Ma beru, I'm here

Love in pain’s place

I'm here to brighten the plane

To teach you forgiveness

To shame anger

Prayer in tear’s time

I’ll listen to bring you here

And my words will make you strong

Laughter in fear’s chair

I’ll walk with you

Fire will seem feathers in the breeze

And storms will be a mild rustling of bubbles of air bubbles

Ma beru, let it go

Let this fear be nothing to be

Ma beru, I'm here

To teach you laughter

To teach you Love

To listen

To make you strong

Ma beru, I'm Olorun

Ma beru, It is Me

Education can Change the World

Proferring definitions are difficult because terms have multiple meanings and are hard to articulate. Thus single definitions would not be all encompassing but misleading. However, explanations within the context would be more expedient. Education springs from the Latin word ‘Educatio’ which translates to English words such as train, erect, breed or take out. ‘Most powerful’ hints certitude in a state of superior effectiveness. ‘Weapon’ may pass for either an instrument in hand or one within reach. ‘Use’ denotes application. ‘Change’ translates to either a slight alteration or complete transformation in the state of affairs of a particular concern. ‘The world’, I dare to say, is space, humanity, environment and time within a definite chronological and geographic confine. In this light, all is fused and explained as ‘training can hit the world so hard, it can transform space, humanity, environment and time’.

The world has been hit one time too many in the course of history. These hits have been occasioned by servitude, natural disasters, world wars, revolutions, the holocaust, gay movements, technology, terrorism, social networks...the list is endless. These invasions by factors (however not external) have weathered and brought the world to where it is today. This is more so the case as it has set the world on the journey beyond the designation of day, night and seasons- The destination of a higher rationality, a more worthwhile existence. It has led the world to the practice and search for consciousness, enlightenment and freedom. Invariably, all three concerns put together are very nature of education. In the light of this, education beams as the most formidable of the actors, factors, objects, goals and weapons capable of changing the world.

The alteration or transformation of the world through the leadership or training of human minds and trust has stood its ground in the past as it is doing today. However, the measure of good or bad that shall result for such transformation would be a reflection of ‘who’ or ‘what’ controls the process. Thus giving light to the words of Mahatma Gandhi ‘Non violence (vice or virtue) is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being.’ The mind, the human seat of consciousness is the target.  On December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab stood as the Nigerian proof that the human is capable of defending that which is ‘good’ as he has been taught to believe and love.

John Dewey opined that ‘...education is life itself’; scepticism is ‘the mark and even the pose of an educated mind’. Nigeria needs to fearlessly rise above our cliché system by capturing and training Nigerian minds with the expedient methods- an X mind matching an X method, alongside a revolutionary impartation with the more expedient versions of truths, facts, visions, goals, laws, policies, rights and duties, and thus wield this weapon.

Let Afro spark...

Hey there! I was up till the early hours of today and felt this incline to share my thoughts with you on one of the simple ways to revolutionise Africa. It is actually an excerpt from my Undergraduate Long Essay.

'Unarguably, a better defined Africa and Nigeria is needed. In the light of this, I dare to search beside Lord Denning for a new outlook (which is now not only needed in Equity but also in field of the African Human Rights). On this note he submits (and I agree with him):

But where is it to be found? It is I think, to be found in the new spirit, which is alive in our universities. The law schools there do not content themselves with recording the law as it is. They are more concerning themselves with the law as it should be. They are exposing the fallacies and failings of the past and are beginning to point the way to a new age and a new equity. When the present generation of students comes to take their place amongst the judges and practitioners of the future, there will, I trust, be found among them many with a new outlook, which will give us the new equity (Africa and African Human Rights) we so badly need.[1]

In this light we opine here that Africa’s morality should be thrown open to the African youths and undergraduates(from all over the continent) to define after the latter has been transformed through and in course of an organised week long festival set aside to exhibit, celebrate and imprint Africa. This festival shall be known as the Afrospark Festival. It shall run as described below within a selected African state which has been prepared to be good enough to reflect Africa’s unity.

In the course of the festival, the youths shall be given by of Essay Topics, Future Rights. Future Rights, as referred to here, connotes the rights given to the Festival participants to apply. Through writing, their own self-enacted laws and philosophies to events not occurred yet, perhaps one fictitious in accordance with what they think is expedient half way into the Afrospark Festival week.

On the first day we shall have the registration of participants (undergraduates and historians who shall serve as judges), opening ceremony, announcement of Essay topics. On the second day there shall be the moon light play programme- wherein there shall be viewing of movies that tell the truth of African stories such as Amazing Grace and Black November (both produced by Jeta Amata); there shall also be plays, poetry session, moonlight tale telling in the open with every one seated on the sand, interactive tale and movie review and cultural dance performances.

On the third day there shall be essay rounds which shall include written and oral interview rounds. On the fourth day there shall be excursions to places of interest which are of historical African relevance. There shall also be crafts and gymnastic display by the natives.

On the same day, there shall also be the Secrets and the Sand Session wherein the men and the women shall split into two groups (All males in one group and the other all females in the other). In the course of this they shall share and constructively discuss, analyse and criticise the norms and values that accrue to their gender under their native African custom. After these, the best nine essay entries shall be announced.

The next day the top nine shall be allowed to express their essay idea in any manner they deem fit. It could be videos, slide presentations, poetry, dance, singing, reading, and speaking. But creativity will be highly rewarded. The judges shall be a select few from the natives of the town in which the festival was held alongside academics, artists, writers and artistes. The winner shall be judged on his/ her ability to see the good in Africa, celebrate and develop it for him or her and the generations to come. After this round, the all the participants shall all be taken to where we shall have the burn fire dance, dinner and photographs in the course of which the winners shall be announced and other awards shall be presented for other categories. Albeit the case, all these shall be forecasted life on the satellite so that the world may see Africa and the life within her and may also join in the activities therein by updates on the Afrospark blog or website. Invariably, we shall be giving Africa voices and real faces. The effect of this is that we would be training the future legislators, presidents and judges. We would be giving them an invaluable experience that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. They shall also be guided by the light of their collectiveness and the leading to preserve and realise all that they have learned. Thus bringing it into their lives and making these values have a louder voice both in their lives, and in their relation with one another and with the society at large.

It is pertinent note here that the first edition of the Afrospark Festival was concluded at the time of the writing of this long essay, however, it was not a full blown one week event but was an essay competition (organised by the Organised Press- Crew- a service unit in the Pentecostal Fellowship of Madonna University)[2] calling to the Nigerian graduate to solve the Nigerian problem with intuitive Nigerian solution having been given a defined scope and subject matter-humanity.'

For more info look up afrosparknigeria.blogspot.com, and theorganisedpresscrew.blogspot.com

---

[1] Fabunmi, J. O, Equity and Trust in Nigeria, Ile-ife. Obafemi Awolowo University Press (2006) 2^nd Edition P.7.

[2]Organised Press Crew,  The Afrospark Essay http://theorganisedpresscrew.blogspot.com/2013/03/storm-world-in-words-and-win-you_7341.html(retrieved on 04/08/2013).

The Nigerian Tomorrow

“Nigeria is such a mess right now. Just when we thought that Boko Haram is permanently resident in the North, Rumuokoro got bombed. It is terrible I tell you. See what is happening at the Federal level.... The future of Nigeria is only the same here at another time. Trust me, fifteen years from now, we will still be witnesses to the mass bloodshed, poverty and corruption....Let us be realistic, nothing is changing anytime soon.” As guilty as I am to be part of this reality, I cannot swear on my doubt of Chuks prediction. Unfortunately, it was the future we both discussed -The future of Nigeria.

Nigeria’s status quo is no secret. Awareness of it is enough rape into the guilt of being part of the system that feeds it. Amongst a lot, today Nigeria thrives of the misconception of what may constitute true religion and acceptability of certain practices. Many do not know the genesis of this, but today the dance is quite a trend. Christmas Day 2011 was not much of an amusing joke and the several Jos bombings too. Painful as it was and still is, some of our very own men regard the bombing and mass killings of fellow men as necessitated by the ‘Nigerian circumstance’- the same circumstance that we share and should work together towards ameliorating. 

Nonetheless, efforts have been made by the government to salvage the situation. First it was the employment of dialogue, amnesty, and now arrests. As commendable as they may seem, they do not negate the fact that, everyday, at least one Nigerian child somewhere is fed with a very good measure of hatred, disappointment, poverty, frustration and anger for her society- her country. She may only be seven years old and may not know what a bomb or pistol looks like, but she recognizes the hunger in her belly, the bareness on back, and the hatred in her heart. She is nurtured to accept her individuality and independence as the description of her fate to the detriment of a society who regard her existence a burden, humiliation or even a mistake. On the other hand, there is another who may have sprung up from ‘nobility’ but has been taught by her kin that propriety demands that she spills human blood to be ‘saved’. They are just two out of the millions of other categories of Nigerian children who are born and fed with the similar darkness on other days of the year. The three things these children have in common is their mind, time and the magnitude of their energy.

I am a writer, child tutor, brother, son, mentor and training to be a lawyer. Yet the truth is, I am also a slave and victim to as much stubborn misconception as thrives in our society today as constitutes a threat to our existence as a people bound by a common ancestry and destination. But then, have we not all at one time in our lives or the other been guilty of this same misconception? Forgivably, concession to guilt is the first step to progressive restoration.

I am sorry

Ndo, I am sorry

Dear God, I am sorry

I hope I am not making this prayer too late

I am sorry

This is pain

This is pain, I can’t deal with

I am sorry

Ndo, nwannem

I am sorry

I saw you fall before you did

I am sorry

I did not warn you

I am sorry

I did not help you

I am sorry

I did not mourn you

I am sorry

Ndo, I am sorry

I am sorry, I am sorry

There is nothing I can say

Even now to a stranger

I am sorry

I refused to help you

I am sorry

I did not pray for you

Ndo, I am sorry

When the flames took you away, I was asleep

I am sorry, I am sorry

I don’t have an excuse

I am sorry

I did not run after you,

I am sorry, I am sorry

I am sorry my brother

I am sorry my neighbour

I am sorry my hall rep

I know it’s certainly not early enough

But my heart won’t quit saying I am sorry.

Oju Iwe Madiba

Hush world! Let my Madiba speak

Let the stellar black star speak!

In worlds of large and little

My Madiba’s words echo

Like dark marble pearls tossed in the silver silence

His expression of past and plenty

Washing the dust off our feet and heart

His writing. His art of strange but soothing magic

My Madiba. Oh let my Madiba speak!

Let our hearts and feet race in this light to where it points

And let the silent sun water the seeds of his tears

Let the wind minister so subtly to his prints in the sand

In the day and night, let my sweet Madiba write

I want to read oju iwe Madiba everyday clear

I want to read oju iwe Madiba everyday new

I confess I love his words everyday fresh

And world blessed by Allah, should read and love him too.

Bawoni and Hello

Dear unwanted and far,

You live in an obi where no one but you calls home

But you dream of a love that tastes like oroma

And when you pray there is doubt in your heart

But a part of you believes in the onwa  magic

Where all the future kings and army dance in circles

Still the love of oroma and the magic you believe in

I still know that your heart is brave

It wants so badly to heal your scars

But ancestral tales won’t let  you be

With the nightmare of fighting you and angry me

You know you can love me

And you really want to try

I know I can love you

In your arms there is a good I identify

Bawoni? Please let my silly tongue say so

And the awful stench of ancestral wisdom fall and die

Broken ripples in our ancestral stream

Where our mothers and sisters use to bath and swim

The memories of our dancing dad’s who conquered the world

And told us it was beautiful to believe

My heart says hello and I can swear you eyes say bawoni

But we must dance history’s beats

Feigning ignorance in the truth that we can be free

Bawoni and good bye, let’s fight another day

As prisoners of custom and secret lovers of the onwa play

I Speak of Love also

I speak of love also

I speak of the times

I speak of silent rooms where tears know soil and pain knows heart

I speak of prayers that are said out of instinct

Because we are human, we can’t help it

And when I shut my eyes

I dream of a freedom to stand pure from our regrets and self-torture

To see for a fact that Nice is great and Love is light

But the clouds soon gather beneath my sun

A celestial mask to mislead me

But I know better

I know of a love also

A love that I must not see to believe

I know a brotherhood that my sacrifices can inspire

I believe in the virtue that my thoughts shall erect

And the dance whose music I can begin

And in all these

I speak of a love also

I speak of a life

I speak of a happiness that to which I can pray and drive

I speak of will and wisdom

I speak of peace

I speak of love also.

Just like a Dream

You appear just like a dream to me

A sweet sermon that drips from the morning flower

With you I forget who I used to be

In you I find who I want to be

There is nothing I think

There isn’t a thing I want to believe

But like you I need inspiration

With you I find guarantee

Like A light that punctuates the night

Either way the earth has to respond to your call

In your eyes I see forgiveness

I see the future

I see the truth

I may not be an angel

But I see the stars so clearly I can touch

I’m no mermaid but I float ashore

I hate to return home

You have made the wild more peaceful

You are indeed beautiful

Just like a dream anymore

I desire more than breath to be lost

I f I cry, then its cos I’m in love

If I run then its because I’m afraid of hurt

I never want to lose you

I never want to forget

I dare the rain because you are my shelter

I swear at the sun because you are my shade

I step on the sand because I’m unafraid

Unanswered

With our reflection in the picture

You are Sweetest

Just like a dream to me.

Life in a Picture

I am glad a whole lot has been left behind

My tears, my hunger and mistakes too

I take a fresh start

I become once more new

To take a love and play with tools

I am off to a new life where the sun is brighter and the grass is greener

And when there is colour it is pink

Where there is sweet it is butterscotch

When it is cold it is winter

And when I am tickled it will be white girl

I leave home

I leave all behind

I am glad, perhaps I am

To a make mistakes a new

T o unlearn the art of farming and take up intellect

To unlearn the art of hunting to embrace catching my train

I leave all behind to become novice afresh

I leave my home to make myself someone else

In another room in God’s green earth

I leave to find life again

This time a stranger to homes I shall see

And a warning to the love I may find

I leave for another picture

Olonija

Oloibiri began this dark day

A scarlet sun rising from the South

Broken dreams that started wild

The West rushed

The East gurgled

I woke to it all

I woke to the energy

The life of surprise

I watched in ewe

I watched in excitement

Vessels sprouted from the earth

Mud turned mansions

And wildernesses grew silver manes

Broken from this wild picture

Searching in these growing thoughts I sort

For the bright promise of my dream

The bright tomorrow for my brothers

My sisters love for cassavas

And my father’s love for fish

All buried, killed, forgotten

Oh Naija, how you broke me

Bruised me against my own loyalty

Bore me drenched in my blood

Bore me hungry, empty, wild

Naija you stole my heart and my innocence

You raped me endlessly in the darkness promising me life

You promised hope, love and all that I looked forward to

Naija, Naija, Naija! How can I?

How can I once again trust the lips that lied?

That kissed the bruises of my heart ache?

That cursed the vulnerable breasts of my ignorance?

Naija yet, Naija forever

Naija shocking

Naija, Naija, you are hurting...

So am I.

Out-scream the rain

What do you think of when you sleep at night

When all you trophies are place before you?

What do you hope for when you think of time

When your past is behind you?

And in your prayers, do you feel so small

Just like a shell beside the raging seas

And in that chair, do you feel s lost

Like a storm drowned in the earth

Can you out-scream the rain when the sky gets angry?

Can you out-walk the waves if they were your enemies

Can you rule the sun and tell her when to set?

Hold the trees and ask them not to fret

Can we live together , even in times as dark as this?

Can we love forever even in life’s little wind?

Can we be gods unto man or unto ourselves

Or can I be still unto you, hide in my shell?

My heart be simple, wiser I refuse to be

That I may love and trust so endlessly

I can’t out-scream the rain or out-walk the waves

I can’t rule the sun, or explain life’s pain

But I can live and love and believe

I can fight and pray and perceive

And when I pray, I love to feel so small

Like a mute brown shell bejewelling the sharp white shore

When I sleep, I enjoy being numb

Trusting, but thinking nothing

Because, I let nothing bother me

And I pride in my littleness

Because indeed, little means free

I Stand Forever for You

I stand forever for you

Defending you in my prayer and thoughts

Defending you in my victory

I kneel forever for you

Speaking the laws

And making them true

I died yet live for ever

I survive with you

To see you through

To win with you

That your wrong may be right

And the clearest sight may see

That from all these hurdles

You are victory and more than free

So I stand forever

I have danced for you

I have paid your price

I kneel for you before flames and fan

I defend you because through faith and love I can

So be strong, simple and free

And grow like age, spring and trees

For all that was absent I have brought here

Thus you no longer have to fight

You no longer have to shed a tear

Farewell to my ola

I bid farewell to my Ola

Who once made the younger me

I said goodbye to my long lost brother

Who had set the man in me free

He returned the night of endless dreams

That once had stolen my smile

He tickled my heart in sweet ordeal

That once stood a ragged pile

I felt my love bounce off my chest

And return so swiftly to its place

I felt my youth return to me

As I burned from love’s furnace

But he returned a prince

A soulmate to another

As I had known some years before

“I believe”, I thought

But now I saw, I doubted even more

I spilled my blood to hurt my mind

That I be distracted by the pain

But all the while as I had earlier loved

I basked in endless love’s rain

The night returned and so did the dreams

Of endless love reborn

But they were dreams

As a wild goose chase

And to my heart a simple thorn

As the hadith pages my spirit read

I felt pain in my heart red

I said a prayer for a dead mild lover

And laid hurting on my bed

The morning was dark, we treaded the path

To the point where bid farewell

 Again I never believed  as I now stood before death’s well

I craved to hug but didn’t dare

Because now I knew

This love as I felt

With my sanity few

Was more than a heartache tomorrows away

My brother-friend and lover still

Had brought this sweetness to an end

Allah be praised as the morning rise

And I bath in my heartache and cries

I had lost my friend

To the world’s extreme end

And I to another unfound

Today I forget my lover’s smile

As it was as mere as a dream

As we now pray to one Sweet God

In beds afar and distant tongues

In worlds we had once not known of

Nothing stood in love’s place now but memories

As we have been claimed by life

By transcendant books and sweet matrimonial stories

Yet Unhappened

The colours of eternity

With whom all the promises of life are bound

With endless rage and subtle doubt

When our eyes are shut and hearts abound

Red, the colour of beauty

That gives life and baths our heart

Nurtutring our dreams and passions

The soul of erection and orgasm

The wine for death and bread

The petals for love and viking pain

Orange, the colour of bonding

That knots the blossom and bloom

And tends our dreams with sweetness

That preserves our secrets

And makes the now seem sweetest

Conquering our tommorow in today’s tempest

Yellow, the colour of friendship

That tours the soul of man

And arrests his sour misery

That tickles man’s tears

For every trouble that man is worth

Green, the colour of hope

With whom our tomorrow lies

As petals may or may not grow

That reflects our humanitty

And betrays our pride

Where creation is watching, where the mighty died

Blue, the colour of oeace

The prize of freedom

That sirens man’s imagination

And unleashes his thirst

That may never stand to be true

That may never see the end

Indigo, the colour of betrayal

That unveils the heart

And punctuates the soul

After all the ‘fiery-forever’ is gone

And love no longer seems to shower

After the fields are yellow and dry

And orgasm ceases to ponder

Violet, the colour of wisdom

After the broken heart

And the flesh of her being, deflowered

That preserves the unseeming

And directs the beauty yet unshowered

And the secrets yet unhappened

Yet unthundered skies are unkissed by her misery

And virgin soil untouched by his mystery

We remain virgins even after violation

For ignorance had no fair prize

Even woman’s womb knows

And man’s unrevealing eyes

Eka aro my love

The morning is beautiful my love

With the brilliant sun greeting us afresh

God pleases that we see another day

Eka aro my love

Please wake up to the daunting freshness of this peaceful day

When all but the darkness is awake

That I may share life and light with you at least one more day

Eka aro my love

I am once more open to new adventures

Affectionately embracing both you and your imperfections

I am once more beside you and in love with you

Eka aro my love

You are not responding my love?

And the sun’s sweetness no longer tickles you

Please wake up my love, my loving heart awaits

Eka aro my love

I am closer now my love

With my palms greeting your hair and face

Is all well my love? I yearn for your love’s embrace

Eka aro my love

You are no longer breathing- I am scared my love

My heart has now one new emotion

Please do not tease me, you are my solution

Eka aro my love

I am still beside you

Just like that morning you passed away

I am still loving and, like this morning, here to stay

I greet you, Eka aro my love

It is raining my love

And  like the sun, our love is still brilliant and silent

So I am standing here for all you mean

Because you are still sweet and true

Eka aro my love, it is I who greets you.