Sister, Sister...

An open letter to my everyday crush.

Hey sister,

Not a lot of words

But the few there are, comes straight from the heart.

I admire you, ma.

I salute you,

For your courage in the face of setbacks and disapointments.

Your resilience despite painful hurts and experiences that threatened to make you lose your shine, and maybe sanity.

Your persistence.

Your keeping-at-it-attitude even in the face of demons that strove tirelessly to cripple you.

Oh my, were there demons, were there?

Your undaunting STRENGHTH.

Heck, how else can one explain your capacity to shine through the various ugly mirage that circumstances threw your way if not for strength.

How you manage to always show up, calm, beautiful, put together. How you are coming off it all as a whole piece despite all the life's vicissitudes you had to battle, regularly, without losing your shine.

Instaed of breaking you, they've made you sweeter, more relatable (as a subject), more empathetic, kinder.

Somehow people are beginning to notice your strength because they find it impossible to understand your bold, fiery, unflinching stance in the face of the darts thrown at you.

Even you, subconsciusly, have come to realize that you must be really strong, no matter how hesitatingly you accept such hasty revelation.

So next time someone tells you, maybe on your birthday(well, it's kind of like a culture for folks to be verbally kind to one on his/her birthday), or at a major victory, for which you, of course, worked very hard for, even in the midst of intense non-encouragement, that "I admire you, you are strong", believe it, it's not always clout, it is true this time, even if that cannot be completely divorced from the intentions of that someone tho. Accept and embrace the truthiness of such religious fact, and do not fail to thank that someone, with a wide smile. Because YOU ARE STRONG. Do not be modest with compliments thrown your way, ignore the intents, it's not your place to figure out what what means or why what was said, stay happy.

Don't forget to laugh, always.

Don't forget to always laugh.

Savour the sound of your laughter, protect it, safeguard it, it's your prize.

Your happiness, after all is the most important thing.

Never apologise for the loudness, or seeming squeakiness of your laugh. There is no such thing as a too loud laugh. So if throwing back your head to laugh works for you, please throw your head back. If hitting your hand on one or two of your friends while doing your thing goes for you, don't hesitate; the more reason why you should surround yourself with the right kind of people, folks who are about and seek out  the happy energy and vibes from you, not those who feel you're disgracing them with your loud laughter in public, and so cutting short on their prim and proper, prim and proper show.

You definitely are a grown woman, now, a developed one, a smartened one

You know the best part is that, where you failed before, you're going to try again, and this time, you're going to flourish.

You're going to blossom. 

To you, beautiful woman,

I stand in awe.

I celebrate.

I stan.

2020 is big, very big.

You are bigger.

Happy New Year.

BOXY BOXING BOX!

So many things we're sure we know about that we wouldn't realize till later, anytime later, that we'd been wrong all along. Meanwhile we'd bask and glory in the euphoria of our top-notch knowledge available to only the smartest of humans!

Happy Holidays..

It was boxing day few days back, so I'd just wish a happy belated boxing day! So how many people did y'all box, or your guts' been going about failing you? Talk your truth, you get power?

I bet many of you, like me (well, until recently tho), did not know the real meaning and origin of "boxing day" holiday yea?

So I was at this event recently, and the anchor, of couse dutifully discharging his duties for which he was called anchor man, and that very well I must say, by the way the guy had this kind of fineness, the boy just too clean abeg, for face at least, that it was hard to place if it was feminine fine or masculine fine, his very long faux locs (I don't know it was his real nazarene hair, or if it was an attachment) made it even worse to pull off a conclusion, regarding the 'gender' of his fineness of course! Yes, he was doing that thing of engaging the audience in a sleek, rather effortless manner that leaves them unsuspecting that any effort was being put into the act, but in a way still managing to pull the tightness off. My fine honkul was going on about how he was just getting an enlightenment about the true meaning of boxing day....

In very simple terms, Boxing day is actually a day set aside for the unboxing of gift items, you know like the parcel received as a show of love and kindness, overall goodwill, so you see, that's where the term "boxing" comes from. I know right, it completely has little or nothing to do with sports, especially boxing or wrestling in a ring. Over time tho, the holiday has been marked with various significant sports like horse racing, polo, etc. So you could box to mark boxing day but boxing day does not necessarily stand for boxing, nice line right, hehe.

My friend sitted beside me couldn't believe that for all his smartness and wisdom, he wasn't the wiser with this particular piece of info, me I was just consoling him, that you see baa, we plenty for this table, as in we numerous..

Well, thank you fine honkul for this revelation, well-equipped with my novel understanding, I wanted to make a chic, sharp, knowledgeable, intellectual, random, not-much-of-a-deal-because-I'd-always-known boxing day complimentary whatsApp status, and for the life of me, I couldn't find a good boxy emoji, can you imagine? You know, a status that tells that I of course know that boxing day is actually about unboxing gifts or boxes of presents, but for the very life of me, I just could not find a single decent box, not even one! (Bia, whatsApp people, you should be employing current developers oo, emoji developers, hehe, I even know some tight one or two folks I could introduce y'all to).

Don't feel too bad yea? Na meaning of boxing day you no know, you no kee person. And what's more, you sure know now, infact I think celebrations are in order, congratulations comrade, welcome to the club of enlightened folks!

Oh, ok how did I now make my whatsApp post without a decent box gift emoji? you're wondering yea? huh simple thing, very simple thing, mo ya improvise, just used the closest thing I could find abeg, because in this life I cannor coman kee myself oo.

Erm, the funny thing now is that ehn, now that I do know the true meaning of boxing day, it seems like every other person does too, every other person!

Ok bye..

If you want to read more about boxes, check this out.

Winning Sure Feels Good...Oh Yea...

Hi guys,

So my first blog post here, after so long a break, was me going on about how I am now one of all those chic programming people, hehe. I remember promising to make a post of how the whole journey started. Ok, I surely would come through with that promise, but not with this post, so you see you have no choice than to stay tuned yea?

I also remember hinting you guys of being in Naijahacks2019 hackathon, and having been invited for the DEMO day for 17-12-2109, that was yesterday na, and I'm sure I sent out invites here too, I don't know why I didn't see anyone from this space anyways, or did you come?

Well, if only you had come, then you'd have seen me, along with my team members, techpsyches, make the top first twelve, out of about, how many teams again.... a hundred and thirty thereabouts... Yes, yes, yes, you heard me right, we emerged top winners, and trust me when I tell you, it feels so great. Infact, it's psyching to feel what it feels like. Leave me na, can't someone feel psyched, and happy, and elated, and joyous, in peace again in this country, ahan?

Infact, I think y'all need a surepsyches application in your lives. Yes, on a serious note now,  my team and I came up with a solution for mental health awareness, and more importantly, immediate help and attention to distressed individuals.

While en route our destinations, from the hackathon, my team mate and I were discussing the event and all the nitty-gritties it entailed. We arrived at a conclusion, tho not exactly nobel as almost every other thinking individual knows about it already, that problem full Naija, we country! All it takes is folks who are not too lazy to think up solutions. Trust me, all these... Nigerians are stingy, Nigerians are stingy, no job, no job. You just provide a viable solution to a problem being faced by majority, if not all of the populace, and watch how those same people who did not want to be found in the same space with you, who hated you for no cause, who would let go of their little finger first before offering to epp your life, would come rallying round you, they like you or not, they like something you have, your solution! The most unfeeling of people respond to working solutions, provide one.

Initially, I did'nt have too much faith in the hackathon while applying. Would you blame me? I had applied to too many things already online that awarding me a medal to that purpose wouldn't be completely out of place! But trust me, the outcome beat my imagination hands down, and mind you, my imagination is beyond wild. The organizers were all top notch. What they were able to pull through is beyond words. In all, NaijaHacks2019 was a success back to back.

Was the hackathon journey all smooth, smooth all the way, no. Were there times when my team mates were almost driving me nuts, and serving as the team lead and project manager was almost resembling a suicide mission, you know the one that makes all those dope actors in those action series we all like to watch start repeating "delta, delta, I repeat, delta"? heck yes! But did I give up, heck no! 

And now, we're celebrating with gold medals, and a bunch of other amazing prizes, and when I say amazing, I mean amaaaazing! 

Although, I targeted the laptop prize, oh no, how I did work towards winning a lappy, hehe, but the win I, along with my team members got, is a great start, more than a great start.

Just as NaijaHacks would return next year better, we're here waiting for them, and we'd return as well badder!

In conclusion, this gold medal is dedicated to every single person out there striving to make a difference, striving to help humanity especially when it feels like that humanity do not want to be helped, and do not bloody care about what you are, or trying to do. Keep at it, just keep at it my dears, you are the real MVPs. No worry, hustle go soon pay.

NAIJAHACKS??

Hello World,

Ages it's been, no doubt.

NAIJAHACKS2019

For reasons here and there, both valid and invalid, we've been off this space for a while, oh, maybe just a little while longer than that, okay then, a whole lots of while!! Here we are, back!!

Guess what? Go wilder, why not stretch your imagination a little more than you are already?

You're somewhat close now.... No, no, no, not exactly that! I didn't get married! na wa, someone cannot breathe a little without our ring watchers screaming down one's throat husband!husband!husband!! lol. Well, I'll just spill the bag's content already..

So yours faithfully's become a programmer. No, you're not going senile, you heard/read right. I know from where to where, from being a political scientist to software engineer? I Know.

Yours faithfully now spends unimaginable amount of hours doing nothing but staring into the computer screen and typing, no, not articles, or blog posts, or even poetry to be delivered on stage as spoken word but codes! Long, dreary, stretching lines of almost never-ending codes.

Meanwhile, apart from the normal meaning my introductory phase "hello world" connotes to every other individual, it holds more depth and nuance to an average programmer. You just have to pass through a series of "hello worlds"; does not matter if you are that much of a cheery person or not! Oh you didn't know? Ga e ju ese... Ask around (Don't judge my written Igbo language, don't judge, be nice abeg).

On a very good day, I'd write about how the winds of the universe blew me across the path of programming I'm currently threading, and absolutely enjoying. But now, I'd return to line nember 3, yes, NAIJAHACKS2019.

NaijaHacks is Africa's biggest Hackathon. Alright, I know, which one is hackathon again? Let me help out a little. A hackathon is basically an event which runs for a short period of time, where developers, designers, coders and bunch of other people come together, form teams, ideate and build/code/develop their idea or something which solves a specific problem.

Fine, we're on the same page now, NaijaHacks is Africa's largest, nope, not a large, not one of the largest, but Africa's largest hackathon, and yours faithfully was privileged to be a part of it.

How did I even find myself inside NaijaHacks? Got wind of it from a fellow code-writer (lol), and I applied. Yes, applied online like about almost a thousand other people did for the same course (not like a course of study, but you know, purpose).

NaijaHacks2019 was purely online for the about seven days it ran, and then a DEMO day for selected teams.

Imagine, yours faithfully ditched her default conservatism and reservedness and went a-hunting for team members to join her team on the very first day of the hackathon, and since then, till at the point of the publication of this blog post, it's been completely mind-blowing (maybe, there really is some amount of hope for our little ms. "I dunno, but I really am not impressed by all of that show.." afterall).

From the beginning, we were made to take compulsory courses on series of life-hacks, personal development courses like leadership, team-work, ideaton, business, etc. We didn't just do courses, we were awarded certificates, I mean real-time certificates!

Almost the peak of it is that each and every single skill learnt in the cause of the courses (pun intended) actually came into play during the whole process.

Were there times when I wanted to give up, like I no dey do again, yes. Were there times when I felt like ditching my team and running solo solo solo if only for the singular reason of maintaining my sanity, heck yes!

But did I? No! Why? I am guessing the lessons and wisdom inculcated into my person through those seemingly random courses I took.

Long story cut short, I was able to lead my team, and yes, we got selected for the DEMO day.

By the way, it's going down tomorrow (17-12-2019) at Zone Tech Park , Gbagada. I wouldn't be shocked to see you, you and you coming to cheer yours faithfully as she unveils her solution for one of humanity's problems.

I would not dare end this already-too-long blog post without acknowledging NaijaHacks for the amazing platform to network with great minds in the tech industry, provide solutions to world problems, and not forgetting winning great prizes while at it!

REDUNDANCY

THE NEW 'STEW' IS VALUE!

I have this particular space in my bathroom that's utterly useless. Assuming this rectangular shape, enclosed within this erected tiles by the extreme. It sits there, of no use to me, yet very loud at demanding for it's own share of community-cleaning-service whenever I do my 'time' in the bathroom.

Speaking of useless, in same bathroom, I've got on the tiles, by the wall, this beautiful, tempting painting of this perfect-course meal, I can't seem to place the exact number of 'courses'. Pizza, toast, salad, ketchup, wine, and all those other things, they must have a fancy name for such dishes, but my unfancy self don't know such 'mundane' nomenclature so I'd just call it the perfect-course meal. I guess the guys awarded the contract of fixing up the apartment, or maybe just the bathroom, missed a meal or two. You know, hunger could do more harm than we're ready to let on.

So, generally, while going about the task of body cleansing, I have this foodie picture to stare at, or rather, staring at me. Or, doing the other very important business atop the whitish sofa, I have, as muse, for my uncountable, as well as many unaccountable going-ons in my mind, this salivating picture of a meal. Only this time, the salivation is the aftermath of bowel-turning as the palatable artifact disagrees absolutely with it's immediate environ, as well as environ's immediate activity. Still very comfy atop the whitish settee, still going about the very important business, and still having my head and mind wildly in the air, trying to birth the earth's eighth wonder, for wonders are birthed in the oddest habitat, I gaze upon the cocktaily glory on the wall.

Just like our guy, while in his bathroom, let out his proverbial "Eureka" after zeroing on the much needed breakthrough in his erthswhile nine-hundred-plus-some-times-failed-light-bulb-project. He got his illumination, enlightenment and revelation on his bath tub, the only reason why we have illumination and lighting in our houses and offices today. One cannot, should not underestimate the creative, light-producing potential of ideas birthed in very odd locations.
Speaking of ideas, and odd sites, I got the fragmented pieces of this post within the four walls of the same bathroom. Nobody should, after this, drag my bathroom with me.

Redundancy is relative. It's a function of certain factors, or lack of. Nothing, nobody is redundant just by being that thing or that person, no. Redundancy sets in when the thing is put to the wrong use, or to no use at all, or to a use that's not needed (simply because the need has already been taken cared of already), ends up being of no use, and therefore adding no value.
Our appetising food wonder, for instance, would have added value, much value, in the dinning room, or cooking room; kitchen, or in a restaurant, fancy or not.

You become redundant when you add no value. When all you do is take, and have nothing to give.
In that relationship; family-family, friend-friend, spouse-spouse, boo-boo, colleague-colleague, classmate-classmate, .... -....
When all you do is demand, and feel entitled, and demand some more. Demand for love, demand for care, feel entitled to attention, feel entitled to understanding, demand for comforting, demand for help, demand for money, feel entitled to free 'comedy shows', feel entitled to listening ears, demand for sex, demand for intimacy, feel entitled to prayers, feel entitled to 'advice'. The list is endless, inexhaustible.

You demand for everything, you feel entitled to everything. Yet, you give nothing, you offer nothing. You bring nothing to the table. Hey, you're redundant. Shed the bad blood, the redundancy, lose it. Gain, in it's stead, value. Add value.

Value is the new 'stew'. 

NIGERIA, OUR NIGERIA

She's Nigeria.
She's our Jerusalem.
She's our Canaan.

Talk about a land flowing with milk and honey, you talk about our Nigeria.
Let her daughters come forth decked in golden apparel, and ornaments.
Let her sons stand forth, with shoulders held high as true princes of the soil.
Let the drums roll, let the feet gyrate to harmonious trolls.
Let the chords ring, let the chorus sing.
Let the children play, and turn in the sands, for there's no beast to bite.
Let the aged rejoice, for paradise is here.

Yes. I believe in Nigeria.
I believe in this great nation.
"Giant Of Africa" isn't just a cliche;
Reality cannot have been painted better!
It begins with you. It begins with me.

Away with the grasshopper perception.
Away with the mediocre mentality.
Adieu to godfatherism, and democrazy.
Away with the Joke that's become our Government.
Good riddance to the farcical CHANGE aphorism.
Away with the lynched Political System.
Away with the sorry excuse for an Educational System.
Adieu to the "Nigerian" mentality- so called:
The perverted justification to everything wrong, and corrupt:
The killings, the forgery, the malpractices, the slyness, the decadence, the frauds, the schemes, the lies, the selfishness, the savagery.

The Nigeria you dream of, the one you fantasise about, is possible, is the real Nigeria.
The "Giant of Africa" is a Reality.
It is our reality.
Nigeria can be great, again.
Nigeria can be great!
Let's talk Nigeria, let's talk hope, let's talk miracle, let's talk faith, let's talk possibility, let's talk effort, let's talk determination, let's talk collective responsibility, let's talk integrity, let's talk honesty, let's talk freeness, and fairness;
Let's talk Nigeria!!
Happy 58th!
Happy Independence, Nigeria!! 

The child-me

The child me.
Once I answered a question. I was supposed to state the person or thing I miss the most from my childhood. Naturally, the expected reply should have been a favourite aunt, or uncle, especially the one with the juiciest treats. Or perhaps a much loved doll gifted me by either of my doting parents. Or some wild play in the sand with not a care in the world.
Me, the child-me, was my unequivocal response.
Hey, hang on a minute. Just before you rush along to conclude how self-reeking my response was, is with all its focus on "me", you might want to understand that that was the only way I could encompass all the "naturally expected" replies, and a thousand and one others. You might want to say that was a smart reply now, yea you can't be more right.
The child-me was all innocent. She was all naive, sometimes naivete keeps one happy. She didn't care, worry about what she'd eat the next day. Or bills to settle before the month runs out. She didn't have to rationalize all her actions and inactions. She wasn't concerned about giving out wrong signals to the boys she played with everyday. Or being accused of "envy" or insecurity by the girls when she refused, sometimes, to let them play with her toys because they rough handled them the previous day.
The child-me grew up thinking "Onigode" was what every street hawker, never minding what they traded in had to scream to call the attention of buyers to their wares. Onigode is actually a Yoruba term used by bottles' (old bottles that could be usefully improvised to serve conveniently) traders to announce their presence. The child-me equated every marketable commodity with bottles, old bottles. She was really cute, like that.
Do they still buy and sell bottles like that now?
The child-me later got acquainted with plenty other terms. She began to know the fish seller was near when she heard "E ra eja e se obe". She recognized the cold-tea seller's voice those hot afternoons screaming "E mu tea tutu ooo". She became very familiar with one particular woman who sometimes played lifesaver to plenty of homes with her melodious ringing- "Ekaro olonje n ki yin ooo". This trader did great services to not a few stomachs, especially on busy Saturday mornings.
The child-me grew up thinking "Alaba Alaba Alaba" were the only words mouthed by bus conductors regardless of the vehicle's route.
The child-me needed not to worry about food because mom and dad would always pass their dishes, only half-gone to her.
The child-me had no worries. She had faith, in everything. And nothing failed.
As awesome and amazing as I have grown to be, every once in a while- scratch that, a million and one times more than every once in a while, I miss the child-me.
Everybody has something, a bunch of things he, she misses from his/her childhood days. Sweet little things that leave you nostalgic every time you revisit them. Feel free to share those memories, people, places, events with us in the comment section. Let's revisit the good old days, together, shall we?