Random Reflections Of A Sound Mind.

It was the twenty-third of December. Oke looked at his wristwatch, 6:22 pm, a few more minutes to the close of the day’s work but the day still held a little light outside. He hated his life more now that Christmas festivities were on all around town and he and other workers still had to stay late at the boutique because the season was favourable for sales. The only consolation he had was the elegance about the boutique, the beautiful Nkechi, the new employee and the quality custom made uniforms they all had to wear- it gave him some form of importance- three short sleeved shirts and two golf styled premium t-shirts for the male workers. The uniforms were so good and of top quality, Oke had considered wearing them, severally, to occasions and events. He hated Madam Mabel for having ordered the word, “SECTION ATTENDANT”, to be sewn unto all their uniforms in bold cursive font.  Nurmbergers was one of the large boutiques in Port Harcourt. It was well air conditioned and partitio...

 “Why wasn’t this [expensive item] sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth one [whole] year’s salary!” –Judas Iscariot [World Famous Traitor] John 12:6 Judas almost made it sound like he cared for poor people more than Jesus; if we didn’t know any better we would have called Judas a social crusader and Jesus a luxury preacher! Interestingly, folks are still sounding like that today. If every time a Clergyman buys something expensive, you get angry, YOU HAVE JUDGED the man and CONDEMNED him as a thief by assuming that the money he used to buy whatever he bought is the church’s offering money. Wait, if you’re not accusing the guy of stealing offering proceeds, what then is bad about buying expensive things with one’s own money? That is a wrong and unfair generalization. Some preachers still have ‘secular jobs’ and business, which they run wisely and make good profit. What if the money for the purchase was from his office or gifts given him? Should he reject ever...

Senior Achilefu Uchenna, Unity house Prefect for the junior boys had woken us personally. My body was seated erect on the mattress where I had slept on the floor, supposedly awake, but my mind was still asleep would take two more minutes to catch up. It must have been 2:30 am or so, the dormitory was dark, the only light source being his second rechargeable lantern and it was playing an acappela gospel music on mellow. It was the model of rechargeable lanterns popular then; they had compartment for playing audio cassettes, a torch and florescent tube parts. Some even had mini fan compartments. It added points to your 'rep', as an SS3 boy, to have one of those, back then. It wasn't strange for him to wake us at night -he frequently did so. We, being a few junior boys numbering roughly eight or so. Whenever he woke us, we usually went outside the dorms to the hostel quadrangle to pray and later returned to read. He was preparing for SSCE while we were preparing...

Some traditional cultures and customs are long overdue for dumping. They've become thoughtless routines that do little or no good but much harm. They may have been relevant at some time but in the light of social evolution there's such a thing as "new realities"- people should adapt customs. I have a very industrious young friend called Obinna. He has a small electronic shop in PH. Since about 2004 when he served a master as an apprentice till when he got on his own, he's had to pause his schooling just because of lack of support and used his earnings to sponsor his younger siblings instead. About a year ago, he's aged father had to come join him and the siblings he's training at his PH residence because of health issues. I saw him like twice or so. All the while the man was sick, no one person from the village came or called or aided in the payment of Hospital bills during numerous treatments and check ups. Finally, the man dies. Then, qui...

“Jet! Wake up.” I felt someone slap me sharply on the thigh repeatedly as the words were spoken in hushed tone. My corner was dark, as the hostel lights were still out; it obviously wasn’t yet 5:30am. The school generator came on at 5:30 every morning. I drew myself up and sat groggily, my both legs still on the bed. “Guy! Standa nah…” the voice hushed again. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my palms and leaned forward to make out who was speaking. My corner in the dormitory was at one of the four edges of the long hall-room and my bed was the lower of the two-deck bunk, thus I had even less light as the top bed layer darkened my space. “what is the matter?” I asked, still unaware of who was speaking, this time bringing my feet down. “ Jetti, dress-up! Where’s your white canvas?” I was asked again. I then recognized who was speaking, it was my good friend Enrico Egwoh.He fondly called me “Jet”or jetti’ after the famed Japanese martial arts actor, Jet li. A name I...

In shock, deacon's phone had fallen to the ground and lay there while he just stood their transfixed to the spot. He was supposed to be relieved by the news that Doyin wasn't pregnant but he wasn't sure relief was what he felt. 'Deacon Cooker!' A voice snapped him out of his psychological stupor. 'We are still waiting...' 'I'm sorry,  I will be in shortly.' Deacon responded. 'Make that as short as possible...by the way, your phone is vibrating on the floor.' The man added and turned to leave. As the man went in, deacon picked up the phone. 'Hello deacon, what happened? The line broke off from your en...' 'Doc! What did you just say?' 'Uh...If it's about Doyin, I said she's not pregnant!' 'How is that possible? Her mom said she's not had her monthly period in the past months...she's got to be pregnant, check again!' deacon sounded desperate. 'We already confirmed ...

"When my spirit left my body, I went down, down, down until the lights of the earth faded away. I don't mean I fainted-I don't mean I was unconscious. I died...(as I continued my descent) finally below me, I could see lights flickering on the walls of the caverns of the damned. The lights were caused by the fires of hell...I did not want to go into the jaws of hell, but just as metal jumps on the magnet, my unredeemed spirit was drawn to that place..."*** If my mother, your mother, her mother and his mother are required to cook the exact same meal after which we are each asked to rate the meals. Most probably, everyone will walk up to the display table behind which his/her mother is standing and nominate his mother's meal as the best tasting. Let's call this the 'my mama soup' approach to perceiving truths. (Hold that in mind, I'll illustrate something with that concept later.) It would be sacrilegious not to nominate your mother...

I just read about the Munich Massacre of 11 Isreali athletes, who were in Germany for the 1972 Summer Olympics event, by Palestinian Terrorists. The event, though, having occurred over 40years ago moved me deeply, almost to tears. Especially the senseless brutality of it and it's aftermath on the families of victims (a cousin of one of the slain was so heart broken and died from heart attack during the mourning service held a few days later) It got me thinking. Why? There has to be a judgment for all man's inhumanity to man from the dawn of man's existence. A day to duly pay for wickedness, especially those meted on the innocent. Incidentally most perpetrators of heinous crimes like Josef Mengele, the German doctor who experimented with human Jewish prisoners (kids inclusive) in concerntration camps during World War 2; Idi Amin of Uganda and his bellicose, tyrannical, childish and intolerant regime, and a few others who died of natural causes without paying fo...

- All Muslims are terrorists. - All Ibos are money conscious traders. - All Yorubas are a party-loving species. - All Kalabari young ladies have their babies outside the conventions of matrimony. - Every lady with beards on her chin is wicked. - All persons wearing spectacles possess superior intelligence. You probably laughed at one or more of the above lines and were enraged at another- most likely the one mentioning your tribe. Now, you're reading with annoyance to see what more ignorance this 'writing idiot' wants to tag your tribe with. Relax and add the following to the list and try to decipher what I'm actually saying: - All American policies and laws (abortion laws inclusive) are made in heaven and endorsed by God. - All Ikwerre men are Landlords. - All males in the Niger Delta region, aged 18-35years are angry militants. - Every fine girl is either possessed by Ariel or working for queen of the coast. This list is inexhaustive. Are you still a...