With You…,Love Me for Me

I don’t want to try to be intelligent with you

I don’t want to try to be what you expect of me

I want to be stupid for a moment

I want to be free to be a fool when I’m with you…

* * *

Your expectations tie me up

They steal the liberty I crave

They suppress the freedom I desire

They rob me of what I want with you…

* * *

So don’t love me because you can flaunt me

Don’t love me because I’m intelligent

Don’t love me because of what I say

Don’t love me because of how I say it

Don’t tell me I’m bright, I don’t want to hear it…

Please… Just love me- for me.

NOISE

Inside of me, there is noise

Outside of me, there is noise.

Outside seems greater,

but indeed-inside is greater.

For if noise exists outside,

I can gladly ignore.

But if noise exists inside,

blind ignorance is what I do.

A stupid delusion,

’cause I am not me.

The firmness of my insides

thrives where less the noise.

Noise-Noise-Noise…

Distractions-unnecessary some,

Worries, anxieties, thoughts, thoughts,

Carrying tomorrow’s burden today,

Cares too heavy for shoulders so human,

Attention to details better left unattended.

The basic things go under…

The little-ings come on top…

And before you know it,

You are a floating bubble

As real as fake

As full as empty

As weighty as light

Close your eyes-turn off the light of your soul

Kill your senses-deaden your feelings

Look inside-pretend it’s just you,

Because indeed, you are, just you.

Just one man, in one place,

Doing one thing, at one time.

The firmness of your insides

Thrives where less the noise.

VOICE OF MY HEART

Give me a voice…

Hear me out

I’m crying

Bursting at the seams of my heart.

If you could give me that chance,

Hear the words you’ve lived to hear.

Unforced and real

Deep and truthful

Raw and sincere.

Tenors of empathy they are,

Irresistible chords of confession

Tones so, so clear.

Turn to me…

My eyes hold so much

They lead you to my soul.

Look again…

Can you hear the words?

Quietly beseeching.

Feel the pulse,

Don’t let me slip…

I’m turning away

I’m turning away

‘Cause you just won’t hear…

F.R.E.E.W.I.L.L

What’s the thought?

Say it loud,

That’s if you dare…

Your mind clearly is bought.

What’s the feel?

Let it out cold,

Show that you care…

Your soul surely is the deal.

What are the words?

Spew them out hot,

For all to hear…

Your tongue wholly is your world.

Where are the tears?

Let them flow free,

For all to glare-

Your eyes are yours to bear.

Where is the pain?

Let them show-plain,

So they can fear…

Your love is not theirs, to drain.

NAKED

NAKED

Bare it all

Let me be naked

Naught to hide

All, to be seen.

No shelter

No shield

No pretense

No cover.

From the coated sheen,

To the skin fiber.

No contorted flinches

No conscious efforts.

Like the birds in the air

Wings spread up high,

Hair let down,

Feet in the sand,

Laughter, reverberating.

No thoughts.

No, NO, No thoughts,

Just me…and you,

Just you in my world

And me, in yours.

DO.TODAY.

Behold the time

Crest the tide

Severe the tie

Check your type

Remove the thorns

Enable your thoughts

War the torts

Grace the tables

Submit the tussle

Kill the tempter

Cool the temper

Be tender.

Stand the test

Quench the thirst

Tape the tongue

Provide the touché

Ignore the touch

Light the torch

Finish the task

Tweak your thinking

Hone your techniques

Quit the theatrics

Understand your territory

Be on top.

Control the torrents

Wet the tissue

Win the trophy

Stop the torture

Fight the threats

Love your tresses

Do no trespass

Avoid trouble

Discover your treasure

Stand tall

Love this-day

LIVE today.

Grey gracefully-yeah right!Age elegantly-kó si árugbò nì London, abì you never hear?There was a time I was always the youngest in every gathering I found myself. I felt precocious. Then there was a time I was with the right clique. Amongst my mates. I felt comfortable. Now life seems like a “been there-almost done that” kind of life. “Oh, I use to do that in my time. I wanted to be a singer but….I thought I’d be a columnist but…I have those skills and I almost…but…”

miley cyrus, disney star.popularly known as hannah montana...has she really got the best of both worlds..?

Okay, enough of the pity party. No more. No more Miley Cyrus,or Taylor Swift, or Beyoncé or Tara or Chude Jideonwon. No more

Louise Priddy or Tosyn Bucknor. No more Chimamanda. No more all these people doing things you wish you could. Things you wish you did when you had the passion, things you wish you had been more persistent with, to get there.

No more being reminded of how much power youth gives. How fresh blood invigorates your thinking, compelling you to fly, to be,to jump, to just- do it.One more year reminds you of that ticking clock, reminds you of that idea that never jumped out of your books, of the exodus mission of the eggs from your ovaries. Reminds you of that wrinkle that found a comfortable spot on your forehead and your once upon a time little nephew that looks not so little anymore-his voice is breaking into a baritone. Your little cousin, see, she’s already growing breasts!

aiight, this is an aside.my li'l cousin is in looove with Nick, of the Jonas bros.Nick is far left....now, do you blame her,cos i absolutely do not!why dont they come my age...makes me think of how stella got her groove back.Naw, i cant even try it.Wanna say "na naija we dey..." but Grace Egbagbe, Lola Omotayo(psquare),Mrs.Art Alade , Soul E baba...na naija we dey sha.(clears throat)

You imagine fears that, years before, you wouldn’t consider. Fears that may never materialize. How your legs feel heavier and your brain duller. How your one time “I can face anybody” mind hesitates when it’s time to present your proposal. Seriously, you look at a kid with nostalgia and say, “I use to do that in my time”. Don’t know what I was doing but I found myself watching Robin Hood. Not the Kevin Costner version. Our original Robin. Thanks to NTA 10##%*!!I sat there and I could not move. It was like I was back in the house where I grew up, sitting on the brown rug, my head tilted up-backwards, wide eyed, open mouthed cross legged, arms lying loosely on my legs, enthralled, intrigued, by Robin Hood! Gawd, I felt the decades of my existence. Doctor who? Rentaghost? Superted & Spotty, voltron- defender of the universe….now you get my drift.

fake,fake Robin,Wey our own Robin , ehn? Couldn't even get the picture.

Doctor who? Rentaghost? Superted &

Spotty, voltron-defender of the universe….now you get my drift.

na wa,na Votron be dis..."get ready to form the blazing sword..."

fake doctor who...fakist!

behold the original(@ least, for my generation. top right)...remember him,His assured self, with the muffler.Oh, yes the muffler.

Was it not last week I was in SOTLC in fediben singing “we are

the soldiers…’or was it last two weeks I was in blue check,fetching water from six taps with that big heavy iron bucket my mum bought for me because she felt it will last longer until the bruises on my legs made her change her mind . Or staying awake all night, forming jacking, with fancy rechargeable lamps, trying to understand if Mr. Ababio was really sane or senile. (Apologies. Mr.Ameh was my chemistry teacher. Understand the frustration. )

greatest uniben students....?!

Time seems to blend. Sprucing up to jack in basement, Uniben, Who was I deceiving? Or catching the chill of my life on the verandah of faculty of pharmacy because the class was too full and I had to jack for my papers the next day. Only in my heart did I know that it wasn’t that pharmacy was the most comfortable place to stuff the jargon in my textbooks into my brains but for the cute looking boys in the class…ah, I read for longer on the verandah and tookprocold the next day!

That was like, yesterday? The hustle & bustle, heaven-must-kiss-earth techniques to make sure, that 2/1 does not elude you. Yeah, we all calculated GP even in our sleep.

" ...under d sun &in d rain..."sokpa continues!

Ajuwaya, the dream job, career, aspirations, masters, money, marriage, meltdown, breakups, shakeups, downsize, rightsize, relationships…does it stop? Can we pause? Okay, can we at least go-slow, like, take it easy, breathe in-breathe out? Well, like they say, “The day we stop, we die.”

But who’s talking about death anyway…it’s my birthday, remember? Happy me birthday!

“Chimamanda, Chimamanda éwooo…Adichie!”

Alright, I give it to her. I hand it to Chimamanda. She is so real. Absorbing. Her simplicity comes across as vines reaching out of the book wrapping you and sucking you in. Okay, busted. That was a cheesy attempt to sound like her. I couldn’t pull it off. I ask myself, do I have to write a book punctuated with how‘…the frangipani trees planted next to the walls already filled the yard with its sickly-sweet scent of their flowers…” or how “a row of purple bougainvillea, cut smooth and straight as a buffet table…” before I am considered for a literary award? For starters, I don’t even know what frangipani or bougainvillea mean. Do I have to be so… “Abstract” sounds condescending, so I’d skip it. But maybe that’s where the “art” comes in. Literature, as an art. But believe me; I prefer the “wassup dia?” kindda writing. What did you say? Slap-dash piece of writing? Thank you, I’ll take that as a compliment! Bad bellé.

you get brain no mean say u no sexy...denying our femininity, is crushing our liberty.Celebrate yourself women.We deserve it.

It’s yo

“To serve our fatherland…”

Seriously, you should consider deeply when you are “called upon” or “invited” to take up any government appointment. Leaving that your well- paying job, in whatever part of the world where you were taking it easy and making cool money jèjè, to come serve your fatherland is turning into not- such- a- good- idea.

Okay, let’s try and forget Mikel Obi and Obafemi Martins for a while shall we? The former, because of a sore-throat said he couldn’t play for the Super eagles. You guessed right, Nigerians nearly ate him raw. The latter might be more patriotic though, now that his club has been relegated, but I digress.

Tom Isegohi should have smelled the coffee when Nicholas Okoye and Bernard Longe dropped Transcorp as a scalding iron. Same way Nasir El Rufai and Nuhu Ribadu should have seen the writing on the wall when Okonjo Iweala resigned and Oby Ezekwelisi dumped the Education Ministry and took up the World Bank offer.

My Gawd! Except you be professional politician, these government appointments, today you are oga signing papers and making speeches; tomorrow, you are in the back of a black maria and in the dock being questioned for offences, real and contrived.

Gerald Ilukwe, far left

Gerald Ilukwe left his job as head Microsoft, West Africa, to take up the mantle at Galaxy Backbone. I pray they don’t frustrate the young man. Ndi Okereke Onyuike was also invited from the New York Stock exchange to head the Nigeria Stock exchange. These are just a few of the brain- drain reversal efforts made by the previous administration.

chief olabode george(deputy chairman, PDP southwest)

While I am not against occupants of such offices being made accountable for their decisions and responsibilities, it’s really disheartening when one watches these professionals and technocrats, without political backbones turned into a public spectacle in whatever charade lady justicia decides whereas the real criminals busy themselves, commiting worse crimes and chanting “Justice! Justice!” Shame indeed.

SLUMDOG MILLIONNAIRE…way not to go.

where on earth did they get this keke maruwa?

Finally, Latika and Salim have roofs over their heads. But abeg, Indians fell my hand. Did it have to take so long before the mayor could take the initiative? We were tired of seeing small Salim’s confused face on CNN, standing in front of rusty corrugated iron sheets, lying in a heap behind him-remains of his father’s house. Then we were greeted with the police’ brutality towards small latika’s dad when he protested against the demolishing of his house by the government. These kids were truly homeless for weeks.

don't u just looooove dis boy...?fantastic!

"its a shy one...and since when was there a limit on a crap?"

It is cases like this that make me proud of being a Nigerian. Yes, we have a tendency to over do things some times, if not most, but showing appreciation …deserved and undeserved, is our forte. I can imagine Slumdog Mumbai being Ajegunle and our own Isiakas and Morufs were starred. Then the Oscars came home. It’s not hard to imagine what would follow. Eaglets and the Late Yemi Tella’ episode sets a precedent.

Governors falling over themselves to host the kids, huge sums of cash being donated by individuals, corporate bodies and government officials. Scholarship awards, brand, spanking, new houses, at least in Govt. estates. Those kids and their families will never live normal lives anymore. Trust us for naija; they can even give chieftaincy titles…gulp! Alright, I have made my point.

APY BAIDAY 2 mee…

APY BAIDAY 2 mee…

I know it’s my birthday and I am supposed to be all soppy wiv luv and serenaded by all the attention. I mean, what other time of the year do you get to wear the near-celebrity status. You know how you convince yourself that ‘wÒ, I am special.” That you are top item on every body’s memory list, yeah right. Even when we know most of the calls and texts are obligatory and routine but at least, they remembered, abì? You keep your phone to yourself as much as possible. Don’t wanna miss those calls. Every sound, sounds like your ringtone and you hurry to the phone, only to find out it was a radio jingle …alright, excitement, and paranoia, whatever. It’s my birthday and I am supposed to be all of that

but want to really know what’s on my mind, at least some of it? Here we go.

AND THE MAN DIED…YIPEEE!!!

Omar Bongo dies at 73 in a Spanish clinic. This is coming after ruling Gabon for over 4 decades. The longest serving African ruler. Heard this guy had over 33 houses in France alone, higher than any French aristocrat…What is it with us blacks and this craze, obsession with immortality.

small men ...massive egos, abi?

Check out psalms 49:11 and you’ll get the picture. Now his son wants to takeover à la togo.4 crissakes, is it a family business? It’s not even a freaking monarchy.