About Us( With Furs)

Episode 1

The hole was stuffy with proceeds from the just concluded nocturnal expedition. It was a dangerous one. Out of the five special operative personnel sent, four arrived back safely. The unlucky fellow was trapped by the Book of Death. The Council received the news and shared it with the people. The Director of Informations was short and brief.

“People of Shalanga we wish to inform you that the latest mission was successful albeit out of five special ops, four are safe and have good news for us. The world outside is replete with enjoyable and nutritious arrivals. This week shall be a good week for us as a nation. In fact from the evidence of our men, I can say it is a potpourri of goodies”

In the Republic of Shalanga that was brief and short. A republic made up characters who derieved inspiration from the world around them. Sadly this world wasn’t aware of its status as a mentor to Shalanga Republic. All what the outside world was concerned with was the benefits of having Shalanga Republic amongst them. They benefitted some things, notable amongst them was -meat. However at the present moment the outside world had a much more important take on Shalanga Republic. One could call it genocide. The euphoria from the good news of the Director vanished and the announcement  of the outside world came as a shock.

“People of Lagos, the State government has directed that all markets and homes should endeavour to put measures in eradicating rats. The Commissioner of Health has utilized his powers under the Public Health Act 2015 in declaring the outbreak of Lassa fever. Lagosians are advised to use all means at their disposal in exterminating the rodents; rats as they are highly dangerous presently.”

This statement came as a shock to the Council of Elders. They were just enjoying the success of their intelligence agency in ascertaining the resources to explore. This statement invariably meant isolationalism. An emergency meeting was convened. 

“Hoc est bellum! This is war!.I say we go to war with these people. We can mobilize other allies which would give us strength. I mean this is getting too much. This is the definition of genocide. These people are cannibals, demonic, selfish and greedy elements. They hunt our brothers, sisters, father, mothers and put them on stakes, brandishing their corpses for sale. We can’t even bury and mourn our dead.” Chief Bacha said.

Chief Bacha had been living in Shalanga Republic for many years. He was amongst the survivors of his generation. His parents passed on while he was four after they ate the food of the gods. It was more doleful as they were celebrating their wedding anniversary that fateful day. This event was a catalyst to his principles in life. He believed in realism and pragmatism. He never supported any form of pacifism in any situation against the outside world. History has it that when he was held at the tail by an agent of the outside world, he bit silly out of the agent.

“I recommend we use a different approach. The pen is mightier than the sword. As the Director of Legal Affairs I recommend we make our grievances at the world court. It is without doubt that we have animal rights. This has been recognized in jurisdictions around the world and with good research we can bring a claim against the humans at the International Court of Justice. Resorting to violence is foolhardy. We all know man`s best friend. Only that group of species can wipe a whole republic synonymous to the dastardly impart of man`s nuclear weapon. Are we forgetting The Holocaust too soon”

To be continued..............

Just Write it down.

I have been away for some time now and in order not to keep you waiting I decided to drop a little something. Sometimes a lot of us read through write ups and come across some new words but unfortunately don't check it up. It's either laziness or procrastination. In the end some of us would find ourselves in circumstances where we would be wishing we had a plethora of big words to either write a mail letter, complaint letter or even an opinion article.

So I have decided to share some words which I think would be nice for you guys.

Before you go further my advice is either you get a pen and paper or you simply save this page after reading. You can also copy and paste which you should save as a doc file on your phone.

Enjoy.
1) Saunter- to walk in a slow relaxed way. Stroll

2)Commiserate- pitying, to feel or express compassion or sympathy for someone or something.

3)Suave- charming, confident and elegant.

4)confectionery- foodstuff that taste very sweet,taken as a group.

5)Blithely- happy, cheerful

6) despondent - In low spirits from loss of hope or courage.

7)Iconoclast - a person who criticizes popular belief or established customs and ideas.

8) Gussy up- to dress yourself in an attractive way

9) Ginormous - extremely large.

10) Guile- dishonest.

11) Listlessness- lacking energy or enthusiasm

12) Auguries- signs that shows what will happen in the future.

13) epoch - a period of time in.history marked by particular event.

14) Otiose - unnecessary, having no.useful purpose.

15) Cul- de-sac - a street that is closed at the end.

Okay, I will stop here for today. Hope someone has something added to his or her vocabulary.

Amebo is a good something.

Photo Credits: @artXLagos
I saw that beautiful piece and couldn't help wonder how beauty could be made in such simplicity. Simple yet sophisticated. That artwork is titled Amebo.
Interestingly, this piece revolves around that the title of the artwork; Amebo. Let's do it this way. We ll have two talks, leisure talk and serious talk.
We all know about Amebo. I mean this word is a local parlance which is an identity to our Nigerian culture. It is used to describe people who enjoy prying into the privacy of others thereby violating their fundamental right to privacy. We have Amebo everywhere. Our government can do Amebo for the purpose of security and public order. Please endeavour to see the provision of Section 45 of the 1999 Nigerian constitution as amended .
I even have a friend who enjoys Amebo a lot. In fact this friend  is one natural  Amebo . Recently I have come to realise Amebo is a good thing. Not only have I enjoyed the recent exploits of this friend of mine but I have come to also participate in the act.
So on Friday, 4th of November, 2016, I was at artxLagos VIP Preview. It was one wonderful experience. Not only the artworks were memorable but the class of persons in attendance. It was on.this day I realised that all those unilag girls that form babe are still jejunes in the business. I saw all nationalities of babes. Lebanese, American, British, Nigerian. But shout out to some selected few  who know what they worth. You all are still priceless   any day anytime.
I was checking out all the artworks  basked in melancholy for two reasons. Firstly my friend who planned to accompany me to the event abruptly terminate her journey for some reason and this point I knew it's suicidal to attend such events alone. Secondly, I had a flat battery, therefore  I couldn't even take photos to brag that I was at the VIP event.
As the doings of the spirit of Amebo would have it I  happened to be standing near Chief Atedo Peterside and Pastor Paul Adefarasin when they had a short conversation. In other words I had to eavesdropped.
Ladies and gentlemen that ends the leisure talk.
Atedo Peterside for your information is the Chairman of Stanbic IBTC bank. It happens that the brain behind  the ArtXLagos exhibition is his daughter Tokini Peterside. This man was all about "selling his daughter " to his old friends elucidating on the kind of job she does.
"She manages all these artists, writers and even musicians. They had to come from different countries today"

You see this got me reflecting about some things. Particular amongst them was the way most African parents have groomed their children. We live in an environment where the level of fixation on professional courses is evidently high. From the  cradle years of children their fate and professional track line is drawn by some parents and in most cases   deviation from the track line is not tolerated .
A lot of Nigerians can write enormously lampooning our educational system, forgetting that sometimes the socio-cultural psyche is also a problem. It is hard to find children declaring to follow  a novel path in their choice of ambition.  Most declarations are simply centred around professional courses which we all know the story when they meet JAMB; the changer of destinies.
It is hard to find parents who are supportive of children choosing courses which have no ties with certification. Music, sculpturing, culinary  courses are regarded as light courses. But we forget that these are the little aspects that improve the economy of a country through tourism. The ArtXLagos had 5000 visitors in three days. No doubt half the number could have come down to Lagos just to see African artworks in display. In this vein, this means money from other parts of the world would be brought into Nigeria to be spent.
As young people who would become parents one day, I honestly feel the only primary goal of a child in our society is to love Nigeria. Whatever his or her endeavour, it should be to the pride of our great country. It doesn't necessary has to be law,medicine,architecture, economics, electrical engineering.
Once again just keep in mind Amebo is a good thing. It inspired this piece.
#Ama rira.

Reading this piece would be three kinds of people. Those who are in a challenge, those who know of challenges and are scared of facing them and those who have none on their mind

Farewell to the first set of people. To the second set people, you all need to be reminded that fear is the killer of growth and progress. The body and mind should never be left docile and inactive. I propose to you to do yourself a favour, challenge yourself and unravel the strength in your mind. You could pick a book and set a deadline, you could start working on that idea that only stays in the closet of your thoughts . Remember that time waits for no man, the more reluctant you are the more enthusiastic your peers are. Some of us get downcasted when we see or hear the achievements of people around us. The reason is because you haven't  challenged your mind and brains. Don't lay docile with the few months we have get engaged and become productive to yourself and the people around you.

For the people on the third category. Take a cue from the people on the second category and stop being lazy. A lot of us complain and lament about the situation of our country. Let it be known that change begins with you. When all youths try to be productive, we start appreciating the values of hard work.

Ladies and gentlemen the watchword for today is be productive and stop being afraid to go on an adventure of self discovery.

Discover yourself, unlock the values of growth and progress. # a ma rira.