LIKE NEW ORLEANS , LIKE NIGERIA

When on Saturday 9th February, 2013, the game between Manchester United and Fulham at Craven Cottage was delayed, due to the unusual power outage , there was so much unrest and panic in the stadium. The players and fans were lost as to what would have been responsible and probably how long it will take before it will be addressed, while the officials and management who seemed completely embarrassed ran ‘helter-skelter’ to address the issue. Credits to them, it took them just 9 minutes to proffer solution to the problem, yet the next morning all the Sunday tabloids in the UK captured the incident, some even went as far as terming it “embarrassing and disgraceful” not just to the English Premier League whose T.V audience is over 4.7 billion but also to UK as a whole.
The drama that followed the events at London continued the next day in far New Orleans, where half the superdome at the Super bowl went dark. That, according to Greg Bishop of New York times was among the oddest moments in super bowl history. As was in London, there was panic; Fans were glued to their seats, players remained in the field and it toke 35 minutes of consultations and work from the officials and representatives from the electric company before the power was restored. As expected, this incident made all the headlines in the States on a Monday morning where investigation continued without definitive answers.
In the days that followed, I have watched with keen interest as events unfolds and subsequently read many online articles on the two incidents. While some analyst have even compared both events in many ways, the one comparison that has interested most Nigerians is that of CNN’s Christiane Amanpour who made mock comparison of “America’s 35minutes of power outage to Nigeria’s 52 years of darkness”. According to her, while the audience worldwide waited patiently for the power to be restored in the Super bowl incident, Many Nigerians toke to the Social media to react sarcastically
“power outage at super bowl on Sunday, Nigeria doesn’t look dark anymore” tweeted one Nigerian, while another tweeted: “if they had super bowl in Nigeria, the power coming back would be the real surprise”
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour who happen to be the first international journalist to interview President Goodluck Jonathan after his resumption to office in April, 2010 (a conversation which had focus on the epidemic power supply in the country) would have probably been so shocked that she did a T.V documentary with highlights on President Jonathan’s comments on another interview early this year with and the subsequent reactions of Nigerians who expressed their anger, frustrations and even called Jonathan a “Liar”. In the interview conducted on 23rd January this year, when asked about the state of power supply in the Nation, The president replied: ” That is one area where Nigerians are quite pleased with the government – that our commitment to improve power is working,” he said. “I promise you before the end of this year, power outages will be reasonably stable in Nigeria.”
Even though I won’t to be drawn into the controversy, it is obvious that the truth of the matter lies in the president’s “definition of the words : “pleased” and commitment” especially when the statistics from the country’s concession regulatory commission shows that 60 percent of Nigerians are still without power access. It might also interest you to know that Jonathan allegedly paid US60,000 dollars for that interview. While you reflect on whether Power supply have improved remarkably in your area in the last 3 years of Jonathan’s administration to match his bragging rights, I will sit here and imagine what the said interview money (US60,000 dollars) and other monies stolen by our corrupt politicians/Pension chiefs would have done to justify Jonathan claims of “commitment” to improving the epidemic power supply in the country.

watch clips of Amanpour’s documentry here : http://bit.ly/Wsa6ch
Onyekaba N. Charles is an architect and a creative writer. He is author of “Swinging Emotions: the poetry of my youth” (Contact him at onyekabaeme@yahoo.com or http://www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com )

MALIAN WHO SOLD HIS PROPERTIES TO WATCH THE SUPER EAGLES VS MALI MATCH LAMENTS AFTER THE MATCH

I got this video link from an old friend and i think you all should see it. TGIF. Atleast it’s’ a nice way to relax and laugh after the week’s’bustle and hustle

The video shows a patriotic Malian who lamented bitterly and even cried after his team nicknamed ‘the eagles’ lost woefully or MALI-ciously (if you like) to their ‘super’ counterparts (the super eagles of nigeria. Click the link and enjoy! http://t.co/Lm6QtmMr

ONYEKABA N. CHARLES

LETTER FROM BOY FRIEND ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA

This one is from my crazy cousin…..so funny….read and laff off the valentine panic/pressure

IMPORTANT NOTICE!
Why would a girl who claim to love you send u
::: Boxers and expect a BB ?
::: A tie and expect Brazilian hair?
::: Singlet and expect iPAD2
::: Cufflinks and expect Black berry porsche
::: Nothing at all and expect an expensive dinner @ KFC
::: U Pay her school fees and she is on her period three times a month
yet we preach gender equality….
As a result of dese observable injustice and inequality.
We Boyfriends Association of Africa (BAA) in our 17th annual general meeting held yesterday at d Federal secretariat Abuja, has
concluded, that it should be on a Trade by Barter(TB) basis. Hence, the format for this feb 14th coming in d next 16 days will be:
A singlet = Brassier.
A boxers = Pant (G-string, throng or Patanla).
A roll on = Perfume.
Cufflinks = Rubber band to tie her hair.
If she shows up at ur door empty handed, switch off your dstv
tune to NTA for her to watch.
If she gives u flowers, give her mango leaf (after all,d two are
gotten from trees).
If she come for a dinner without money, take her to night vigil.
The above statement has been signed by d president of d association and forwarded to all concerned bodies, especially to
the senate committee on relationship and conflict resolution as our exchange rate this feb 14th.
We in honour of d above resolution, hereby suspend
our lingering
three weeks strike and use d opportunity to urge our loving
girlfriends to prepare for d lovers day.
Signed:
Okafor Chris Onyeka, chairman, boyfrnds association of Naija(BAN)

NOW THE ANTHOLOGY CAN RAIN ON!

I woke early this morning with back and stomach aches reminiscent of the type I used to have those long uncertain days when ‘men where turned into boys and made to leave their homes for a ‘stay or not defend’ camp or jungle if you like. Yet it was not like I slept on top of two hard drawing tables put together to form an emergency bed, neither did I remember taking the then traditional platic bottle of coke with a sachet of gala by 1:30am before sleeping nor did I remember asking any of Emekoma and Ezekute to help me interupt my sleep after an hour so I could return to my drawing table. Yet, this aches were so much that it reminded me so much of not just the physical pains but also the physcological and mental trauma we went through exactly this time last year to get an M.sc degree which had eluded us for more than 3 years after our registration. Which do you want me to forget? ; was it the many timetable of activities?, the uncertainities surrounding the additional courses?, the popular Mr. M.sc series by the Arc Chukwuka?, the cowardice act of one Mr. Okpata who thought his only path to fame was to fail 98percent of his students for an irrelevant one credit load course?, the gaba-alone era?, the jungle life that came with the gaba-alone era, the many prints and printers of one mysterious chief Otikpo who never existed? Or is it the final of finals interim architect fever?.

Time flies, I agree with that popular saying but perhaps, it will take a lot of flying for me to forget those times when many of us accepted to be homeless, hopeless, back-stabbers, disillusioned, and maybe stupid in our selfish bid to get to the ‘highway’. Today, the Umehs, Edafes, and Slows (Nwabueze) of that group are happily married. A decision and bold step which to me should pass a strong message to the oyeisi of that group that those students he then victimized and abused many times were not actually kids. YES!, I accept that then, many times, many of us may have behaved like ‘school boys’ but we’ve always been matured men and ladies who are responsible and independent (atleast in decison making).

I was at Nwabueze’s (slow) wedding a forthnight ago, and I remember many people both physically present and absent (especially Zikora and da’ Cow) asking me about the GaBa-AlonE anthology. My reply was that it was on the ‘pipeline’ even when I knew I had suspended it because of some concerns Ogwu raised one day we were having a chat. It was not like the man popularly known as ‘lecturer 3’ had a problem with the idea of an anthology for Gaba-alone. No! He only argued that the timing was not right especially with our results and files lying on the floor of the HOD’s general office months after we had defended. Perhaps he was right but after the events of the last 3 or 4 weeks, especially with all our files/results attended to and awaiting approval just like Nzewi’s and with the beautiful faces I saw at slow’s wedding, I see no reason while I shouldn’t press the ‘RESUME’ button to the preparation and processing of this anthology that promises to unite us even years after the eventful struggle in the jungle. Afterall, you don’t see Nzewi, Cowboy, Ogwu or even Zammy dress in suit many times without a jury (na only for jury wey dressing be 5percent), you don’t see Rev. Fr Agbonome become HOD of architecture Dept. everytime in unizik (spiritual intervention at last in the dept), you don’t see Arc. Officha in a social gathering (time no dey!), you don’t hear all d time that Dept of architecture, unizik. did a final jury witout a final of finals interim jury for M.sc students (Congrats Echeta, Casper, Prof. Chiemeka, Amaka girl and co) and wait! I don’t get these back and stomach aches all the time. YES! The signs are here so, let the ANTHOLOGY RAIN ON!.

NOTE: Thanks to Nzewi,Ezekute, Emekoma Zikora, Chukwuma, Mmo and others who their contributions so far. You can send your multiple entries in form of notes, poems, short stories or picture message to onyekabeme@yahoo.com

By: Onyekaba N. Charles(zammy)
Editor, the gaba_alone anthology

ZERO TO HERO, CHUMP TO CHAMP!

Jubilant chelsea players celebrating with Roberto Di matteo!

Chelsea won the champions league trophy yesterday for the first time in their history as they beat Bayern munich 4 -3 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 in normal time.  That stunning victory completed one of the most dramatic reversals of fortune in football history, the glorious final act of a season which had once threatened to unravel.

While I watched the Chelsea team celebrating that feat, my thoughts was just fixed on someone and something special that perhaps is arguably the most important lesson of the night, not just in foot-balling terms but as regards life in general.

I wasn’t thinking about the phenomenal ‘DROG’-No! We all know that anytime, Drogba will continue to be one of the world’s finest footballers. Was it the goalkeeper bravery of PETR CECH? – Definitely not! Cech did not do anything extra-ordinary yesterday because we’ve always known about his goalkeeping prowess and his ability to make himself bigger than any goal post on his day. Was it then the emotional MR. ROMAN ABRAHIMOVICH?-not at all! We always knew he has got the money to assemble the combination of man-city and real Madrid teams into his darling Chelsea team. Of course I was happy for our own MIKEL but my thoughts were far from him because I always knew he has such potentials right from his youth championship days with Coach Samson Siasia. The man for me yesterday is the 42years old Swiss born Italian ‘ROBERTO DI MATTEO’ who was appointed as interim manager following the dismissal of Andre Villas- on 4^th March and had the task of transforming Chelsea fading season to anything better than what it was as at then.

Of course, his appointment raised a few eyebrows as many people questioned the rationale behind handing over the helms of affair of a sinking ship to someone who was in the team of sailors whereas other observers just viewed the former Chelsea midfielder as merely a short term candidate for the job.
Thus, In the days that followed Villas-Boas’s dismissal, a laundry list of potential managers were name-checked in connection with the ‘supposed’ vacancy at Stamford Bridge — Pep Guardiola, Rafael Benitez, David Moyes even former boss Jose Mourinho were among the early names on the bookmaker’s list.

Meanwhile, down at Chelsea’s Cobham training base, on the leafy outskirts of London, a humble, discipline and committed  Di Matteo was quietly setting about the task of restoring belief in a team who had won only once in their previous seven games before his appointment. The first couple of results he managed was labored for and was hard earned. Chelsea obviously weren’t playing very well, but they still managed to nick in victories as a result of the re-installed confidence and self-belief in the team. However it was not until Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Napoli in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie that Di Matteo’s quiet revolution took off and became notice-able.
Trailing 3-1 after the first leg, Chelsea roared into the last eight with a performance that recalled the club’s dominance of a few years earlier. Worthy of mention is the fact that it was much criticized chelsea’s old guard who proved instrumental in that important win – (Didier Drogba, John Terry and Lampard all getting on the score-sheet) and also played important roles throughout the remainder of the season. Another talking point is how the ‘small’ Italian restored the confidence of the likes of Torres, MIkel and Kalou who were becoming traditional bench warmers under AVB’s regime.

With yesterday’s victory, Di Matteo made it : 14WINS, 4 DRAWS and 3 necessary LOSES which accumulated into 2 important trophies ( the F.A cup and the CHANPIONS LEAGUE trophy) plus a chance to defend the champions league next season at the expenses of Tottenham who finished 4th in the league . Such a deserving feat for a coach who doesn’t measure to the peps, Fergusons, Mourinhos and Wengers of our time and who’s biggest achievement before now was guiding West-brom into the  Barclay’s premiership from the coca-cola championship. Today, if the Chelsea’s board makes the questionable and deadly mistake of not retaining Roberto Di matteo’s services, he will not be sitting at home for the long or have to be made an interim coach again because he will be having so many suitors around the world.

I am so inspired by this young man’s work ethics, self-belief, humility and determination and I send my goodwill message not only to him and the Chelsea team but to all those Nigerian youths out there who strive and have continue to make sacrifices to correct the wrongs and ills of the society we find ourselves today and to all others who through difficult moment have never relented in their strive for proficiency, success and perfection. If an ‘interim’ Roberto Di Matteo can steer Chelsea back from the precipice to the greatest moment in their history.
a ‘permanent’ you can do even better! .From Zero, you can be a hero! From chumps, you can be a champ!. Never stop believing!

 

Onyekaba N. Charles is an Architect and a creative writer whose first book “SWINGING EMOTIONS” is available in bookshops nationwide. (onyekabaeme@yahoo.com OR http://www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com)

WE WANT A CHANGE!

What else can we say? What can we do?

Our hands are tied. Like a stagnant pool, we watch, as our dreams fade away.

Do we stage a protest and get killed? Or do we remain forever silent?

Our brain-power seems quiescent, yet bursting with unexpressed innovation

But our confidence has been submerged by helplessness, corruption and their likes.

With a deep yearning to grasp our world, they accentuate basic education, “vision 2010”, “you win” and so many other failed schemes.

Enthusiastically we dressed, polished our shoes and carry our CVs

But we are astonished at what we observe; the gateway cannot pass a colony of ants. Thus they classified us not according to our strength, IQ, knowledge or talents but according to how many influential people we know. Another strategy to hamper our bond and unity!

As if that is not enough, decaying societal values, strike actions and other social vices have contributed to the clog in the wheel of our development.

We are intelligent and energetic, yet we are used as elements of power play, narrow interest, violence and political wars. We were fore-runners and active players in the transition that led to this regime. We lost so many friends especially the famous “NYSC 10” who died obeying the clarion call. Yet, the consequences of sell-out choices and sacrifices are leaders who fight their people, care less about our survival and subdue our strength with corruption. Oh! A government who compensates true patriotism with 5million Naira.

We look through the windows, beyond our borders; where our wealthy friends are and where our resources migrate to. We perceive a conducive setting not because their pastures are greener than ours, but because our fields are just for a selected few. The selected ones see us like handkerchiefs for their faces.

We don’t want to be involved in thuggery,

Violence has never been in our plans,

Social vices can never be our choice.

Yet we see ourselves at the centre of all these. Could it be that we are exploited.

We are millions of wailing Nigerian youths who are jobless, underemployed, uneducated and have our lives blighted by poor infrastructure.

We want a change!

Onyekaba N. Charles is an Architect and a creative writer whose first book “SWINGING EMOTIONS” is available in bookshops nationwide. (onyekabaeme@yahoo.com OR http://www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com)

 

NO MAN’S CHILD

April 16, 2012   ·   No Comments   ·  By Charles N. Onyekaba

OBINNA, my 6years old friend lives with his elder sister ADA (16 years old) and two younger siblings in a ‘ face me, I face you’ room located in one of the slums in Delta state. Their Dad died 2years ago of typhoid fever in that same room because he could not afford the outrageous medical bills for his treatment. Their mom died early this year from severe burns she sustained during an explosion from one of the oil pipe lines where she and other habitants of the slum normally go to spill, divert, collect and sell oil products as a means of survival. As a result of their parent’s death, all the kids have since dropped out from school. Obinna now hawks bread everyday and Ada, his elder sister now 2months pregnant hawks fruits in the Sub-urban part of the town.

FUNKE, a 15years old girl who lives in my street here in Lagos dropped out from school last term because her lazy and drunk dad who is married to 2 wives and has 3 other children from women outside marriage said he cannot afford her WAEC fees. Funke turned to her mother who practically, was the one fending for her tuition up to her SS3 from her petty evening trade. But this time, her mother couldn’t help out because she had spent a fortune on  the sick Ayomide (funke’s 6years old sister). Funke thus, resorted to hawking as her means of survival, but unlike Obinna and Ada, Funke hawked her body and only recently tested positive to HIV.

AISHA, 19years, is the only child of her father’s union with Mrs. Yusuf. After her Dad’s death 3years ago, her mother decided to re-marry Mallam Tijani and gave her the option of moving with her to her new matrimonial home or fend for herself. Aisha agreed to move in with her mother but unknown to her mother, her new husband has been sneaking into her daughter’s room for the past 8months. This morning after many obvious symptoms, Aisha was forced to do a pregnancy test by her mum who pressed to know who was responsible for her pregnancy after the Doctor had confirmed she was 3months pregnant. When Aisha confessed to her mum, Mrs. Yusuf sent her to the streets without quizzing her husband, calling her unborn baby a ‘no man’s child’ and threatening to send her to her grave if she ever calls her husband’s name in connection to her present state.

Personally, I might not have a definition for the phrase: ‘no man’s child’ but sure from the three short stories above, I’m sure you will have an image of who our morally-ill society have called a no man’s child. Have you ever wondered what the future holds for those teenagers we see every now and then on the highways hawking? Yet that is the plight of the “Obinnas” of our society who know no other home than the streets. Take a walk to any maternity hospital close to you and listen to the stories of the “Aishas” and the “Adas” of our cruel society. Children who should be in school are now sexually harrassed, misguided and exposed to risks and dangers of life. As a result, teenagers who can hardly take care of themselves are now  becoming mothers, abandoning their infants or are aborting innocent children (the unborn no man’s children).

Okehainialam T.C (1984) in his article: ‘child abuse and neglect’ defined child abuse as the abandonment of infants by unmarried ladies or families, or the exploitation of rural children by elite families. Child abuse can further be seen as any situation where the fundamental human rights of a child is not given adequate attention. Some of these rights include the right to shelter and education. It is no longer news that child abuse in Nigeria is on the increase. What should perhaps be a pressing concern is that the major factor behind this immoral and disturbing act is poverty (as can be observed from the 3 stories above). It’s a shame but it’s true that Nigeria, the 12th largest oil producer and the 8th highest exporter have a statistics that shows that 90% of its citizens live in poverty and 9 out of 10 of her people survive on less than 2dollars daily ( Grey Ireland : poverty and corruption in Africa, 2008).

Sure you will want to know what the country does with all of her money, but pause for awhile and think!……. Your guess is as good as mine. While our corrupt leaders steal more than enough of the Nation’s money for their generations to come, majority of the citizens live in penury and have their lives blighted by poor infrastructure, corruption, joblessness, and lack of public service, that the common man thinks of nothing else but to use his God-given kids to generate a means of survival. Other factors which have given rise to child abuse in Nigeria include: loss of societal norms and values and the seemly timidity of the law to persecute offenders especially when highly placed individuals are involved.

Having analyzed all these, I still don’t think poverty should be an enough reason why a good parent should expose his wards to the ills and dangers of the streets and highways. Our children are our greatest asset and the future of our distressed nation; thus they  should be properly cared for. Government should spend more time thinking of how to better the plight of the common man rather than passing many un-enforced bills on child abuse into law. Every child has a parent and a government. Please let’s give the ‘no man’s child’ a future!

Charles N. Onyekaba is a writer and a poet whose first book: ‘SWINGING EMOTIONS’ is on sale nationwide. (Contact him at onyekabaeme@yahoo.com or www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com)

SWINGING EMOTIONS ( The Poetry Of My Youth) : The Book Review

 

 

Title- Swinging Emotions: Poetry of my youth

Author- Onyekaba N. Charles

Publishers- Magic wand publishing

Review by- Oli Jude Okechukwu   (olijude@ovi.com)

Man is an emotional and complex being and the best life for man will contain all the things recognised as desirable. His reactions to the vicissitudes of life can be analysed simply as emotional states

SWINGING EMOTIONS: The poetry of my youth, a book of 31 poems, attempts to capture the reactionary emotional states of people to different conditions of life. The writing style is adept in its simplicity. It is consistent in delivering pointedly the vagaries of human existence- love, happiness, fear, grief, nostalgia, anxiety and so on.

Clear expressions of emotional states solidify its originality and comforts one in the blessed hope that you are not alone.

Who is he? Opens with a common human emotional expression of anxiety- ‘panic, unrest, pretences everywhere! (page 25)’. This magnifies the human propensity to be anxious, to worry. Anxiety is an emotional state in which people feel uneasy, apprehensive or fearful. People often experience anxiety about events they cannot control, predict or that seem threatening or dangerous.

‘There are times I feel so ashamed of the things I’ve said or done. There are certain memories I wish to erase forever’.  These are the first lines of the poem ‘Blame me’ (page 34). It explores the human capacity for shame and regret, another common human emotion.

Grief-stricken, the author holds back no emotion in the poem ‘Rest in peace’ (page 27). The words ‘your memories still cast shadows even without the true image. I am in eerie loneliness and emptiness’ conveys the emotional response to death or other loss of a loved one. Dying individuals and their loved ones go through the human grieving process. Although the expression of grieving varies in some respects among societies and individuals, its basic aspects seem to be biological and universal.

Nostalgic feelings come to fore in ‘my childhood friends’ (page 35). The author reminiscences his childhood and the friends he spent it with ‘I had two siblings but many brethrens; I had two parents but many guardians’. We often experience nostalgia, a mixed feeling of happiness, sadness and longing when recalling a person, place or event from the past.

The author also explores the human emotion of love in its various forms- romantic love, fraternal love and the love of God.

He speaks about the experience of romantic love in the poem ‘enslaved love’ (page 10). Here, love is not given back for love, ‘a love that keeps getting back a pie of shit in return’. However he does not give up ‘yet captured, enslaved and compelled into a love only your heart can free me of’.

The love of God is communicated clearly in ‘true love’ (page 6). It brings to light the unconditional love of God ‘even when I resist and despise you, you are always there because your love is true’.

The last poem in the book reads more like an advice than a poem titled ‘The passion to succeed (page 41)’.

Like I wrote earlier, this book is very consistent in its simplicity and grammatical structure and more importantly, each poem represents an honest expression of deep emotions that characterize everyday living.

I recommend it to all lovers of poetry.

WHERE IS THE INTEGRITY?

March 26, 2012   ·   No Comments   ·  By ONYEKABA N. CHARLES

The word ‘integrity’ as defined by the oxford advanced learner’s dictionary of current English is ‘the quality of being honest and upright in character’. in other words, a man of integrity is a man of unquestionable character and outstanding norms and values which he is ready to defend or abide with/to not withstanding how tight, difficult and/or tempting the situation maybe.

After going through the above definition, while it may be easy for many people to beat their hands on their chest and say to themselves: ‘I am a gentleman or lady of integrity’, it remains to see how many of such people can rightly justify that by their actions. Permit me to share with you a story of a man who stood rightly and whose integrity was unquestionable amidst mockery. It was on one of such rare Sunday mornings, when I had to trek to church. On approaching one of the traffic junctions which was unusually busy probably because of the time of the day, a certain young man who was patiently awaiting the ‘green light’ of the traffic even though he was about the only motorist at the junction was loudly mocked by observers and approaching motorists for no better reason than because he was abiding by the laws and regulations of a Nigerian society whose voyage has not been well anchored and has been tossed about by the wind of leadership crises, corruption, economic stagnation, social wreckage, decay of values and religious intolerance. That even with democracy in place, the so-called reformist claiming to be men of integrity with intentions of sanitizing and establishing a stable political culture cannot even raise their head above muddy water. A good example is the show of shame between the Hon. Hembe and Mrs. Oteh of the Security and exchange commission (who is probing who?).
While I won’t want to bore you with the well documented case of Mrs. Oteh and the Hon. Hembe led probe, I still feel its necessary to draw your attention to something Mrs. Oteh said on the second day of the probe. ‘I heard that in this country, when you want to fight corruption, it fights back at you’

Not surprising, this high level of sabotage and non-chalancy towards civic rights, corruption and un-patriotism have also eaten deep into the fabric of the citizenry as the upright man is persistently mocked and jeered at. In the face of all these, our society has been left with many unanswered questions. One of such questions remains; ‘where is the integrity?’ Yes!, where is the integrity? when we comfortably exchange honesty for dishonesty, efficiency for nepotism, truth for lies, patriotism for corruption, peace for violence, values for money and freedom for boundages?

The way forward
According to Williams Backy ‘anyone who tries to change the society without the individual can be regarded as a lunatic’. If our society is to be remade, the citizenry must first of all be remade. The core of the problems lies in the fact that we have lost our orientation, thus neglecting our norms and values to the background. The average Nigerian is now contended with his mere physical needs which he does not transcend. Life therefore has become meaningless to him in the face of tribulations and hardships that he is therefore ready to sacrifice his code of morality, religion and integrity towards achieving and satisfying his lower nature while neglecting the optimum
It is an undisputable fact that the destiny of our society lies in our hands. We are therefore being challenged with utmost task of uniting ourselves to salvage our society from sinking further into oblivion. It is therefore useless for us to waste our energy fighting ghost enemies because our greatest enemies are ourselves. Not until, we stop upholding corruption, selective justice, neglect of societal values and responsibilities and chastising ourselves from the betrayal we have committed against ourselves as a result of selling our integrity, our society will continue to remain in the wilderness.

I wish to conclude this with the words of Pope Leo XIII of blessed memory (Pope Leo XIII, encyclical, Rerum Noveram, May 15th 1981) who said ‘if human society is to be healed, in no other way can it be healed, save by the return of Christian life and institutions. Christian morality, adequately and completely practiced leads to prosperity for it merits the blessings of God, who is the source of all blessings. It powerfully restrains the greed of possession and the taste of pleasure – two plaques which too often make a man miserable in the midst of abundance’.

Editor’s note: ONYEKABA N. CHARLES is an author and a poet whose first book ‘Swinging Emotions’ is currently in bookshops Nationwide. You can read his blog at www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com or email him at onyekabaeme@yahoo.com

DEAREST MOM!

DEAREST MOM!

 

……….Dearest mom!

Mother’s day bring to mind, what you mean to me.

You are my dependable source of joy,

………My cushion of comfort,

You are there for me through pains and strives,

………My light in the dark.

Your love is like a rush of spring. Like a bubbling water

-Unconditional, -unlimited, -ever renew and always –pure.

 

Most times, I wonder how you’ve been everything to me

To be my nurse, my nanny, my counselor, my cook and yet my playmate

I just can’t comprehend.

I think of the things you give to me:

Sacrifice, love, affection, and even your tears

Now I am convinced that without you, there would have been no me.

 

What would I have done without your love, care and affection?

What would I have being without your words of courage?

Not only did you give birth to me, you watched me while I grew and have always being there for me.

You call me ‘boy’ because to you, I’d always be your baby irrespective of my age.

Indeed! I’d rather be your baby, than be a man without all you offer and sacrifice for me.

Oh mom! I admire you! I respect you! And I love u more than you know!

 

ONYEKABA N. CHARLES (MAY, 2011) ……..A poem for my mom and all moms on mothering Sunday