now, but if you get the number and a machine picks, start saying you are an Observer from Haiti and that you want to commend……I think he will pick then.

I also heard the results are already out in France. Hah, that Royale woman..Senegalese born Sengolene.... In fact, that Socialist woman tried.They said she came second and is already gathering poll points in the days to the second round..Thats well. She’s already great. For our women here, the prospects are still dim. Of course, unless you are the wife of an Ekaette, Danjuma, Kure, Ali or a girlfriend to any of these names. Screen idols are getting a mention too. Maybe I’ll ask my daughter to be a newscaster. I love them.

We almost saw Iraq here the other day. Someone tried to ram a petrol laden tanker into the Electoral umpire’s office at Abuja but a NEPA pole did us one good this time. It stopped the truck. Maybe we should import these poles for use as accident preventers on our accident-prone highways. I know firm that manufactures that, yea, close to the one that printed our ballot papers. But don’t be excited o.There wasn’t anybody in that truck. I think the plotter or driver or… whoever wasn’t sure his suicide pill wasn’t the adulterated one, so he got faint hearted and put a stone in his stead. Talc, calcium, valium,…the guy wasn’t just sure. I think the NAFDAC woman should look into that aspect of fakery since the elections are now over. Anyway, at least we have an innovation in the country. Rocks now drive trucks. If it’s in Nigeria, its possible; everybody and everything rocks.

Some people are saying other people should take to the streets in protest. Tomorrow, I will be walking the streets. I still don't have that job yet. So I will be knocking on yet some more gates.Yesterday was May Day and we didnt get any may day calls.No protest.Who wan die? The Protest from our stomachs won't allow us to move into the streets.

Ahhh…there it goes again. Another power cut. That will force me to stop here as it is already dark. I will write you some other time, but before I stop I want you to think about this quote; its taken from The Sunday Sun of 22nd April 2007.Its from Ojo Maduekwe PDP’s Scribe to Prince Soyebi , INEC’s REC in Abia State where the PDP lost the gubernatorial election. Hear, “We offered him everything and you said you are born again”.

Soyebi was beaten up by political thugs at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Intl Airport. Guess who launch the first slap.? Onyema Ugochukwu, the defeated PDP candidate in the state.And he wants to be a governor? God Forbid times three.What more can a country stand. Bro, i will write you next time jooo

Take care.

Your Brother.

Atakata Eloo

Election Day Diary

Sometime between 2am and 3am

I woke up to the sound of assorted munitions going off and Akon’s Smack That. Some 2 hours ago, as sleep wooed my eyelids, my mind had been at war with my head over the turning off of the Tuface-E-be-like-say playing radio. Sleep eventually settled that by letting my head win. But since they belong to the same party-Sleep and Brain (it was obviously rigged).Now my mind has woken up to claim its victory, but the radio station wasn’t playing Tuface again. Are there any sound of gunshots in Akon’s Smack That? I’m not sure, but the sound of exploding dynamites made sure my mind doesn’t dwell on Akon. Sleep scampered into the closet and boom-boom-boom took charge. I smile. Election Day is here.

7am – 9am

After gathering some “intelligence” from chat groups around, I decided to make the trip down the road to the razed Elelenwo Police Station, (Yea, I know it might be dangerous with all the tension in the air but……instinct and curiosity aint a very rational couple, are they?) I won’t bore anybody with what I saw---you must have seen it anyway--- but it was a horrible and sorry site. It was undeserved despite the polar nature of the Police as regards the elections, I thought. Well, Charcoal merchants have found a goldmine.

Noon – 2pm

“Dem go still announce am, wheda una vote or not” That clincher greeted me as I arrived Polling Unit 08.It came from a PDP party agent. There was an argument between …everybody. Voters had insisted there wasn’t going to be any voting unless they see the result sheet, the one they call INEC Form EC…..Ah, I just lost that now. Doesn’t matter anyway. I had decided to embark on an observer or observing mission since there wasn’t any activity in the polling unit where I registered, so I came down here. Voting finally commenced after assurances from the INEC official that the result sheets would be there before the close of voting. I observed that there were posters of the ANPP candidate everywhere, even next to the “polling center” banner. Remember, I am an Observer. OK. This same wheda-una-vote guy was the first to cast his ballot. After thumb printing right there on the polling clerk’s table, he now turned and displayed his ballot for all to see. Na Wao! Well, Shebi na Open Secret system? Election a la Naija. I sighed and walked back to my polling unit.

2pm - 4pm

Back in my polling unit.Confusion everywhere.The Poll Clerks couldn’t find anybody name in the register. I had to point out the number of the polling unit on the register which wasn’t the number on our temporary voters card.After a few shows of ai-tee-keism from some ignorant party agents, the INEC officials decides I make sense.Pronto.New Register.Voting commences.Of course, I was the first, after all no be me resolve de problem?. Enough activity for the day. On my way home I discovered that voting has already ended in Polling Unit 08.Guess what? The results weren’t announced and the heavens didn’t drop. Same old story. I jejelly continued my journey home.

AFTER ALL THAT….

INEC still “fcuks up” everything. Definition of fcuks up? OK. Annnouncing results in and for places where there were no elections. Declaring winners when the REC is still collating the results. Activity as another PDP….there are plenty others. I am here brooding. Thinking of how I spent the election day and what will happen now.No protests. Nothing. I think about what the late Bola Ige said….hmm, siddon look. Should I do that. I guess I will. I’ve got no choice.

E be like say
Dem don tell us that story again oo .....


VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS

These things occur everyday in Iraq, don’t they? My heart goes out to the victims though.


SUPREME COURT RULING ON ATIKU

Once again these guys showed that they are our last hope, if there is any. I wonder what my erstwhile legal icon (Gani) would do now.

Oluwatoyin: Horror made in Gombe!

On an otherwise exciting morning last week i woke up to the heartbreaking news oof the gruesome murder of Oluwatoyin Olusesan, a teacher in the Northern State of Gombe.Two days ago, an incident (the abduction of the ANPP gubernatorial candidate and former governor, Abubakar Hashidu from a courtroom) that had made national headlines occured in that same state.So listening to Rhythm FM that morning i was like "laid-back Gombe in the news again?Twice this week?"

But my talk isn't about the politicians and how they fool around.It's about Toyin.Poor Toyin.It could have been me and my friends.It could have been anybody. I grieved because i had served in Gombe during my NYSC year.And it was in a town that had an eeringly similar name to the one in which Toyin had been murdered in; another Government Day Secondary School.I became friends with so many of the townsfolk.I thought then, real friends.But now am not so sure again. I remembered the days when rocks will be raining down our roof in the night like we were in hailstorm season.I remembered the unspoken threats. And each time i thought about these, my heart sank further into my bowels. It could have happened to a colleague who the students virtually saw as an opponent because of her forcefulness and strictness.Of course, that was manifested in the frequency of her whipping sessions.The threat was given human form when some students verbally threatened to stone her.But it never happened because i got the Sarki to talk to the students.But it finally happened to Toyin. Its a shame that i now have a doubt about my relationship with my former students; Abu, Umaru, Haruna..Its a shame that feeds on fear.A fear that i will keep on fighting for some time to come ( honestly).Well, in case you've not heard, this is the story of Toyin's death ( culled from the Punch of Thursday March 22,2007).

"Muslim pupils at a secondary school in Gandu, Gombe state, beat a teacher to death after accusing her of desecrating the Koran. According to agency reports, the teacher, Oluwatoyin Olusesan, a Christian, was invigilating an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam at the Government Day Secondary School, Gandu when the incident occurred. The students attacked her outside the school compound after the exam and killed her. They also burnt some of the school blocks in the process.
The Vice Principal, Hajiya Hadiza Gombe said the teacher, who was employed on contract was assigned to invigilate the SS1 pupils who were writing their Islamic Religious Knowledge exams. She added that the teacher suspected that a foul play was about to take place when one of the students wanted to come in with his books to the exam hall. Gombe said when the teacher collected the books and threw them outside, unknown to her, there was a copy of the Holy Quoran among the books. The principal said before they knew what was happening, the students had started chanting Allahu Akbar (God is Great). All efforts to control the rampaging students proved abortive even when the school principal, Mohammed Sadiq, tried to protect the teacher in his office. The principal was also terribly beaten and injured while they set the teacher's car, three classes, the school's clinic, administrative block and library on fire..."


I kept asking myself; where are we heading to when students who are probably not older than 25 years start committing murder without qualms (no matter the guise under which it was done)?.It is a problem that is much bigger than the threat of Maurice Iwu and his INEC.It involves the loss of lives in the instant and the breeding of future Talibans in our midst.It also represents our failure as in nation in the area of religious harmony even after more than 40 years of pushy-jerky existence.Its an indictment of our so called leaders who stir up religious sentiments in order to score cheap political points.It ought to shame the overseers of that warped socialiization process:the Imams, Sarkis, Emirs and governors and of course the Parents.It ought to shame us all that this is happening in our country in this age of Carbon footprints and Nanotechnology.Some of us are still throwing stones when we should be showing love.Shame.

The Story of Your Life

The Story Of Your Life


What you are about to read is neither a song
Nor the musings of a madman all day long
You might want to call it a poem
Or use it to clear your throat of phlegm
Your sighs say they are the rantings of a drunkard
Maybe the confused chants of a retard
Aware of these; i will continue to write
And like drowsy ants to sugar, loony coots i invite

These words i want to be; like probes
Prying into your phyches, itchings in your celebral lobes
No, this is not an exercise in braggadocio
Nor the vain blabbings of an act of fellatio
It can rehabilitate your warped thought processes
Or send you down hell's inner recesses
What you make of it i dont care
' cos it about to expose- your secrets laid bare
Yes! desperation rattles your heart; you are going extinct
The message you see is now becoming distinct
Ding-dong-ding time as you know it flies
Like a bird of prey, it feeds on your lies
Is this poetry? Your terrified soul ask
The answer you want comes; a lazy man's task
Still here it comes, the genesis of your story
That of a twisted life steeped in allegory
Your phobia for this turns into an allergy
But it must be told to heal you of this lethargy
I'll rather let your mouth spurn it
This is the story of your life, tell it bit by bit.

c Endi
Port Harcourt
Nigeria.


D: To all those who had done something "real weird" in their lives.C'mon, tell it and sell it!

Chasing Chickens!

Nigerians from diverse walks of life have hailed the judiciary over the Court of Appeal judgment which affirmed Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the vice president of Nigeria ( plenty Nigerians in fact).I wish i can pass this advice to Baba.It will do more good letting the VP be, than chasing him around.There is this Igbo proverb that goes " O chu nwa okuko nwe ada" translated "He who chases the chicken will always be the one to kiss the dust". But there's one thing about this proverb, it silently connotes that they that chase chickens will unwittingly expose themselves to public ridicule, just because of a mere "chicken". There are so many ways to catch a chicken than chasing it.(For example, you can put a pin in a morsel of food it's going to eat and....you know the rest.)Sorry, animal lovers.You can also sprinkle grains of corn or rice.

We all know the corruption allegations are politically motivated though they might be true, but why not let the electorate decide if they want a "corrupt" president.The President might be creating a Hero out of a chicken! No matter how absurd it sounds, that just the beauty of democracy! I would have discussed this further but my head is clogged right now.Maybe when am cleared..

No Val Day!

Since i wasnt going to celebrate that day called Valentine, i decided to distract myself with some love jokes...maybe that would put me in a good mood in preparation for the hectic days ahead when i will still have to be in the Lab by 6 pm , running PT's on 16 to 18 year olds who are scared of getting themselves pregnant after the romping on Valentine's Day...Its never been my day anyways,it's always been Val's Day.Val is my womanising neigbour.So, here are some jokes i found.Some are quite bland though...


"Her husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months yet she stayed by his bedside every single day. When he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him, he said, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business fell, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you gave me support. When my health started failing, you were still by my side. When I think about it now. ....I think you bring me bad luck!"

"A woman rushed home from work and exclaimed to her husband, "Pack your bags, I've won the lottery!"
The husband excitedly asks, "Should I pack clothes for cold or warm weather?"
She says, "Pack'em all, you're leaving!


"Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish".


"Every man wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook. But the law allows only one wife."


"One woman's hobby is another woman's hubby".


"Many a man owes his success to his first wife and his second wife to his success".


"I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste".


A man is incomplete until he is married. After that, he is finished.


I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house..


"Marriage is when a man and woman become as one; the trouble starts when they try to decide which one".


"Marriages are made in heaven. But so again, are thunder and lightning".


"If you want your wife to listen and pay strict attention to every word you say, talk in your sleep".

Living, Loving with a Clear Head

I celebrated one year of living (and "loving") with a clear head yesterday.Yea, i know...you've been in thing and you've been clear headed since you were two.But me? I just learnt that not all seven of them who profess Love and say, " Master, Master, just say you love us and we will never scatter you heart" end up staying with you 48 hours after bedlam. I thought i knew it all before.Well, now i know, i wasn't halfway there and probably will never know it all with these feminine creatures.And Hey!, am better off for it!.But the anniversary reminds me anyway, that women will always be women. You are itching to hear the tale, keep itching...'till i get a proper replacement.Then i will spin the tale..

Tochi's Death and MEND

My mind could'nt help reverting to the last Friday hanging of of 21 year old Iwuchukwu Amara Tochi as i watched the Shell Cup finals on TV.My day had been depressing and i needed some cheering up.So when the match came, i was glad.At least it was football.I was turned on the more by the "fact" that the lads actually looked young.Well, it was good match ( between Govt College, Kano and Asegun Comp.Ibadan), so i sat back and watched.

But somehow that same match further kept reminding me of what a Tochi at 18 had been looking for in Singapore.Where to play his football. If only Tochi had an oppurtunity to compete in a Youth tournament such as this, probably he would have gotten a club here.The "ifs" in my mind were legion. I thought...but who would actually want to stay here when you can have a better oppurtunity at life elsewhere.This is the trajedy of our country.The death of people and dreams.

If only our Government had realised that the news of Tochi's hanging would do more damage than 6 months of ajalatravelling on the Heart of Africa image making project would have done, probably they would have pleaded on his behalf on time.If only we had more purposeful leadership, jobs, housing, food, fuel, education, medicare and oppurtunities, probably Tochi wouldnt have gone to Singapore.

My friend, an automobile spray painter travelled to Malaysia, a Singapore-like country about 2 years ago to seek greener pastures.Jobs werent coming because so many could afford to repaint their cars and he had expectations to meet from 367 degrees around him. So he took the plunge. Since then i've met only one person who had spoken to him since he travelled.I hope his case wont be like Tochi's.I fear for him. May Tochi's soul rest in peace. I hope i wont have to repeat this prayer for my friend. I guess that was the cause of the depressing feeling as i lay supine last Sunday.

MEND AND THE REST OF US

While the match was on, downtown Port Harcourt was held hostage by militants of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). An eyewitness confirmed that the youngest of these armed-to-the-bone combatants couldnt have been more than 22 years old. But despite the restraints of age, these guys were able to sack the Central Police Station and the Nigerian Prisons, throwing the jails open and setting case files on fire.It is regretable.But this what eventually happens when senile old men sit and dine in peppersoup parlours and the youths are neglected.This guys didnt run away like Tochi.They stayed to fight.Though criminals, they have a cause and the earlier we and the Government start to see Justice in their agitations, the better for all of us.

Global Weirding!

I felt so uncomfortable last night because the heat was unbearable.NEPA or PHCN didnt help issues.The generator had a deserved break due to the astronomically-increased fuel price.Worse still, the humidity was stiffling.So, i was lost as to what to do. And when i'm lost, that's when my mind visits Lalaaland. I started wondering while rolling on the floor(after having migrated to an area without a carpet) when all this will end.Somehow, (though i wasnt sure if i wasnt dreaming) i found myself wondering...What would happen if the Artic Ice Shelf get to melt and Europe becomes as hot as Damaturu and the desert starts encroaching on Port Harcourt and the whole of Victoria Island and Lekki is flooded perenially and there are Tsunami's off the coast of Bonny in Rivers State and... and i cant put on a shirt anymore...would it still be as as a result of global warming? So while checking my email today, i decided to do a little research and i found an interesting name for it in "Double Tongued Dictionary".I think it fits perfectly but it scares the hell out of me! They called it Global Weirding.


global weirding n. An increase in severe or unusual environmental activity often attributed to global warming. Related: ecotistical, sheerblading.

Perfect, isnt it?

A Nigerian King and Jesus..

After his sentencing (to death) by a Lagos High Court on Thursday, January 11th, Chukwuemeka Ezeugo aka The Most Holiness Reverend Doctor King proclaimed thus; "I am not afraid to die.It is a privilege and honour for me to die by hanging.I am following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. After all, he died on the Cross by hanging".

By the man comparing his drooling mouth to Christ and ascribing "death by hanging" to Christ, he shoots up straight to the No 1 position on my list of blaspheming religious people in Nigeria. His points were not even helped by the hanging today of Barzan al-Tikriti ( whose head was decapitated by the hangmans' nooze)and the previous hanging of Saddam Hussein. Does the Bible say that Christ was 'Hanged on a Cross'?

It's a shame to think that sane people would actually be caught in this man's web of deceit.Now ,come to think of it, most of the members were even graduates of tertiary institutions.Hypnotism?. This Owner of the Christain Praying Assembly kept sex slaves who served him stark naked and warms his bed when his libido demands that. One of such slaves confessed that she aborted three of his babies on his instructions.Its also known that a cough while service is on attracts a fine of N25000, and that folks were not allowed to use the restroom.You can actually pooh and peeh on your seat! Other details are equally sickening.


Issues came to a climax when on July 22, 2006 he sprayed petrol on six of his members and set them on fire. He had accused one of his sex slaves of unfaithfulness and the six set aflame were those who knew of the infidelity and kept mute.He was sentenced to death by hanging and 100 years for a 5 count charge of attempted murder.

The question remains.How gullibe can the average Nigerian be and how much deceit can we take from religious people?.

BERTI VOGTS...

Welcome.Your records with Scotland wasnt good...But welcome anyway!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

To Martin Luther King Jr...(a different kind of King).Happy Birthday posthumously.

And then darkness...

AND THEN DARKNESS...


'Twas a hushed tale
Of a commonwealth flowing home
We've gone to stake a claim
A search for light before dusk was due

On an empty stomach rumbling with greed
We came; with diverse vessels
Seeking a path through our poverty
A fare for a seasonal ritual

In the grassland; a carcassland
Of torn engines and the living dead
Our fate hung on a light
Around this tempting pool of darkness

Our eyes had sought the Rocks light
Hoping it will make us light
From the yolk of a penuric existence
It came though; with it a scorching comfort

And it came, a light came
Through nowhere, like a spirit
And it dawned on us
That dawn's come, then 'twas darkness again


Endi
Port Harcourt
January
2007

For those that lost their lives (and those that will lose their lives) in pipepline fires.

This Madness.....

May the souls of all those who perished in the pipeline fire disaster that occured in Lagos rest in peace.Once upon a time it happened in my Local Government Area and it's depressing the number of people i know that perished in the madness.What won't poverty turn the Nigerian into...if it has already created suicidal humans out of a once sane society.God save us!

The Constant Remains!

See? the Constant remains.

The constitution of Nigeria`s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been amended to pave the way for a possible emergence of President Olusegun Obasanjo as Chairman of the party`s Board of Trustees (BOT) after leaving office next year.

The enormous powers of the new BOT Chairman fortifies this Constant...so much for political dexterity!

Too much!

Some of my guys complain i blog about politics most of the time( perhaps a little too much), but can i really be blamed when about 70% of all news items are about politics? So today, i decided to drift off to Godknowswhere Street and just as i was about to share some story on an event that happened here over the weekend, i stumbled upon this quote and seems to steel my resolve to go on doing what i do.Its from Orwell.See.

"When there is a gap between one's real and one's
declared
aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted
idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink. In our age there is no such
thing as "keeping out of politics". All issues are political issues,
and
politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and
schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must
suffer".-George Orwell, writer (1903-1950)

This other quote i love too...

"To find a person who will love you for no reason, and to shower that
person
with reasons, that is the ultimate happiness". -Robert Brault, software
developer, writer (1938- )

And this too...

"Dreams are mostly what they are..dreams!Wisdom is knowing when to stop dreaming"
-Endi
Dreamer,Wannabee writer,philospher,banker, astronaut, geneticist, nuclear scientist..(1890- )

Merry Xmas folks!

Big Black Overfed Baby Elephant

The rules of elimination states that only a constant remains at the end of the day...Question; but what if there is already a constant before the elimination starts....? The constant remains...at worst by proxy...Big Black Overfed Baby Elephant is eliminating its aspirants.So what's going to be the ultimate outcome...a constant.Dont you ask me who the constant is.I no fit shout, abeg.
Before i forget...

The Gunners victory..sorry..draw was an elixir to folks here.Serious! Ahh..without Igwe and Toure? It was just sweet, though it would have been sweetest had it been a full win.

Back!

Hi folks,
I 've been off for a while.Thanks for still visiting even when there are no fresh posts.When to somewhere where the air is still clean, the birds still chirp, and butterflies still play games with you.I will give us the gist next week!

Atiku's Respite

Now that the courts have granted Atiku respite
from the corruption indictment(??),is the PDP going to lift the suspension placed on him.Though i like the guy's arrogance or is it doggedness( not that i like him oh), i believe he should have just declared the party platform he's going to run on instead of playing wait-and-see with Baba's party.They ain't gonna call him back.The handwritten on the wall is even getting faint, he ought to have seen it since.The earlier he draws the battle line, the better for him.Speculations are rife that he refused to declare the party he will running on, because he wouldnt want to be impeached for carpet-crossing,but i dont think impeachment is possible with the sentiments already harboured by the Northern Caucus in the National Assembly.Its a risk worth taking, where are is no pain, there are no gains....


Gunners

What is happening to Arsene's Arsenal.Yesterday it was Fulham 2 Arsenal 1. [Aside] Wenger,please sell Seyi Adebayor next transfer window.The guy is good for nothing..

See what they did to Gaddafi...

I've never liked the man.Though one of my elder brothers had always hailed him for standing up to the Uncle Sam since my days in Elementary school, i still disliked him.That was when i had no reason to.Now, his sponsoring of a handful of rebel groups across the continent and his treatment of "black" Africans only added to my arsenal of disgust. Why is this guy always "showing" himself? Why? Each time he comes to Jolly Good Country, he brings a multitude of gun-totting thugs with him, all in the name of security.Kano, Abuja, Kaduna, Everywhere.Does it mean that we cannot take care of him? Well, i guess we just rediscovered the meaning of the word "National Pride".He tried doing it this time... needless to say his ego was bruised.This is a BBC report on what the did to him.He even treatened to walk from the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport to Abuja city....cant you beat that?Now, Gaddafi, go home and sulk.....



Gaddafi in Nigeria airport drama
By Alex Last
BBC News, Lagos



Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been involved in a diplomatic incident as he arrived in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, for a summit.
Nigerian officials say Col Gaddafi was accompanied by more than 200 heavily armed Libyan bodyguards.
When security officers refused to allow them to keep their weapons, an argument ensued and Col Gaddafi stormed off.
Only when Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo intervened did the bodyguards agree to hand in their weapons.
Foreign ministers from Africa and Latin America have been preparing for the summit which gets under way on Thursday.
The size of Libya's delegation was not a problem, it seems, just the sheer amount of weapons and ammunition they carried.

So Nigerian security refused to let them proceed to the capital.
As arguments raged, the Libyan leader angrily set off on foot, intending to walk some 40km (25 miles) to the capital, before he was persuaded to return to the airport lounge.

Intervention

By sheer coincidence, President Obasanjo was passing through the airport at the same time.
He intervened in person and proposed that the weapons could be allowed through if they were registered first.
But the Nigerians say that was rejected and the Libyan delegation threatened to fly home.
Incensed, the Nigerians said that was fine with them and told the delegation that instead of the original compromise, they could now only carry eight pistols if they wanted to enter Nigeria, like any other diplomatic security detail.
They ordered that the rest of the weaponry had to be put back on the Libyan official jet.
After a stand-off lasting several hours, the Libyans backed down and finally made their way to Nigeria's capital.



Maybe, his female bodyguards couldn't just overpower the Nigerians this time...maybe..

Bush's Daughter, Mountain Race, Seal and Kanu

US agents 'fail Bush's daughter'.Wetin you talk?


One of the twin daughters of President George W Bush has had her handbag stolen in Argentina despite protection by US Secret Service agents.
Barbara Bush, 24, lost her mobile phone and credit cards in the incident in a restaurant in the capital, Buenos Aires - but she was not hurt.

She was dining with her twin sister Jenna at the time.

ABC News in the US says the theft went unnoticed by the heavy secret service force protecting the family. Now who says its only in Nigeria that such things are possible.I even wonder if our thieves can pull this one off.These Argentines must be too good....Bush's Dughters, CIA, hmmmm...i weak sha!

Congrats Seal...

Heidi Klum and Seal are parents once again. Klum gave birth Wednesday to Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel, who weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces, according to Seal's Web site, which did not say where the baby was born.


"He is healthy, beautiful and looks just like his mother," the posting read.

The couple, who were married last May, have a 1-year-old son, Henry Guenther Ademola Dashtu Samuel.

At least you are giving them Nigerian names, though its still a one-in-four thing!

Obudu Ranch Mountain Race and The Abuja Carnival

US$227,000 prize purse (enough kudis) awaits at Obudu Ranch Mountain Race

The second edition of the Obudu Ranch International Mountain Race in Cross River State, Nigeria, will take place on Saturday 25 November, when Jonathan Wyatt’s theory* that "African runners’ long flowing style is not naturally suited to running up and down hills” will be put to the test.

This weekend’s race, the richest in this multi-terrain discipline’s annual calendar, will see the world’s top mountain runners clash with several fast Africans for the valuable winner’s prize of US$50,000, a runner’s up prize of US$20,000, with third place taking $10,000. Prize values then drop in US$1000 intervals down to 8th place. There is the same prize structure for both men and women.


The race is the brainchild of the governor of Cross River State (Nigeria), His Excellency Donald Duke who is underwriting the cost of the event.The Obudu Ranch Resort Race is one of his flagship projects to attract tourists to this remote yet beautiful region of Nigeria close to the border with Cameroon. The Obudu Ranch sits on a mountain plateau at an altitude of 1600m where extensive new tourist accommodation has been built. Although there is a road from the base to the plateau which serves as the route of the mountain race, others not so keen on such exercise can travel from bottom to top by cable car - a state of the art Austrian construction completed last year - which provides spectacular views. A new swimming complex has been installed at the venue which, situated as it is in rural Nigeria, has to be seen to be believed.These two events aptly illustrates what progressive and dynamic thinking means.Kudos to the Donald Duke and El Rufai.Nigeria shall be well again.Na small small

Kanu and CAF player of the year nomination

My guy just score your goal this year.Maybe it will be yours next year, but this year i dont agree that you deserve it, patriotism aside.Let them give it to the Al Ahly guy...he's the best for the award.

Hamburgers et al

Hamburgers taste good

I have had quite a fair share of heartbreaks, but this one was encroaching on my sanity.Thank God i got back from the edge of the cliff after having a bite of those Hamburgers.The Gunners were really shooting from all noozles (??)all night!Never knew they tasted so goood.Welldone van Persie, Eboue and Baptista after that disappointing show against Newcastle, this was needed.More santana to your stomachs.

Between Culture and and Child Abuse

Prof. Oguhebe was yesterday sentenced to 5 years (3 years suspended) in prison for showing his children Pepper (literally).Where do we draw the line between culture and child abuse?Is he a victim of the American way of life or just an abusive father who got what he asked for? Got run now...somethings up...i will write more on this next time.

Heart o' Africa

The Vanguard Newspapers and Rhythm 93.7 Fm announced the results of their nationwide popularity poll today.A shortlist of six out of ten candidates from the previous polls, it was done primaryly to guage the pulse of the nation as regards who is gonna the most votes come Election day..I tell you, i was a bit suprised by the results.Who would have expected Mr Dictionary (sorry, sir) Pastor Chris Okotie to come first,followed by Mr Demolition (Nasir El Rufai), then Governors Orji Uzor Kalu, Sam Egwu, Peter Odili and Donald Duke. I was pleased that at least none of them was a retired military officer.We need a breather from the era of Jackboots and kai for Life's Sake.Not that these ones are perfect, but at least.....We can expect a new approach to curing this heart of arrhythmia before it goes down to stroke.All forbid !, as my little cousin would say.

Hint Of the Day

My guy dey there among the shortlisted, i think he's correct enough.Now dont you go asking me who he is!
My Quote of The Day

One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

The death of Outrage

I just read an article in yesterday's Sun.Its entitled "The Death of Outrage". i dont know if its deliberate,but the news of Dariye's so called impeachment came three stories down when the headlines were being read on NTA.Maybe it was deliberate in order to remove the shock factor, maybe its a symptom of a deeper malaise.."the death of outrage".Most times in the evenings i discuss politics, football, current happenings and other stuff guys talk about with my Uncles and friends.But i noticed a peculiar thing happenning today.Though we all watched the news last night (its a ritual), nobody really cared to talk about what transpired in Plateau State yesterday(6/30 ? = whole number).It was like i was sapped of all strenght myself. What is happennig to Nigerians?Abi we don dey grow thick skin for this one too?.

Its quite like we've grown thick skin to hunger, unemployment, incessant fuel price increases, epileptic education system, unfulfilled promises by our politicians etc.Now, are we now senile even to the rape of our laws.We rather not be, because only our laws can keep us from falling into the abyss of anarchy.Before you get it all wrong, i cant support corruption. Ewoo Tufiakwa!.But this is more like mob action.People shouting "we no go gree".An Igbo proverb says "The hen is not cawing that what is holding her should leave her, she is, because she wants the world to hear her voice before she gets killed".Let us continue to talk, even when we are helpless, its the only tool we have.We have no where to go to.If we let our outrage die and those that has held us hostage get to know this, then we are doomed.
I fear for this land.I fear!

Classical Turncoatism

Saw some funny quotes...See! See!!

Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?
Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938)

If at first you don't succeed, find out if the loser gets anything.
Bill Lyon

Rogues are preferable to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
Alexandre Dumas (1802 - 1870

Take everything you like seriously, except yourselves.
Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do.
Dylan Thomas (1914 - 1953), in Constantine Fitzgibbon, Life of Dylan Thomas (1965

Classical Turncoatism

Mrs Virgy Etiaba, erstwhile Deputy Governor of Anambra State was on National TV last night saying "The governor is my boss and he remains my boss," .Please can anybody tell me what happened between dusk yesterday and dawn today.In case you dont know, she's been sworn in as the First Female Governor in the History of the Country.Is it a victory for women liberation?...(thru' the back door) or a case of dog eat dog.Classical Turncoatism! Ignore the grammar...

The Rail Project : Issues Arising

Nigeria yesterday signed an $8 billion contract with CCECC, a Chinese firm to " design, construct and maintain " a new rail system in the country.I have some questions though.Is this not the same company that was contracted to do the same job(maybe under the name "revitalise") under Abacha( ???Abdulsalami???).Was this company contracted because their country granted Nigeria a $2.5 billion loan most of which will go into the rail project anyway?. Is this not going to be another white elephant project? Why did the current administration wait this long (till its about leaving power) to embark on such a huge project..just like the National Integrated Power Project! I hope this is not just another avenue to siphon money out of the nation's purse, especially now that the elections are drawing nearer and funds are needed to prosecute a successful campaign.Honestly, i look forward to a realisation of the ideals of the project...because now that airplanes are dropping out of the sky like pigeon poops, there is a real chance that a fast and efficient rail system can be a refreshing alternative to air travel.Forgive my pessimism if you feel am a pessimist.Am not.Am a realist!

Another Sad Day!

Its another sad day for the country.I oftentimes wonder whether these sad times will ever end.Will we have to live with preventable calamities till Christ comes?If its not a sad day for democracy, it will be a sad day for journalism, or for free speech, or for our sports( this is usually after our team loses due to haphazard preparations),or for the judiciary (this is becoming frequent these days)or for our aviation industry.I could go on.... A close look at all the sad days shows that they are simply avoidable. If only those that are meant to do their jobs simply do just that...their jobs.Airbus and the European avaition industry had to phase out the Concorde just because of one crash.The American immigration system had to undergo strident changes just because of one terrorist attack.Prime Ministers and Presidents had had to resign just because of a slight mistake that many a Nigerian would gleefully shout at his rooftop "its not my fault".If an airline keeps on killing people via crashes, i say let it be grounded until it puts its acts right.If we have to kill the indigenious aviation industry because its a demand that they will run on new planes, then i say let us kill it.

How many places in the world do planes crash because they were struck by lightening? How many? Na our weather bad pass? What about the English, Chinese and South Asia weather patterns? Do we have tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones and what have you here? Sometimes i just kneel down and thank God that we dont because had it been we had these system, virtually all our tragedies would be ascribed to them.Sometime ago,grieving mothers were bruatlly molested on the streets of Lagos for protesting about the incessant crashes.Its just as if they were Prophets...Prophets of Doom.This is one crash too many.I am tired in the heart and my heart really goes out to the families of the victims.I cant even think of the fact that the late Sultan was coming from an Education parley called by Baba.He died for our good!Sunday’s crash came barely 42 days after a military aircraft on its way to Obudu, Cross River State had crashed in Benue State, killing 13 military topshots, including 10 Army generals. It is Nigeria’s fourth fatal crash in barely 12 months since Bellview crash of October 22, 2005 in which 117 passengers and crew lost their lives. On December, 10 last year, a Sosoliso flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt crashed, killing 108 persons.

Let those that have the responsibility to act, act.And fast too!Enough of these excuses! Enough of these cutting corners! Enough of these sad days!

People Impeachin' People!

Another case of people impeaching people in Anambra's House of Assembly.Its now 10 impeaching 14.Wow.Nigerian democrazy na wa!Abeg i no get their time again.These politicians and their ways sef!

Politicians are having the stres of their lives in Good Ol' Country.Well, i got some panacea...

The Quest and The Question!

I had wanted to continue from where i stopped as regards the happenings in Ekiti and other states in Nigeria, but my senses have been benumbed by the pace of events in the past week.Somehow, my opinions seems to have been overtaken too..so i will just sit back, post a poem i wrote on a day i was thinking about the futility of all these....and visit blogs! But before i leave, i would want to ask this question!
Should we accept the foisting of illegalities as typified by the blatant disregard for the constitution each time a governor is impeached just because we are fed of with the corruption of our public officials?Think about it and tell me what your opinion is.
Its a pity those Chelseans won....Sad,Sad day for Barcelona! But i believe they would get their pound of flesh from Chelsea at the Nou Camp...Think about this piece of poetry..


RIGHTEOUSNESS


What gains our righteousness?
If the sound of death's toll
Confirm not the redemption of our soul
But rather our life's uselessness

If we pretend to be
Then confess not our dark deeds
And sow not good seeds
Then our filthiness we do not see

'Tis the liason in the dark alley
Or that silent little deceit
That calls for retribution's visit
And exposes our life's folly

What gains our righteousness?
If we tarry for the Coming
On a bright celestial morning
And then be found wanting for holiness?


Endi
Port Harcourt
July 2006

Mr Ban and other Tales!

Why? why?? why??? was the question that kept on invading my mind two mornings ago just after i heard the news.This is a blog i had wanted to keep for more personal purposes,..u know the usual "girl-boy-jilt-breakup-makeup-bus-incident-story-rest o' the-shit" stuff. But here i am again dabbling into politics once again.Even after swearing to myself i wasnt gonna visit this turf again! And this is what roped me into the show once more...

Just a few days ago, the Ekiti State House Of Assembly impeached the Governor on mostly corruption charges....Oops, i have to run for the Chelsea vs Barca match...Mission? Enjoy a fine match and watch the Chelseans cry! That would make my night....I'll continue with my take on the Ekiti and Plateau saga when i come online again.


Just an offline to Mr Ban Ki Moon, the new UN Sec Gen...Please Mr Moon, as you go about trying fighting HIV/AIDS, wars, famine,diseases, nuke-totting-dictators, spur-of-the-moment-invaders of territories,religious i-no-greeisms, etc....Please we in Africa see, and cherish our Moon.Its light comes to us via a smog free sky.Pleaseee Mr Ban Ki-Moon, dont Ban the Moon!

The Man "Sunday Adelaja"!

I heard it in the news, i read it in the blogs, he's everywhere, he's in Ukraine,he's changing the way they think,worship, live and the way they see God.Some call him rabble-rousing, demon-possessed,charlatan and derogatetrily call his young and dynamic female worshippers "boobs shakers".But i tell you, he is one hell of a Nigerian.And i am proud of him...even if (God forbid) he is using the Revd. King style (which i dont think he is)..i am still proud of him.Sunday Adelaja made my week. For being the real Nigerian who conquers against all the odds, who is never inhibited by prejudice and stereotypes.But they are here again..the hawks and this is what they are saying about him.Read about him...


"KIEV, Ukraine -- Pastor Sunday Adelaja, a Nigerian preacher, understands why some in Ukraine are suspicious of him.

He's black in a nation where racism is blatant, Pentecostal in a country considered the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy, and a foreigner whose lively, conversational preaching style -- punctuated by pompom girls and electric keyboards -- stands out from the subdued, centuries-old practices of Ukraine's traditional faiths.

But the 39-year-old preacher laughs at critics who suspect black magic, hypnotism, brainwashing and even hallucinogenic drugs explain the hundreds of bopping, clapping white worshippers who fill his converted sports hall every Sunday.

By delivering a you-can-do-it message of hope and redemption -- along with such direct help as free meals and addiction counseling -- The Embassy of The Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations church has ballooned from a ministry for society's troubled into this ex-Soviet republic's first true megachurch, claiming a membership of 25,000 people.

The church, informally called God's Embassy, boasts a TV ministry and plans for a $15 million church stadium, and aims to reach 5 million people -- 10 percent of Ukraine's population -- with its message of salvation.

Adelja's church has dispatched missionaries to Western Europe and the United States, and is eying China. Kiev's new mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, is a member. Many analysts credit the church's get-out-the-vote efforts with his surprise win in March over a two-term incumbent and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko.

"I knew it would grow, I just never knew it would grow to this extent . . . in a way it is unexplainable," said Adelaja, who came to the then-Soviet Union to study journalism but was inspired by a dream to establish a church.

Adelaja's church is part of a Pentecostal movement that has flourished in Ukraine, which has been more politically and culturally open to new faiths than some of its other ex-Soviet neighbors, even as the dominant Orthodox faith has looked on warily.

Ukraine has long been an important religious center. Legend says the Apostle Andrew traveled the Kiev hills overlooking the Dnieper River, planting a cross and prophesying that someday, churches would be sprinkled over the landscape. Some 900 years later, a Slavic prince marched the population into the water to baptize them into the Christian faith.

While the Russian Orthodox Church made its base in Moscow, more than half of its registered churches were in Ukraine, including its most sacred monastery. But after the Soviet Union's breakup, the Orthodox church in Ukraine splintered, weakening its influence.

"I don't think there is the assumption that because you live in Ukraine, you must go to a particular Orthodox church . . . that makes it very different from Russia," said Felix Corley, editor of Forum 18, a group that promotes religious freedom. "Orthodoxy is very pluralistic in Ukraine. There is not one dominant church overshadowing everybody else."

That has given other faiths more confidence, and Ukrainians more choice.

The non-governmental Religious Information Service of Ukraine estimated that some 60 percent of Ukrainians still identify with one of the Orthodox churches, and Protestant churches account for less than 1 million believers.

But the Pentecostals' increased visibility has the traditional faiths nervous. Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate, said he had written a letter to the new mayor "expressing fear that this sect will only become stronger with his election."

At Adelaja's church, the mainly young congregants come early for the three-hour service to mill around tables set up in the back that offer everything from specialized training programs to legal counsel.

Men whose knuckles are stamped with prison tattoos brush shoulders with young Ukrainians such as Anna Chizhebska who came with her husband and two children looking for an anchor amid the increasing materialism of Ukrainian society.

"I think a lot of people are searching right now," she said. Her husband, Serhiy, added: "Everyone is seeking peace, a sense of how to live." Both pledged to return.

The gregarious Adelaja, who addresses the congregants in accented Russian, pushes the audience to interact with him, trying to break through their customary wariness about revealing too much of themselves. Adelaja said he is trying to teach the congregants that religion "can be used to solve problems in their daily lives."

"In many ways, it is simple common sense," said Konstantyn Permylenko, as he quietly read a Bible in a corner of the sports hall while other members huddled in small groups, their hands laid on one another in prayer.

Despite his popularity, skeptics continue to question Adelaja.

He's been accused of using the church as a moneymaking venture and investigated by a medical commission to ensure that he wasn't claiming to be performing medical miracles on stage.

So when Kiev's Mayor Chernovetsky recently invited the Orthodox patriarch -- rather than Adelaja -- to bless the city government buildings, the Nigerian pastor shrugged off the snub.

"Kiev is the motherland of the Orthodox church, it is a cultural thing to be Orthodox and people feel it is a disgrace and insult to have a Protestant mayor who goes to a black man's church," he said. "If you are a white politician, you have to cool that down . . . but let me tell you, he'll be here on Sundays."

Chernovetsky was.

Now tell me what you think of him!

CLICK HERE

to read more about him

Uncle Sam's Korea

Let them all have it!The powerful nations of the world are getting more reckless by the second..Little Bush's attack on Saddam's Country clearly illustrates that".I say his country because of the politico-cultural peculiarities of the Arab World..(strong dictatorial leadership or even monarchy).China,(hitherto subtle) is threatening the Zambians with hell just because an oppostion leader said he will curb Chinese excesses in the corruption ridden country.France destroyed the Air Force of Cote d'Ivoire just because a couple of their soldiers were killed in the Ivorien conflict.Russian is busy flexing its muscles in the Caucuses and threatening to spit fire at its neigbours (Georgia,Ukraine etc) if the stray too far from it line....the list goes on and on.If Nuclear capability is the deterent, then let them have it!.Honestly, i believe the acquiring of the Nuke by other formerly not-too-important-countries has made the World "Big Leaders" much tolerant...Had Nigeria had a Nuke or even a ballistic missile, Uncle Sam's warships wont be right there at our backyard.. just in case we misbehave (they say because we are of "strategic interest" to them.As a deterent, let us have them...they give meaning to the word "Diplomacy" because when these weapons are not there, its moreless "Bullycracy".If Uncle Sam is afraid of death, why manufacture death in the first place? As a toy to use in scare errant youths into obeisance? Or as a device for use in taming mankind...Whatever the aim was..it backfired, North Korea has it now and others will have it,its just a mtter of time...I will be back...Got to go now.

Do it, do it well!

Yesterday i witnessed something that left me dumbfounded and almost hopeless.I was at the venue of a bank Aptitude Test.What i saw was a shame and a disgrace!.To cut a long story short, the number of people invited for the test was way too much and there wasnt sufficient space for them.In the struggle that ensued when the hall was opened, a lot of people fainted....it was just terrible.Abeg, make we try to dey make things proper.Long tale cut short!

Night of the Long Knives

I am a pessimist when it comes to Nigerian politicians and their gimmicks! And somehow i believe the EFCC is an integral part of Baba's government which of course is run by politicians.And somehow, if you accuse me of being pessimistic ( though not incurably ) about the EFCC, then you are on a safe road.But i tell you, its like we are approaching the "Night of the long Knives" or is it "Days of the long Knives"...Days when the serpents will not know their ilk...days when the elephants will quarell and fight and we the grass will not suffer( infact we will be better off for it...And days when the politicians will wash their dirty linen in public with gusto...in a bid to undo and outdo each other...days when "i only ate so-so-and-so billions" instead of "my hands are clean" will be the norm.



We seem to be appraoching these time due to the activities of the EFCC.Kudos to you.Just like i said in my poem, let them run into the antholes( a supposedly uncomfortable place)..we will pursue them and of course catch them..let them wait and see.The night's just coming...Starting from Bayelsa, Ekiti, Plateau....we are counting.Let the politicians meet..after all they've been meeting... Embattled Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, seems to be sinking deeper into despair as three of his aides were on Wednesday arrested by the police over killings in the state.

Also, Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Chief Friday Aderemi, says that nothing would stop the removal of the governor from office.

This is coming at a time the national headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has scheduled a meeting on Thursday to determine the fate of Fayose, who headed for the court to stop his impeachment.. Let them meet....

Revival

REVIVAL


Hearts hugging hearts, we revive
The still damp essence of our beings
We cling to each other,together now
Our joys in copulation, mating, fertile
Our agonies writhing, dying slowly
These agonies writhe, dying....

As if in the stranglehold
Of the spirited Mbele dance
We dymystify the now tepid myths
Of the Ajonkwu spirits, daring them
To untie the bonding knot, if they can
Untie these bonding knots....

Tied in thick emotions we live
Not in limbs already lost
In shimmies to break away, free
Of our sophistries of deception
Fumes of pleasures ephemeral, all these
Fumes of pleasures ephemearal....

Appendages we lost, you still lost
Ururo, we are coming to claim ours
From the tormentors that have held them
With the long withered breast of the witch
We will take ours, even when you flee
We will catch you, hide in the anthole and see....


Endi
Port Harcourt
April 2006

This poem is dedicated to all who sowed and did not reap.Sow again..you will reap!

This Circle of Ignorance...

This is a story that just broke out some hours ago....Ordinarily, i ought not to comment on it, but i guess am just "over-pissed" off.Well, read the story first..Some 16 oil workers were released today.The workers were the second group of a total of 25 men to be released after being seized in a raid two days ago.

All worked for a sub-contractor of Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell. A spokesman said no ransom had been paid for their release.


Oil workers are regularly abducted in Nigeria by gangs saying they want a bigger share of oil revenues.

In a separate incident on Tuesday evening, five foreign oil workers were seized during a rare raid on a residential compound operated by ExxonMobil.

Two Nigerian security guards were killed when the gang stormed the compound in Akwa Ibom state in the eastern Delta.

No ransom

A spokesman for Shell said that no money had been paid to secure the release of the 25 hostages seized on Monday.

Industry sources say oil companies frequently strike clandestine ransom deals to free their employees.

The men were taken when a group of about 70 militants attacked a convoy of boats supplying oil fields operated by Shell in Rivers state.

At least ten soldiers were killed during the raid.

The BBC's Alex Last says the line between criminal gangs and political militants in Nigeria is often blurred.

Last month, President Olusegun Obasanjo promised strong action to curb armed groups in the Niger Delta.

But our correspondent says the incidents highlights the continued vulnerability of the oil industry, despite government pledges to crackdown on armed groups in the Delta.

He says oil companies are bracing themselves for further violence in the Delta as competing politicians try to use the armed groups to secure victory in next year's elections.

Now i was like asking myself...whats the purpose? The point has already been made...the point being that "we can attack u whenever we want to" but then these militants has continued to kidnap those that came to "invest" in the country, those that created the same oil industry we all want to work in, those that are meant to provide the famed transfer of technology...etc.Come to thinkm of it...those guys(expatriates) are not our problem, neither are they the source of our problems.The source of our problem lies in the trajedy that has played itself out in Bayelsa State,in the National Assembly, between Baba Iyabo and his Deputy,...that is currently playing itself out in Ekiti State and that which has been the bane of our existence.Need i tell u the name of the Monster? It starts with a C! ...Ok, you dont know(probably because you've been out of the country for ages)..its CORRUPTION.

The day thse militants redirect their anger against the Governors that have looted their collective heritage,that has connived with the Lords Of Abuja to rape and pillage the land...thats the days i will take off this facecap for them..(Sorry u cant see it).And until that day comes...Bros, these things wey we dey do no just dey pay...Make we just stop these kidnappings and killing of our fellow Naijas in the military....Please, if we wan fight,quarell, anger,beg,agitate, take it to those selected (elected) to take the blame and do the job..i don talk finish.

Another Crime...

The Rivers State Police Command, on Monday, said on Tuesday that it had recovered one of the vehicles snatched from its men by armed robbers who killed two policemen and escaped with a bullion van.
The Police Public Relations Officer for the state, Mrs. Ireju Barasua, told our correspondent that the command recovered a rifle and a 504 Peugeot station wagon from the fleeing robbers.
Barasua, a deputy superintendent of police, said that the robbers might have acted on information that some money was being taken to the bank in Yenagoa but missed the actual vehicle that carried the cash.
She claimed that although the robbers scattered the bullion van, they did not get the money.
An eyewitness said that the hoodlums, who were clad in red attires, on Monday, fired several shots into the van before killing the policemen who were accompanying it to the Bayelsa State capital.

Na wao...when are these going to end?My people una get the answer?This is a news item from the punch this morning.

Fragile or Failed?

Ehem i don come again! The World Bank recently released an index of 26 Countries which they classified as fragile states, 14 of these were in Africa and once again our dear Mama Naija was among them...OK.This is the background.The report is entitled "IEG Review of World Bank Support to Low Income Countries.These Countries aptly christened LICUS(sounds like "licked" to me) were seperated into 2 groups of "Severe" and "Core" LICUS (yea, thats the group we belong to)..Digression here...i wonder what group i would choose if forced to make a choice!
OK! Back to the story...Naija had as her co-travellers countries like Burundi,Kosovo(Territory),DR Congo,Papua New Guinea, Togo, Guinea Bissau,and even Haiti, Afghanistan, Liberia, Sudan, CAR, Myammar(Burma) and all the rest of the worst.

OK!Let me expatiate. According to the them (World Bank) fragile means that if a country keeps on having the problems it is currently having, it will end up being a wreck...i.e a failed state.The point now is...is Naija not a failed state already?If we can be listed with Countries such as Afganistan, Lalastan,and the rest of them..its a sig of failure...If you still dont get me..well, logout, stand up and look for the nearest bed.Yea, stay there and weep! Duh.
I dont know what u think, but that u ran out of this hellhole to school abroad reads like failed to me! That we had to fly our plane crash victims to South Africa reads like failed to me.That we have to spend 1.3 trillion naira to revive NEPA(Never Expect Power Always) to PHCN(Please Hold Candle Nearby) reeks of failed to me! That we have a Presido and a Vice who can easily engage in a boxing duel if left alone for a minute smells failed to me.That am having tp pay out of my nose just to post on my blog is FAILED.That we still top the corruption index( yea, forget that 4th from below thang) and the polio infestation index after so many years is the height of failure!That we have to invite the Met to help us solve our crimes....That somebody who read Chemical Engineering will go and sit for a bank aptitude test, in a country that is the 6th largest exporter of Crude....i could go on and on.I wonder what you think.But if we are not "failed" yet, then we are a stone throw from that...Share your thots with me. See you when i come back from Bloggistan.

Well Done

Well done Guys..it wasnt easy, both at Iroko Camp and in my Home Camp...i had to argue everyday with my siblings whether the show is...a show or real! Well done for giving us something to look forward to in the nights and argue about in the day...Check these guys out at

What are the intentions?

Ehem i don come again! But this time it's not with your usual "make-i-say-Hi-to-my-friends" feeling.I just viewed a couple of pictures a friend sent me and am just....seething! I just dont seem to understand what these pictures intend to achieve..i dunno...maybe it's meant to achieve the way am feeling now.Why do we ..uh.."Black Africans" have to be the subject with which The white photo Journalist wins Pullitzers and the rest.Do you think the whiteman really cares.Do they think they can prick the consciences of you and I?What are these meant to achieve? They have a hand in the origin of these..why do they have to ram them down our throats....You dont quite get me...right? OK. I guess am too inflamed to make sense...OK! Tell me how u feel and i will send you and piece that will shock your lashes out of u..I will be back when am saner!

Celebrating me...

Ehem, i salute una! Today i decided to give myself a little time and see what my fellow Naijas are doing.Actually i've been reading blogs for a long time now but i've never really tried to seek out blogs by Nigerians.When i got some google alert in my mail from Deolu's blog..i decided to take a ride. And has it been worth it.You bet! i wish i can have more time to blog and get to know wat all of you are saying....But well the game is on...It just feels so nice that we are here...but the only twist in the tale is that i cant find enough blogs by Nigerians in Naija....We no dey try oo!Na im make i say make i get my own too..not just complaining.Lets spread the word and not let the South Africans beat us to this game again.Tell your friends to get a blog and share his thots in a special Nigerian way...Tell them say na the Koko now...All of u flying the flag are simply...no word for it but i will manage "toomuchious".From Mona to Adaure to Dipo to Deolu to Azuka ...infact..i no fit talk again.

To some triviality...am celebarting me today...no..no..no..not my birthday oo..But am just giving me a breather.Join me...and do same for urself sometime...U can beat the feeling....I dey come!

ME

These enemies of me are me, the dozy me
Foes say, its stupid me they see
Fingers pointed like pistols at me
Its you! its you! eveybody says with glee

I know its me, dont they say its me?
I feel so horrible, i want to pee
My own voice --"traitor voice" says "me"
My friends, they too joined in the melee

The cowrd me, screamed "why me"?
I ran away, afraid of what i forsee
He begged me to change my name, not be me
i declined, refusing to be in me, a refugee

In a voice as cool as menthol, said me
"Lay! dont be nobody's employee"
My bones became weak, my eyes dopey;Oh lazy me
I lay and let the wide world fill me with ennui

If came now, told me if i could be me
If only i could make "If" flee
I could be a better me, be all i could be
Make money and go on a spree

I have great mind, says the real me
Use it and you will be free
I finally got here, overtaking the enemy me
And said,nothing better than being the real me

Endi

Imagine Me.....

Goodday Guys, I woke up this morning with this song drifting into my ears when i was "oscillating" between those states of wakefulness-dreams-dawn noises-wakefulness...and it has been influencing my day. I helped me kind of let go today of all the excess baggage of yesterday and i just cant imagine its me feeling this way.Its a great song with fine lyrics...Just check it out...Papa is just awesome...Isn't He?

"Imagine Me"

Imagine me
Loving what I see when the mirror looks at me cuz I
I imagine me
In a place of no insecurities
And i'm finally happy cuz
I imagine me

Letting go of all of the ones who hurt me
Cuz they never did deserve me
Can you imagine me
Saying no to thoughts that try to control me
Remembering all you told me
Lord can you imagine me
Over what ma mama said
And healed from what my daddy did
And I wanna live and not read that page again

[Chorus:]
Imagine me, being free, trusting you totally finally I can...
Imagine me
I admit it was hard to see
You being in love with someone like me
But finally I can...
Imagine me

Being strong
And not letting people break me down
You won't get that joy this time around can you imagine me
In a world where nobody has t o live afraid
Because of your love fears gone away
Can you imagine me

[Bridge:]
Letting go of my past
And glad I have another chance
And my heart will dance
'Cause I don't have to read that page again

[Chorus x2]

[Vamp:]
Gone, gone, it's gone, all gone


Hey, c'mon shed that load, it aint worth it...great song

LOVE: IN MEMORIAM

LOVE: IN MEMORIAM


Why do time never "flies"
When love dies
When hearts still numb and sore
Crave for affection no more
Reticent, arrogant time becomes stagnant
And life itself repugnant
Its lofty values and dreams
Now overbloated burst at its seams

Rains never cease now in once blue sky
And thoughts remain shrouded in soliloqy high
And pallete hole posing as hearts
Paint pitiless pictures as despicable as warts
Shards of images eternally shattered in time
Now live as severed sinew of pain, rhythm and rhyme


Endi,
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
February 2006
Dedicated to Mimi*

WESTWARD SHADOWS: DEATH OF A SPIRIT

WESTWARD SHADOWS: DEATH OF A SPIRIT


Its just a few days now
Before I bid thee farewell
Don’t want to get stuck in traffic
That I may find a space there
Weep for me now—weep
Then after tomorrow let your tears cease
Your best and your worst do
‘cos its just a few days now
For me don’t lay wreaths
Or bake bounties of wheat
These sad sad memories keep
Memories of a death keep not
For life’s better than death
But death; death’s more pungent
Like the can of urine
Under late Grandma’s bed

Its just days now
Since I came on cue
Some say acted well too
You never clapped or did you?
You only cheered and jeered
When I put the wrong foot right
You were right there
You were the audience
Never helping me unto solid ground
No! Don’t keep me in thoughts
Or in sullen depressing memories
Memories are also pungent
Like deaths; like memories

Its just days now
Before change comes
You will let Nkemdinma weep
But never let Nwoye, never
In these days they’ll talk
But I won’t be here anymore
This demise I foresaw—plotted
That I will be free to soar
A driver of his destiny
And purveyor of this truth
The truth this spirit concealed

Its days now—nay seconds
You will hold you blink and witness
This moment of transfiguration
For a spirit gasping for new life
Seeking to transcend beyond a future uncertain
You won’t shut your eyes
To the fading era of tarnishing ills
Keep your expensive wreaths
The dew will ruin them
Keep your songs; your wails
Sing for me no requiem
For I prefer the birds’
Keep them for those to come
Me, I will come at dawn
Sparkling and refreshingly new
Like the birds song and the dew

Its just seconds now
Forgive me if I mourn this spirit
It’s to set afloat an inner man
That I may gain the assurance
Of being right there
That place of the long westward shadows
Right there at the centre
Basking in the radiance of the Daystar

©Endi
Port Harcourt, Nigeria
August 2006

Beautiful World...V

Beautiful World IV...Can u beat this?

Beautiful World III...Can u beat this?

Beautiful World II...Can u beat this?

Beautiful World...

Come to think of it this way...There ought to be a song in your mouth.C'mon..there ought to be.Isn't it a beautiful world? And u are oppurtuned to be here.Hey! it isn't yoy right.God is sprucing u up for a ur session on the big stage.Just be prepared.Dont hold back.Shake off that lethargy, u will be called any minute now.

Yea..i know what u are thinking...Yes, with all your worries..it just doesnt seem beautiful anymore. But u just gat to keep on going "cos you know that you know that tommorrow will be sooo bright you dont wanna miss out on such a lovely sight.Take a look at this beautiful creatures and friends we've got here..call them butterflies if u are heartless..i prefer to call them Angelflies...call these insects are just one of the multitude of things that God put in here (on Earth) to remind us of how beautiful our lives can be..and we can be! Aint they stunning...i just lost my breath! Lose that hope and u will miss out of seeing these beautiful creatures ever...Imagine that now and then choose if u want to give up.

Beautiful World...

Come to think of it this way...There ought to be a song in your mouth.C'mon..there ought to be.Isn't it a beautiful world? And u are oppurtuned to be here.Hey! it isn't yoy right.God is sprucing u up for a ur session on the big stage.Just be prepared.Dont hold back.Shake off that lethargy, u will be called any minute now.

Yea..i know what u are thinking...Yes, with all your worries..it just doesnt seem beautiful anymore. But u just gat to keep on going "cos you know that you know that tommorrow will be sooo bright you dont wanna miss out on such a lovely sight.Take a look at this beautiful creatures and friends we've got here..call them butterflies if u are heartless..i prefer to call them Angelflies...call these insects are just one of the multitude of things that God put in here (on Earth) to remind us of how beautiful our lives can be..and we can be! Aint they stunning...i just lost my breath! Lose that hope and u will miss out of seeing these beautiful creatures ever...Imagine that now and then choose if u want to give up.

Same 'ol, Same old....

Its another day and there's life....somebody said life is struggle...and that that is the curse from God.Start here is you want to break free. Ba damu'a http://www.deoluakinyemi.com/categoryjob-blog

Mr Gloom

Well, this is actually the first time am posting without having to think of what i want to share.I guess it's probably because the sun didnt rise in the East today.Today happens to be one of such days when nothing seems to cheer me up...it just seems nothing is working out, career...relationship..finances..well, thank God for Good Old Family..that, seems to be working out.

Its not midday yet and a lot a interesting news seems to be drifting my way..so plenty, that am supposed to be moved but i still dont understand why the Mr. Gloom still sits on the balcony.The guy beside me was reading an article on "Yahweh (Maybe Jehova, if u choose) is a Pagan Name".Funny how we complicate our lives...Oops, am not supposed to snoop..am quite sorry. But it just helped me figure out how to cast push away Mr Gloom. Do some weird thing?..nah.Read my Bible...(probably an uncommon version). OK, i will.What else now? Practice some Zen Buddhism..Hmm Scram while u can. Then what? Figure out how to Clap with one Hand...The Sound of Silence....Imagining what La-La Land looks like....Hmm,so much job to do.Gotta go now.Go work to do.i dont need these anyway, Mr Gloom just walked away, seems he doesnt like my blogging. End of Tale..nah.So? Advice for you, when u are "down" and nearing "out". Just look for something creative to do and just talk.It helps!

THE EPITHAH BENEATH

THE EPITHAH BENEATH


Lying beneath, it sought no glory
But concedes to the tombstones shine
The glittering glamour of its life
Of elegant and enchanting poses
It lay still --- poise awkward
Unlike in glory days long gone
When fluttering skirts and shirts
Machismo and sweet nonsense
Dine with flailing failing men
Conquered damsels and tin men
And dainty damsels falling in lust
It lay, skin ashen, --- nay ecru
Like the humid earth
‘Tis going to be
It came home laden then
With a virus that eats in haste
And seals man’s locked fate
Without waiting for answers
It lay, having shared the spoils
Of diseases venereal and death
In a dingy little box
Beneath the unforgiving tombstone
A victim of the living and the dead


© Endi
Port Harcourt, Rivers State
July 21st 2006

Twenty Career pages of Nigerian Banks!

20 Websites Of Nigeria Banks: Career Pages
http://www.unionbankng.com/carreer.htm.
http://www.accessbankplc.com/index.cfm?ID=9000
http://www.diamondbank.com/metadot/index.pl?id=4908
http://www.equitorialtrustbank.com/pre_cv.php
http://www.fidelitybankplc.com/bank/bank_careers.aspx
http://www.regent-bank.com/careers.htm
http://www.charteredbank.com/careers.asp
https://www.fhrsecure.com/graduates/apply/appNew.asp
http://www.standardtrust.com/careera.htm

http://www.afribank.com/careers.htm
http://www.zenithbank.com/careers.cfm
http://www.ecobank.com/english/recruitement/
http://firstcitygroup.com/Fcmb/AboutUs.asp?id=2
http://www.firstbanknigeria.com/car/car_vac.asp
http://portal.gtbplc.com/portal/index.pl?iid=37237
http://intercontinentalbankplc.com/careers_at_intercontinental.asp
http://www.oceanicbanknigeria.com/#
http://www.sterlingbankng.com/final/careers.cfm
http://www.stanbic.com.ng/SBIC

Food For Thought!

Poetry is truth in its Sunday clothes. -Joseph Roux, priest and writer
(1834-1886)

AKAMMAM’S CUE


Like a brute set free
But with a countenance contrite and pleading
As calm as the dimples on a infants cheek
It makes an esteemed outing
Silently gliding down the line
Greenness glittering with the radiance
Of the hot noonday sun
It came still demanding welcome
Nibbling at the seams of our fragile hearts
Attempting to tear open its sacs of emotions
Evoking fear and stirring adherents
Into a nasty awakening
What’s the message this time?
Ignoring our brewing tears and questions

Aka! Harbinger of a mores of deities
Heirloom of Mmam
Still sleek and lithe, innocent
Moves- sliding beneath curtains
Peeping into the keyholes of our awe struck minds
Its messages lashes out
Reaffirming norms, shredding evil stereotypes
And leaves in its wake uneaten sacrifices

Its raises its tiny head
As if in search of a dissenter
Demanding obeisance and reverence
From spittle dripping, gourd -bellied children
And arthritic old coots
Everyone stood, transfixed
Trying to decipher the mystique
In its glistening cold eyes
And the slow peristaltic movement
Of its slender throat
As it swallows Grandma’s yam balls

Starting with a rhythmic pulsation
Its forked tongue flicks in farewell
In symphony with
The frantic beats of our own hearts
As it went the way it came
Down the paths of the spirits
Leaving us to ponder
The message in Akammam’s cue

©Endi

Port Harcourt,

May, 2004.

LEADERS LABOUR


Pandemonium
Hells breaking loose
Tensions rising, not sparing the goose
Mouths agape, feeble feet running
Children crying, nose runny, pickpockets cunning

Serenity
State of Head corpulent, fingers manicured
Cozy bedroom, insanity yet uncured
Lights, acrid sweat, camera, hustling people
Yet another bout of “fellow country people”

Pandemonium
Men upon podium, hands in thump
These generations of leaders we must dump
Rollicking in the midst of our penury
At the faintest snicker dragging us to their jury

Serenity
Stare pallid, “put off that set “, roared he
These urchins are getting on my nerves – see
Crawling under my skin with irritating palaver
Scream! Get that idiot before I get “madder”

Words
Lets do this for the good of us you know
Rescind or never will I kow tow
Attack with words inveigh, offers spurn
This country will I lead, strikes will I churn

Words still
Bring him some tea to ease the strain
Maybe that will do, just in from the rain
Finnish coffee? Get me some sugar
Now lets dialogue- “said my terms vulgar?”

More words
A scratch to the head, a scrotum tug
Lets have the envelope he said with a shrug
Greasy fingers, meaty sweaty palms
For me, huh? I have no qualms


Éclat
Labour leader out, smile factious
People sold for a gulp by the unctuous
Insensate politician, façade of concern
Masses effusive, unable to discern

© Endi
Aba,
Nigeria.
June, 2004.

A Boy and an Akara Ball

A BOY AND AN AKARA BALL

The rhythm of his heart stops
Eyes darting in Cartesian fashion
Settles on man clad in black before him
The cool evening breeze
Makes him sweat and carries with it
An avalanche of smells, some of-
The pool of amber urine at his feet
And the inviting boli and akara balls
His stomach growls with fury
Reminding him of his mission; inviting
Wrapping and eating him up
Eyeball darts again; left-right-right-left
Like ball drama in a ping pong game
Tongue in mouth, saliva gone
Farting fat lady shoves him out of the way
And cursing chewing stick hawker into it
Both invoke memories of his father
And sometimes Mama too
Flurries of thoughts swell the space
Inside his head as anger builds
Choking him and setting the tear free
The hate, the cynicism, the knocks, his fate
His stomach churns the pain increasing
The hunger makes his head swool
Pushes him across the muddy road
A chasm between life and death
Leg in gutter, he made for the balls
Reality hits; cacophony of shouts
Woman wielding stiletto; men in black
Market women all in chase
The voice in his ears sings
“Eat before you die”
He bit off a chunk and ate
Hit by a bullion van, driver fleeing
He died food still in throat
Hands, some akimbo, some wiping tears
Glared at the spasmic body
Of a lonely and homeless boy
None could tell the tale of him
The tale of a boy we knew© Endi
Port Harcourt,
Dec. 2005

FOOTFALLS IN THE DARK



On feet unsure we wobbled
To the shrine making progress steady
Familiar insects sighed; bored
At the sounds of our hearts palpitation
Our thoughts reveled in skullduggery
Pervading in our senses skull and crossbones
Living ancestors turn away in disgust
And spit on our would be graves
As we sought a ritual we know
Was prompted by the sound
Of the gong of scheming juju priests
Beating for the third; three times
Told will bring reproach untold
We hurried away, plucking the leaves
As we went, desecrating covens
Daring minions speak, our talc speaking
No one came this way, just we
The storm brewed, chilly wind blew
Baba urged us on, the course he knew
We ignored the sounds of our silence
Their silence too; hearing only
Those of our footfalls in the dark
Thud! Thud! in the dark uncertain night
On a mission the oracles cursed

© Endi
Port Harcourt,Nigeria
February,2006.