Hardy 3

‘Hardy! Hardy!! Hardy!!!’ my mom yelled at the top of her voice. From the look of things she has just found a fresh reason to kill me and from the sound of her yelling she must be on the top floor and must either be in my room or near it. I am finished.

Under the car where I was hiding I heard an animal meowing. Not now Hardy your mind is trying to play a trick on you. I did my best to ignore the sound but still it keeps occurring and re-occurring like a nightmare you won’t forget.

I rolled to the left to face the direction where the wind was blowing from and I was sweating like a thief who is been chased by a lynched mob. The cat I saw scared me and made me jump out from under the car at a go. It meowed again and sent me further away from the BMW. There are things about cats and the way they behave. First, their always shinning eyes that can see well at night makes them the witch preferred pets, those eyes speak to you, warn you and make you dream long dreams. Also their fur and their looks teaches much of witchcraft to amateur. They always look so neat and why won’t they the witches themselves clean them up.

There is something about this particular cat that scared hell out of me. Normally my mom had always had cats as her pets even before I was born, I don’t like them at all, they scare me each time I see them and I have learnt to live with them by keeping a safe distance away from them. The cats are always in the cat room on the second floor and they are locked up there by my mom because of her fears I would do something terrible to them. How this cat got out I would never know?

This particular cat was black all through as if it had come to the earth to redefine the real meaning and colour of black. My mom has never brought a black cat every before home, she always brings white cats not even the brown ones. How this cat got here I don’t know but I would give it a wild chase to show it who is boss over this habitat.

In Biology under Ecological Succession I learnt how competition aids succession. I had to take out this cat or lose grounds to it which would only reduce my humanitarian rights further. I bent down and took a look at the cat, the cat was relaxed with its sparkling white eyes fixed on mine as if to say ‘Bring it on.’ I frowned at it but it didn’t even blink its eyes, I had to win this one.

I fixed my eyes on it hoping it would blink and run away but it didn’t move one bit, it just kept looking at me. Ten minutes passed and I finally blinked. The cat made a noise as if to show it was laughing at me for my folly. I got up and threw the nearest object I could find which was a spanner that just missed the cat narrowly and hit a kit of tools that came crashing down. The resultant noise was enough to scare the cat and make it flee away from the garage but it was also loud enough for my mom to come down and spot my location easily

As I left the garage the Gardner and the driver asked if anything was wrong and I told them nothing was wrong. They both looked at me not convinced of my stance, well assured that I had done one of my regular schemes on one of the cars. They went into the garage to check for themselves. I looked at those fools and smiled. When I do my tricks there is no trace leading to me only you would know immediately in your head it is me again. Not even the best detectives and even the Sherlock’s of this world could pick me out with a single trace of evidence. I was that good and even better.

I walked back to the mansion ready to face whatever the witch had in store for me. My clothes were now stained with the mixture of dust and engine oil even the best of detergents would not get them off even after soaking it for days. My mom temper would get more aggravated when she sees it is her Christmas gift to me I had just soiled.

Hilda came out of nowhere and nearly screamed when she saw me. I had to cover her mouth to muffle her screams so my mom would not come running down with the pestle in one hand and the horse whip in the other. Hilda managed to push me away and kept a good distance away from me.

‘Look at you dumb fool. See how dirty you look like. You went to play ball again with those good for nothing street boys after dad and mom have warned you to stop. Well for your information today is the day you would be lynched.’ She said obviously not smiling.

I thought about what she said for a while. I wished I had gone to play ball with my mates. I looked at her, she was now sitting at the front door with the earphone in her ear and tab in both hands. She was having fun and living her life.

I asked ‘What’s the time?’ She heard me well I was so sure of it but she didn’t budge an inch. ‘What’s the time Hilda?’ I asked again. This time she looked in my directions for three seconds and turned away. I walked past her nearly stepping on her toes, I wish I had done that and shattered her tab on the ground. It would make me happy even if she would get a brand new one tomorrow.

I entered into the mansion, passed the small living room where unpopular guests are received and entered the guest living room proper where important guests are received. The guest living room is a little different from the small living room. Here is where the only picture of the extended family including grand-mom and grand-dad was. My dad is the only child of his parents and so is my mom so there is no uncle, aunt or cousin in our family.

Another major difference is the items and furniture in the guest living room is more expensive than the small living room. The Badminton Cabinet is the hallmark of the expenses valued at $36.7 million. The paintings in this room consists of replica of great artist grand works like Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and the Virgin of Rocks, Vincent van Gogh The Starry Night and Starry Night over the Rhone, Raphael’s The Cherubim Putti Angels of The Sistine Madonna and School of Athens and many more paintings of Botelli, Van Eyck, Bosch, Brugel and many more I can’t name them all. The ottoman and chairs I don’t know how much they cost but from their luxurious feel and texture, they cost a fortune.

I made it to the living room safe and sound. There is another staircase at the end of the living room just besides the bar where my dad spends most of the time with his friends drinking and playing chess. My dad is too busy working in France and going on business trips we only see during family vacation trips and his August leave.

So far my mom hasn’t painted me that bad as I had expected to my dad because he has kept on buying me gifts and more gifts. I know he does this to justify his long absence from home but with all the things my mom tells me that I am, if I was my dad and heard such things from my wife concerning my son I would punish him immediately.

My dad treats me like a prince, my mom she treats me like I was some piece of rag, worthless except to clean up mess. I know I would be the heir of a large empire and have thousands of people working under me. Have all the money I want, get the kind of cars I want, build houses and marry who so ever I want. I would only enjoy all this when the witch is either out of my life or delivered from witchcraft by the pope himself.

I wanted to head for the stairs but that would not profit me at all, my mom would give me a scarce I would only end up not moving from the spot or running till I get to the highway. I sat down on the ottoman to rest my head for once. Today I had it planned like never before. Today I was supposed to attend a nearby party at 12 with Zaynab then at 5 I would drop her back at home and head for FESTAC for a night party with my friends.

Already I had planned to lie I went to a vigil in FESTAC organised by the Student Protestant Fellowship President Chuka Nnadozie. I had pleaded with him already to cover up for me and it was a done deal but now the future of that deal is threatened by the witch herself.

Hilda came and sat down beside me, she had come to watch my final humiliation. ‘What are you doing here? You want to watch the witch kill me. Please I don’t want to see you, I can’t stomach two witches at once.’ I said angrily.

‘Relax young man, you just called the two women in this house witches. If I tell mom you called her a witch I would also be preparing to dig your grave. I just came to watch the action. It’s really difficult trying to get this quality of domestic violence in the movies.’ She laughed so extensively I wished her ribs would crack and break.

I gave her an unfriendly stare. The kind of stare that says get out or you are next. I had no doubt after this adventure is over I would give her my own perception of adventure. I would hit her so hard she won’t be able to face me ever again. If the stare was frightening, she didn’t show it because she continued laughing hysterically like a hyena.

She said ‘Hardy I haven’t had so much fun before in my lifetime. Even though this is a norm for me to watch editions like this on a daily basis there is something special about this edition. Something about a rebellious teenager trying to triumph over a stumbling block.’ She kept her eyes fixed on my mine, if she was interested in a staring contest she would be disappointed because I moved my eyes away from hers each time there was a sign of an impending contact.

She was really enjoying this. She kept on laughing and laughing. What was so funny I don’t know but clearly I’m the object of ridicule? I remember when both of us used to enjoy each other company. We talked a lot and shared many things in common and even the same ideologies. We were best of friends and to many compatible siblings. That was in our primary school years. Though we still remain friends from a distance only united my fights, it is clear we had lost our close bond.

There was an incident way back when I was in Primary 3, a bully by name Jeff wanted Hilda to clean his desk for him. Hilda of course stubborn as a mull refused and poured him chalk powder, it was so funny the whole class forgot about the threat of Jeff and laughed at him. This made Jeff so angry he had to shout the class silent.

Of course the class kept quiet, he moved to face Hilda who was either possessed by fear or had a better plan in mind. I watched all that was happening from my seat which was near Hilda’s. I made a catapult from rubber and hit him with a huge chunk of paper on his neck. As I hit him I was so afraid he would ask the class and come after me like he did to my best friend Jerome who dared touched his desk but what he did surprised the whole class.

As the catapult touched his head, he stopped threatening Hilda and looked at my direction. I was so filled with fear I knew the moment he stepped closer to me I would pee on my uniform. He looked at me sternly, his eyes forming red veins on his cornea. Next tears began to drop which was a surprise to us. If we were surprised by this we were even more surprised by what next he did.

Booting like a 3^rd generation computer, he slowly touched the back of his neck and felt the burning sensational pain. He looked in my direction once again and I felt I would pee that moment. Tears flowed more freely. He now touched it again and began to scream in agony you would think I was the one who had just bullied a bully. His screams were so abnormal we couldn’t even laugh or make fun of him, the shock was just took much for us to comprehend.

What followed next was he ran towards the door but before leaving, he cried further more like a big baby I had never heard cry before. He said amidst tears ‘I will tell my daddy for you. He will come and beat you for me.’

Since that day I became an unsung hero and began to express my talents as a trickster more openly. For the next three weeks Bully Jeff gave me space and respect. That was his undoing as I grew in confidence as a trickster. I placed chewing gums on his chair so each time he sits he gets chewing gums on his clothes. I placed cockroaches in his desk and was surprised to see him scream to the Headmaster’s office. As if that was not enough I left him a letter dipped in rodent’s blood warning him to transfer or face more tricks.

He knew I was the one doing it, reported me to the Head master who called my mom to warn me to stop but when confronted on the issue I denied even after my mom had beaten the living hell out of me on assembly ground I still didn’t budge.

I changed tactics like a pro and formed a gang with two other tricksters Vincent and Elochukwu. I sent them to do all the dirty work while I remained in the background as the co-ordinator. As soon as the term ended bully Jeff had transferred to another school. This should had made us stop but it didn’t, the gang grew in popularity as we were called the ‘Famous 3’.

‘Hilda do you remember when we were in primary school, we used to be best of friends until year 3.’ I said trying to ignite old memories.

‘I remember that quite clearly Hardy. We used to be good friends before you started this your expensive tricks. I remembered how you got so popular it got into your head and transformed you. You became the opposite of the Hardy I knew. I have despised you and your fellow friends since.’ She said still smiling.

‘I have three wishes I want done before I die here today.’ I said with a gloomy face.

‘What are they? It would be nice to be the custodian of your wishes but you better be quick because mom would soon be through with her interior designing and come after you.’ She said now focusing on her tab.

‘Where is she going to?’ I said calculating how much more time I might still have to hid in the garage before she leaves the house and still go for my party.

‘We are both going for Mrs. Elliot birthday bash in FESTAC.’ When I heard FESTAC I immediately hoped it won’t be near the party I wanted to attend. I heard witches have this magical crystal ball that can see the location of anyone from any location of the earth and they have this special feeling that tells them when the enemy is near.

‘What time is it?’ I said.

‘You mean you don’t know what time it is? Ask google.’ She said scrolling furiously on the tab.

‘I don’t know the time Hilda. Just pause the game you are playing and look up the time for me’. She looked at me and said ‘When I say you are dumb you won’t believe me. You think you are smart to play planks on people yet you can’t see a simple wall clock in front of you.’

I’m a fool. I agreed with her and looked at the clock. The clock says 35 minutes past 2 0’clock. I still have about three more hours before my party start.

‘Thank you’ I said feeling highly ashamed.

‘Don’t thank me. You better say your wishes now because mom would soon be down here any minute from now.’ She said looking at me more interested than ever in my plight.

I wanted to run away so I replied ‘I should go into hiding now that I know she would soon be down. Prevention is better than cure you know.’ I headed gently for the exit but she called me back.

‘Come back Hardy. Aren’t you a man? Face your plight. If you run you are only escalating the situation the more like you have done all day. Maybe if you say all those promises you made to me earlier’ she laughed and added ‘maybe she would be touched like I was and forgive you.’

I walked back to where Hilda was sitting and sat near her. She has that sheer magic of melting a depression into an impression, a sinner into a believer and a weakling into a bully. Í will fight like a man’ I said.

‘Good but when you mean fight like a man do you mean hitting mom like a man?’ she said. I didn’t want to reply but a look at her facial expression and seeing how she has taken my statement I knew I had to clarify things. Firstly, I can’t fight and Hilda can testify to it. The first and last time I tried to fight in Primary One I got beaten by a small boy then much smaller than I was then and the humiliation I faced taught me fighting with violence isn’t the answer to any conflict.

Lastly if I tried to hit my mom and she tells my dad I would be punished by my dad, he would stop buying expensive things for me and seize all the ones I already have and immediately transfer me to Nigerian Military School in Zaria where I heard the conditions there are quite life threatening. Even though I school at Nigerian Navy Secondary School Abeokuta I know the difference between the two, one is manageable the other is unbearable.

I said ‘I can’t hit mom even if I wished I could but I can further escalate her anger by giving her a tough chase.’

‘Wicked boy just tell me your useless three wishes before I go upstairs and call mom by myself. I’m already tired of waiting for so long’ she said impatiently.

‘The first one is for dad to come to my funeral, the second is for the two witches in this house to not come or face a mansion in hell besides mine and lastly for my casket to be all golden and my body dressed in gold.’ I said dreaming of my ideal burial.

‘No problem with the first two because I and my mom won’t come and dad would come but the last one seems to be with so much problems.’ She said clearly enjoying herself.

I said feigning anger ‘You better ensure my last wish is complied with or else my soul would torment you for life.’

She smiled ‘I don’t think I would have a problem with your soul, a mansion like no other in hell for you and your soul would keep him occupied with burning issues’. She paused, looked at me as if she was expecting me to reply. I hissed and sent a message to her she would be hoping forever if she expected a reply. She smiled again and added ‘Back to the last wish, you see you have been a lazy boy all your life and your main and only occupation is terror. I’m not sure you’ve made enough or even a dime to give yourself a criminal burial not to talk of a luxurious one. Your ATM card will just keep rejecting till the machine gets angry and seizes the card.’

I was about to say something harsh back to her but when I heard the sound of a woman’s high heels on the stairs I kept my calm. I got up startled and wanted to hide myself immediately but in order not to give Hilda another reason to watch this I stood still in fear.

‘Hardy here comes mom’ she said excitedly. She opened her video camera and said ‘It would be interesting watching this one over and over again. I will name it mom vs Hardy.’ I wanted to snatch the tab and smash it to pieces on the floor but that would only make my mom come down faster.

‘Hilda are you ready?’ she called out from the second floor. She must have seen Hilda which means she must have seen me too or has the lamp I stood near blocked her from seeing me?

‘Yes mom I’m ready and so is Hardy’ she said loud enough for my mom to hear even if she was on the third floor. I stood there startled like a frightened hen. Hilda just kept on laughing hysterically, she must be having the most interesting day of her life today.

My mom asked ‘Is Hardy done there?’ She must be increasing her pace, the sound emitting from her high heels was getting louder.

Hilda looked at me and I begged her by nodding my head and kneeling down. She nodded in agreement and said ‘Yes mom he is done here waiting to ask for your forgiveness’. As she said those words I kept fighting myself inside not to run or cry, to square up to her and face it like a brave man would ordinarily do. Hilda touched my shoulders assuring me I could do it, I felt like throwing her hands away and giving her a befitting slap but I was too depressed on the issue at hand.

‘Hardy!!!!’ My mom shouted. She was just a few steps away from reaching the first floor where I was. I’m sure she would be heading my direction. We looked each other eye to eye.

I answered with a weak voice ‘Yes mom.’

She got down from the stairs and walked towards me. ‘Go and wash those your stinking clothes you put inside that bag and clean your room before I get back’ she ordered.

‘Yes mom’ I bowed my head in respect.

‘Look at how dirty you are, you better take a proper bath before I come back and make sure you wash all your clothes. When I come back we will discuss what to do about your growing laxity’ she said and left. I could not believe my luck, I felt I was living a dream, What happened to her martial skills, what happened to her stinging slaps, what happened to her powerful blows, what happened to her favourite quote ‘spare the road and spoil the child’ and what happened to her earlier resolve to deal with me.

I followed her at a distance, I saw her and Hilda entering her BMW and laughing. They drove off Hilda giving me a mischievous look. I watched them leave the compound and had to ensure they had left for good.

I laughed so loudly the armed security guards at the gate must have thought I had lost it. I was so happy I couldn’t even walk back into the house properly. I tripped five times on the way and each time a guard tried to help me up I refused help. The happiness I feel inside could not be compared with all the happiness in the world.

Today had really gotten from bad to worse than all of a sudden to superbly nice. Now I could go for my party and come back without my mom and sister ever knowing where I went to. I would just leave a note according to the original plan and tell them I am going for a vigil in FESTAC. She would call the school immediately and they would give her the Fellowship Leader number who would cover up for me as planned.

‘Well done Hardy, you are good to go.’ I could hear my mind speaking these encouraging words to me as I headed back into the house to clean up and prepare for the day. This party would be the best I have ever attended, I could just feel it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lost it

I feel like I have lost it all
lost my passion
lost my determination
lost my skills
lost my focus
lost my dream even though am still dreaming
need a break
not even sure if I can go law any longer
this is a career calamity
I have lost it all

Senate moves Amaechi screening to wednesday

The Nigerian Senate spokesman dino melaye has stated that amaechi will be screened by the senate house on Wednesday.
this is coming on the back of calls from angry Nigerians on why amaechi has not been screened like other ministers in the first batch handed over to the senate president since October 1st. The ministers in the same list have all been confirmed by the senate except amaechi and shittu.

Emmenike/Enyeama retirement: In the interest of Nigerian football?

Emmanuel Emmenike recently announced his retirement from international football, becoming the second player after Vincent Enyeama in the team to officially announce his retirement. Enyeama retired due to a clash between himself and the head coach of the Super Eagles while for Emmenike the reason is not easy to point out.

Analysts believe he retired due to his lack of form and the growing reality he won’t get a lot of chances to play in the Eagles anymore. They see a connection with the Enyeama travail as a possible indicator in his decision to retire.

Already Emmenike has come under heavy criticism for his lack of form and goals for the Super Eagles with many calling for a fresher striker.

He took to Instagram on Monday night to announce his retirement "No more Eagles career!" After 5 great years, I am happy to announce that I have put full-stop to my National team career for the sake of national peace. Its a pleasure for me to have played for this great country. I never regretted it and I think its the best time to end it. Millions thanks to all the fans who have been very supportive during the good and bad times. I am very proud of my performance, I am proud of my team mates and I am very proud of the nation called 'Nigeria'. My AFCON gold medal is a sign of great achievement, My AFCON topscorer award speaks a lot about my commitment and dedication to the team. Super Eagles is a camp not a family house, and it shouldn't be a threat zone for any individual. I have done according to our national anthem. "All my dreams came true in the national team, I dreamt to win Nations Cup for Nigeria after 20-years, I dreamt to played at the World Cup as well as to make a name for myself... In the space of five years, I got them. I'm a winner! "For every dissapointing fans, maybe due to my inability to re-establish my goal scoring instinct for Super Eagles, I will like to say I'm sorry but the ones I had scored counted well for the team. As long as Nigeria remains, you and I will always remember the name 'Emenike'. "Finally, I am happy to make a bow and continue supporting the team everytime. Up Eagles, God Bless Nigeria!

With the retirement of Emmenike and Enyeama, they have opened doors for younger and fresher players to play a role in the national team. Their retirement signals a change in leadership from Keshi to Oliseh. Now let us all hope the team will now recover for the better and rise to our deserved place in world football.

Hardy Chapter 2

 

I heard a voice as I took the first step out of my room. I looked sideways to see if my mom was there, no sign of her. I breathed a sigh of relief and gently closed the door to avoid giving her any more glues. I wondered where the witch had gone now. I moved a little of the left and I tripped on the pestle and came crashing down on the floor. Luckily I didn’t have a wound to threat this time around.

I got up and picked up the pestle, it was very heavy so I used both hands. So this is the lethal weapon, I can’t even hold it properly without staggering. I dropped it back on the floor quietly even though I knew by now I had done enough to be discovered.

I continued moving leftward along the passage way on the third and last floor where five of the twelve rooms in the house are located. As I walked I looked at the numerous pictures of our family. The one that has kept on fascinating me every time I see it is the electronic photo frame that contained 289 pictures of my parent’s second weeding ten years ago. My mom looked beautiful and glamourous even at the age of 40 then and now as she approaches 50 she still looks like someone in her early 30’s.

I skipped past the master bedroom and suddenly I skipped back. I got to the door and waited to hear sounds to confirm if she was in, I took the risk and opened the door and fell on my knees immediately eyes closed. If you can’t win a battle with an enemy that is stronger than you then have to temporary retreat and lose in view of strengthening to win the war.

I didn’t know what got into me but everything I did I didn’t do it because I had suddenly realised my mistakes and my laziness but because the pains my body had been suffering for the past ten years. I must had been shedding tears of pain for the ten years of consistent assault as I spoke these nice words that would make even the queen of witches heart melt in pity.

I started ‘Mom I know I have been the worst child ever known in the entire history of mankind. I know I have been an advocate of the devil ever since I was born and I have been constantly been possessed by demons all my life. Mom I know I always make you sad, angry, temperamental, angry and to appear silly. Mom I know you think i haven’t learnt my lessons’

‘I am tired of hearing you yell at me, I now want to see you praising me and been proud of me once again. I have committed many atrocities and I know that I don’t deserve your forgiveness but mom find it in your loving heart to forgive me. I am ready to go for special deliverance to transform myself from a sinner to a saint.

I have committed many sins mom, I’ve stolen your money, I’ve disobeyed you, I’ve sold some of your jewelleries, I keep on increasing the telephone bill and have been rude to your friends. Mom I’m sorry I called your best friends Mrs Sylva a witch and even flattened her tyres which I denied then, I’m sorry I served Mrs Eze water from a pond and she fell ill on the spot, I’m sorry I put pins on all the cushions when your friends came for a fellowship, mom I even broke Mr. Lancelot wiper and put bugs in your BMW. I’m the one that poured Champagne in your car radiator. I’m the one who stole your ATM card. I’m the one who threw away your tiara.

Mom I have done so many tricks on you and I can’t name them all but mom I am ready to change this time for good. Mom I realise my wickedness, the only one who has been practicing witchcraft without knowing is me. I have done so much evils that hurt people, things I will never allow anyone to do to me. I’ve been a fool, have lived a negative life all my life, I’m an embarrassment to you and the family name I have soiled badly. Mom pass your judgement on me, beat me till I move no more, paralyse me in your anger and break me in your fury I deserve it all.

Mom if that is not enough, feed me to the dogs and let the vultures have their share of my miserable body. Mom if you are willing to forgive and accept me once again I will change for God. Mom from now on I say goodbye to laziness, goodbye to sleep, goodbye to lousiness and goodbye to disobedience. From now on mom I will be a symbol of obedience, I will be like David and Samuel and not like Ahab nor Saul. I will listen to you and honour you for the rest of my life. No more dirty tricks for me ever again. Mom please place me back in your heart.

I went on and on promising things I know I would never do even if you placed a pistol on my head. I promised I would always clean up my home, do my chores and even more without been prompted to do so. I promised I would get better grades in school, score 300 marks in Jamb and get all distinctions in my WAEC and NECO exams. I promised to be the child she had never had or imagined she could have, I promised to emulate her and follow her to church every day she wanted to go. I kept on going on and on till a hand touched me, much softer and smaller than my mom’s own.

‘Get up Hardy, your mom is not here’. Those words made me open my eyes at once. I saw the face and blinked thrice just to be sure. She was smiling at me, no, she must have been laughing. I got up and shoved the girl away.

‘Where is my mom?’ I raised my voice high enough I knew my mom will be coming around soon. Still smiling she said ‘Nice to see you have finally decided to change. I am worried you will soon be in the hospital again or the mortuary.’

That statement must have provoked me because I slapped her till I heard her crying. Young girl my age but not even pretty in any sense of the word, Hilda was one of those French girls you see that make you destroy any notion that all European girls are extremely beautiful. She couldn’t pass for pretty, a normal girl who is in the middle between normal and ugly looking.

She kept on crying loudly and if I don’t do something quickly my mom would killed me there. I wrapped my hands around the troll and kept saying ‘I am sorry.’ That must have done the trick because she stopped crying and embraced me firmly. If I remained in that position for another ten seconds I would throw up. My belly began to trouble me, it must be empty.

‘I needed to eat something.’ I said trying to endure the offensive fragrance of her body. She must have been sweating from doing her work and now I’m the grand receiver of it. She smiled and let go. Whatever she must have been thinking would never come to pass, not in this world or the next world because a fox doesn’t marry a pig.

I left the room trying not to look back and see the smiling of a troll but I did and asked ‘Where is my mom?’ This time she answered me ‘Your mother is at the door talking to Mrs. Eze.’ I smiled at the troll and nearly said thank you. I hurried down the stairs straight to the second floor. One thing I don’t like about this mansion is there is no straight stairs to get down to the ground floor. An elevator would be more appropriate in this huge mansion than the boring stairs that doesn’t even lead straight down to the ground floor. 

I got to the second floor and had to go round the passageway past the three visitor’s room and then Hilda’s room. Found the stairs that led to the ground floor and hurried down. My belly kept on hurting me and I felt I already had ulcer. I walked a little and by-passed the living room through a small corridor that leads to the door to our underground basement so large it could hid thousands of people in it conveniently and made my way for the kitchen in a crooked manner.

As I passed I could hear my mom laughing and sharing her custom gossips as she talked to Mrs. Eze. Heard something about the latest designs in the market that goes for ten thousand dollars and how daddy Itshekiri got his maid pregnant and how his wife is now in an asylum in Ibadan and how mummy Kanuri’s husband was arrested by the JTF to clear strong allegations of terrorism. I wanted to hear more so I hid myself beside the floor lamp which was a bad idea since it barely hid me. They talked about me and evaluated my worthlessness and debated my laziness. I wanted to hear more but when women gossip like this time suffers. I entered the kitchen and searched for what to eat. There was yam, scorched egg and rice but it was cold. I put on the burner to warm it up but even that will that five to ten minutes and each time I attempt to warm food I end up burning it.

I searched the kitchen for any other thing I could eat. I turned my gaze towards the direction of the kitchen door to be sure no one was looking at me, I opened the pot of stew and used a spoon to pick two pieces of beef and dropped it on a plate. I settled down to eat it on the mini-table at the centre of the kitchen where Hilda always eats. I picked a meat with my hands and watched the stew roll done my palms and just before it got to my wrist I licked it up, I did this twice before sucking off the stew from the meat. The stew was delicious I sucked the stew out of the second and licked the plates. Only my tongue could testify to the sweetness of the stew. I picked up the first meat and bit half of it.

I was so engrossed into what I eating and didn’t notice when Hilda entered the kitchen. She said ‘Just look at him eating like as if he has never seen food in his life-time’. She touched my shoulders and brightened up with a smile, I took one look at her and decided I won’t look at her again until I have finished eating before she spoils my appetite with her looks. I kept on eating like the hungry wolf I was.

‘I will help you warm the food before you burn it’ she said. I didn’t even say thank you before she moved over to help me. I looked at her briefly and smiled, if only she had a quarter of the looks of Zaynab then I might be interested in her but clearly she’s just a smart girl. Since my mom adopted her fifteen years ago just weeks after my birth, she has been doing well academically coming tops in her school. My mom was still in the ward with Hilda’s mother who died giving birth to her, from her conversation with her she found out Hilda father abandoned both mother and daughter so when she died shortly after giving birth to Hilda she adopted Hilda. She is the daughter my mom is most proud of.

I don’t consider her my sister although I call her sis when my mom is around, when she’s not I call her bitch secretly to my friends because if my mom hears it I would be in a coffin buried under the ground. All the members of this family are good-looking and thank goodness it is only ten times she appeared in the family photo and they are all on the second floor. Maybe I am a little over-exaggerating her ugliness but she doesn’t look pretty, she’s just a plain normal Jane.

‘Thank you’ I said. She turned to look at me ‘It’s the least I can for a lazy likeable boy like you’. I looked at her and felt cheerful. She had that magic of melting a depression into an impression. I pity her now for the way I ruthlessly tortured her five years ago that made her move from the room beside mine down to the second floor. I constantly placed rodents in her room and cockroaches to share a bed with her, if there were two things she hated most after snakes they are rodents and cockroaches.

The reason I didn’t use snakes was because I’m as scared of snakes and even more as Hilda. I remembered six years ago just as I was about to write my common entrance to gain admission into the jungle I saw a snake in the garden and I screamed till I lost my voice and attracted the whole Ikeja to the scene.

Barely two weeks of sleeping with rodents and cockroaches and screaming like a girl who had just been raped brutally, I decided to advise her to move to the second floor to end her misery. She immediately read beyond the scripts that I was behind her predicament but still she moved and played a trick on me that made me despise her so much till date.

She placed a bunch of moths in my clothes, my beds and everywhere in my room. I entered my room that fateful day glowing with a smile after completing the days trick on another girl when I saw the months I screamed like a girl and wept. I could pick cockroaches and rodents but moths I fear them. Those things give me a nightmare with their dusty bodies, their antennas, abdomen and thorax. I will prefer a year in hell than to be in the same room with any ugly creatures that have an antenna, an abdomen and a thorax and that includes butterflies. I hate bugs. It took me just five minutes and I went to beg her to remove them for me, she did but she still stayed in the second floor to grease my ego.

‘So are you ready to tell me who your boyfriend is? Does he look just like you?’ I said intending to hurt her. If she was hurt she didn’t show it, she just smiled and kept on frying eggs for me. I looked at her face for a long time wanting to see her depressed but instead she kept smiling and humming a song. I may have good looks but I was no singer, my voice alone was a better solution to a scarecrow to a farmer. She possessed one of the most melodious voices in the world. I would prefer to listen to her sing than to listen to some musicians, she was that good and even better.

One of the reasons and probably the only reason why the Redeem Church we attend is increasing in congregation attendance is because of her voice and not the sermons of the Head Pastor that sent two-thirds of his congregation to sleep just as he mounts the podium and as if to show her importance after the choir is done half of the youth flee from the church. The voice makes her look beautiful in your head and it’s only later you realise you have fallen in love with a plain Jane. If she ever chose to through plastic surgery and transform her body and do all those breast implants she would have more fans flocking around her.

‘Will you sing for me?’ I said quacking adding ‘It’s better than listening to opera.’ She turned at me and looked at with me with her beautiful blue eyes. ‘Do you want me to sing or should I just tell you who my boyfriend is?’

I picked the boyfriend, I really wanted to know that lucky guy. ‘Who is the lucky guy? I really want to meet him and congratulate him for a job well done.’ She didn’t say anything for some time and just as I was about to tell her I was waiting she said ‘You are the lucky guy. You are my boyfriend.’

She kept stirring the eggs and didn’t look at me. I got up as I finished eating the meat and pecked her on the check and said ‘As long as you will keep singing to me and cooking delicacies for me then you might just be my girlfriend.’ She didn’t look at me back and I got back to my seat.

Hope she didn’t take me seriously because I didn’t mean what I said. I just hope Hilda will find that lucky boy who would make her happy. I picked up an apple and started chewing the fruit. I didn’t know how much time I had before my mom comes looking for me but at least my experience on woman talk tells me I still have about at least three hours more to go if not the whole day.

She served me my food and I thanked her again. She smiled and said ‘I know you didn’t mean what you said earlier. I would have loved to be your girlfriend if I didn’t know about your many defects. You are cool on the outside but on the inside it’s the opposite.’

I looked at her and almost insulted her immediately if not for the fact she had prepared my meal for me. I barely ate half-way when she said ‘Look at the way you are eating like a dog, you eat like those road-side beggars.’ That did the trick, I couldn’t take it anymore. I said ‘You this troll when last did you shave your armpit. Get yourself a warm bath your body odour is interrupting with the delicious aroma of my food.’

I don’t know what pained her so much, I got a slap which I followed with my hands. The slap was so hot my checks burnt and felt like hot iron on my face. I held my face in agony. If not because of my resolve to never cry before a girl I would have shed tears on the spot.

She must have felt really hurt because she just cried and moved out of the kitchen. Before she left I made sure to tell her how bad her breathe was even though it wasn’t. She burst into louder tears and I knew now my mom would come calling sooner than expected.

I finished eating my meal and washed my plates to avoid another conflict. I took out a bunch of cold grapes from the fridge and started eating it. Hilda and my mom says I eat a lot and I would get fat soon but with the looks of things I look very much like a model on diet.

I felt sorry for Hilda, although she is not my type she wasn’t that bad. I have seen real trolls some of my friends date, if I were to compare her with those she will get a pretty mark. She would find herself a boyfriend soon if she wants one, her voice is one of a kind.

I remember last year when I brought Vincent my long-lost primary school friend who I just got in contact with after nearly six years of separation. He passed through the witch cross-examination as every one of my friends I bring home does and surprisingly he passed after half an hour. He met Hilda singing and immediately fell in love with her but Hilda was cold to him when she heard he was my blossom friend and other reasons best known to her. I told her he liked her, she told me to get lost. Vincent is not bad-looking but also not good-looking boy and he has a defect he was a stammer. I thought the two would be a match made in heaven.

‘Do you think I can date someone like that? He can’t ever talk properly. I know his type and I don’t like them’. She said when I pledged with her to at least talk to him.

‘A little chat won’t kill you. I don’t know what he sees in you but the guy is clearly attracted to you. He keeps asking after you and telling me of dreams he has been having of you’. I said fabricating that last part to sell him better.

‘So you are now his mouthpiece? Good for nothing boys who don’t even know what to do with their lives than to waste it on fantasies’. She yelled and walked out threatening to tell the witch about my affair with Zaynab and my attempt to make her date a stammer. The threat was convincing enough and I didn’t bother her again about the topic, lying to Vincent I talked to her every day.

This holiday he hasn’t yet called but it is just the third day into my two-month holiday. I give him till next week before he starts calling me again or I call him. I marvelled at his strange interest in Hilda when Ronke a far beautiful and sophisticated girl is begging for attention. I asked him once what he finds so fascinating about Hilda when he has Ronke clamouring for attention. His response was ‘Hilda is beautiful on the inside and Ronke is beautiful on the outside. Her beauty on the inside is what has attracted me to her, it is very rare to find people like that.’ I looked at him like what was this guy talking about, beauty on the inside, do you see the inside? Will you date the inside?

I finished devouring the grapes and felt full. I had settled my belly now to settle my mother. I decided to go and meet her at the door, greet her friend and tell her I was sorry. I left the kitchen, passed the stairs leading to the basement and headed for the front door through the small living room.

I prayed for success in my mission. I needed all the luck I could get right now. The TV was on but no one was around to watch it. I looked round the small living room to be sure my mom and her friend had not decided to move to sit down here and talk better. I didn’t see anyone. The small living room where my mom and dad received not so important guest wasn’t that small, it was the size of my classroom in school, portraits of dad, mom, grandfather and grandmother hung on the wall. My dad has told me a lot about my grandparents who were the wealthiest black people in France, they owned FIRST group of companies that had influence all over Europe and Africa which spread to Asia and the Americans under my dad. FIRST group of companies consisted of FIRST Global Oil and Gas Company, they owned a law firm FIRST Law firm, FIRST supermarket, FIRST cosmetics and a lot more I haven’t heard of. Today my dad is one of the wealthiest in Africa.

He never loses any opportunity to praise his parents and even his grandparents who started FIRST supermarket. He always tells me I would one day take over the company. My dad treats me like a prince my mom treats me like a savage. I won’t ever contemplate taking over such a company, so much money, so much fame and so much to conquer, this is one adventure I won’t ever want to miss.

I got to the front door and didn’t see my mom, I moved outside and checked round our massive compound, the swimming pool, the bar, the garden but I didn’t see her or her friends. I checked the garage shouting her name but she wasn’t there. I noticed her Ferrari 458 Italia was not in the garage, had she driven out. I heard someone screaming my name and I quickly hid under her BMW Alpina Roadster V8. I heard it again more clearly I knew I must have done something wrong again. I saw Mrs. Eze the gossip general leaving I knew immediately it was the witch that called me.

Trip to Ife: Take notes fellas

A bus direct to Ife from Ojodu-Berger should cost nothing less than a thousand five hundred naira. Prices may vary. The travel cuts across three states, first will be Lagos that you are departing, then entering  into Ogun state, then through Ibadan till you get to Osun where you will journey for a short while before getting to Ife.

The journey lasts the period of two and half hours that is if there are no traffic jams on the road. The route the car will take you through is the Lagos Ibadan express way then when you get to Ibadan they will take the Ibadan-Ife road.

On that same road is the Obafemi Awolowo University. It is the single stand out structure on the road where thousands of undergraduates and post-graduates come to acquire knowledge. The motto of the university is ‘for learning and culture’ which is quite intriguing and true considering the well-organized administration of the university and the high required cut-off marks for each subjects.

I came here by peradventure of the luck of writing the post UTME examination for admission into the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo. I stayed in the town for the duration of two days, arrived Friday afternoon and left first thing in the morning.

My advice for folks who want to visit Ife and need a place to stay for the duration, they should take a bus to Mayfair in Ife and they will see enough quality and cheap hotel in that area. Of course bus fee cost just N40. The range of hotels includes Mayfair hotel, Xela hotel, Hilton hotel and a lot more.

Ife is a quiet city and traffic flowing unlike the jammed up roads and houses of Lagos, in Ife everywhere is free and flowing, the population is not that dense and you can still see people living in ancient houses but on the bright side it is more quiet, convenient and it will save you the unnecessary Lagos rush and save your blood pressure. If you are looking for a quiet city to enjoy your retirement, why not try Ife? You won’t be disappointed at all.

Also there food stuffs are relatively cheap considering the fact that most of their goods are transported for us here in Lagos to buy at higher prices by the hoarding marketers. Banana that you will buy in Lag for N100 you will get it for just N50.

For akara lovers and lovers of moi-moi, the Lagos variety is tasteless and impure for the superior Ife made impoverished beans. Also, not forgetting the numerous farm lands there making vegetable so cheap you would consider coming here from lag to buy freshly cut vegetables.

Another thing about Ife is there shops don’t open quiet early as they are not really in a hurry to make money. The place is also friendly for visitors as the huge statue of the Ife bronze head at the road about welcomes you to Ife. The people are more friendly to visitors than in Lagos were you are really on your own, here they try to make you feel welcome and give you advances on your trip.

There buses are cheap considering the distance; they cost about N40 per bus stop almost the same as their okada riders. Also interestingly most of their drivers don’t have bus conductors as you see in almost every bus in Lagos and I actually got down without paying the fare. No harm intended, I actually forgot.

Also in Ife is the Oduduwa University which many of you would have never heard about. Also brace yourself for the occasional poor network in parts of Ife as telecommunication providers have not really made their strong presence felt there. This is annoying considering Ife is a popular town. This is an open challenge to the telecommunication providers’ management to come and do something quickly about this situation.

The road of Ife will need some upgrading, though the town is rarely flooded the roads needs to be graded and few bumps here and here and in no time you will have a pot-hole the size of a pot which will cost significantly much  than it will at this present stage.

 I call on the governor of Osun state, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to look for solution to the unpaid worker’s owed salaries and cut-down his expensive government and welfare packages and provide basic amenities like good roads which is the right of every citizen in the state.

Small impacts like this and you are made a folk figure not your expensive welfare packages which has now backfired and exposed you to insults and loss of face which you didn’t anticipate will come. The difference here is that both are costly but in the long run you don’t have to keep paying for workers welfare as a good road and clean drainage system will last thirty years without a major repair.

Back to Ife, I won’t complete my travelogue without running into the reason why I actually came to Ife, on this note I will talk about the University of Ile-Ife. The university motto is ‘for learning and culture’ and it looks everything like the name. From the gate, which actually looks like a toll gate the rods are well graded and neatly divided with beautiful horticulture dominating the landscape.

You need a bus to take you into the campus as for close to twenty minutes all you will be driving on is on the beautiful long road without seeing any structure till you get to campus bus-stop which gives you an idea of exactly how large the university really is. I’ve been to the Federal University of Agriculture (FUNAAB) before and I was impressed, Obafemi Awolowo University wowed me to speechlessness.

One thing you must notice is all the roads are good and looks like they have just been graded not long ago, zebra crosses are predominance on major roads which gives you an overseas feeling. You also can not miss the surplus sculptures that are littered orderly around the university. The university is really a hive ‘for learning and culture’.

The university has its own sport complex, a stadium which can host about 15 thousand people; the university is really a hive for learning of all sorts. I never got to the end of the university as the more I walked round, the more the university seems to be getter bigger and bigger and bigger.

I must commend the university management for the successful organizing of the post-utme screening exercise. We all had information about our Exam Centre and room and seat number which was given at registration for the post-UTME. This made seating for the examination easier than the orthodox way of making students line them then start putting them into sits in an unorganized manner.

We started at 12p.m, it was to last for an hour fifteen minutes and they were through to timing, a good point for the administration. One thing that impressed me is the fact that the question papers and the OMR sheet where customized with our names, UTME number and seat number, so all we needed to do was to start shading our answers. Kudos, to the OAU management, they have really convinced me of the orderliness and sincerity.

Also, another thing was our results were released exactly 24 hours after we finished the exam and this made the University administration look clean and sincere in their admission processes.

You can decide to go back to Lagos using a cab that will cost you two thousand naira only, it sounds expensive but considering they only carry four passengers, three at the back, one at the front, it may be a price well paid for your convenience or you can take a cab to Ibadan costing six hundred naira only then you get to Ibadan and take a N500 bus to Lagos.

Enjoy your stay in Ife, the ancestral home of the Yoruba’s. Please be sure to visit these places, the Ife museum where crafts and crafts of bronze works dating back to , also visit the Ooni palace “ILE Oduduwa” the home of Oduduwa and the  Ooni of Ife,  considering the fact they are near each other , also visit the Agbonniregun Temple in Oke-Itase Street, also see the famous Oranmiyan Staff  you read only in books and folklore at the Mopa Area, Aarubidi, also see the Zoological Garden and the Natural History Museum Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, the Oluorogbo Temple Ilode Street, the Igbo-Olokun Shrine,  Ilode Street, Oduduwa Shrine and Grove, Ido Area, Oduduwa Street, Baba Sigidi Burst Baba Sigidi Compound, Iremo and Igi-Nla (Mysterious Tree) Oke-Oora, Mokuro, Ile-Ife.

Also see Moremi shrine, Oduduwa statue near the Oni’s palace, Ogun Laadin shrine where Oduduwa is said to have descending from heaven with a chain on his hands , also visit Ila Nla where the Ooni addresses his subjects

Your tour is just about to begin.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity.

 

 

Former Ooni of Ife

History going extinct in the educational sector and the world at large

History to E.H Carr can be defined as the “study of the historian and his facts”. History has overtime now been downgraded and branded irrelevant by most schools and institutions. Job opportunities do not abound as it once did for historians who are now found working in the few research centers in the country and few schools that still do history to provide a variety of subjects to enhance their prestige and marketability.

It must be noted that the decline of history which is dubbed irrelevant and a piece of garbage by many is connected to the extinction of our cultural values and languages. Native languages are rarely spoken by this new generation and so are history less talked about or bragged about by students when such knowledge would have added their growth and understanding of the world at large.

History must stop being undervalued; a man who underrates the importance of history is doing so at its own peril. It embracing that history is no longer an important subject in schools as it is not even in their lists of government. In few schools that do history they are not studied by a lot of students. For example in Nigerian Navy Secondary School, Abeokuta out of 194 students in a set only 10 does history which amount to approximately 5.2%, a slim margin by any standards. Then if you consider the number of Arts student in the small school, 60 of them the percentage will be approximately 16.7%.

Yes, history might be boring but they are a lot of interesting things hidden in the topic that will make the boring side seem interesting, anyone who values the sacred prestige of knowledge will understand that the knowledge of history is worthwhile. History gives that pride and bragging rights about knowing past events and dates of important things. I once asked a mate if she knew anything about Uthman Dan Fodio and her reply was that of a semi-illiterate, she has heard his name before but don’t know anything about him. Is this all? Where was he born? What made him famous? Did she know he established the first theocratic state in the 19^th century? He fought the famous battle called jihad and it is from this jihad the Boko Haram sect are trying to do in the North-Eastern region of Nigeria? It’s from the idea of theocratic state that the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria set up a theocracy in parts of Syria?

If this is too hard for her, then a further question made my head spin, she doesn’t know the name of the 1^st ever military head of states in Nigeria, General J.T.U Aguiyi Ironsi, or can she lists Nigerian former leaders? Or the year the famous Lagos was bombarded and annexed?  Or who was the first European to come to Nigeria, what year did he arrive and where did he first visit? This development is not fear, so tell me history haters, if you don’t know the history of your country, how much less will you know your tribal history, your lineage history and your linguistically history?

It seems hard but you haven’t even tried, knowledge is the greatest gift you can ever achieve, yes you may get this informal on the net at the touch of your smartphones but won’t it be a mile better to have this information in your brain so if he need arises you will bring it out in an emphatic fashion that will shun people and made an everlasting impression on them.

So why is this history so important? Isn’t it a store house of meaningless and needless values? History according to another historian ‘is the study of the past to proffer solutions to the problems and intrigues of the future’. In the book of Ecclesiastes written by Solomon, a famous statement he keeps on making is that ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. So how this statement does concerns our discussion here? History as a study of the past can indeed proffer solutions to the problems that will arise in the future as everything that is happening now has been done before.

For example the use of chemical weapon in Syria in August 2013 by the government on its citizen would have been blown into a full scale war if not for the lessons past wars has thought us that war isn’t profitable to any party involved in it.

Also, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to control huge territories of Iraq and Syria and their killing of Christians and European citizens would have been blown into a full scale invasion of the land by American and European troops but the lessons of America failed invasion of Afghanistan and their policing of the Middle East which was a huge failure as they clearly didn’t achieve their goals.

The Boko Haram sect aim and objective can be linked to the Sokoto Jihad which was crumbled by the British, now they seek s to create a theocratic state even if their tactics and mode of attacks do not follow the doctrines of the Prophet Muhammad. Also, through history the doctrines this Boko Haram sect believes in can be linked to the Muslim brotherhoods of Wahhabiyya and Tijāniyya's. 

Russia’s takeover of Crimea and their sponsorship of the Ukraine rebels who wants to join Russia. This situation with the help of history has showed us two historical instances. First, Russia takeover of Crimea and their attempts to gain Ukraine through history proposes the notion of Russia aim to actualize the fragmented USSR kingdom. Also, this could have led to another world war between Russia and the rest of the world with probable allies as China and some other Asian countries for Russia but for the lessons of the two world war which only lead to destruction of lives, dislocation of families and a massive death troll running into millions and yet nothing was achieved.

As you can see, these European countries and America have then used this knowledge of history to find out a better punishment and they did imposing financial, importing and trading sanctions on Russia which has harmed their currency and economy slower but painfully. Slowly, Putin is reducing his support for the Ukraine rebels and slowly the world is winning the war without a single bullet and a single life been sacrificed. Bravo Zulu for history, well done.

Iran plans to build a nuclear weapon would have been blown to full proportion if not for the knowledge of history.  Iran were like Russia given sanctions, far harder than the Russians as they could not sell their oil to America and European countries and this nearly killed their economy, and now Iran has lost the war and finally signed a deal to end their nuclear plans.

Science and technology has taken over the world as they are wowed by the sheer magic and innovativeness of intelligent inventors but even these innovators must acknowledge the vital contribution of history in this matter. The smartphones we use today would not have been possible if historians had not taken notes of Alexander Graham Bell invention of the telephone on March 10, 1876 and the invention before him helped create a platform for today’s amazing smartphones.

History helped develop communication if you practically look at this instance, from the story of Noah who used a dove to communicate, it was from this story of Noah that happened many millions of years ago that man trained pigeon to send message during wars, to communicate with war commanders and then it progressed to the post of messenger, to the telegraph and telephone, the post office,  then to the e-mail we now use all use now.

Also it is through the knowledge of the industrial revolution that the world modern industries and firms had evolved to this present status. Like a famous saying says ‘Inventions are a result of necessities’ and these necessities is what history provides a platform for, by laying the foundation for such necessities. For example, ancient man roamed around for food, then they lived in caves, then build mud houses and the necessity of this led to the building of modern houses.

Modern books the e-books also couldn’t have been possible today without history. 3500 BC - Symbols onto Tablets, 2400 BC - Papyrus Scrolls, 600 BC - Standardized writing system developed, 500 - 200 BC – Parchment, 200 BC - Wax Tablets developed, 105 AD - The Paper Revolution, 400 - 600 AD - Illustrations added to the book, 868 AD - The First Printed Book, 1041 AD - 1230 AD - The First Moveable Type of printers, 1250 AD - Block Printing in Egypt, 1439 - 1450 AD - Moveable Type in Europe, 1455 AD - The Guttenburg Bible, 1490 AD - 1500 AD  -The Printing Revolution, 1501 AD - The Precursor to the Modern Paperback, 1639 AD - 1640 AD - America's First Book, 1832 AD - Book sleeves appear, 1832 AD to 1860 AD - Birth of the "cheap" Novel, 1920 AD - 1938 AD - The fall and rise of the Paperback, 1985 AD - First books on CD, 1995 AD - Books sold Online, 2000 AD - 2006 AD The start of the e-books Market and 2007 AD - The Kindle becomes the first e-book reader. Without history this step by step improvement won’t have been possible.

In the medical sector, if not for history that was carefully preserved, the herbs and tested cures for illness, the medical sector won’t have improved to this extent. Herbs are now increasingly been used to treat diseases as doctors are not encouraging the eating of different vegetables to prevent ailments.

Lastly, the history of nations has provided a pride to develop and maintain their ancenstors standard. For instance when America was founded by English settlers, it was declared a ‘Land of freedom’ and it is rightfully so now. Democracy which their ancestors championed has been passed down to this present generation and the world at large because of the preservation of the history of the American democratic system which is now used in most countries in the world. Also, it is from history we know that Indians were the original occupant of America.

History has helped us Nigerians preserve our culture and languages through written and oral sources, archeology and linguistics which is the study of language but the rate at which history is gradually becoming extinct is alarming. Unlike other languages of the world, Itshekiri, Tiv, Idoma, Chamba and other minority tribes can’t be found on the internet which calls for the knowledge of history to perceive this languages before extinction comes of it like the Klallam in the US, Livonian in Latvia, Pazeh in Taiwan, Iberian in France and Spain and etc., the list is endless. Most Nigerian languages fail in the endangered categories of languages in the world.

History has also helped space travelling become real. From the works of Galileo to the German V2 the first rocket to reach 100km from the Earth’s surface (the boundary of space), to the first man to land on the moon, history has contributed its vital bit in astrology.

What do I profit from studying it? You gain experience like never before gained. There is a saying that ‘experience is the best teacher’. Will you wait to learn from your experience when someone ‘under the sun’ has experienced the same time? It is clear that all fields has learnt a lot of history but like all good things you can never know its true significance until you have lost it.    

 

Timblaze

Funny how life gives us a kick when we least expect it. Funny how change is a necessity to few and disposable by many, I forever remain Timblaze devoted to my eternal callings to become a writer and not just any writer, one that will transform the writing industry for good and when I'm through with my assignment I will give an account of how my works has not only attracted people but has change people. Change only lasts a lifetime so don't waste it, a change is a gradual process and takes time to mature. don't kill yourself if you don't get better at once, the singular fact you decided to change is change all enough.

Moving to the next level

Mike Murdock: Moving to the next level

 

Last Sunday, I was privileged to be among the lucky few who were at the rock cathedral during the last day of the spirit-life conference titled ‘The Next Level’.

I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to listen to Mike Murdock preach on that life changing Sunday. Mike Murdock is the minister of the wisdom centre.

He made a lot of points which I believe any who follow is sure to succeed in his or her endeavours.

I was able to make a lot of notes from the message and I believe as you read you will be impacted positively.

“Life moves at the speed of your passion, God doesn’t use time to teach people. Time doesn’t make you wise. Wisdom is the ability to recognize difference. The purpose of wisdom is to identify who you should honour, understanding is the ability to differentiate between wisdom and honour. God hides his secrets in moments. There is too much of God for one person”. He said.

He included his experience with a driver who had just finish attending a conference and asked him how the message was, he said it was fantastic and unreal.

“Tell others your experiences with God to move to the next level. Change is the proof of God. You can make a living by just been thankful. If you can make a decision that can make you broke, you can make a decision that will make you rich, don’t ask God to take away your enemies but to outsmart them, habit are things that determine what to become, set goals that are easy to achieve, singing makes demons leave voluntary-this is called the law of displacement” he said.

“The holy spirit is a person and he is very conversational in nature, negotiation is your second income, decisions decide wealth, your decision is to overlook the sayings of other to discover what God wants you to do, your wealth is tied to someone you don’t like, do business with God” he added.

Murdock also gave out tips on how to move to the next level. The points include ‘What did you do differently today from yesterday, to be a millionaire you got to listen, let the Holy Spirit be your financial adviser, write down ten questions everyday about your life, be a credibility for integrity, have credibility for solving a problem and jobs will come calling, integrity is the seed for trust, if the money you have is not enough for your dream sow it as a seed onto the Lord, integrity will outlast your mistakes’

He further stated “If you solve a problem for someone God owes you, your goal should be to look for god in every enemy, a friends give you comfort an enemy gives you ideals, until an enemy comes you don’t know who believes in you, you need an enemy to take you to the next level, an enemy multiplies your wisdom, make a decision to wrap an expectation to a seed, a smile is a seed, you have hidden treasures in dark places, God gives wealth whispers, every step towards self-sufficiency is a step away from God, God will never ask you for something you don’t have but God will always ask you for something you are trying to hide from Him, anything you do in an attempt to please God will never go unrewarded, if you sow a seed to someone poorer than you, you will get good health but if you sow to someone higher you will get increase.”

Mike Murdock also gave his own life-changing testimony of how he sowed 8500 dollars and God gave him a life time income.