GOVERNOR PAYS AN UNSCHEDULED VISIT TO A SCHOOL SO AS TO ASSESS QUALITY OF TEACHING.
     On Tuesday, February 16, Borno state Governor kashim Shettima, paid an unscheduled visit  to Auno Central Primary school and junior day secondary school in Konduga local Government area of Borno state. He sat with them to assess the quality of teaching.
       The Governor stated that meaningful development cannot be achieved without education. He also stated that in order to entice families to send their children to school, the state promised to provide one meal per day to attendees.
         "it is only Education that will give
          You equal opportunity  to contribute
           For the development of your               .                  communities, state and the nation at
           Large.  I urge parents and guardians                    to send their wards to school".  He said

He further made it clear that it is the right of every child to be educated.
   
But come to think of it...  Look at the picture closely, I remember  those days when the principal would come in to assess the teaching technique herself or a person of prominent repute coming in to visit... That is how we will all be looking serious and attentive, the "I too knows"  would want to show themselves then, and our teachers would be putting in energy like they are powered by electricity,  meanwhile those who had just woken up from sleep before the principal entered...  Will be claiming they have "Apolo"...  Lol (the good old days).

THE THING SHE WON'T TELL YOU...
      Tom stared blankly into space, as he held unto his sweating glass of beer;his only companion at the time.  And  his mind wandered carelessly, giving a mild caress to his problems and then leaving them to hunt him. Nothing seemed to make sense at the moment as he tapped his left feet on the hard floor, a habit he had grown accustomed to when he is disturbed. Nothing could get his mind off his current problems now, well nothing except the hot distraction that walked into the bar 20 minutes later, a distraction that he tried to ignore until she found her way towards him.
      He stared up in relief as he had now discovered something more useful to do with his time and as if trying to get his game shoes back on.. He cleared his throat to catch her attention, and when those cat like eyes  in that well toned face of hers stared back at him, he could feel the sweat drip from his back like it was a tea bag. He stared on longer, as he thought of one of his toasting lines. He knew that with the expression he wore on his face, there was no way the line of " you look familiar, trying to figure out where I had seen this pretty face before" was gonna work out, so he kept on thinking, and soon he realised that he was getting rusty at this.
       "Are you going to stare  at me all night or are you going to man up and make that request" she blurted out in frustration  and a small smile soon formed on his lips, "straight forward, that I like"  he said speaking up finally,  and from thence he gained his voice and the discussion that followed was a jolly one.
     "so what's the request going to be?"  she asked as it was getting late. "would like to take you back to my apartment" he said confidently.  She looked quite offended and Tom almost wished he could take the request back, before she asked calmly, "so you are not gonna ask for my name or number?"  he made to make a response but she cut him short with a warm smile, "your apartment it is then".
        Tom was surprised at her decision and response but that didn't stop him from enjoying the moment, after "the night activities"  he was going to ask her out, a trophy girlfriend at last! He thought, a girl he could proudly take around, show off to his friends. She was damn beautiful!
      Indeed “she was” he thought, as he stared at her the next morning and wondered if this was the same girl he had brought home late last night or if the alcohol had played with his sense of sight...

But on the bright side bringing your girl to  a make-up school is still an option....  I mean you can display her as a trophy during the daytime, but as for what she looks like without it... That would be your little secret...


Training is presently going on at delly  signatures...  More photos after the cut.

NEW STUNNING PICTURES OF THE GIRL OF THE MOMENT- OLAJUMOKE.
      From breadseller to star, there is no other way to describe this divine elevation. Many might call it luck, but I think it was something that was destined to happen from the beginning.
    It is indeed a ray of hope for us all, that we can walk or run( depending on how you like it), into that "big break" we actually didn't see coming. Thus all we need do is hold on tight and keep working and walking, who knows where we would find ourselves. It doesn't have to happen exactly this way though,  because  every blessing has it's own unique architecture and who knows, you reading this now, might be the next to have that positive and elevating viral story going around.
     But wait o, come to think of it, when is TY Bello's next open shoot, so I can walk in unexpectedly with my own tray of bread... *winks... *

Boiling point

THE BOILING POINT
     In the grand lecture hall,  silence swept over us like the cold season of winter as Barrister Adeleke took the grand podium, and that gold rimmed glasses of his clearly sent the message of “I am a no nonsense person”. But still he waited for the whole place to be as silent as a grave yard: I mean, for a moment I could literally hear the conversation of the dead, before the learned counsel in front of us made any attempt to speak.
       Tension was in the air, as those Eagle like eyes of his, which were not well hidden by his thin transparent glass frame swept through the grand hall; a hall which looked very much like a stadium filled with people.  But just when I felt I could hear my seat partner's heart beat, that serious and tensed face of Barr.  Adeleke broke into a broad smile, immediately putting everyone at ease. “ I will tell you the story of the frog” he began, "when a frog is placed in a pot of cold water that is slowly being heated, the frog tends to adjust it's temperature to that of the slowly rising temperature of the water,  but when the water has nearly reached boiling point, the frog can no longer adjust,  so it tries to jump out of the pot of water, but it cannot,  due to the fact that it had grown weak from all that adjusting and so it dies from the heat of the now boiling water".  "But the big question is what killed the frog?"
         His eyes swept round the grand hall and a rising commotion along with it, but immediately he cleared his throat, the hall soon returned to its former status of silence. “well”, he said, as he continued, many of you would argue that it was the boiling water that killed the frog, but I put it to you that it was the frog's indecision to jump out of the pot as the temperature arose slowly and it still had enough strength that killed it. " so dear students, if there is that dream or career choice of yours, follow it with dogma and do not spend all your efforts in adjusting or settling for less...  Act on it before it is too late". And the grand hall flooded with applause. Indeed Barr.  Adeleke met up to the  expectation our Dean had earlier laid out in the form of flattery for him " a man who gets the work done in little time"  he had said. And there we had it... The best career day lecture ever.
      But when it was nightfall and  I found myself tossing and turning uncomfortably  on my  bed, I soon realized that the words of the career day lecture spoke to me in a different way. I looked out of the window and the loneliness of the night greeted me, thus I plugged my ear phone to my radio as I tuned onto 99.8 the romance FM. The voice of the radio presenter Deola,   soon flooded my ears as she opened the phone lines for calls to start coming as it was the Friday show. I tried to call the number Deola had given earlier, but the strained monotonous voice at the other end echoed" the number you have just dialed is busy on another call, please try again later".  And I gave a short laugh in the realization that I probably wasn't the only one who might have had a hard time sleeping.
      I was persistent about making the call, but while I waited for my turn as Deola took other calls, I thought about how the frog story affected me. Well I adduced  that, not only in career choices but also in relationships as well, there are times when we need to stop adjusting and taking the heat and just move on... As the right one is waiting for us,  if only we can let go of the wrong choice.
    "hello there... ", Deola's voice rang  into the receiver, immediately breaking into my thoughts, "hello"  I replied almost immediately, "what's your name and where are you calling from? "
"I'm wale from surulere",
"niceee, Wale from surulere, what is your request on the show tonight"
"I would like you to play a song for my girlfriend Ada"
"please give us the song title and the name of the artiste."
" I would like you to play the song titled... game-over by psquare"...



   

A period of Abstinence and Sacrifice

ASH WEDNESDAY
      The statement from dust we emerged and unto dust we shall return, readily comes to mind during the ash Wednesday popularly celebrated during the lenting  season.
     When I was younger, the thoughts of the inevitable; death, had always frightened me.  As I soon developed a phobia for oblivion; the fear of what the life after death held, but most of all, the fear of being trapped in a dark void. But I soon got over this phobia by praying for the dead.
     The lenting season especially in the view of the Catholic faith is a period of abstinence and sacrifice, a period of avoiding or making an attempt to avoid the inevitable;sin,  and making an attempt to let go for others.
        I soon figured out that all my rising fears were from my status as a sinner and that biting phobia of never attaining spiritual perfection.  But a sting of relief bit out at me like a ray of hope, and with the softness of the voice reassuring my troubled soul, I had no other option than to pick myself up... It went thus “ for the angels and Saints, it is the little things we do right that matters”.  E. G that morning prayer well said, that constant warmth we give to our neighbors, that continuous act of GENEROSITY, that good advice void of malice we give to the needy, and that warm smile you give to the troubled. Indeed it is the little things that open the way for the bigger things to come.
      Still a sinner and I don't do things perfectly right, but I still cling unto that ray of hope that pierces the darkness, it gradually brightened my world and I am positive that it would brighten yours too.

MYOPIA

MYOPIA - TWO
    Tension was in the air as the air- condition tight living room of the Michealsons  suddenly  became hot,  and their Family lawyer Informed them about the 50-50 chances of winning Paul's case. Especially as the accused police man had now given a different account of the events that unfolded.  First he claimed that Paul couldn't provide his particulars and finally crowned it up with a claim that, he and the deceased had struggled for the possession of his gun,  and finally,  that the shooting was an accidental discharge. But Ben was confident that they would eventually make head way in the case as there were other witnesses present. Infact he felt that the chances of the accused winning were as slim as the chances of a man driving a car powered by kerosene.
        But that was not the reason for the Tension in the room; a Tension which Ben could not only feel but taste, as all eyes were on Paul's ex- girlfriend Natalia  and the little boy with her who was about three years of age,  and was holding tightly to her gown. She waited patiently for the legal discussion to be over before dropping the bomb on the entire family. “this little boy with me is the product of my relationship with Paul, four years ago” she said, with her voice full of confidence as she held onto the small hooded child. Ben's father,  william, soon cleared his throat before speaking “young lady” he began, “you do realise that Paul is dead right? So why did you  wait this long before bringing the child to us?”
Natalia was speechless for a while before explaining to the whole family in the form a tale, how she thought she could bring up the child alone until now. A tale which Ben thought sounded a lot like a soap oprah.
      The entire family were in a delicate situation especially after the death of Paul, which was why Ben found it odd that Natalia chose this  opportunity to come around. And like she must have predicted the doors to their mansion were  flung wide  open for Natalia and her child.  But that was not what provoked Ben's present thoughts.
      Firstly the child behaved  like a mute, I mean normal children make sounds once in a while, but most odd of all was the child's attraction to pink clothing, feminine shoes and Barbie dolls. This was definitely not a trait any of the youngmen in the family possessed.  Wait! Ben said within himself as he took a pause,  an obvious sign that a helpful key to the puzzle  has been unraveled.  “Paul broke up with Natalia some years back because she was on #team abstinence#” so this can't be,  Ben thought  as he made to rush to the study to find his uncle Tom who also found the fact that the child might be gay troubling.
      As Ben was walking past the living room he caught a glimpse of the child playing on the floor with some dolls, an obvious tea party; which was definitely a thing for a little girl and a strong wave of disgust blew past him. But the harsh breeze of the Hamattan held all the answers  when it blew down the little boy's hoodie. And that beautiful pair of barbie eyes turned to stare at the Intruder who was disturbing her tea party.
    “My God!  It's a girl” ... Ben thought aloud, “what is Natalia up to?"....

MYOPIA

MYOPIA- ONE
    Sweat flowed  from Ben's  face,  like the heavy down pour of rain thus making a confluence like the River Niger meeting the Benue on his chest.  But he seemed not to notice as saliva dried in his mouth and all attempts to get words out of his mouth were futile. Thus  Ben's father was forced to repeat the turbulent question once more "Did You sit in the car the whole time, the event was taking Place?" he asked once more,  and silence swept over the family house like the early morning Hamattan breeze  and everyone present waited in anticipation for Ben's answer, like they were waiting for a goal to come out from a final panalty shot in the Fifa cup.
       Ben tried hard to surpress a stammer, as his mind flashed back to the unfortunate event  that had now landed him in "court" . It was a Friday afternoon and Ben rushed from the grand lecture hall in excitement as his "play boy" elder brother, Paul was finally ready to settle down.  Ben continued his sprint as he had to meet his brother who was seated in his ride parked close to the driveway as they had both planned a short trip to meet "the one".
           He was soon blinded by excitement and bumped into someone in the gallery in the process, and it was a great collision indeed,  which left lecture materials flying in the air like it was a graduation ceremony.  But the fact that the other party fell to the ground and the obvious choice of a pink hoodie sold her out as to being a girl. Ben was apologetic  as they picked up their personal effects,  but she was persistent about seeing the face of her offender and he was forced to stare at her too, and for a moment he was lost in those honey  brown  eyes of hers; my God!  She is beautiful,  Ben thought to himself with his mouth slightly agape. He soon straightened up without saying a word as that masculine pride of his bit out at him and he made to leave.  Wait! She protested, “I haven't forgiven you for bumping into me earlier” she said and Ben blamed  the  last statement of hers on the fact that she had probably seen a lot of modern day Korean movies. But his facial  expression once revealed warmed up her face with a smile.  He asked for her name after introducing himself and held his breath as he waited  for the worst.  Please,  let it not be another Chinyere, Ada or Amaka he thought within himself as the likes of those in his previous relationships had made him feel like he was in an EPISODE of “witches of East End". "Ebiere", "my name is Ebiere" she answered finally and relief spread all over him like the rain after a very sunny day.
      Ben soon rushed to meet his brother and for the duo, love was indeed in the air.  And that was why,  when some policemen tried to stop paul who wasn't breaking any traffic regulations he hadn't  seen  them and drove right past them, but after Ben called his attention, he turned around and drove right back to meet them; an action either carried out by a very good citizen or a man drunk in love.
    Things soon got messy when a police man accused Paul of driving at high speed and breaking numerous traffic regulations and Paul was forced to leave his car on the officer's command and Paul reassured Ben that he would take care of the whole situation before leaving.  So Ben took the opportunity to think about Ebiere's great beauty and their destined meeting earlier, but he was later distracted  at the peak of his thoughts by the sound of a slap which had obviously been given to his brother by the police man.  Thus he struggled to open the door of the car as he watched his brother bite his lower lip as he addressed silently his battered masculine  pride.  As Ben rushed out,  the police man took seven steps backwards   before shooting Paul on the chest,  and the other officers present chanted a "No!" "Ben, I am dying"  Paul said as Ben held onto him and he fell to the ground, but it didn't take long before Paul gave up the ghost.
        Now in the family house, Ben stood distressed at his father's last question.  The case was definitely going to court as Ben's dad was going to make the people responsible pay.  paul was their father's favourite and now Ben was going to stand as a major witness in the case. So, How was he going to explain to his father that he had missed out on the major details of the event and had failed to  be there for his brother in a time where they ought to have been together all because he was thinking about a girl he had just met...

The Viral Gossip

CRITICAL SITUATION- TWO
     I took the brave step and gave the guy on black my number, and mum stared briefly at us before looking away with that knowing smile splayed on her lips.  A smile I later understood meant “you have to get burnt, so as to learn to dread fire.” and indeed I learnt the hard way, as there is no way to explain a first kiss that seems like your tongue is being vacuumed from your mouth like dirt.  In summary,  my first adventure taught me the clear difference between love and lust. And I soon figured out that finding the former (love), is as difficult as finding the H. O. D of my department when you need his signature.
       But after the whole ordeal, I picked myself up, as to me life continues and as a matter of fact the search for “Mr right continues”.  But just as soon as I decided to turn a new leaf and move on, I went to school. And with school came the first semester exams and with the first semester exams came room mates wahala; I mean the quarrels that run concurrently when your room mates bring up unnecessary  quarrels like they are on heat.
       But of course room mates come in various species, well two basically; they are either nice or not and so are their friends. And that was why on a Tuesday evening when my roommate's friend Riki walked into the room,  my head started banging  seriously like a panel beater was doing some serious work there,  as I prepared for the usual.
      Well,  Riki always likes to make an entrance which makes me most times wish she had someone to advise her otherwise. She cleared her throat as she dragged her feet that looks like the East and West wing on a compass as she made to sit on roommie's bed and the aura following her like the stench of rotten fish read “ gossip,  gossip incoming” and I looked away in disgust as she stared at me for a while,  but when she discovered that I showed no interest,  she changed to their native tongue nonetheless and I almost hissed aloud.
     The bad thing about gossip is that they tend to make the beautiful look ugly,  the positive look negative and every other thing unattractive.  And that was why I stared with my mouth agape when Kate walked up to me some days later and asked “ Tiana,  is it true that you told Riki I had an  abortion?”...

Why I love our African mothers

CRITICAL SITUATION
    The beauty of our African parents is that they protect their female children from getting wayward when it comes to matters of the opposite sex; just one touch, and you have signed a 9 months contract, ( avoid boys they are walking time bombs) our beautiful African women with the highest ranking- (a mother) would say. And they did still be the ones to reprimand you when you are 27 and still at home unmarried. But nevertheless  I learnt to close my legs as tight as I close my mouth,  as it was no secret that I was the shy and introverted type. But truth be told, this petite stature of mine didn't even bring temptation my way, thus I paraded myself with the patriotic flag of a good daughter.  Frankly speaking it was not like I had to explain to anyone the reason why, but things continued to follow that order until judgement day- yes judgement day; the day you have to go shopping with mum just before you return to school, and give a clear account as to why you still wrote "big tin of peak milk"  after she had bought two big tins earlier, two new towels, fair and white body cream when you possess a well toned chocolate complexion, and Zaron foundation. That is the day you will also give a detailed account of why the total sum of the figures on your list surpasses that of your neighbour's daughter who attends the same school as you,  and dear people that is day you shall confess your sins as well as your identity as to either being mother Christmas; for all the things you gave to a needy friend, Robin Hood; for the things you brought home that she doesn't remember buying for you and clearly isn't yours, and "pick and drop" for all the things you had clearly misplaced and she has to buy again, but trust me this is different as by the time she begins with you, you shall harken to her words and like the parable of the woman with the lost coin, you shall find that property and even find it appropriate to call your neighbors to rejoice with you when you do.
      But that is not the only thing you shall clarify, you shall also explain why you want to ditch the nick name of black beauty and assume the status of "oyibo", by asking for a cream that is not for your skin tone and finally it's either you explain why you want to assume the status of "mammy water" due to the list of your make-up or you write down a nice essay as to how that will improve your life.
       But mum is a lovely person, in fact the best that I know, so she knows that your confession is enough punishment, thus she might decide to get you the things either according to her mood or according to the number of chores you agreed to do without question during the break.
     But to be frank the task of shopping wasn't that easy,  as I was already fatigued but didn't dare allow it escape from my thoughts to vocal words of mouth because I knew better than to implore the wrath of an "are they not your things 101 lecture" and that was the reason why I almost chanted hallelujah when I finally sat beside mum in a bus.
     The breeze was beginning to blow softly as my thoughts wandered as to getting home and getting something to eat but all that soon became a thing of the past when "the guy on black"  boarded the bus, he had this light chocolate skin, that looked so much like cocoa butter, and a really handsome face,  my God he was tall. His masculine stature and the way he was nodding rhythmically to all the vibrant songs I liked that were being played in the bus, made me feel strange things.  And I was lost staring at him, at his back anyway as I was seating on a roll behind but trust me I didn't understand how just seeing a good looking person could make your day, until that day.
    I soon caught him throwing sideways glances to the back where I was seated, and I turned almost aggressively to look for my competition but there was none, except if he was into sugar mummies or gay which I doubt. But soon my questions were answered when a passenger alighted and he had to come sit with us at the back. I shuffled a bit with that petite frame of mine to make a space for him to sit beside me,  and when he apologized making a joke about himself being fat, I flashed him a killer smile at least that is what I thought it was at the time and he sat down. But few minutes into the journey he whispered into my ear "is that mum?" he asked, and I nodded softly.  My heart started to beat fast like it was a bass drum to a Christian song in church during Thanksgiving and I feared it would jump out of my chest anytime soon, my temperature increased and excitement filled me like a child who just got new shoes a day to Christmas but I contained my excitement. The best part soon availed itself,  he asked for my number and quietly slipped his phone on my lap.
   My excitement knew no bounds but soon an even heavier wave of caution swept over me like the heavy downpour of rain, I was with mum! Thus various questions invaded my head as I looked down at the gadget on my lap,  was I going to take the phone and type in my number; which was an open sign of rebellion by the way and an action I didn't know the outcome of...  Especially on mum's part or was I going to turn down the first tall good looking guy that had ever approached me...
   

Hostel life

THE UNSUBMISSIVE GIANT- EPISODE ONE
    I tossed up and down uncomfortably on my bunk bed as I didn't need a guru to explain to me that sleeping was not going to be possible that night. It all started with my roommate Bola making the fact that he was alive though asleep obvious by snoring loudly and continuously.  I made to close my eyes in one last attempt to sleep but sleep still evaded me like a leper, thus I bit my lower lip in regret as to why I hadn't slept before him as I looked on enviously at four of my other roommates who were soundly asleep. I listened to  Bola; the music producer in the room change gear up to 7 times,  and in collaboration with the heat they almost sent me on a suicide mission. I soon gave a loud sigh of frustration and the DJ took a break.
      But as you know sometimes bad things work hand in hand, thus all I could think of was the country's present problems and midway the female musician and her backup singers came around disturbing my already disturbed thoughts.  And they gave me that horrible melody of theirs from ear to ear but still I had no other option than to applaud but when the applause was beginning to turn into a standing ovation and I was still missing my target, I reached for my insecticide as the mosquitos have obviously over stayed  their welcome.  But after the brief war against bad music, our dear DJ continued from where the ladies had stopped.  I got upset as I remembered that I was neither a watchman or a wizard and there was no other way to explain why I was still up... Thus I decided to wake Bola up and give him a stern warning.  But just as I gave him the first tap, his morning alarm rang and the time clearly displayed was 5:00am. And it just dawned on me that I hadn't slept a wink and it was all his fault but just before I could leave his bedside he woke up,  and cleaning the saliva from the side of his mouth he said "oh Dayo...  It is morning,  thank you for waking me up". And just then a thought came to mind but right before I tell you about it,  let me know what you would have done if you were in my shoes.