Saturday, August 29, 2009

For Roots Sake!

This is not christmas.
This time is different.

The land is now bare and pleads for company.
They'll find their way back here soon,
but only for roots sake!

You'll see them soon...
Just wait and you'll see.
You'll see the effizy.
You'll feel the swagga.
Don't worry you'll see what I've been telling you all the while.

The atmosphere is at peace now right?
You'll see what it will be in december.

Our illustrious sons will be back by then,
and they'll pollute the air with noise, fumes, perfumes and pride.

They'll make us wish.
They'll make a few aspire.
They'll make many jealous.
What will they make you do?

In december,
they'll be back for roots sake!
Oh ye city dwellers!
Don't come home and pretend again.

Oh ye city dwellers!
With your fine dresses,
good make up, sweet accent
and stories about the city.

Life in the city is hard,
and life in the village is boring.
We village dwellers love it here,
so don't trouble us again,
for roots sake!

-Chizitere.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

BUILDING WITH MTN.

I almost lost my teeth a few days ago.

Dont get it twisted but it was for a good reason. I was out with some of my friends from MTN on thursday and friday. I did not expect so much considering the fact that it was an outing with people i am oviously far younger than, but it was a wonderful experience in the end. The idea behind the hang out was for members of staff to relax and get to relate with eachother on a level ground. They call it team build, and it holds once every year.

Ok let me tell you how it went down...
We arrived La Campgne Tropicana, an exclusive resort which I had only heard stories about until that day. I wont be running an advert for them here but i must confess that the place is beautiful. I was totally stunded by its exquisite make up.

It was raining when we arrived so we had to run into the resort taxis from the bus we arrived in under the rain. My back pack weighed heavy but i still had to race with it.

I won't bore you with a step by step analysis of how everything went, I'll just go straight. We got in and were shown to our rooms. I had to share a room with my elder sister who is also an MTN staff. It was actually an outing for members of staff but they were allowed to invite a few family members and friends.

As soon as we settled in, we came out for breakfast. I tell you, that breakfast was just right for me. After breakfast, the GM Alhaji/Mr (i'm not sure of which) Mohamed Rufai gave an opening speech. His speech is the shortest and most straight forward I have ever heard.

We hit the main activities after that, and Lolo of wazobia fm who was the mc did a really good job. She made our stomachs burst open with her jokes, and coordinated the games as well. The games were funny because they made me feel like a child again and i felt really happy expresing myself around my new company.

We played beach football, which was where i almost lost my teeth, volleyball, we went canoeing, played snooker, table soccer, etc and drank a lot as well. It was mad fun! I made a couple of new friends too numerous to mention, who are really cool. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the beach at night. The view was so cool i did not want to stop looking. I was really inspired.

As usual i was a star: the only female that played football, the most energetic and fit, the best dancer, and so much more. I just stole the show that day. In summary, the concept is good and the aim was achieved, but above all, i had fun.
I'll post pictures soon.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Listen to my mind. (PLEASE!!!)

For a while now, so many things have been going wrong in Nigeria. The funny truth is that all that a lot of us like me have done is sit (or stand... or sleep...) and talk against the country. I wrote this poem after a hard thought about the future of this nation (which scares me). I'm not sure of where we are heading, but i know its somewhere. It's up to us to decide where we want the destination to be. I'm guilty your honor...
The title of the poem is in Igbo and means help me when translated to English

NYERE M AKA...

I know what is wrong,
So I will give right a change.
Don’t ask me how I know,
I just know.

I might have lived around
Wrong for too long,
But I can tell the difference.

If you make me a judge,
I might judge wrongly
But when I sit in the crowd,
I judge right.

So many things are not right
And I can’t do anything to
Correct them unless you help me.

I’m decaying, someone please
Help me!
Everything in my system is wrong
And my children suffer for this.

Don’t stand there and just
Yell at me.
Help me if you can.

Even if you detach
And run away, you would
Still come home soon.

You call me all sorts,
But don’t forget it is
You that make me and
I that give you your identity.

We are inseparable.
I only have hope when you
Give it to me so stop taking it away.
I am what you make of me.

You are my creator,
The only reason I still exist.
I am your body, your group,
your identity.

Turn back to me.
See how profusely I bleed.
I’ll keep bleeding till you
heal me.

You know I won’t die.
Of course I won’t
I shall die only when you do
No matter how far you run,
We’ll still die together.

I am not tarred, in darkness,
Hungry, kidnapped, thirsty,
Uneducated, cheated on, insulted,
Corrupt and suffering

You have let me be all this.
You haven’t done anything
To help me.

How long shall I stand here and bleed?
How long will you let them mock me?
How long will you ignore me?
Please do something quick!

I’m tired of waiting…
-Chizitere.

Friday, August 14, 2009

For my brother and brothers

Jason did not return that night. Two weeks passed, and even as you all hoped he would, he still didn't. You searched every where you could- hospitals, police stations, friends' houses and even moutuaries. You did not give up.

Some one told your mother she had seen him somewhere in Lagos roaming the streets. You thought she was just blabbing and her information lacked facts. You ignored her yet you prayed and kept on hoping. A large part of you believed he was alive, but your feelings betrayed you because they could not tell you where he was.

Your mother cried everytime and this pissed you off. You wanted her to just shut up! You were tired of holding back your tears to comfort her. You go bored with giving her hope, you were tired of acting up strong for her.

That day she looked at you and said, 'you are all I have now Ekene.' you cursed Jason for leaving you alone and making your parents sad. You cursed that day he left home and what ever had happened to him. You cursed and cursed till you had no more curses to curse.

As hard as you tried to fight it, you knew missed him very much. No matter how much you tried to peel that feeling away, it was still stuck hard to you. Forgetting him was the hardest thing for you.

Your mother's desparation to find Jason was begining to tear her apart. She got so depressed and bitter that she shouted at you for every mistake you made. Her eyes became permanently red and swollen and her mood swings got worse.

Some how you were happy. Your happiness was because of the closeness that begun to exist between you and your father since Jason went missing. You both joked and laughed about things you saw or talked about. You tried to forget the sorrow that tore your hearts apart. Although you both missed Jason, you did not talk about it. You were afraid that any pessimistic word you say would jinx him never to return again. You kept your words away.

Time went by a little and you got used to his absence. While your parents and everyone resolved that he was dead, you fought hard to keep your hope alive. You were sure he was alive.

One day they found a body somewhere around Cele. The body laid still and lifeless like a corpse. Everyone overlooked it and went about thier business. They left the body to rot away. Shola ran to your house that morning and said she had news for you. 'I saw jason's body at Cele' she said. Her words struck you like a heavy blow which left its welt in your brain. You told your parents and in a short while, you were all at Cele. Hot tears slid down your face when you saw his body. You threw away all the hope you had kept right there because you thought he was dead. A mental video of his burial played in your head. You were sure you would die after it. You could not bear the pain of the loss. You stood aside and cried out all the 'cries' you had. You lost all your faith and your heart was crushed.

You were shocked when you heard someone exclaim, 'Thank God he is alive!'. You could not believe your ears, but you did any way. Your hope was not in vain after all. You were all happy about this. Jasom came back into your lives, and you swore that this time you would never loose him again.
-Chizitere.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Let Go...

Piece by piece
pieces of peace.
You think its protection
but look what you did.

You bought yourself extra
life with hers which you sold.
Why? Why did you?

Look! See! She is living
your future now.
When will she live hers?

She has dreams,
dont you think?
Her destiny is different,
dont you know?

Come on! Let her be.
She is your child.
She has a life to live too.
She is a part of your life,
not a piece of it.

You are a part of her life,
not the whole of it.
Its not cowardice to let her live
its the right thing.
Just let her be her

-Chizitere.

Return Post!

First i want to appologise to my blog for my absence, and to you for keeping you hungry and in the dark. I'm so sorry please forgive me... Have you?... Thank you!

Ok let me talk about what i've been up and down to.

Things have been generally swingy for a while. I've had a fair share of insomania, but i've made good effort to use it for better. The truth is i find it hard to sleep at night but it gets worse sometimes. I was in my own home town last week and i had a wonderful time. The village was almost empty but i kind of liked it. I got a lot of inspiration and wrote a couple of stories and poems which i will post here very soon.

Ok this is an "I am back again" declearation. I'll leave some other things to take over from here, so watch this space.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Normal Life Sydrome

Normal life. What does this mean? Does it mean your life is perfect or right? Does it just mean you have fulifiled all righteousness?

Well I won't be answering any of those questions for you. Or maybe I will, but thats not my aim here. Lets talk, rather let me tell you what i have noticed people do now. Have you noticed that a lot of us Nigerians have lost touch of the original essence life? Many of us will end up living spent lives rather than optimised ones. Many of us are just out living the dreams of our parent, the wishes of our friends, or just projecting the shadows of our role models. We throw away who we need to be and become something we ought not to. We have turned living into a boring routine in which we sleep, wake up, go through school without gaining education, get a job we probably dont like, and get married! For those who are married, bearing children is the next step even when we know these children will likely stave to death.

Young women design their actions to please and attract men for marriage. For a lot of us women it is all that matters and the greatest achievement in any woman's life. (I so disagree with this theory). Our Nigerian women are afraid of staying unmarried and whether their marriage is working out well or not, dem go dey manage for the marriage till dem die. Everything has its limits you know?

Another problem is the unadventurousness of Nigerians. We just want already made information and feel very lazy to carry out our own research but try hard to suppress those that try to find out new things. So much dependence is put on the western people and so much of what we do now is in accordance to their will. We think we cant do anything the Americans have not done. We embrace their theories and swallow their polices into our economy. We see them as our God so, ignore our experts and adore their apprentices. Nigeria is gradually loosing her identity because we want to keep indulging in everything western whether it is right or wrong.

As for religion and spirituality, that one na separate talk. In reality, Nigeria has more atheists and agnosts than christians, muslims or even traditionalists. We forget that religion is meant to serve as a guide to living better and not the name of a group we need to answer to. Many people are religious because they have to write it in their forms or they want to please the world. Stop decieving yourselves abeg. There is so much we are getting wrong and clique of normal life is marring us. We have to detach from crowd mentality and live in the reality of life. Let us get out of the illusion we are neck deep in and begin to rebrand our ideas and concepts. Life is short so live it now before it finishes. Just be you and no one else.

I rest my case...