Be My Val for Every Other Day!

Today is Valentines Day - that day that countless people all over the world celebrate love. Tantiblow woke me this morning with love on her face, she said "Today's is just another day happy in our life, we should be celebrating love everyday..." Hun!?!@# Even though its already too late, it was nice thing to know that she was not really expecting chocolate and roses today. As always, I had already made plans for something nice to ensure that that smile stays there until...

I didn't see the usual buzz of events around my office today - perhaps the entire team is also growing old, many of them are suffering the same fate as I in previous vals. I am hoarder, I keep all sorts of mementos - cards, notes, letters, objects, etc. The wife was churned when I showed her a soiled Meridian napkin, and she was shocked to learn it was from our first night as man and wife. :-) sorry, I cant help it.

My sisters Stella and Angela also didnt fail to call in to say Happy Vals day... Stella's mail had some satiric advice concerning love, but the lines that caught my eyes the most was -

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

It made me wonder, how many heart skipped a bit on my account. To borrowed someones slang, How many people have I "Woowed"? It made me wonder what happened to all the girls I have loved before now? Where are they? What are they up to? Oh No, I am not about to spill beans... not calling any names, not just for their sake, but I will also like to see another Vals day. So what Happy Valentine times can you remember? Mine go way way back....

The first of cource the first girl I ever fancied -I must have been 5 years old. She was my seat mate in pre-school. After been picked up from School, darting around the back seat of our Peugeot 404, My mum had realised I wasn't wearing my shoes. She inquired where they were and was shocked to learn I had given them to my "wife". She lost her shoes during play time, I gave her my shoe as a show of love to prevent her Mum from beating her - I must have Woowed her, then how many men would stick their necks that far? My Mum must have been Wooowed! The mistake she made was to take me along to collect the shoe from "my wife's house" - Spontaneity kicked in, and we (me and my wife) hide ourselves under the dinning table (lying on the tucked-in chairs, covered by the table cloth) it always works - adults never notice small spaces so they hopelessly searched the rest of the house for us... she went home without me... as expected, I got the beating of my life when my "Inlaws" found me and sent me home.

Then I guess the next Happy Val I ever got was when I made my first vals card, Cupid and his scabbard - drawn with HB pencil on white card board paper. I put it in her school bag cos i was too much of a wimp to give it to her myself, She must have been Woowed when she saw it at home. I called in during that weekend to learn she loved it, but things turned bad when Ifeanyi Peters gigled from the other line... cupid missed his target and thats how that cookie crumbled...

Then it was my first true love, (xxxxxxxx name withheld). that Wooowed! me, cards, gifts poems, name it - made life so exciting, something to look forward to every new day.

Val Wooowing was not always pleasant - my first Val at UNN was nasty, no babe, no money, I spent the day with the gang at the University observatory listening to music and smoking Malboro. I was truly Wooowed! Though I had been pretend-smoking before then - it was the first time I inhaled that crap, and the rest is history... well lets leave it there.

No doubt many a Val Wooowing came from later years with Bianca. but one Vals Wooowing was during my youth service, when "Jill" came tumbling down the hill - unannounced (she had told Jack she couldn't come all the way to Enugu from Lagos, so he thought the coast was clear). She was Wooowed! and so was lil missy. All I had to show for Val that year was a restless night and a deflated ego! Don't even ask how I got out of that one... at the end of it, I had learned my lesson that two-timing is bad for business, believe me, I have been honest ever since.

What happened to that wild side of me? Well every bronco has its taming day. Mine came when I met Titi and as the say the rest is history. She has loved me like no other woman could, unconditionally, and through all the tough times, she has stock to my side, and i am grateful for that. She has Wooowed me in many ways. :-) some good, some bad.

I sure have been around, given and received my fair share of Woowing, Along the way I have learned quite a lot that other couples can learn from - chief amongst which is that me and my spouse have different expectations, emotional needs, values, dreams, weaknesses, and strengths. We are two unique individuals who have decided to share a life together. Neither of us is perfect, but are we perfect for each other? Do we bring out the best of each other? Do we compliment and compromise with each other, or do we compete, compare, and control?

No relationship is easy, what counts at the end of the day is how much joy and happiness you can bring each others way and as Titi advices, it must not be done only on special occasion like birthdays, Christmas, or Vals day. Lets strive to make it happen everyday. For me, I know its not easy to keep up with that for too long (considering that Gucci and Prada may somehow be involved in the matter) but I promise that I will do just that... God Willing! lol Happy Vals Day to you Babe!

Everybody Say Yeah Yeah!

For most young Nigerians at home, Fela Anikulapo Kuti is perhaps one character they would rather not be associated with. I was seriously put off by one “oyimbo wanna be” Nigerian girl I met overseas when she professed her hatred for Fela. For yet another category of Nigerians (the over 35’s) Fela represents the courage, passion and simplicity that most of us lack. Fela is one man that stoke his neck out (more often than he needed to) in defence of the poor and down trodden, this fuelled his legendary Afro rhythm that inspired a nation and captivated the world.

The World? Ostensibly, Felas genre of music – aptly tagged “Afro Beat” is for Africans at home and abroad. However, you would be surprised to learn how popular this charismatic, eccentric artiste is – From experience, i know that one of the few GOOD things I hear about Nigeria from foreigners is about music and football.

In the 1989 as a naive teenager in a crowed dance floor in far away Perth, Scotland, I was stunned to hear those unmistakable “Sorrow, tears and blood” anthem from the 1978 “Coffin for Mr. President“ album. The lyrics “Everybody run, run, run, everybody scatter scatter” could have made sense to the sole African in the club, but I couldn’t help but wonder why, the rest carried on like they could understand what he was saying. My conclusion was that white people would dance to any funky beat regardless of what was being said. That was to change a few years down the line in the then popular South London Nigerian hang out called “Calabar” where I met Fela’s number 1 fan. Arnold... A blue eyed English man who had fallen head-over-hills with Nigeria. Having never visited the country, he learnt how to speak Pidgin English from listening to Fela and hanging out with Nigerians over the years. His passion for Afro Beat appealed to me, as I also have a taste for exotic music far removed from my social and political culture. But I don’t think I could have gone for all Tarrus Riely and Sean Pauls concerts, yet Arnold had not missed any Fela concert anywhere in continental Europe.

Fela Abami eba! Immortalized on Broadway!
In a classic case of a prophet not known in his own kingdom, Fela’s fame outside Nigeria is unrivalled by any other black African musician. Something his son Femi still rides on to date. Like his mother Olufunmilayo before him, The Anikulapo Kuti’s activism runs deep (Beko Kuti is one of Nigeria’s foremost civil activist). There have been several calls for a posthumous award in honour of his fearlessness in his bid to entertain, enlighten and promote our culture. Yet, these have fallen on deaf ears.

Interestingly, the main antagonist Fela sang about throughout his life and their stooges still prowl the corridors of power today. Little wonder why there has been any significant move to honor him. While we wait for our deaf, blind and dumb leadership to rise to the occasion. Other nations and organisation have imortalised this legend - recently Fela’s life and music has hit Broadway.

FELA!, http://felaonbroadway.com/ is the most critically acclaimed new musical of the season, has already received three Tony Awards: Best Choreography, Best Costume Design for a Musical and Best Sound Design of a Musical! Featuring Kevin Mambo as Fela and Grammy award winner and multi-platinum recording artist Patti LaBelle! At the US tour Mitchelle Obama was among the dignitaries at the star studded launch. Read more.

You could be dying on the inside and nobody knows!

"Sometimes all you need is a friend, to just listen and hear your plight, or sometimes all you need is a pen, get your diary sit down and write. Although its hard to pretend that you are fine and everything is alright, it seems that men cant see the darkness inside as long as the outside bright."

have I turned a poet? No, its a reggae tune - by Assassin. How ironic that something so true, so cool can come from such tough guy. Well my love for reggae has grown over the years so much that I know all the militant names ragga artistes adopt are mere reflections of their alter ego - names like Ninja man, Malvo, Spanner, Capt. X, etc are just iconographic tags of a struggling mind. How hard they fight for a space on the Hot Hot Ragga scene.

I turned to music today to quench the sad sad feeling that has come over me lately (me heart a bleed). and Assassin did a good job to soothe my nerves today. His message is so deep, so I thought I should share. Just because most of us can not understand Ragga, I have typed the lyrics out so you can get the message.

=====================
They cant guess about your problem and your stress or happiness,
cos they don't know.
They cant even wonder, cant start to punder bout the problem that your under, cos they dont know.
tell you the truth - they wouldn't want know - cos only Jah knows....

No one knows your heart, No man can see your thoughts,
all men see is your outward appearance - your shoes and clothes,
so you could be dying on the inside and know body knows.

Sometimes all you need is a friend, to just listen and hear your plight,
sometimes all you need is a pen, get your diary sit down and write.
Although its hard to pretend that you are fine and everything is alright, it seems that men cant see the darkness inside as long as the outside bright.
From how your a shine your teeth, no one will know say your heart a weep, they wont know say your problems deep, say you no eat and your losing sleep.
But no worry yourself cos God can see,
and he will be your strength when you weak,
I say no worry cos the Shepard no go let nothing happen to him sheep.

- Chorus -
God knows your heart,
He sees your struggle he feels your pain,
and he will lift that struggle, he will heal your pain,
No matter how the storm a blow - whether hurricane,
know say the sun must shine again.

You know sometimes how it wicked and you just cant bear it,
Sometimes all you need is shoulder to lean on someone to share it.
if you know have nobody to talk to, no fear call Jah name he will hear it,
And remember say no matter how the obstacle big. Yes the father can clear it.

Remember say - faith like a mustard seed can move a mountain
alter your way for you,
And no fear - cos if you cant pray, you can always make somebody pray for you.
No feel say you are nothing and nobody no care for you,
but rest assured say the father is always there for you.

sometimes we are look for garden ina the sky, and it dey right before we eyes. Enough time we pray and get a reply, but we are gaze and make the answer pass we by, and nuff time a man feel say everything crisp because you no break down and your cheeks dem dry,
but hear what - no water dey run out a your eyes,
God knows when your heart a cry

- Chorus -

If you like ragga, you can down load it from Jungo - Assassin "God knows your heart"

Step into the light!

Yep!!! I have finally stepped out. Yes! into the light. I have been contemplating hosting a blog for a while now. I wanted to talk about the many things that trouble my mind and soul. Tonight (5Th August, 2007) while lying on my bed with madam snoring away by my side, pretending I am not really bored, I finally made up my mind and jumped at it.

leave my own small splashes on the What will I be posting here you ask? well any thing that catches my fancy. From mundane issues like the corruption that plague this naive nation of mine to no go issues like the church and the papacy. If only you would sit and listen or read, I would be able to bear my mind... and perhaps leave my own splashes on this enormous graffiti of life in the third world.

Call me Shaka, not the Zulu even if I am proud black man - but my Shaka is derived from our local name for the shot gun. Shakabula! the sound of the recoil or reload action of a shot gun. most people get their nick names from friends or borrowed from an icon they idolize, but mine was literally coined by me. An attempt to explain why will certainly call for a six pack, blanket and sofa - so I will leave that post for another day. But like the shots fired from the nozzle, my singular ideas tend to hit a wide range of issues.

Since this is my first post, let this serve as an invitation to welcome you and hope to see you soon.