Izuu's Turn

An Igbo adage cautions the chicken to carefully observe how the patridge is being skewered because it will definitely get to its turn one day. When it started in  Tunisia , Mubarak did not know it will get to him. He must have thought that Ben Ali did not play his card well. And when it got to him, Ghaddafi must have scoffed with satiety. Now that his domain is in crisis, the wise Saudi king is making amends; A wise step for a clever and sensitive ruler. For those who are still sitting on their peoples' rights while looting the national wealth ... the clock is ticking. Revolution is spreading and it does not know international borders any more! But for those that think it will never get to them ... hmmm! I laugh. Let's just wait and see. There is no fixed date. For Ben Ali it was 22 years; Mubarak 31; Ghaddafi 42. Do not be deceived, it may come down to 2, 3, 4 and even fewer or more years of oppressing your people through corruption. It will get to you. Yes, you that t...

I remember some of my students who are often in the habit of mixing up their tenses; and the kind of shame that flushes their faces when you correct their grammar more than once. Who will not be ashamed; especially when the individual sets out to impress with the "sophistication" of his/her diction? But we all manage, with the hindsight that we are all compelled to learn, speak and write another man's language. Sometimes, one needs to forget that he or she is a teacher and give thumbs up to the students for really trying! The Real Shocker Books, Biscuits, cheap air ticket, and reading lamp! You cannot talk about this without the understanding that back home, we believe that every "oyibo" knows how to speak English. Then imagine the consternation you get when you meet so many of them who do not even understand you because they know next to nothing in English. English? That elusive almost incomprehensible language that reduces the best of us! The very...

I am very pleased and feel greatly honoured to have met the president. I have achieved one of the greatest dreams of some Africans, at least if you are not the president, it is an honour to get to meet him and talk with him even if it is just for a few minutes even at a public function. But in my own case, I did not only chat with him for longer than an hour, we met privately and I had all the time to say what I needed to say to him. Before I did Imagine me! Small me! From the backwoods of Woliwo, a suburb of Onitsha. An area of more than 500,000 inhabitants without basic social amenities. Of the over twenty five years that I lived in that area, the tap has not run up to a total of six months. the roads are broken and have remained untarred for the entire period I lived there. Upper Iweka, the only road in the area with macadam, has undergone decades of being tarred, untarred, and tarred again by the forces of erosion rather than government intervention. It is within this localit...

Its cavernously dark eye balls Surrounded by darker furry backdrop Bored into mine unrepentantly. At first they were blank stares But I soon recognised them: A typical I-know-your-grandfather glare. Accusatory. Demanding. Usurpatory. One, accusing me of insolence For not recognising them for Having seen my grand sires before I even knew them. Two, demanding respect for a good deed I am not privy to. Three. Usurping my individuality By asking for recognition when I really do not recognise Nor do I even wish to. An internal switch auto flicked on Mine returned the beam; full glares. The you-knew-my-grandparents-and-so-what mope Not accusatory. Not demanding. But usurpatory too! “Haba! My own go different? Na who born rat wey no de fear cat?” Actually not that proverb… Wrong one but right thought!

Silent Corner: Blow them up! : "Tune it up! Yes, please doThe lies! The pretences! The Deceit! The fabrications! Increase the intensity ofThe anger! The venom! The hate! Th..."

Silent Corner: Blow them up! : "Tune it up! Yes, please doThe lies! The pretences! The Deceit! The fabrications! Increase the intensity ofThe anger! The venom! The hate! Th..."