Yellow

In the world of order,

Blue is the colour of melancholy

Yellow, the colour of the sun

As we were taught back in kindergarten

And we all grew up to know this as false

And that’s only one of the numerous lies we were taught

Like lying is bad, all liars will go to hell

But as we got older, we realised this was not,

That there’s something called a white lie and

Sometimes you have to lie to save your arse and avoid bullshit.

Excuse my French.

Yellow, this is the colour of brightness,

It expresses positive and optimistic energy

It is best to wear yellow on a sunny day.

An article once read “a yellow tie finds itself around the neck of an intelligent man,

A man who likes being in control, an authoritarian”

But nonetheless, it qualifies frailty and somewhat aggressiveness

A mishmash of some sort

As is evident from the fragile egg yolk

Yellow was also the racist term for the Orientalists

Yellow seems to have more cons than pros

I disagree, Yellow is a strong colour

Categorically, I can say it depicts Heritage, Togetherness, Investment, Partnership,

Distinction, Commitment, Security, Returns,

Innovation, Footprints, People, Focus

But Yellow is not First Bank, though they've got a little ochre on the logo.

Yellow is like a distinctive carpet

Something magical, not just anybody can use,

Only people from the hall of fame use

Yellow is not MTN

Though they are full of yellow,

They are also full of shit and cannot be trusted

Excuse my French again.

But contrary to this,

Yellow is the Danfo bus, its ruggedness and doggedness

Yellow is strong and resilient

Facing different daily challenges

The half hanging bumpers and dented fenders

Single wiper, no side mirror all courtesy or the area boys

It encompasses different lives

The perfect setting for true hustle

Yellow is Lagos
Lagos is Yellow.

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Only One Bus

The following events happened in real time...
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On a Friday evening, only one bus was deployed, only one bus, only one bus was sent to Unilag, 2 days to the closure of all the hostels, the end of the session, a day when practically everyone would be going home when every Tom, Dick and Harry would be returning to Abeokuta, Badagry and Kafanchan, only one bus, only one bus was deployed. I’m frustrated enough with the security gados milking out ₦300 from me, a mere ₦300 but then, on a travelling day ₦300 could be a lifesaver. That aside, I have to face this inconvenience, embrace it, galvanise with it and make it my own… for the moment. Good thing I’m seated but the sardine situation, now not only with humans, bags everywhere, the sun, the heat, the humidity, the noise, the time, the body emissions and the other individual frustrations all caked up in this 25 by 7 ft. metal box coasting on 4 wheels, the bus having filled with matter starts to move, I hear the ticketer say to the driver, 45 sitting, 17 standing…she did not mention the 100+ different bags and baggage stockpiled.

Fresh air comes in, a heave of relief. Right about the first roundabout, and Voila!!! Flying snake, stinging monkey!! An accident, dude overruns the roundabout, hits a young woman’s accord, bashes the entire front section clean. “You don hit my car, oyinbo repete” but then I won’t be seeing the end of this, the ambience of the atmosphere gets familiar, I think it’s gonna be an interesting journey home. Right at the third roundabout, a hold-up steams, Unilag; a school of roundabouts, the traffic always starts there. The beautiful set of passengers sitting close to the driver suggested he manoeuvred the roundabout and took to the second gate. Lo! and Behold the road’s smooth to the second gate; good advice. As the bus drives out of the gate… Vooossh!! A woman zooms across the front of the bus,, a close shave,,,,, Nigerians sha, to think that she was in the car with her kids. Today surely is going to be interesting. Looking out the window, seeing an unfamiliar environment and faces, never knew this place existed, I hope we do not get lost.

Sways, tides, the bus swings from left to left, right to right, left to right and front to back almost as though we were riding in a jalopy or some 1960 station wagon, I keep my cool though there’s still that tad of fear of the bus just slightly getting over-tilted and falling down, but I keep my fear in solace of me being seated in-between and not at the edge, I close my eyes and hope I may have a cushioned fall but Marcopolo would not allow it, the engineers have taken every single variable into consideration, the bus cannot and will not fall under those circumstances, I feel a bit jaded and decide to close my eyes a bit.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

A loud panic sound pierces through my ears, my eyes open, I feel adrenaline in the air, this surely is not a dream, I am awake, random movements, people shouting, babies crying, baggage tumbling, the bus feels tighter, my sitting muscle is turgid, my legs are numb and I cannot move,,, “what is happening?” I exclaimed, everywhere looked darker, and was getting darker. NO!! NO!! this is not it, this should not be it, the end, the end, the end of the journey, I had slept off the entire ride. So much for an interesting day.

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p.s. - I guess mgh never really translated to ½mv²

Scape

The year 2015, here we go. I would like to thank the readers for the support over the past year, you have been wonderful. I thank you all for the comments, sharing, retweets and the likes...

Dictionary

Open that book they call the dictionary

Open it, let me see

A man once told me, the Queen wrote the dictionary

Open it, let me see its royal masterpiece

The English language, I heard is the crème of languages

Open it, let me see

It’s a complete catalogue of words, innit?

Open it, let me see

I learnt, it’s all you need to learn the language

Open it, let me see

Or maybe not the entire language

Still open it, let me see

But then, I am illiterate at the English language

I guess the dictionary will also show me how to read and write it

Open it, let me see

I was told, I would understand it better if I read it upside down

I believe I must have heard this from FELA

Open it, let me see

But He was not a mastery of English

He was a genius, so were Newton, Edison and Einstein

That is by the way

Just open it, let me see

The dictionary will make you more civilized, they said

Please, open it let me see

You will be perfectly noble, a gentleman, a lady

Please! Please! Open it, let me see

It will make you analyse the world better

You must really open it, let me see

The dictionary will make you a better person

Wait! No! Okay! You can keep the dictionary

I am fine with my language.

The Stunted Bright Light

The giant of Africa, the giant of Africa we are. First on the west, fastest in the west. A blessing for us, strategically positioned by nature in the corner, a corner filled with deposits. Deposits of overly abundant black gold, enough to feed us all ten times over with much more left but that gold is only one of our numerous assets, we have cocoa in the west, oil palm in the east and groundnut in the north. In other parts of the country, we have other resources scattered over; tin, coal, limestone, cassava, rice, lead, gold, marble, zinc, these are only a few. All these being present at the beginning, it seemed to be a nice bedrock, the perfect launching platform for development. It looked too good to be true, the future of Nigeria was not only bright, it was glowing.

Wait!! Wait!!... We are presently in that supposed future, aren’t we? Choi!!..... Or are we dreaming? It’s some 50 years after, and the environment doesn’t quite represent the possession of these endowments. Surely, we are awake. Something must have gone wrong along the line, something went wrong. It was from the beginning, it was not the colonialists, imperialists, Portuguese, English, Whiteman, Oyinbo, Onye Ocha or whatever name we may like to call them, they are not to blame, they passed the baton, it was our founding fathers, “the successors”, our first “ogas at the top” that have put Nigeria in this state of developmental thalidomide. But then, “it got spoilt” doesn’t mean “it can’t be fixed”, “it got spoilt” only means “it must be fixed” and presently, it hasn’t been fixed. Nigeria’s mates who also had similar potentials have harnessed theirs and are now living fine. Their founding fathers must have been so good to them.

Not really, they also had their hitches and hiccups, but they fixed them. Our problem in Nigeria is a simple problem,,,,, maybe not a simple problem, a bacteria-like problem. The number one anti-development agent; Corruption!!

Corruption is everywhere but it looks as though it achieved its full potential here in Nigeria. We, Nigerians are very hospitable, so we accepted it, took it in, harnessed it, revolutionized it, evolved with it and made it our part and parcel. Wait!! Wait!!... A “bacteria-like” problem, has it got so much that it can now be found in our genes? It’s starting to seem even our babies are born with it. Choi!!..... But let’s face the situation at hand, it wouldn’t be much of a loony thought to think 

Nigeria is a time-bomb waiting to explode. 

What do you think? 

Well it’s a logical thought, but I wouldn’t be too affirmative with it. 

As fateful as the country’s situation looks, I still believe in Nigeria, I am a part of it, so are you, so is the 23^rd richest man in the world, so is that passionate teacher who wants the best for her students, so is Danladi, the enthusiastic cobbler who wants to mend every bad sole, and Mama Risi who makes the best Jollof rice and every other beautiful 165 million Nigerians. We can all be comfortable, it is possible, “One day, e go better”.

To every success story, there is a turning point. The turning point which is now, a point in time with an abundance of both natural and human resources. I would like to believe that this generation can be responsible for making that purported brightly glowing future a reality. This generation, full of bright young minds that create bright ideas, possessing the tenacity to pursue their bright dreams. The hope I seem to have lost, I have regained. I believe in this generation and I challenge every one of us to ensure that the next generation and the one after that do not get to write on these same issues, but instead write about the prosperity that this great country will have achieved.

Thassall!!

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This piece was part of an original series hosted on talesbycecile.wordpress.com It was a 30 day series that involved 30 different young writers writing about our motherland Nigeria. This particular one was #22, you could read it directly on the blog by clicking here There are 29 other interesting write-ups like this one, take a time out, endeavour to read all the other posts. Thank you

The August Visitor

August came in unannounced, hardly surprising, he always came in unannounced. Verily on a scheme to affirm the metaphorical meaning of his name. But that’s not the awkward part, it’s how he always guessed when our parents were not around. Surely, he could time our dad, he was an 8-to-8 man; corporate worker, one who was always looking out for the family's needs, I loved dad, he was easy going and his movement was scheduled so he didn't pose much of a problem to August, but what amazes is how August avoids our mum. I like to call mum a “marauder” jokingly, not that she steals or something, but for the fact that she moves around a lot, shuttling between her workplace and home multiple times a day, at times staying back and not returning there. She owned a boutique not far from the house and she got many attendants at the place, so she could afford the movements. August did not live close, so his coming had got to involve some planning. Maybe he had a crystal ball in his house or some voodoo doll to control mum out whenever he was coming, she never saw him.

He would knock on the gate moments after mum had just left. At first, I had not liked his august visits, more like intrusions. But when I noticed the patterns, I liked him. I did not envy my sister, I was happy for her, this was a guy who would play 007 for her, and I could tell they were both in love. He was in ss3 and we were in ss2, their relationship was somewhat professional, they never had any romantic interactions in school. Virtually no one knew about them in the school but me. August was a hunk, he looked older and more matured than his mates, almost looking like a young teacher if not for his uniform. He always looked smart and was much organised, I was surprised how girls were not flocking around him, maybe they were too shy to approach him or they did, and he had told them a clear “NO”. Even my not-so-attractive-self had once fantasised about him but I waived off that feeling immediately because of my sister. They had been together for two years, they started right about when he was transferred to the school. August was about to graduate, his visits had got more frequent and his James Bonding was sharper, coming and leaving at half seconds. I saw nothing inconspicuous about it, he had earned my respect, for as long as he had visited, no very intimate relations had occurred between them, though they made out at times but nothing further. He had approached her about sex at the initial stages but she had told him a clear "NO" and he respected it. My sister tells me everything, we were very close.

August always came in with a smile, but on that day, he had a straight face on, nothing to it, as though he had just seen a shinigami, he must have had a bad day and he probably just came around to relieve himself by spending some time with his love. He came in, they hugged and went into her room, our room, there, they always hung out, locking me out of my own room, they would usually just talk, or listen to music and maybe watch a movie if they had the time. Music was playing from the room, I was hearing their chatter underneath. All of a sudden, amidst the music, they started shouting at each other, I was not alarmed. They had had disagreements in the past and August would not come for days, sometimes weeks. I wasn't ready to hear their noise, I went outside to water the flowers and trim the hedges, I had my headphones on, I could have sworn I heard my sister screaming from beneath them, but I was unfazed. About 10 minutes later I went back inside, August came out of the room, he was sweating, I took off my headphones, it was clearer now, it wasn't just a scream, I was hearing a loud cry from the room.

He couldn't have beaten her, right there, there and then, I knew it, he had raped her. He looked me dead in the eye, I was now looking at a shinigami and my not-so-attractive-self was not to be spared. He lunged at me, in a split second, my back was against the floor, the hunk I once fantasised about was right on top of me, just like my daydreams back then but it was no dream, it was a nightmare occurring while I was awake, before I could grasp the situation on ground, he had ripped through my skirt and pants, I screamed “NO”,  but it was just a bare mutter, his hand was over my mouth, I couldn't feel my neck, he was really strong, easily overpowered me, I could only but struggle, there I was, I could feel my hymen break, I could feel my twin sister's severed. I could feel myself broken, the tears rolled down, every thrust was like a blow on the breaking wheel, the longer he took, the more I wished to be guillotined. This was a mad August, after he was done, he stood up and walked out, he was without emotion, his two-year undercover mission had ended, we never saw him again, but we experienced him every time the month of august came around.

LET'S SAY NO TO RAPE...

Cogitatis Ergo Estis

For those who are soul searching
For those who are mind seeking
For those who are feeling the gravity of what life is about
Those who are worried about the outcome of the nearest future
Those who are about to lose hope, those who are about to lose it
Stay. Stay in this moment. Believe.
Your greatest fear will be turned on its head
And you blossom will be beyond suffice.
Just like proverbial saying "Where there is life, ...".
However you might like to see life, here's the thing
Make a pledge to arise... "Cogito ergo sum"
Cos
If you are, you breathe
If you breathe, you talk
If you talk, you ask
If you ask, you learn
If you learn, you experience
If you experience, you think
If you think, you grow
If you grow, you seek
If you seek, you find
If you find, you doubt
If you doubt,  you question
If you question, you understand
If you understand, you know
If you know, you want to know more
And if you want to know more, then you are alive.