I woke up that morning to the sound of the phone beeping. As a matter of fact, it was the beeping that woke me up. I took the call groggily and turned round to go back to sleep. Then I noticed the time was past 6am and I should have been up much earlier. My …
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE NIGERIA! Nigeria is 58! Somehow, I am struggling to whip up the usual patriotic fervor to wish my beloved country a happy Independence Day celebration. In years past I was able to come up with something but this morning, all I feel is heaviness. Heaviness at the number of basic things that are …
June is generally accepted as Fathers month and I remember my Dad. My Dad was the very quiet sort, and he was not a particularly eloquent sort. He had more sons than daughters and he was fiercely protective of his daughters. We lived in a sort of Close, but the path by our compound also …
I took this grainy picture on my way to work this morning. It is the picture of a traffic warden, popularly known as “Yellow Fever” because of the colour of the uniforms they wear. These people are employed to control traffic within the city. And they are a fixture in any Nigerian city. I don’t …
I’m no poet. I do not deceive myself that I am Rupi Kaur. I am not. But I love poetry. Sometimes, I dabble into poetry; a few lines here, a few lines there. So when I see a poet who is focused and passionate about their poetry, I sit up and take notice. I saw …
This is a story of adventure and intrigue…I’m counting down. You should be too. Books are bae, books are life!
There was a song they used to sing in those days; it goes something like this: Ojukwu wanted to scatter Nigeria! Gowoni say Nigeria must be one! We are fighting together with Gowon! To keep Nigeria one! It was a song about the Nigerian civil war and kids marched to it during and immediately after …
Today is Mother’s Day in the US and since I’m in the US right now, I want to celebrate some amazing women that have mothered me here. Top on the list is my beautiful sister, Francisca Ehikhuemen. From the moment I arrived in the US, I knew I was home. She has loved me and …
The Warri in which I grew up did not have this contraption they call keke napep or Marwa. It did not even have the one we call ‘okada’ (by the way, when will Igbinedion rescue that name from shame and disgrace?) The thing that Warri had for transportation was the taxi cab. And if you …
Ogbe Ijoh market was right on the beach beside the Atlantic Ocean…or whatever the name of that body of water is…in other places, it would be said that the market is on the beach, but not in my Warri. The market was on a large stretch of sand, so the Warri man…or woman…gave it an …
