A mother heard the family cat yowl in pain. She knew where to look – she looked for her son, Mike. “Stop pulling the cat’s tail, Michael!” she chided.“I’m not pulling his tail,” the boy retorted. “I’m just standing on it. He’s doing the pulling.”He, of course, is no different than any of us. Often, our first impulse is to blame someone or something else for problems. It’s the cat’s fault. Or the school’s fault. Or my parents’ fault.I once…
I love blogging but some topics and areas are not my ‘thing’. So when events occur in such areas, I only air my opinion to friends and associates. I beheld a sight yesterday and got encouraged to pen down my thoughts. At a popular bus stop at Isolo, Lagos, an ‘agbero’ (A Youruba slang for area boys) was at his usual spot extorting cash from reluctant bus conductors, when two police officers swept in on him from behind. The two…
Is there any difference between – Harmless and harmful ‘lies?’ Last night I was at my balcony waiting for the odour of the insecticide I used in the rooms to vanish, when I overheard my neighbor speaking to someone over the phone –“I am in presently in Abuja and will be back in a week’s time… Don’t worry; I will personally deliver the job … Alfred my main man …” I smiled and wondered if Mr Akpan (not his real…
The traffic today was bad. It looked like all the cars and trailers in Lagos had a convention in Apapa. The side streets and back roads were filled with cars. Leaving Apapa in 1 hour was simply hopeless. As I sat in that traffic, my mind was on how to get home early enough to make dinner and help out with other chores. Honestly, on days like this, all I desire is to do is get home, shower and sleep…
This post is not an indictment on people that snore. It’s just an experience shared. I often wonder how the spouse or sleep mate of such people cope. Recently, I volunteered to drop a friend off after paying me a visit. Just one of my good Samaritan deeds. It was a long drive and my friend slept through a better part of the drive. This I assume was probably from exhaustion or from the heat of the hot afternoon. You…
Were you ever asked this question – Who is a grandmother? As I read through an extract taken from papers written by a class of 8-year-olds, I began to imagine what I will be like when I eventually become a grand mom! Take a peep and feed your imagination! A grandmother is a lady who has no little children of her own. She likes other people. A grandfather is a man grandmother. Grandmothers don’t have to do anything except…
I love the fact that the door has been a good shield in so many ways to me. Safety from danger is the least on my long list, top most on that list is ..an entrance to my sanctuary, my place of quiet, peace and rest. Oh yeah! Rest from the terror of the ‘little feet’ that runs through and fro the corridors and rooms of my home with intermittent shouts of ‘mummy’. Feet that bring conversations which sometimes are…
In the late 70s and mid-80s, it was wonderful to be a kid in Northern Nigeria. We had a pleasant childhood. You know all those adventures you read and day dreamed about? We had them all. Now, if all the adventures you read about were all Enid Blyton, flying broomsticks and brooks and meadows and snow and Harry Potter, then we are not talking of the same kind of adventure. I am talking real adventure. In the bush kind of…
“I can’t say if the decision to be Mr. Patis’ replacement was a blessing or a trial of faith. I have been under immense pressure to correct and explain the mistakes made by my predecessor”. Chike said covering his face with his hands and letting out a weary sigh.It was as if scales fell off my eyes. I saw the sadness in his eyes and the droop of his broad shoulders. Yes! My eyes were finally opened to see my husband’s pains.…
My heart felt like exploding and I was literally boiling within as Chike said those words. The same excuse as last week – “Bidemi dear, please can we do this some other day, I feel tired today”. How can a loved one hurt you so much and in ignorance! As I stood by our family size bed, I fumed with anger searching Chike’s face for any sign of reluctance, lie or even infidelity (umh! the power of the mind)“why are…
