Gratitude

A grey shawl, a dirty grey shawl draped carelessly around the thin shoulders of an old woman, is how best to describe the weather this evening. Hazy and humid with nights cold enough to not require air conditioning. Dust has settled over everything in sight like a sprinkling of icing sugar over a freshly baked cake. Even with windows permanently shut...

Read More

Country Hard

My mechanic Marcus called me the other day. “ Madam good evening o.” He said in his usual booming voice. “Marcus, good evening. How you dey?” I responded. Briefly wondering why he was calling me, he had only just serviced my car. “We thank Baba God”. He responded and then went silent. “Any problem?” I asked. “Emmm Madam, I just say make I ask...

Read More

A Boy

On a recent flight into Lagos, walking down the aisle towards where I was seated was a nondescript man accompanied by a six year old boy who I assumed was his son. The little boy trodded excitedly behind his father but as he made to move into the row which had their seats, his head collided with a dark blue suitcase that his father had just lifted...

Read More

A Tale of Two Cities

And so yours truly just had a bouncing yummy kissable absolutely adorable baby girl! Yaaayyyy!!! :) Which by the way is the reason I didn`t publish a new post last month.  As expected, my tiny Madam at the Top demanded and still demands my full attention. But I`m not complaining, I`m very much enjoying the sleepless nights and busy days. Well,...

Read More

The Church Versus Same-Sex Marriage

It is no longer news that a bill legalizing same-sex marriage was passed last month in the USA, a decision which has left the country sharply divided. Barely three days after, a Roman Catholic Priest tweeted that he ran into a gay marriage parade, two men walked up to him and spat on him. I fear that this is only the beginning of worse things to...

Read More

In Pursuit of a Defining Purpose by Pamela Efobi

As I gazed through the tiny misty window of the speed boat on my way to work that Tuesday morning, I couldn’t help but marvel at God`s creation. The large expanse of water, the 40-sitter boat waving dangerously from side to side as the merciless waves tossed her around, the fishermen in the far distance expertly casting their nets, some children on...

Read More

Mother & Mentor

Happy Mothers` Day Everyone! Few of us today had our own mothers as professional role models or mentors simply because just a select few mothers had high-ranking jobs in the big organizations where we aspired to be. However, they were our mentors in various aspects and in fact in a recent poll I carried out amongst 30 of my colleagues and friends,...

Read More

Someone Always Has It Worse

Several days after Ngozi`s death, I received a call from a friend who lives in Port-Harcourt. He had called to express his sympathies, but by the end of our lengthy conversation, our roles got switched. I became the sympathizer. One sunny afternoon just the week before, his aged parents had left their hometown to pay a visit to the Governor of the...

Read More

Remember Ngozi: June 24th 1965 - March 9th 2015

I received news of her death as I sat cross-legged on my bright orange sofa after a typical crazy Monday at the office. My gaze was fixed squarely on the TV screen as Chef Ramsey screamed obscenities at the contestants of Hell`s Kitchen when the phone rang. Still I sat, sightless eyes glued to the screen as Arsenal beat Man-U 2-1. On a good day, this...

Read More

Slavery

I reluctantly took my eyes away from my Jackie Collins novel as a plump woman with a toddler in her arms took the seat beside me in the crowded hospital waiting room. They were trailed by three others, two boys, one a teenager, the other about 9 years of age, and a little girl of about 7, a replica of the woman. I returned to my novel but again was...

Read More

New Blog Posts

Dear Reader, Happy New Year! Here is wishing you only the very best that the new year has to offer. We pray that 2015 will be better than its predecessor. Amin! That being said, I`m proud to say that my year is already working towards making that a reality.  I took up blogging in search of inspiration for a book I began to write a few years...

Read More