Ibadan,from the otherside

​

1.

You detest it. Yes!, you detested visiting your hometown, in fact, you hadn’t stepped your foot on the soil for five years, not because you don’t want to, but there was no need. What is the essence of playing around a lion’s cage if you are not ready to get torn by the callous carnivore and you don’t have a gun, unless you plan to see your ancestors earlier than you plan, it’s better to keep off.

  But when you gained admission and they requested for birth certificate, you knew it was time to go to the lion’s den, so you sought the elder’s advice and decided to run away from the den as much as possible, you found a shed, a shed of protection with a family who accepted you like their offspring. They were your dream family, an energetic daddy, real and hilarious mum and a set of boisterous kids who will call “Uncle Faith” nearly every second. So they became your escape route, when school is on break and home seems far, sometimes you even branch there before going home.

  School closed few weeks ago, but you don’t go home immediately, your mum is used to this already, she has screamed, yelled and done everything; but you won’t bulge. You miss your shed so you pack your loads on Saturday when the sun has set and decide to take a trip to your hometown.
2. There is time for everything, a time to mourn and a time to rejoice, says the wisest man that ever liveth. But more often than not, rejoicing is a choice, a deliberate decision to ignore the odious noise and saddening voice that takes diverse poise. 

  It was one of your siblings, the boisterous kid’s birthday and you chose to rejoice. you don’t really fancy shoprite, not like you don’t like it o, but you don’t have “shoprite rush” the way Nigerian youths do, but going for the second time in two months (God bless Unilever for the first one) surely had some exhilarating thrills. 

   You are learning, you are learning that adulthood is responsibility, that love is accountability and purity is beauty. Like a poet and online friend wrote “Doesn’t your heart miss a beat when your lips utter “I love you”, doesn’t your lung cease to breathe?” “I LOVE YOU”, is responsibility, you learnt that too. 

3. Visiting your hometown is always a golden opportunity to visit people, to visit friends and colleagues, so when a friend in the fellowship invited you over, your heart danced in delight. You didn’t mind that you will be spending three-quarter of what was in your wallet on t.fare because she resided at the other side of your home town. You didn’t mind the fact that you had spent a lot touring the town for a new pair of shoes earlier the day, you were just delighted she invited you, so you went because you cherish your friends and she was your friend, a very good one.

  On your way, you saw a man who was deaf and dumb help a woman lift a heavy load, and you saw a kid help an adult who was using walking stick cross the road so you learnt a lesson, WHAT YOU HAVE DOESN’T MATTER, ALL YOU NEED IS A CARING HEART TO HELP and everyone needs help sometime. So you open your wallet and pick two new Nigerian notes that had Obafemi Awolowo on it, and gave one to the dumb and deaf, and the second to the fragile Fulani kid that helped the adult, they both smiled heartily although their heartiness cannot be as much as the one dancing in your heart. You were sure you will trek back unless you were able to withdraw but you didn’t mind.

  On your way to your destination, your bike nearly summersaulted because your driver was glancing continuously at a lady who was on the bike directly ahead of you, but you didn’t scream fret or worry as you would have done, you just smiled as you watch him find balance. You smiled because God is working in you and through you and you are learning that worrying don’t solve a thing. You smiled because you had taken one or two glances at the lady too and she was graciously gorgeous. She had a fair complexion, well fit structure with complementing curves, a well rounded lips that glistened in luscious lipstick and a blazing sunshades that’ll smash any guy’s ego,but you had chided yourself and the bikeman hadn’t. You wonder about how lovely life will be if guys chided themselves and not react to the rushing emotions Eve’s daughters leave on us. 

  Your friend was glad to see you but she was worried, she was grateful you came because you are her academic secretary, so like a sales girl calculating an invoice, you calculated her CGPA, discussed academics and a little thing about what gives nearly every student headache; A worthy career path to follow. You wished to stay longer but time isn’t your friend, it never was,it never will be. So you both went to the ATM as planned, but as usual, Nigerian banks will never stop having network issues. Your friend asked if you have enough to get home, you smile and say yes, although your yes was by faith, your name is Faith after all.

4. Time was up, remember time was never your friend, but another friend, a bosom friend this time around insists you have to visit her before leaving your hometown, although it was gonna be additional stress and cost, you obliged, friendship afterall is about sacrifice and no relationship survives without alternative forgone.  So her place was another side of your hometown, in fact, by now, you must have been through five out of the seven local governments your hometown has.

   Your friend welcomes you to her abode with her charming smiles that sends chills down your spine. Whoever rejected this lady is a fool, you murmur, she is almost everything a virtuous lady should be; God fearing, pretty, tenacious and very caring. 

  You meet her younger sister and her ebullience amazes you. She is carefree, lively and acts older than her age. You talk gist, and do everything friends do. You don’t want to leave but you know loads of assignments await you in school. So you pack your load, forget to give a parting hug (you will later remember on your way,and shake your head.) and head for the bus stop which is the crux of the story.
5. People in your hometown hate where you live presently, they believe that you are too fast, and your residential occupants believes denizen from your hometown are too slow,  they are both right, its about perspective. 

   Being a Lagosian has its advantage, someone said if you are a lagosian and you are foolish, you cant be wise again. You have been robbed, almost kidnapped, almost nabbed wrongly so you have all the lessons you need.

  So when the conductor of the bus you boarded picked your phone,it didn’t take you up to a second to notice. The guy is a pro at pilfering,you must credit as he did his job pretty fast, slipping his hand into your back pocket, picking your beautifully designed Ankara pouched phone and getting back into the bus in less than two seconds could only be done by a pro. But Holy Spirit was faster, so you scream, MY PHONE,YOU PICKED MY PHONE, he is scared, he shivers, fidgets and quickly throw the phone. You don’t know what scared him, is he that he was caught or that you screamed in English instead of the Yoruba that is the major lingua franca of your hometown. He was still transfixed, so you pick up your phone, smile at him, collect your change and walk away. 

  You learnt again, that more than anything, you can’t survive without the Holy Spirit, that people are wretched and the heart of man is desperatedly wicked,so you thank God as you head towards the park. You will wait for 55mins before the bus is full, different alms beggars will come with myriad melody of mellifluous prayers, your bus will break down three times before you get to your destination and your room will be in a scattered state when you get back to school, but the last five days were scintillating and you won’t forget in a long while,that visiting your hometown was really worth-while.
P:S- Few months ago, I wrote a poem titled “the other side of lagos” after visiting the Mainland and highland for the first time. As promised, this is the “Other side of Ibadan” and its dedicated to the bakares, Fache Gbemisola Dawn and Orherhe Oghenetega Deborah, thanks for being  wonderful hosts. Thanks to you guys , I know another part of my home town.
Cover photo credit. @wallsofibadan

Picture taken by; Adedayo Adeyemi Agarau,an award winning poet who recently fell in love with photography.

Frenzy friendship

​I.

The day I saw you wasn’t the day I met you. The first time I saw you, you were on a blue blouse and black skirt with a moderate cover shoe. Like every typical new member, I sneaked into the auditorium and took my seat at the back, but your darting eyes caught me and you beckoned on me to move forward. At first I didn’t want to, but your radiating resplendent smiles, sent a charm that chilled my spine so I obeyed. I later discovered you were an usher, but you were the most modest usher as your colleagues had heavy make up, boggling earrings and expensive borrowed hair they called attachment flaunting across their exotic gowns with high heeled shoes, it didn’t seem to bother you, you just focused on your duty, and radiated your beauty. 
II.

The day I met you, it was more like you met me. I was a lost new student trying to find my way in an environment where I felt out of place. You didn’t have to say anything ,all you did was smile, you smiled and waved. 

“Oh you again” I soliloquized as I waved back heartily. It was during the school’s fellowship and you muttered something I didn’t hear, but I nodded like a red head agama lizard who finally found a partner to copulate with after many days of heat.

 I waited for the fellowship to draw its curtain, I am not even sure I heard anything that was preached. Immediately we shared the grace I used my eyes to sweep the crowd, alas! You had vanished! I was dejected, I felt rejected and as I was about getting ejected by the cleaners who wanted to sweep the hall, I felt a tap on my shoulder and heard a melodious voice whisper

“Hello, are you Emmanuel or Faith?, your name is beautiful but confusing”

I looked back and was transfixed; it was the beginning of an adventurous journey.
III.

I liked you, the normal high school liking. I liked girls that were pretty and brilliant, you were both. I liked girls that didn’t do like the normal girls..girls that didn’t talk about boys, dolls, nicki minaj, beyonce and Mexican movies, you did none. You were always alone, or with a book, so I admired you from afar, because you were my senior colleague until one day, one blessed day when our principal suggested that we should feel free to relate with other senior colleagues and ask for help if the need be. He went further to mention  some brilliant and very approachable seniors and as I prayed,you were one of them. I screamed silently, it was an open door to a paradise with the wise.

The tintinnabulation that preceded the time keeper’s “its break time” met me in your classroom. You greeted me briefly and asked if I  was interested in what you were eating. I loved yams, but your classmates were staring at me, so I politely declined the offer.

 You flashed your neatly set teeth in a brief smile and spoke Yoruba

“Ma ti ju oo” (don’t be shy)

Before I could decide, you got an extra spoon and asked me to join you.

  That day, you taught me simultaneous equation, and as you taught, I felt our thoughts moved simultaneously as you took occasional glances.

It was the first and the last time, because I liked you and hated maths, I wished you were maths, so I would like you.

IV.

 The day you were graduating, I felt I was losing a friend, a senior who understood me and saw beyond my fake yet captivating smiles. A lady with a brutal hand but kind heart. Did you remember the abaara you gave me cause I didn’t do my assignment or how you pulled my ears when you overheard that I dropped further maths?

   But you stared into my eyes and said, don’t worry we would still be friends, and guess what? You kept your words. 

  Although it was hard at first as distance proved to be a barrier but the date, your first date, and ours too at Mr biggs changed the course. I didn’t tell you I withdrew all the money in my account just to please you, thankfully, as usual, you were very modest.
V.

You gained admission, not into the school of your choice, neither was it the course of your choice, but you were in school and that’s all that mattered. I was happy for you,but sad with myself cause it was my second year at home already. I was about giving up on education because I was earning already, but you encouraged me daily. Our nocturnal chats were helpful and our conversation on 2go was a place to go and seek solace when hell set loose in frantic pace and flogs heartlessly in  rapid race. You never missed my birthday, I didn’t miss yours too, in fact for three years consecutively I was the first person to wish you happy birthday, and you had gotten used to it that you counted it a crime when I hadn’t wished you happy birthday at 05:42 pm.
VI.

48 hours ago, I was at your convocation, and I was filled with joy and gladness for many reasons. Seeing the reticent reclusive bola at a very expressive state was remarkable. Staring at your name boldly inscribed on the portion of first class honors was more adorable and the conversation about organic and inorganic cross breeding will be memorable.

 They said these days.friendship don’t last, ours have lasted eight years successfully, and it would last eighteen years and more if God willeth.

 Happy convocation, OLA3, I wish you the best God has to offer. Amen

Afterword ; There are a thousand reasons not to have a friend, thanks to the hurts, disappointments and betrayals, but there are chosen divine friends that sticks through thick and thin, when you find them, do your very possible best to keep them.

Have a wonderful weekend. I love you

Circles and Cycles

​CIRCLES AND CYCLES;Lucid Lessons Learnt.

I forgot I had a blog!

That sounds weird, but it’s true, at least I forgot I had a blog, until my handsome mentee, whose works are better mine asked me a stunning question

“Emmanuel Faith,when was the last time wrote a blog post?” erm, that should be two and half weeks ago.

 A lot has happened between then and now , I have missed a stage of internship, lost an election, won a writing competition, won a football march, missed the next stage of a competition…….the list goes on.

 I have a learnt a lot too, maybe I should share a few lessons.

   I lost my departmental election, I knew I my chances of winning was pretty slim, but I didn’t wanna risk not contesting,I would keep wishing I did. SO my opponent was ehm, not better than me and he is still not better, but he was smarter. 

 I appealed to facts and logic,he appealed to emotions, and John Maxwell said “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” so phew, he won me, a landslide victory. 

My brother once wrote in a blog post that “When the world gives you an applause on a grand stage, its better don’t underperform, the result could be disastrous” I think I was a victim of that too, anyway it’s BYE-BYE to politics.case closed.

  So I missed the next stage of an internship proceedings, I didn’t know I qualified for the next stage, cause ehm, I didn’t perform up to par at the previous stage. The invitation mail for the next stage was sleeping lazily in my mail, my e-mail, but because I have found love in g-mail lately, coupled with the aftermath of the election loss, I didn’t even remember to check my email. The interesting thing was, on the morning of the day the test was supposed to be written, I was still advising a colleague on how to go about the next stage(I was a finalist last year, and only missed the internship by an inch) not knowing the next stage was the same day…so that’s gone too. 

 Lesson learnt; Get over your losses fast enough, and always remember to check your mail.

  Enough of torrid tales, so I FINALLY WON A POETRY COMPETITION, the first in about 9 months ,lol. Let me give you the full gist

 Brigitte Poirson Poetry Competition is a very competitive something, not cause of the prize,(its just a token). But because of the name and fame. The competition is sponsored by a French poet in partnership with THE LARGEST POETRY SITE in Nigeria, Words Rhymes and Rhythm. 

    Every month, they receive over a thousand entries from which the best ten is picked. The final ten are champions because their works get published for free in an anthology that is distributed all across Nigeria, West Africa and ehm….any other place an anthology can get to, so try to imagine how many people would get to read your poem.

  I was a finalist thrice last year, and I was really feeling fly, until a close friend, “yabbed” me for celebrating being runner up, when my mates were winning.

    Every month has a theme and the theme for the edition I won was “GENDER EQUALITY”. The inspiration came in a developmental economics class, a class I forced myself to attend after a strenuously stressful day, and the poem was written in less than 25 mins. In fact, I was fatigued and was about giving up. I told my room-mate that all I was praying for is to make it to the top ten again, but guess what? I WON!!! I

 The link to the winning poem’s is attached below.

http://authorpedia.wrr.ng/brigitte-poirson-poetry-contest-2017-oau-poet-emmanuel-faith-wins-february-edition/ 

Deep sigh, so my birthday is in four days’ time and I am a little worried, I feel I am getting closer to death, and I haven’t done enough on earth yet, but God is on the throne..right?
  The month has been a long one, I hope you learnt a lesson or two from by scintillating tales.

  This should be my last blog post before my birthday, so my ICON OF THE WEEK goes to ADEBAYO OLUWATOBI,CHIOMA PRICELESSJEWEL CHUKWU and THE BAKARES

Tobi, thanks a lot for being a pillar, Chioma, thanks for teaching me that No past is too putrid to present a pristine PRESENT that will precede a glistening future. And to the Bakares, thanks for being MY NUMBER ONE FAN.
Honourable Mentions, Oluwafunmike Omojola; Knowing you has brought flavour and spice to my life, every moment spent with you is cherished.

 Fashola Victoria, Oyeniran Bolaji,Fache Gbemisola, Oni demilade,Seyitan Harvey,Oladele Michael,Kayode Tomi, you guys have been amazing lately.

 And to my team members,on OAUEVENTS, CREATIVE WRITERS NICHE, AND UNILEVER CAMPUSS AMBASSADORS(OAU),you guys have made being the leader a smooth tour, thanks for the respect, love and continuous cooperation, I love you all.
What you don’t know about me; I Love football, I REALLY LOVE FOOTBALL. I can do nearly anything to watch or play a football match and I love Mikel Obi and the Williams sisters so much. They are my living legends.
 So you can start sending your birthday gifts in cash and kind o, cash is preferable sef, my account number is 0153912039, Emmanuel Oluwaponmile Faith, and I patronise the bank that love white and orange so much, you know that bank right?

This post is dedicated to a lovely namesake,whose birthday is today.

Happy birthday,Oni Demilade Faith. Many happy returns.

Till my birthday, Show God’s love, share God’s love, be God’s love.

Your life worth more than grades

​Writing this piece was a kind off risk, not when I am currently the academic secretary for a fellowship known for sterling qualities which includes all round excellence, but my recent exposure to the outside world has taught me this blantant truth, apologies to the first class students, but your life is worth more than grades.

Enjoy!

Don’t judge your life worth by your grade?

They are just letters whose worth will fade

Neither A  “B” or a “D”

Can alter what has been planned to be
Don’t let a frustrated lecturer 

Leave on your soul insidious scar

First degree is just a stop

Out of Life’s many bus-stop
At every point, please give your best 

Don’t joke with lectures exams or test

Read and pray with zealous zest

Cause Miracles makes last become first
But never let your grade make you

Don’t let it make or mar you too

They are lecturer’s view of you

Not the best version of you

The real exams cant be judged by grades

For life’s tests come in scenes and shades

So don’t judge your life worth by your grade

They are just letters whose worth will fades.

THE END.
So last week I said I will share things you don’t know about me, and some people started asking,Emmanuel Faith,I didn’t belive that lol.

Ok its my birthday month so I will be appreciating some special people, especially those that have contributed to my life in the last few years aside my lovely mum and handsome brother.There will be two categories, the VIP and the HONOURABLE MENTION.

So today’s VIP is ADESINA DAVID: You have done a lot for me, and I really appreciate you.

Honourable mentions: Orode Elizabeth, Aramide Bakare, Orherhe Deborah, Oyemade Hannah and Fashola Victoria, thanks for being a good friend even when I was a bad one.

FACTS you don’t know about me:

I love pretty ladies, I can do anything to strike a conversation with a lady that is beauty plus brain

My favourite food is RICE and BEANS, I can eat a whole pot.

Till my next blog, have a wonderful week, remember, your grades aint your life, stay joyful.
Kindly rebc if you were blessed.

Queen of Katwe

1.

​It wasn’t your fault you were born into a village called Katwe, no one chooses where or when we will be born. Either by omission or commission, expectation or manifestation, we are born and what happens afterwards is largely our fault, and our choices too, maybe not always.

  You were born to a single mother because your father joined his ancestors before you knew how to spell father, but what did it matter? The farther you were from your relatives who believed your mother murdered your father, the better for your life which is already bitter from battering banters.
2. All you did was play a game, Chess. His name was Ka-tende, More like Cat-tender, because you were one of the many cats he tended. He told you, and your peers’ chess was more than a game, it was life. He watched you dethrone the champion, his local champion with your swift scary moves, and you became his champion.

At first, your mum was worried , worried about the fact that something new will happen to you, we are all scared of change ain’t we? You move from your village Katwe, To Uganda, then to Sudan.

  You beat people who wore uniforms and read the white man language, you win awards, accolades prizes and trophies and became the pride of everyone, then thunder struck!.
3. There isn’t a scintillating tale without tricky turns and pricky thorns, but yours was hard. Your brother is hit by a reckless driver, your elder sister surrenders to prostitution in order to escape the livid lashes of poverty, a fury flood washes away your new house alongside your property, so you suffer defeat. Defeat defeated you at a grand stage, the peak of your game, so you surrender.

  You are back to the ground, your background, where you were local champion.

“Losses happen to us, how we reset is what matters”

“We would get to wherever we believe we would”

Ka-tende, your teacher, made quotidian quotes your morning oak and oats, he has sacrificed for you, for your peers. He has left watering paying job, to nurture your dreams, your peers dream. So you think you owe him, your fans, your peers who believe so much in you and your mother so you rise up, one last time, it would be the first of many games.
4. You have reached the final for the umpteenth time, you are playing the most brilliant chess player, she is more elegant ,more refined, more experienced and more EVERYTHING than you, but you are not bothered, until you start losing. 

  This is the grand stage, all eyes are on you, you can’t fail them, but you are failing them already, so you remember Ka-tender’s words

“Don’t tip your queen so easily”,but those words were late,your queen has been tipped so you turn the tables around, you make anothe queen and win the game, now you are the QUEEN OF KATWE,the champion of Uganda again.

When I said I will do a movie review on my blog, my friends laughed cause I don’t watch movies, not that I don’t watch them o,I just don’t have the time, but I squeezed time out of my VERY BUSY SCHEDULE to see this movie and it was worth it.

  This is my last post for January, thanks for being a faithful fan, with this post I have fulfilled my year goal for my blog this month, I did a post every week, I reviewed a book and a movie. It wouldn’t have been possible without you.

So drop a comment on any kind of piece you want as a Val gift and I could write it for you. O!, you forgot Valentine is next month?

Have a splendid week.

DEPRESSION, RECESSION AND A SOUL CAUGHT BETWEEN.

These are times I detest studying economics, tumultuous times with torrid tales where theories sound like moonlight tales.

That aside, last two weeks, an unwanted guest barged into my abode and decided not to leave after surpassing all my defense tactics.