My Meeting with God

My Meeting with God

I went to heaven last night. Heaven is an indescribable beauty so I won’t bother trying. Just know that all you have heard is true and more. The more is that, there are different genres of music in heaven, and each has their unique hall.

I peeped into the afro music hall (All African musicians stay here) and I could hear Da’Grin performing already. He was rocking the joint; I saw Fela lurking in the shadows waiting for his turn to perform. But I digress.

I was there to discuss with God. I saw him sitting on the throne.

God: My son welcome. (He was flashing me the fatherly smile, but I was not buying it. Things are not okay with me and I frowned to let him know)

Me: Baba, Things are not okay. I have many things to complain about.

God: Ok, come and lie in my arms and start talking. (Trust the ever obstinate me, I just bone dey my side)

Me: God, I don’t understand why I am sometimes happy and sometimes sad. Why some good things happen and some bad things. Why can’t I be happy all the time and good things happen...?

(Cuts in)

God: You have sunlight and then you have night. Everything can’t remain the same all the time. There must be a time for everything. A cyclic movement...

(I cut in too)

Me: You are waxing philosophical on me again. I have read that from Solomon.

God: But, boy it is true.

Me: Why did you take Da’Grin so early? Stupid people and wicked people still live longer than the good and relevant ones, people like Nigerian politicians ... IBB ... OBJ and the rest.

God: Ha, you are insulting my creation. Anyway, people die when their time is up and for the bad people I give them time to change. So they live longer because of my mercy. I take the good ones before they turn bad. Da’Grin had achieved his purpose and his time was up.

(In the background Gboro is playing)

Me: Let me just tell you or let me just beg you not to take me any time soon, or I am dead at the moment. (Heart beating as fast as Hussien Bolt on a track)

God: No you are not dead, calm down. Your time would come. I won’t tell you when. It is a surprise for everyone and I won’t spoil it. Just be prepared.

Me: Why did you make me a Nigerian? This, my country is so messed. I can’t begin to enumerate all the problems.

God: Ha, I tried for your country. I gave her everything: oil, human resources, and no natural disasters.

Me: There is a natural disaster ooh! – Our leaders. They are a tragic lot.

God: Well. You guys have to get it right. You people have to engineer the change you want. You people tend to leave it in my hands by saying “God dey.” But, you miss it.

Me: There is a lot of imbalance. The imbalance is everywhere.

(I observed him nodding his head to Fela’s Zombie)

Me: I don’t know what to do with my life ooh! I am just lethargic to everything.

God: Ah! We go to the main reason you are here.

Me: So you know I have been depressed a lot umm! I am tired of groping in the dark. I want to know what my calling is.

God: You have to find it, it is in you.

(Cuts in)

Me: You have started with your riddles and coding. I don’t like it at all. That “It is in you” sounds like a peak advert.

God: It is in you. As you journey you would find it. Search the Bible and you would see it

Me: Ha, your Bible... great book. I love the Old Testament; I like the wars and stories in it. There is no genre of literature you don’t see in the Bible. I like the fantasy in Revelation, I like the romance in Songs of Solomon; the amazing prose all over. But, I can’t see anything that tells me about what my story would be like.

God: Now, I would give you some expo. You have to search inside yourself, communicate with your soul and spirit. You would find a talent, you would find something you like doing, something that gives you joy. Then hone it, fine-tune it like gold in fire and then you would be doing it.

Me: (smiling) I have drank from you spring and I am glad. Like a deer pants for water and gets it, you have quenched my soul. So now I want to listen to Fela, Da’Grin and the rest of my favourite musicians here.

God: (Now frowning L) your time is up, time to go. Shoo.

Before, I woke up. I went to the music hall and listened to performances from all the departed musicians I loved. Da’Grin performed his “if I die song” He told me to thank you all for the outpouring of messages on twitter, face book and the media. He said you should not cry for him.

DEAREST DEPRESSION

My favorite post. I decided to repost because it inspires me so much. I hope it inspires you too.

Depression you have been a constant friend, always around, so I write you this letter. Like a cloud hovering in my mind, you descend once in while and becloud my joy. You magnify my fears and doubts, and make me lose confidence in myself. My self-worth slaughtered in you altar of sadness.
But when I am in your state you inspire in me to write sweet literature, prose, poems and plays. So I feed you to my creative imagination, and it turns out something good and I am satisfied. So I defeat you, I use you for good. The dense cloud is lifted by the rays of my creative writing.
So you are not all bad. You are my muse. I have discovered how to use you for pecuniary gains. So in my journal named after you “depression diary”. I go to you when you land on my soul, and fight a battle with you with words and I win.
I confide in you, let you know my thoughts, tell you know my fears. In turn, my words give me strength. So when I read you, I see the weakness and see the solution. I expel you on paper, and you leave my soul free.
Then the beauty on your pages is everlasting. It is a sweet cure when you set in and words can’t come out. I read you and I am healed. I learnt from a wise man that anything can be good or bad. It depends on your views. People view you as a bad thing.
But I see you as something that comes like the wind, I see you as good. Turn you to good, change you to good, your complications are broken simple. I conquer you each time you show your ugly (fugly) face. Dearest depression, you don’t set me down no more, I turn you to joy. I rise above your dark clouds.

Yours truly,
Your Buddy.

Joke of the day

I stumbled upon this joke @ Kity's blog and I couldn't resist.

Enjoy the 'lighter' side of Nigerian politics....



A driver is stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway. Nothing is moving.



Suddenly a man knocks on the window. The driver rolls down his window and asks,

"What's going on?"



The man responded, "Militants have kidnapped, OBJ, IBB and Maurice Iwu.


They're asking for a $500 million ransom. Otherwise they're going to douse them with

petrol and set them on fire. So, we're going from car to car, taking up a collection."



The driver asks, "How much is everyone contributing, on the average?"


The man responded, "About a litre of petrol and a stick of matches."

Lamentations of a player

Ma Cheri,

What if I tell you?

That the flowers in

My mind

Grow green

When you come.

And the words

Out your pink lips

Makes the reeds blush.

I sing as your

Presence flows past.

Would you run?

And say those

Are the words

Of a masterful player.

Your antecedence go

Ahead of you

Like an echo in

The plains.

I mourn for me

For the lies I have told;

See the truth is stronger.

It is crippling as

It is soul-stirring.

See what telling it

Has caused.

It has beaten me

To the curb.

Weak and stricken

Blood is all over me

like salt

In a stew.

My overtures are

Rejected.

True feelings

Are profound,

They are clear

As darkness.

The more you hide

They fail you by

Sticking their signs

All over your body,

You stutter; you blush,

Your heart beats faster

That’s love.

But you are paid back

For all the scorn

You have dealt.

EVENTS

EVENTS

Last night, I watched Odia Ofeimun's dance drama A Feast of Return performed at the Agip Hall of the MUSON CENTER, part of the programmes marking the Lagos black heritage festival.

The LBHF is a seven-day cultural manifestation which celebrates the creativity of Lagos within a carnivalesque of traditional and contemporary Dance, Music, Theatre and other artistic offerings.

The A Feast of Return is a collection of poems for Dance Drama and it was written by Odia Ofeimum 2010 Fonlon-Nichols Award winner. The dance drama is performed by matching poetry to pre-selected dances from Africa. The interpretation of the poems to dances was stellar. I could count more than ten different dances from Nigerian dances – the Efik, Benins, Ijaws, Yoruba hunter dance, Hausa – to dances from South Africa and around the continent.

I bought the book and I plan to read it aided with the dances my brain recorded in my head.

I saw Gabriel Okara at the event and the man at 89 is still looking good, standing like the Iroko tree without the aid of a walking stick. I am in awe of the man, He has been blessed by the gods.

I think writers get to live long. Look at the long list of Wole Soyinka, Chinue Achebe, Buchi Emecheta, Gabriel Okpara, The late Cyprain Ekwensi, J P Clark, etc still striding the writing plains. There must be something to it. If you can explain the phenomenon get back to me.

Today is a big day for connoisseur of poetry. The big guns with a handful of contemporary writers would be at the MOSUN CENTER for a Poetry Reading (Muson, Agip Hall, 3pm) with over 10 poets . The festival programme just notes it down as 'Readings and performances by Odia Ofeimum. The poets are Gabriel Okara, Wole Soyinka, JP Clark, Mabel Segun, Odia Ofeimun, Akeem Lasisi, Adebayo Faleti, Kofi Anyidoho, Funmi Aluko, Iquo Eke, Tolu Ogunlesi, Emman Shehu, Remi Raji, Tade Ipadeola, Maxim Uzoatu, Jumoke Verissimo, Lesego Rampolokeng.

THE MANY ESSAYS

I just discovered the beauty of Essay competitions. Essay writing is a genre of writing that can be very rewarding. I have won a few in recent weeks (actually two).

The first was by the British council for a Radio Packaging and Presentation Skills learning programme. The second was for the Future Nigeria Writer’s training workshop. They didn’t come with a cash prize but they were tickets for opening the door to great learning that go a long way.

There are essays that come with a cash prize or something tangible and (of course) fame. They support the writer by giving him pecuniary gains and can go a long way to alleviate some stress in your life.

These essays below come with a cash prize. So get cracking.

Announcing 1st Money-Prized Essay Contest & Application to our 2010 Educational Festival

This year’s seminar would be held in Tanzania in order to enable our many East African applicants who for want of travel funds have not been able to enjoy the life-enriching encounters to do just that. And there is a money-prized essay contest open to all Africans between the ages of 18-35 as well.More details here

Be among the 3 winners of $350 each and global profilling by submitting a page essay on the topic


"Discuss any skill, knowledge, technology, issue, product etc that Nigeria can develop, master and begin to teach the rest of the world as a leading nation in that field by 2020 and beyond"


Eligibility - Nigerian youths 18-3years of age resident in Nigeria.


Deadline - entry closes April 15th, 2010. Winners announced in May 2010

Submit entries with CV, Passport photograph and a referee to competition@ youngstarsfounda tion.org

Organiser: Youngstars Foundation Jos with support from Skipsted Ideation, Denmark.

Preamble:

The time has come for Nigeria to become a leading country in a field of endeavour and contribute in making the world a better place. To achieve this, it is time we begin to think about areas we can develop further, master and become the best in such fields such that the rest of the world can learn from us. Different countries of the world have today become known for one thing or the other, the Chinese have become known for herbal medicine as well as technology, Japan became known for technology also. India is also becoming a hub for ICT. USA is known for commerce and industries. The Asian Tigers also are known for all kinds of manufacturing. It is time Nigeria becomes known for something it is teaching and giving the world. Young people can lead in this discuss as we are sure to be the major actors come 2020 and beyond.

Winning essays shall be essays that are

Clear about the idea is it proposing that can make Nigeria a leading nation
Demonstrates good historical background about the issue being discussed
Point how Nigeria can begin to develop this field over a long term period
Grammar, creativity and simple use of English can make a huge difference.
Selection and Judges

From the pool of entries, 10 essays shall be selected and posted online for our team of local and international judges to evaluate and score up to 60points. After their scoring, the audience shall be invited to vote for their winning essays covering 30points. Youngstars shall have a 10point score to also award. After this process, the 3 winners shall be announced.

Waivers

By submitting your essays, you agree to waive the following

Ø Appealing against the final decisions of those announced winners for any reason whatsoever.

Ø The essay once submitted to Youngstars becomes the full property of Youngstars Development Initiative, and by that the organisation is free to use the essays and articles for any other interactions it deems fit.

Enquiries:

(+234) 8065479817, (+234) 7035538876

or competition@ youngstarsfounda tion.org, ystar27@yahoo. com

The Center for International Private Enterprise invites young people to share their ideas on how to create opportunities for youth to strengthen democracy and the private sector in their own countries.Details Here

LETTER TO MY FIANCÉ

My dear fiancé,

In the near future, I would take you to the altar. You would be my wife, and I would be your husband. This journey is forever till death do us part. People have their conceptions about love, I want to share mine with you. It would aid us in this wonderful journey.

Love is a story. A story has five main elements, and they are viz: a plot, characters, conflict, setting, and theme. Love has these elements too.

The two of us, plus God are the major characters in our love story - the protagonists of the story. We determine if it is a happily-ever after story or happily-never after story. There are other characters, family, friends, etc, their role in the marriage should be limited. we shouldn't allow the bad ones, the antagonists, encroach into our lives and destroy the love we have.

The plot of our love story, describes how we live our lives, what happens to us and the meaning of events. In life different events occur, that may threaten our bond, e.g. tragedies, misunderstandings, sickness, etc. When bad times come we should know it is for better for worse, in sickness and health. We have to believe in ourselves.

With plot comes conflict. They may be physical, emotional, or ethical, that may create some tension, we have to resolve this together, marriage is a road, filled with bumps, potholes and ditches. We have to careful navigate ourselves out of the storms of life, and come out together, whole.

The setting is the immediate environment and time we find ourselves, the world we live in. the internal and external environment has its strain on marriage, e.g. divorce is the order of the day, it is easy to take the easy way out when things are difficult, but we should work through our difficulties.

The theme is the major idea of the story, our theme is God, because God is love, he gives the marriage length and our love breath. He teaches us the way to love, we make God the driver and he leads us. We run to him in all difficulties. If we follow the way he says we should go,our love would last.

Hugs and kisses. Love you to pieces.

Your husband.