A year for Thanks...

This year, I reconnected with old friends, met new people and (hopefully) made some friends for life. I joined the blogger community and had the good fortune to come across some really interesting blogs and the great thing is that they are mostly by Nigerians! The blogs vary in content from the witty to the inspirational. I thank you all for adding color to my otherwise boring days.

We have an endless supply of talent and I'm encouraged that the future of my beloved country is in great shape just as soon as we can *ahem* WRENCH IT FROM THE GREEDY GRASP OF THOSE OLD SCHOOL PLAYERS WHO REFUSE TO BOW OUT WITH DIGNITY.

There's so much good that has happened in 2008. The emergence of the first United States President of African Origin - Barack Hussein Obama is one for the History books. Let's pray that in the coming year as he assumes office God be with him as he undertakes the arduous task of restoring faith and turning around the social, economic and political issues that have arisen over the years.

On the Entertainment front alot of interesting things have happened, it's been an especially great year for Nigerian music artistes both homegrown and international... Artistes like D'banj, Banky W., 9ice, eLdee, Naeto C, Ikechukwu, M.I, and so many others came into their own this year. So many of their songs have made an otherwise dull party come to life.

On a personal note, there were so many things that could go wrong this year and some did, but thankfully God minimised the pain and damage it could have caused. I'm stronger and hopefully a better person for it. I've learned to appreciate little joys and victories in my life more since then and that's a good thing. So personal growth - Check! Family's been a godsend I couldn't ask for a better one.

A few of my friends also got married this year (congratulations to them) which meant lots of shopping and smiling. A few had babies, the most significant was a birth on the 1st of January so you all know where I'll be tomorrow, getting my cake on! Also, thanks to my hairdresser Kehni, I haven't had a bad hair day all year. Work's been great too!

I intend by God's grace to be a better person and to commit myself to His will and purpose for my life in the 2009. I promise to write more entries on my blogs in the New Year, it's no easy task so I pray for inspiration.

YAY YOU! YOU GO! Be Brilliant! 2009 aint got nothing on you! The gist is Happy New Year to all .. see you on the flipside.

What a year!

I have been in hiatus for a while now, trying to draw inspiration from different sources.. Sometimes I have great energy and say to myself.. today is going to be different, it then it turns out to be a 'hot mess'. I'd like to think that I'm more resilient than most but really...

This year has been one of those years.. It started off great, I thought to myself... I'm young, Im loved, my family is wonderful and I would be married at Christmas, then it happened - I lost my dad on my fiance's birthday, so the wedding is off for now. My elder brother also had a health scare. To make matters worse my fiance's siblings had started misbehaving recently and I lost all patience with him over it.

Then there's the 'R' word so we have to be wise with finances in the coming year.

Christmas this year has lost some of its sparkle. My dad absolutely loved Christmas and it was always memorable in my household, I planned to travel home and spend this time with my family but plans changed in the past week. I wasn't up to decorating my place this year until some of my girlfriends came round and helped me to put up my tree.

Even sending cards this year was a bit of an ordeal, I went into the Hallmark store to buy some cards and left in tears 'cause there were so many 'Dad & Mom' cards on display. I had to attend a seminar/workshop and one of the models were an happy elderly couple and that set me off as well.

I don't want to be a baby but I miss my dad, he was the most beautiful man I've known and life won't be the same without him. 2008 did this to me...

I'm thankful I still have my mom she's a strong woman and she misses him too, I can't imagine what she's feeling now. My elder brother sent me a recording of Christmas songs my dad had made for me and I played it all day yesterday, it was a comfort seeing my dad's handwriting.

I'm hoping for a happier 2009.. To start things off in January, 2 of my siblings are through with university and I'm looking forward to attending their graduation ceremony. And marriage.. who knows?

Merry Christmas to all of you, who have looked in on my blog and left your comments. Stay inspired. What are your resolutions for the coming year?

We made It! Tribute to the hopeful nature of the Black man

It was with trepidation that we watched the voting last night. Even though there's a time difference of seven hours between continents.

I drank lots of coffee (let me say here, I'm not a coffee drinker) and stayed up all night to catch the proceedings. Anytime a news channel went on a commercial break I switched so I wouldn't miss a thing. It was almost like playing Russian Roulette. The contenders were Sky News, Fox News, NBC, EuroNews, CNN and France 24. I noticed that the most cynical commentators were the lovely folks at Fox News. After a while I just stopped listening to the negatives.

When the votes started trickling in I was said to my friend, I hoped it didn't become a repeat of the elections in 2000 where the Supreme Court had to intervene and votes had to be recounted in Florida and in 2004 the turmoil caused due to equipment malfunction in Ohio. This had to be a clean and fair election that didn't leave anything to question.

Well the rest is history as they say. Today there is a new kind of America emerging... There's work to be done, make no mistake about it. But this is the beginning of the change.

We as a people have to rise up to the challenges we face today and work harder than we've ever done to rebuild and repair the damage that has been done. Now more than ever the whole world is watching. Let us not relent in praying for the Obama/Biden Administration in the coming years.

Borrowing quotes from Senator Barack Obama's Victory Speech, "What began twenty-one months ago in the depths of winter must not end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek – it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers – in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

For that is the true genius of America – that America can change. Our union can be perfected. And what we have already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time – to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth – that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

I was moved to tears during his Victory speech, it was such an occassion for celebration and also for contemplating the tasks ahead. His speech was thought provoking if anything else. The likes of Revd. Jesse Jackson who has been a champion for Human Rights for decades cried openly, Miss Oprah Winfrey who dines with World leaders shed tears as well as so many others in that park in Chicago last night. I never thought it would be possible for this to happen in my lifetime and I'm only young but it did. This is a hopeful generation.

There's also a saying that when a man is stripped of his skin he's nothing but flesh and blood. And though Senator Obama didn't run his campaign based on race, it still is a victory for every African descendant.

The Black man has faced many limitations from slavery, segregation, disenfranchisement, racism, poverty, prejudice, uneducation, crime, drugs and violence in communities. And for one such as us to come out on top, it is a moment in History.

There is a new role model for children of this generation to aspire to, you don't have to be a gangster rapper with 'grillz' in your teeth, a hip-hop honey shaking her 'booty' in music videos, a drug pusher who rides in flashy cars, a 'big girl' sleeping with father figures or a pimp on the street corner to achieve recognition.

If you knuckle down, be honest, go to school, listen to good advice from the church and parents, surround yourself with positivity, you can make it. Yes, you can!

I hope for the sake of future generations the African leaders take note. There is no room for Corruption, Nepotism, Greed and Human Rights Violations in the new world. We all have to work together to achieve lasting and sustainable Democracy in Africa.

On a lighter note some folks were quick to cash in on this historic occasion. Some man in New York (I'm sure he's an Ibo man.. they're quick on the uptake) had a lifesize cut-out of Obama and jubilant Americans had to pay $5.00 to have their pictures taken.. Brisk Business!

Senator Obama's election as the President of the most powerful nation in the world is a testament to what can be achieved if you work hard and dream big dreams. We are part of History.

M.I.A

Just checking in, I know it's been a few weeks since I added new content to my entry here. I have been bitten by the 'Storytelling Bug' and it's got me busy since then.

This has resulted to a new blog: Love Hurts. It's a bitter-sweet tale about the evolution of love. I know I'm a sucker for love stories so indulge me.

May I use this opportunity to congratulate Bella Naija on her new website. It's rich and packed full of all the stuff we love about her blog. She was onto a winner from the very start!

Stay Wonderful!

Friendship or...

You know the way life throws curve-balls at us sometimes... A few years back I met this absolutely lovely guy I like to call Cece... Initials for his first and last names( I know not very original, but it'll do).

I met him at one of the IT schools in Lagos which I was attending at the time, he'd been studying there for about the same time as I had but we'd never run into each other. My course was in the mornings and his started later on in the day.

We were introduced by a mutual friend in the snack bar. And from the first words we spoke we clicked... We exchanged numbers and afterwards we ran into each other almost on a daily basis. (We never planned to o!).

We moved our schedules around so we could have lunch together and we talked for hours on end after classes. He eventually moved back to Owerri where his family resides (he's not married o!) just he's from Owerri.

You'd think that would stop us from communicating but NOT! We'd speak on the phone most times and we would be on the blower for hours.. My sister didn't find it funny 'cause I kept her up some nights talking to him.

We could be discussing the silliest things but we never got bored... from books, wines, what we wanted to be when we grew up (Yes!). We even imagined marriage, the works and it didn't seem weird at all... I know I must sound like a loony but we talked about everything..

In my mind's eye I see him in a black silk shirt unbuttoned to expose his chest hairs (and I don't do hairy!)

The only thing is that he never uttered the words 'I Love You' until after I left Nigeria. So you see my dilemma. We still talk and nothings changed but what can I do?

I'm engaged now to someone else. Just goes to show, if you leave some things too late they never happen.

What's Going On?

In the 80's Nigeria, life was so uncomplicated growing up, you went to school, had parents who loved the bones off each other, watched early morning cartoons and later went sight-seeing and to picnics on the weekends...

It was all good clean fun. You had library/literature class where you picked out books that added built up your moral fibre or taught you to dream big dreams for the future.

I remember my early years so vividly, everything was beautiful, untouched, unspoiled. We had Religion, Art class, Music Lessons, Algebra & Geometry (yes! aside from Arithmetic) Elementary Science, Home Economics and so on and so forth... And we were eager to learn.

I never came home from school and plonked my schoolbag beside the sofa and proceed to sit and watch the latest 'Nollywood' Home Video (that would have been hard 'cause there wasn't Nollywood back then)

No ugliness like today... I was at home today and lo and behold what was on TV? Some pointless Nigerian Film on the MoviStar Channel titled 'Security Risk'

The plot involved some gang of youths infected with HIV which led to their being ostracized going on a rampage into schools and various establishments and injecting people with infected blood... You can imagine the rest. It led me to wonder whether anyone at the TV Station actually bothered to screen the movie before airing it.

Children get home from school these days and are at times more ignorant than before they started their education...

There's no reading culture in the society today... Ask a child today about books like 'Eze Goes to School' 'Without a Silver Spoon' and you draw a blank expression from the child...

Parents are getting increasingly frustrated with the economic state of the country (Nigeria) that they have to spend more and more hours away from home trying to provide for their families. The children are left unsupervised for hours and resort to their own devices to while away the time... They become lazy in their studies because no one expects much else from them....

I shouldn't be worrying about this some of you might say.. I'm young, have no kids yet...so why am I bothered? I don't know it just annoys me.

I lost my dad at Easter I try to take comfort in the knowledge that he has gone to rest.

Where he is now no pain, ill-health or sin can touch him, no accusation or reproach... He has raised I and my other sibllings to this point where we have become confident, independent young men and women.

No matter how old a parent is, it is never enough time if you see them everyday. I believe God knows best & remember He only takes the Best. I'm still struggling to come to terms that I won't ever see my father in this life again... Rest in peace Daddy, your are missed always!

Here's a poem I found that helps...

God Saw You Getting Tired

God saw you getting tired

And a cure was not to be

So He put His arms around you

And whispered,

‘Come to Me’.

With tearful eyes we watch you

And saw you pass away

And although we loved you dearly

We could not make you stay.

A Golden heart stopped beating

Hard working hands at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove us

He only takes the Best.