SEME'S NOOKS

Hey Tribe! How's the weather treating you all? I got a little something to warm you up. So contrary to popular belief NYSC in 2010 wasn't the first time I came to Lagos.              E don tay for the matter!       My first time in Lagos was in 2008. I cannot go into the shenanigans of what I came to do in this city then because all my village elders are following this blog and I will not like to be summoned. Thank you very much. Yeah, so when I first came here, you already know it was on a shenanigans level and everything seemed all well and good just like in the movies. Logistics was perfect.  Then, NYSC happened and I got the real " welcome to Lagos " special kind of induction.          NYSC 2010 I  cannot recall the number of times I missed my way in this city, I still do. I mean the bus stops and bridges look almost the same, and the bus drivers and conductors didn't help matters at all.  Then I  will always be like "good morning sir, please I will aligh

Good morning Tribe! This could be your perfect Monday morning motivation. Time they say is money. It's best we learn to manage and spend it wisely. Here are a few notes on time management I learned from one of my favorite books "A woman after God's own heart" by Elizabeth George. 1. PLAN IN DETAILS. Have a plan and write everything down in it. In my own case, I record voice notes on my phone because I don't want to worry about the safety of having a pen around the kids.  The more you plan the better you manage and the more you achieve. Also, the more details your plans are, the better.  Give details of what your plan looks like not just a vague idea of what you want to do. 2. DEAL WITH TODAY. All God asks of us is to handle and manage today, only today. Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will about its own things."  I remember when I used to worry about what tomorrow holds for me and even the kids that I literally used up the time I s

Martins had his meeting that day but he never had any conversation with Alice again or rather, Alice never brought up the matter again. A month later, he was set to return to Abuja.  "Babe, I think we need to talk," Martins said to Alice after packing up that night. "Oh, so you finally found your voice now, right?  " Hmmm, Alice I know things have been quit awkward between us but please just hear me out. I've really been struggling to keep this to myself but just know that I'm trying to protect you and the children, I don't want any harm to come to my family. I wish...... " "Please just stop" Alice cut in. "What have you done? You said you want us to talk but you are not saying anything. Who is harming who? The gentlemen club right? Oh, you think I won't find out? What were you thinking, getting yourself involved in such mess Martins? " By this time Martin was too shocked for word. " how did you find out? Please don'

Dear diary, a lot has changed with me since I started this blog exactly a month ago. I will start by reporting Tana.  No, we don't fight anymore. We just talk now and I must say very interesting conversations. One we had recently. Tana: I want to be a mummy when I grow up. Me: ehn! Why? Tana: because all mummys do now is just to play with their phone, lazy around and always say Tana tidy up, Tana why is your sister crying? Tana... Me: Matana Onosetalese Omenai you and who dey lazy around? Tana: all mummys who play with theirs. Where ever in heaven's name did she learn that from? Well, I don't blame her. Every little opportunity I get now, I use it in writing my stories, putting up posts, or replying to email. My phone is my work station. Me: so what does daddy do? Tana: (breaths down) Hmmm! Everything daddy says now is "Tana I will soon buy your cane. That is really very funny.  Lazying around and buying of cane! I can't deal. Since this blog, I have also become a

It's been two years since Alice has had birthed her child in the US. What was initially intended to be a few months of maternity trip turned out to be a journey of no return? No, don't get scared. Nobody died. Well at least, not yet. F L A S H B A C K In the first month of Alice's stay in the States, things became completely awkward between her and Martins. No more frequent phone calls to check up on her and the baby, not to mention his favorite person Jason.  Then the hospital visits were just completely off. Her medical team seems too nice in a funny weird way; I mean she wanted to be pampered and well taken care of but something just seemed off about them. One week before her delivery, Martins flew in to be with her through the process and they welcomed the new addition to the family together, another son, Jayden. The following day after the christening Alice sat beside Martins in the living room where he was, watching TV but lost in thought as usual.  She tapped his sho

The week following their meeting, true to Eric's words, the contract was awarded but it was to Martins.  He was shocked to the bones when he got the news. He asked so many questions, how was it even possible when his name wasn't in the proposal and not forgetting he didn't own any company. I guess you could say the effect of his association with the gentlemen club was already being felt. Yes, Martins had agreed to join and was duly initiated. The execution of the contract came and gone. Within a space of one month, he made more money than he ever dreamed of making in his entire life. He moved his family into the high brew area of Abuja city and set Alice up big time with a shopping mall in the heart of the city. Three months into the whole "miracle" turnaround. One Friday, after the gentlemen meeting, the president came to Martins. "Put a call across to your wife Martins, you will not be going home tonight. You have a meet up tonight". "What is a me

This could serve as your perfect Monday morning motivation. One of the ways God uses in shaping me is having to learn from my children all the time. So I used to have major fights with Matana when she was much younger ( it was a big struggle, I can't even lie). She would ruin any of my property within her reach, from makeup to dresses especially the ones with embroidery or just anything shiny. All she needed was to look for a small piece to pull and everything will be in the ruin and this was a big challenge for me as I was also pregnant with Ari at the time.       Her legendary blush  Papa even advised I keep My things out of her reach but that didn't really work because the minute she's able to reach it we are back to the same circle. I will just wonder why my child was ruining my things and crying was always my final resort ( I'm a cry baby, lol). Then, I discovered she loves makeup and loves to play dress-up too.  The first thing I did was to explain that makeup isn

“Take away love and our earth is a tomb”.  Robert Browning. God sends us love in various forms and one of them is our Fathers. A father is a person who stands by your side no matter what. He loves his children unconditionally and the beauty of the relationship is that he does it all without demanding anything in return. The love and hidden affection in each of his acts are tremendously blissful. There’s nothing in the Universe that can give as much pleasure as the love of a father. A girl’s first Love ❤️                    He should be admired for what he does for everyone in the family. He is one of the most influential people in our life. No matter what, he will keep protecting you. Little wonder Tana, my four years old said something recently that resonated with me;  "All daddies fix the house, daddies are superheroes". My fondest memories as a child is that of my father being a fixer and superhero fixing whatever was broken or not working in the house.  Even when we were

Click to read part two  here FORBIDDEN (PART THREE) Martins couldn't sleep that night, he could not wait for the dawn of a new day either. He kept on tossing from side to side on the bed, Alice woke up at some point to ask what the matter was but he lied that he was just worried about his family being left in hunger every now and then. Alice encouraged him as usual that things would fall into place soon and if there is any consolation, reuniting with Eric seems to be God finally answering their prayers now. Morning finally came and true to his words, Eric was already in the church even before they got there.  When service ended, Alice greeted and thanked him again for the money he gave to her husband the previous day. "Anything for my brother", Eric replied "I should even be the one to apologize for not coming to see you in the house to formally thank you for taking care of my friend and my boy Jason" as he stroked Jason's check.  "This is especially fo

If you are just joining our story 'forbidden'. Click to read part one  here **************************************************************************** FORBIDDEN (PART TWO) Martins was too dumbfounded to speak as he watches Eric take his leave. He was so lost in thought and couldn't believe what he just heard.  "Would you like to order anything else sir?" the waitress's voice brought him back from his thoughts.  No, he replied, let me have the bills, please. Martins settled the bills and left. He was surprised to still meet the cab outside waiting for him even though it was now almost two hours since Eric left. On his way home, he stopped at the mall to get some food items for the home especially for his son Jason who would probably be starving to death by now. By the time he got home, true to it, he met Alice trying to pacify Jason with water who was crying as a result of hunger. He gave her cereal which she quickly prepared for him and watched him eat with

Martians have been out of a job for almost three years and it seems there was no hope of getting another one any time soon.  He had submitted his CV in every organization in town and was even registered with all the job application sites online, yet nothing seems to be forthcoming. He has been married for four years to his dear wife Alice and their first child was just turning two. Alice has been the one sustaining the home with the little income from her teaching job, although it isn't much they have been able to live on it for the past three years even with the arrival of Jason their son almost two years ago. Things haven't really been easy with them but somehow, they have been surviving. It was during one of Martin's job hunt that he met Eric.  Martins and Eric were in the same Christian fellowship while on campus and it was such a pleasure to be reunited with each other. They had conversations ranging from their time together on campus where they both served as members

It's another beautiful day. The weather is nice, going out is the right thing to do but with this COVID19 it's hard to get out.  The thoughts of wearing a mask, putting on gloves, measuring, and putting a distance between myself and the next human is all too much. So, sitting indoors and navigating the world through the gram is the new way of life. On the gram, I stumble on Eve's page and she talked about freeing the boobs, the nipple, and how guys go crazy about the things. I think she was even asking why guys go gaga about that. A guy's comment stuck with me and he explained it's not necessarily the boobs but the concept that it's hidden and humans love to steal, go out in search of what is hidden. He further explained that if guys and ladies wherein the pool, it's okay, but once the same ladies dressed the same way enter a banking hall, 'na problems be that.' He said something about it being the same reason rape is higher in climes where women cov

This could serve as your perfect Monday morning motivation for "aspire to refire" but this village girl has a story to tell you. Please come along with me. Growing up as a little village girl back in Uzebba has left me with a lot of cherished moments and lessons too. If you grew up in the village like me say hi, you would probably remember this. If you did not, walk with me. That's why I am here as your favorite storyteller, you are sure going to enjoy this.                I've always been a stunner My mother, Iyan Joshua (mama Joshua) will always say "the river you will fetch water from cannot run dry just because you got to it late"  I will break this down. You see, when you set out on a journey to the river, your main target is to fetch water, or wash your clothes, or in some cases even wash plates. OMG! Writing about this now has left me in stitches (lol).  On your way to the river, you will meet people who are either returning or going to the river just

Nigeria's Democracy Day is a celebration to commemorate the restoration of democracy in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.                             Hope for all This used to be celebrated on May 29th of every year since the inception of democratic rule in 1999.  However, in 2018 President Mohammadu Buhari declared June 12 to be a new Democracy Day to commemorate the democratic election of MKO Abiola on June 12, 1993, in what has been adjudged to be Nigeria's freest and fairest elections. It was, however, canceled by the Ibrahim Babangida Junta. MKO Abiola was later detained after he declared himself the president.     MKO Abiola campaign poster in 1993 How much has changed since democracy if you ask me? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. Yourdictionary.com defines democracy as a form of government in which the common people hold political power and can rule either direct

FULL CIRCLE ( PART SEVEN) Part seven is missing. Yewande is having a partial memory loss and can hardly remember anything as a result of the fall from the last fight. The following narration as told by Chi below. Yewande has been transferred to The Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Lagos, where she is receiving treatment. She is responding well to treatment and we are hopeful and praying for a full recovery. Chi has requested that she be transferred to Lagos so she would be able to properly take care of the twins and visit Yewande in the hospital. Her mum frequents Lagos now and sometimes stays for a month especially when Chi has to travel for work. Iya Bishop had died from a cardiac arrest when she heard of what happened to her grandchild. As for Oga Jay, he was charged to court for domestic violence and attempted murder and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He is currently serving his jail term. **********   **********   **********   ********** This is a very sad and emoti

Dear Tribe, How have you all been coping with having the kids at home 24/7? The total locked down have been eased. Our lives are now back to normal, or maybe not normal as it used to be anymore.                         The new normal Well, I have been trying to not get overwhelmed with everything so I am just taking things one step at a time especially since I yelled at Ari one time and Tana was trying to do the breathing exercise mechanism for me (something she learned from her cartoon program). You can imagine! When your four years old starts to tell you to take a moment and breath you know you really need to breathe, lol. So here are a few tips that has helped me in coping with having my little ones around me 24/7 1. HAVE A ROUTINE Order and routine give young children a safe haven from what they view as an overwhelming and unprecedented world, especially at this period when they are at home all day every day.  I try to keep the same schedule every day like you can't ask to watc

FULL CIRCLE (PART SIX)  One year down the line and all was well until about eight months after the twin's first birthday Jay and I had an argument about something that had happened at the party and we ended up in a fight.  Then the beating resumed, but this time I found my voice and told Chi about all the abuse I have been going through. She was disappointed with the fact that I kept it away from her but she also blamed herself for burying herself in her work all this time.  The following day, Chi had called her parents to inform them of all that was happening, I know that because her mum's call woke me up with all the raging of how they will so deal with Jay. By the time I was done talking with her another call came in from the office of the Public Defender requesting I come in on Monday morning to file an official complaint.  Did I also mention that some men from the Obalende police station came to the house in the afternoon just to check if I was OK and took an official stat

FULL CIRCLE ( PART FIVE) The wedding came and went.  Boy! it was a beautiful one, in spite of all the quarrels and disagreements Jay and I had. We had our honeymoon in Seychelles and I must confess it was a good time. Six months into our marriage Jay had already started complaining of me not being pregnant yet. He even suggested I quit my job so I could focus on getting pregnant and making babies but I assured him that all will be well. By the time we were celebrating our one year wedding anniversary, he was already scouting for which fertility clinic to visit. Chi was always by my side showing her support, as usual, I mean by now she was more than a sister to me. We attended the same church and were both in the choir. She encouraged me to keep praying as we have always done in difficult situations in our lives.  Two, three, and four years down the road Chi still wasn't married and she even seemed unbothered about it, I too haven't had a child yet and my relationship with Jay w