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With a Heavy Heart…

With a heavy heart and total submission to the will of God, we regret to announce the passing away of our husband, father, brother uncle and friend, Late Architect Edikan Uwem, who slept in the Lord…

‘Eya, he must have been a good man’, Ejiro interjected with a sorry look on his face. ‘How do you know he was a good man Ejiro? Have you met him before?’, I asked, rather irritated. ‘He’s dead Bisola! The least you can do is sympathise!’. ‘Sympathise with who Ejiro? With the wife I’ve never met or the children I don’t know?’. ‘Bisola, what did this poor man do to you? Isn’t it sad that he’s no more?’. ‘Ejiro, I’m just surprised that all of a sudden, he’s a good man. Why do we even wait for people to die to say good things about them? I bet if you’d walked past the man on the road, you wouldn’t realise that he’s ‘so good’ a man as you say’.

Ejiro went quiet and he pondered on my words. I rose to take a seat beside him, taking his hands in mine. ‘I’m sorry if I sounded harsh. I only wish we could all love more, smile at people more, care more, appreciate people more while we still can and not when they are no more. I am guilty of not doing all these too so it’s a big boat and all of us are sailing on it’. Ejiro sat in silence as we listened to an aeroplane fly over at a distance.

Finally, Ejiro broke the silence. ‘Get dressed let’s go out for dinner’. ‘Wow! He’s taking me out in like forever! Today must be my Remembrance Day!’. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll live to die another day’, Ejiro responded. We let out a hearty laugh as I stood to get ready.

Endnotes

  • Edikan is a name common among the Ibibio tribe of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Edikan means victory.
  • Uwem is a name common among the Ibibio tribe of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Uwem means life.
  • The name, Ejiro, is commonly found among the Urhobo people of Nigeria, particularly those in Delta State. It is a short form of Ejiroghene, which means ‘praise God’. – AI Overview
  • Bisola (spelt as Bísólá) is a Nigerian unisex given name of Yoruba origin which means “born into affluence – Wikipedia

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I DARE YOU

Last night was a rather restless one for me. I grabbed my car key and headed out the door; I needed fresh air so bad, perhaps that would clear my head.

I drove round the relatively quiet city avoiding streets with no streetlights. Sooner than I thought, I got bored. ‘Up for a little adventure?’, I asked myself, and before I could respond, my hand pushed my gear to reverse.

Close by, there’s an underbridge that many feared to pass at night thanks to the ‘night children’ who will stop at nothing to harm you and steal whatever they can.

My central lock was activated and I was ready to speed off in case of danger. As I approached the first speed breaker, I could feel my heart in my mouth beating faster and loud like music from a woofer. Slowly, I climbed the speed breaker. Something caught my attention…

A woman was sleeping under the bridge, right there, close to the pillars supporting the bridge. I was still trying to wrap my head around the reason she’s out here on such a cold starless night when I sighted more people. One I couldn’t tell what sex used a sack bag for covering from cold. I saw a man sitting up straight with his back against the pillar, fast asleep.

My heart broke and a tear escaped. I wish I had a blanket to give them, some money and food but I had none. For safety, I had left my wallet at home…

As I made my way through the last speed breaker, I could only pray for tomorrow night to come when I would have a chance to lend a helping hand to those under the dreaded bridge.

Now, I’m not afraid to dare and take calculated risks. You should do the same sometime soon.

  •  Night children: Origin – Nigeria > A name given to criminals or people who carry out unlawful acts at night such as stealing.

Image Credit: Image by Ben Hummitzsch from Pixabay

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THE TUNNEL, THE WAIT, THE LIGHT

There are phases we all must go through; as far as life exists, there is no running from it. Deep down, we know those dark days will come but we choose not to acknowledge or believe ‘it can never be me’. The day you stop time is the day these days won’t come. Till then, what happens?

I propose you brace up for such days. I call them ‘THE TUNNEL’. It’s dark, lonely, long and scary; you most likely would be travelling through it alone. Here, you may be tempted to give up, angry, feel betrayed, weep, etc. But, whatever happens, don’t stop. Draw your strength from inside you, it’s there. Hang on to God, your entirety depends on Him. At this point, He’s all you’ve got. If you’re lucky to have a support system, you’re almost at the end of the tunnel. If not, find things to do that make you happy and remember, it’s OK to breakdown, you’re human. Just don’t stay there for too long and lose yourself.

‘THE WAIT’, oh goodness! Another episode! Faith is built, hopes are high, all pumped up BUT… it’s taking forever. Resist the temptation to slip into ‘THE TUNNEL’. It’s not your fault that you’re becoming impatient and all those bottled-up emotions are out again.  In all my Earth days, I haven’t met anyone who hasn’t been disappointed or anxious during ‘THE WAIT’; might be the fear of the unknown, pressure or previously dashed hopes. During ‘THE WAIT’, please, ‘WAIT’. Whatever good thing it takes, or how long, WAIT.

Truth is, many of us return to ‘THE TUNNEL’. If you do, you must find your way back to ‘THE WAIT’ because after ‘THE WAIT’ comes ‘THE LIGHT’.

Everything good will come

Image Credit: Britannica

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Dear Christians, (Pt.4)

Everything about the Christendom is not a competition. If you must compete, compete with yourself. Unhealthy competition is blinding. Even more blinding is the constant ill-checks to see what the other person is doing to ensure you’re doing better than them.

The energy you exert on keeping up with social media could be channelled into other useful life endeavours. I’m not writing to you from a place of perfection but as an alarm clock reminding you to constantly put this behaviour and conscience in check.

Agree with yourself today not to push your way to the front to the detriment of others. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage, for everything about the Christendom is not a competition.

Image Credit: The New York Times

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FOR PEARL

Have you ever wondered how something so rare, so fine, so admirable and so valuable can come out of an animal, a shelled invertebrate animal? All sorts of shades and colours: white, pink, silver, brown, blue, red, black, yellow, orange, gold and purple.

The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild they say, and you, you remind me of one. You may not be like the famous ‘La Peregrina – The Incomparable’ but you’re one in 10,000 wild oysters containing a pearl.

Whether wild or cultured, you’re different and special and the world loves you just the way you are. So, let us gather our pearls together and guard them jealously lest the pigs trample them under their feet.

Collectively, we can build a better society for every soul is unique, precious and valuable.

Image by pikisuperstar on Freepik

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Nigeria’s 1st Elected Female Senator

I am still unable to describe the joy I felt when PLAC, a Non-Governmental Organisation, asked me to travel to the ancient city of Benin City to interview Nigeria’s 1st elected female Senator, Senator Franca Afegbua. Though she passed on 12th March 2023, her legacy lives on. The full interview can be read here: https://placbeam.com/2022/04/28/women-in-politics-more-reliable-than-men-says-nigerias-first-elected-female-senator-chief-franca-afegbua/ Indeed, we need more women in governance and this may only be achieved through a legislation.

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National Stakeholders Forum on the 2023 General Elections

Working under pressure just seems to have a way of finding me and I have grown to embrace it. Hosting the National Stakeholders Forum on the 2023 General Elections is one of the highlights of my work this year. The MC went MIA last minute, the queen of the mic stepped in and it’s safe to say the rest was history. Happy election stakeholders, happy partner organisations, happy media and happy me. Job well delivered. Be sure to hire me today.