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Tag: dreams

  • Supporting your child’s dreams without comparison

    Supporting your child’s dreams without comparison

    • By, Alabi Oluwadare Tunde

    Every child is unique with his or her own talents, passions, and dreams. As parents, it’s our responsibility to help our children discover their potentials and support them on their journey to greatness.

     However, this support should be given without comparing them to others. In this article, we’ll explore how parents can foster their children’s dreams and talents while respecting their individualities.

    *Encourage open communication

    The foundation of discovering and nurturing your child’s potential is open and honest communication. Create a safe space where your child feels comfortable expressing his or her  dreams, passions, and concerns. By actively listening and asking open-ended questions, you can gain insight into what excites and motivates them.

    *Identify interests and passions

    Pay attention to what your child naturally gravitates towards. What can your child do with an absolute ease and what makes him or her happy whenever the chance to do that thing comes up naturally?

     Whether it’s drawing, playing an instrument, solving puzzles, writing creatively, tackling mathematical problems, acting, speaking, singing, drumming, playing footballs, running,  building things, love for a particular field of study, their interests often indicate where their potentials lies. 

    Encourage these activities and provide the necessary resources or lessons to help your child explore and develop these skills.

    *Avoid comparison

    One of the most damaging actions a parent can take is comparing their child to others. Each child has his or her  own unique path, and comparing him or her  to his or her peers can stifle his or her individuality and self-esteem.

     Instead, focus on your child’s growth and celebrate his or her achievements, no matter how small they may seem.

    *Support, don’t push

    While it’s important to encourage your child, it is equally crucial not to force him or her into activities that he or she doesn’t enjoy. 

    Pushing a child into something that he or she is not interested in can lead to resentment and discourage the  child from pursuing his or her  true passions. 

    Let the child choose his or her path, just be there to provide guidance and support.

    *Provide opportunities for exploration

    Expose your child to a variety of experiences. Whether it’s through extracurricular activities, visits to museums, or attending concerts, these experiences can help your child to  discover new interests and passions. Allow him or her to explore without imposing your own expectations.

    *Be patient

    Greatness is not achieved overnight. It’s a journey that takes time and effort. Be patient with your child’s progress, and understand that setbacks and failures are part of the learning process. Encourage your child to persevere and learn from his or her mistakes.

    Read Also: Dreams models brand ambassador emerges

    *Celebrate achievements

    When your child accomplishes a goal or makes progress in his or her chosen path, celebrate these achievements. This positive reinforcement will motivate the child to continue pursuing his or her dreams against all odds.

    *Seek mentorship

    Encourage your child to seek mentorship from those who have succeeded in their field of interest. Connecting with mentors can provide valuable guidance, advice, and inspiration.

    *Provide resources and opportunities

    Invest in your child’s development by providing the necessary resources and opportunities. Whether it’s enrolling your child in classes, purchasing equipment, or arranging internships, your support can make a significant difference.

    *Unconditional love

    Above all, let your child know that your love and support are unwavering, regardless of their successes or failures. Knowing that he or she has a loving and supportive parent can provide the confidence and security that  he or she needs to pursue his or her dreams fearlessly.

    As parents, the greatest gift to our children is the freedom to discover and pursue their potentials.

     By fostering an environment of love, trust, and support, we empower them to reach their dreams without the weight of comparison. Every child is a unique individual, and it’s our role to guide these  children toward their greatness, one step at a time.

  • ‘How polio nearly crippled my dreams’

    ‘How polio nearly crippled my dreams’

    She lost the use of her lower limbs to polio at age three; but rather than stay down or blame anyone, pretty Sussan Kelechi Ihuoma, is trudging on bravely. She is however not too happy that the Lagos inclusive policy that reserves one percent slot to persons living with disabilities is not being implemented. She tells her story to Gboyega Alaka.

    THE is a polio survivor and can only navigate her way, albeit with great effort, using her walking sticks, but Sussan Kelechi Ihuoma stands out in a crowd nevertheless. No, not because of her disability, but because of her beauty, boldness and articulation. In any case, you don’t even get to know of her disability, when she’s speaking, because she’s likely to be sitting while at it. What hits you first and foremost is her voice and the advocacy that she spews. She also does not run an NGO, but she seizes every opportunity that comes her way, to drop a message on behalf of herself and fellow people living with disabilities, mostly on how they should be treated, what the government should do and the general considerations they expect from their environment. It was on this note that this reporter first met the beautiful fair-skin. And though she wasn’t the only one with disability in that little crowd, she stood out.

    On that occasion, she spoke on how she had been doing volunteer works for Lagos Eko Project and how when it came to the time for the government to absolve some staff on a permanent basis, she was left out. That was in spite of the fact that she had distinguished herself in the volunteer works and even recognised by the same state government with an official plaque, as Best Science Teacher in her district, District II; and in spite of the state’s inclusive policy, which mandates organisations recruiting up to 100 personnel, to reserve at least one percent slot for people living with disabilities.

    That encounter set the stage for a later discussion. She surely had a story to tell.

    Not always involved in advocacy

    The first question this reporter therefore threw at her a month later, when they finally settled for an interview, was whether she had always been this vocal?

    But she only smiled, shook her head and said, “No, I wasn’t into advocacy like I am now. I was just myself, aware, but not so vocal. I actually thought back then that the one percent reserved for persons living with disabilities was small, but most of my colleagues – I belong to the National Association of Physically Challenged Persons,NAPCP, Lagos State Chapter, I’m actually its assistant Secretary – believe that we should show appreciation for the consideration.

    “I started my advocacy in 2014 after attending a leadership training programme. I have this facebook page, where I discuss issues about persons living with disabilities on a regular basis. It was on account of this that one of my facebook friends, Otunba Wale Akintade nominated me for that year’s programme. He had actually attended the previous one and felt it would do me a lot of good. It was a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) inclusive programme and I got to meet people from all walks of life.  It ran two semesters: the first in Abuja and the second in Lagos. Our facilitators included Prof Pat Utomi and Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and I got the opportunity to ask questions that I had always wanted answers to, both general and concerning persons living with disabilities. And that experience broadened my horizon.”

    The highest point of that programme for Ihuoma, however, was when she was voted Women’s Leader. More importantly, she wasn’t voted out of compassion. “The election was based on a debate and I won. That further boosted my confidence. If I could come out tops in contest with people without disabilities, it means I have something special inside of me. My confidence soared and I became more vocal.”

    The attack at age three

    She was born in the North, she revealed, as this conversation steered towards her. Was she born like this…? Questions, questions….

    But she summed it up in one positive sentence. “I’m a polio survivor.” She was attacked by the polio virus at age three and it ultimately led to her losing the use of her lower limbs. “It was because I was not taken for immunisation; you know, back then, awareness was low, and even lower in the North. As I speak, the only evidences I have of having ever walked or ran with my two legs are the few pictures of me my parents kept.”

    As a result, she lost several school years. First her parents had to grapple with their new reality, and then she had to go for therapy at the orthopaedic hospital in Kano. She eventually went back to school in 1987, starting in Primary 3. At that age, she said she should ordinarily be thinking of Junior Secondary class 1.

    When asked if she ever blamed her parents for her predicament, Ihuoma said, “A lot of people have asked me that question. But really, I don’t blame them. They didn’t know. If they were informed, I’m sure they would have done the needful.”

    Growing up with mates who could walk and run had its challenges. She never attended any special school, so she had to measure up, however way she could. She also had to engage in the psychological battle. I had mates who would laugh and make jest of my condition, but my personality helped me soar above such inanities. My personality also earned me the position of class monitor in Primary 6, and this bolstered my confidence. My classmates, including the naughty ones, also started seeing me in different light. So initially they judged me, but eventually they warmed up to me and started seeing me as their equal.”

    Stand-out experiences

    Was there any stand-out experience, something somebody did or said to her that will remain forever memorable to her or that sticks out like a sore thumb?

    Yes, and it was at the twilight of her youth. She had finished her secondary education and was seeking admission for higher education. Somehow, things weren’t working well and she was getting desperate and complaining; but there was this friend of hers, a pharmacist, Fofah Adejare, who kept telling her never to give up.

    “Fofah kept telling me, ‘Never say never. Just keep hope alive, everything will be fine.’ That was very important for me at that time because I was getting desperate and frustrated. He kept encouraging me and things did work out eventually; I got and admission.”

    On the negative side, Ihuoma paused, looked askance for a moment, then slammed the back of her right hand into her left palm.  “It’s not impossible that people might have said provocative things to me in the past, but I’ve vowed to myself long ago never to nurse or entertain any negative energy. I let go of negative energy very easily, so I don’t even remember them or who said them or where. They don’t add value, so why keep them?”

    Her biggest challenge however, lies with the environment and the total lack of consideration for people living with disabilities. And she blames it on a society that seems to have total lack of consideration for them.

    “The biggest challenge for me and my condition was and still is the environment. The problem of accessibility was huge for me. Whether it was at on the road, at school, in the classrooms, libraries, offices, even hospitals; it was as if the planners never heard of the word ‘disability’ or knew anyone suffering any kind. Even my secondary school, Egbu Girls Secondary School; they tried to help by putting me in a hostel they considered accessible, but it was still difficult.”

    When asked if she at any time uses the wheelchair, Ihuoma said, she has always been on her walking sticks. Yes, she might someday come to need one, probably with pregnancy or age; but for now, she’s fine with her sticks. Her exact words, “For now, I can walk.”

    Her volunteer career and job misses

    Ihuoma holds an Ordinary National Diploma, OND in Computer Science from the Yaba College of Technology.  She later got admission into the University of Lagos, where she studied and graduated in Integrated Science Education. That was in 2009. Not done, Ihuoma in 2014, went back to the same University of Lagos to study and obtain a Post-Graduate Diploma in Genetic Counselling. Looking back, she has both her parents to thank for her achievement thus far, particularly her OND and first degree, which she says they “strictly sponsored.”

    But getting a job has not been easy; so in 2010, she had to settle for a volunteer work, even if, temporarily. But before that, fate played another trick on her. She and her parents were involved in a bus crash on their way back from the East, where they had gone to celebrate the Yuletide. She suffered bruises and broke an arm, but thankfully, the injuries healed and she recovered fully. The good part for her however, was that she got exempted from the National Youth Service Corps based on age.

    One day, her mum came back with a newspaper advert of the Lagos Eko Project for its volunteer teachers’ Scheme. She applied online and after series of interviews, she received an appointment letter posting her to Mende Junior High School, Maryland on December 10 (2010). She however says taking up the job was more out of the desire not to be a liability and her passion to impart knowledge. “We were to be paid N10,000 stipend monthly and you’d agree with me that that was not even enough for transportation to and from work. I usually shuttled by boarding a motorcycle to Maryland from my end in Ojota, cross and take another bike back; and follow the same routine back. It was not convenient, but sitting at home was not an option for me.”

    In 2012, the scheme organised an award for the volunteer teachers and Ihuoma came out tops and was awarded a plaque as the Best Science Teachers in District 2, her district. Shortly after, the scheme increased the volunteers’ stipend to N15,000. But not long after, former Governor Fashola came with the law banning bikes on Lagos highways, and shuttling became even more difficult. “I had to look for an alternative means of doing the school shuttle. Eventually, I got somebody to take me to school daily for N500. Coming back, I’d trek to the main road; take a bus to Ojota, then take a bike home. Later some colleagues who had cars started offering me rides. Some drove me home, while some, depending on their itinerary, dropped me at home or at my bus stop.

    “In 2012, some colleagues told me about another volunteer scheme. It was under the Lagos State Health Volunteer Scheme. I applied, wrote the tests, passed and was trained on the assignments expected of us at the Primary healthcare Centres. I was in the Child Welfare Department and our work bordered around collection and collation of data on the number of patients, out patients, immunisation, antenatal activities and the likes. We did it on a daily basis and sent monthly reports to the State Primary Healthcare Board. One thing I however did, which was not part of my job was the role of a Hausa interpreter – don’t forget I was born and raised in the North. I did it so well that we soon noticed more Hausa women’s traffic in the centre. Apparently, words had spread amongst them that there was a lady on ground who served as interpreter.”

    Meanwhile, Ihuoma kept the teaching job. She recalled that at the time she won the award, her principal sought the help of the Special Assistant on Eko Project to convert her award into permanent employment for her, but the SA said it was beyond her powers. At a point they called for application for teachers’ job for candidates who had a first degree in Education. She applied but noticed in the course of filling the form that there was no column to indicate her disability. This meant the officials would have no way of knowing her physical condition, let alone giving her and people like her preference, based on the state’s one percent slot for persons living with disabilities. So she thus knew she stood no special advantage, save her meeting the requirements. She wasn’t therefore surprised when she wasn’t recruited. At a point, she suspected that she might have been left out on the basis of her age, since the requirement stipulated 30 years as maximum age requirement. But somehow, she felt the years she had put in as a volunteer worker should stand her in good stead.

    Just last year, the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission held another recruitment exercise. Again, a degree in education was a requirement. She filled the form, submitted, but never got a call. “They were supposed to call us; some people that I know got calls, but I didn’t. Again, there wasn’t any column asking about candidates’ physical conditions. I believe that if they really and truly want to adhere to the law on inclusive policy, they should have created a column like that in the application form. So I missed that opportunity again. However, if I knew the things I know now, if my advocacy awareness had got to this level, I would have stood up and advocated that the one percent policy be implemented.”

    So now she gives talks. She speaks at gatherings and sometimes gets paid. She’s given talks at LASODA (Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs) events; she has given talks to Road Transport Workers on how to treat persons living with disabilities; she has also given talks to health workers. Having being an insider, courtesy of her volunteer health work, she was able to talk from a point of knowledge, she said.

    She was able to express her displeasure at the fact that hospital patients’ forms don’t capture those living with disabilities, hoping her little effort would go a long way.

    “Ideally,” she said, “healthcare is supposed to be free for people living with disability, but I know it is not free. Most of the government hospitals and health workers don’t even know that these concessions exist. So I have been able to speak about this.  Even with the LASODA certificate, ID card and the blue badge, you still don’t get much benefits or privilege.”

    Ambode’s largesse

    However, this is not to say she is entirely angry with the Lagos State government. She is particularly grateful to Governor Ambode for disbursing the N500million he promised persons living with disabilities last year. She got N100,000 of the largesse and it is with this money that she started her mini sachet water distribution business.

    “It was an empowerment fund, and though not much, it was from it that I started my ‘pure water’ distribution business. I buy in bulk from factory buses that come to distribute and sell to individuals and retail businesses. It is not a big business, I admit, but it keeps body and soul together.”

    Ihuoma is also not giving up on her quest for a permanent job appointment. At the penultimate governor’s town hall meeting, he pledged 250 employment for persons living with disabilities in the state; 100 for the secretariat at Alausa and the remaining 150 to be posted across the LCDAs. She is praying fervently that he makes good his promise. “In June, the Civil Service Commission called us for interview; in August, the Local Government Commission also called us for screening; so now we are hoping and waiting.

    In the meantime, she is hoping she could someday raise money to buy a car. That would save her a whole lot of money, which she currently spends on shuttling on motorcycles, and a lot of stress.

  • Appreciating Obiano’s big dreams

    Appreciating Obiano’s big dreams

    Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State believes he has a lot to showcase, as the state prepares for the November 18 governorship election. In this piece, his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Okechukwu Anarado, argues that under Obiano, the state has become first choice investment destination and most preferred location to site new industries. 

    It is no longer news that Anambra State under the watch of Governor Willie Obiano is now recognised as the safest state in Nigeria. This singular bold expression of ability to ensure safety of lives and property underpins the steadily rising profile of Anambra as the place to be; it spins the growth of the state’s economy in defiance of the daunting national economic recession.

    As bees to honeycombs, Obiano, a pragmatic investment economist, hardly misses a pry into brilliant ideas; deploying his creative faculties, he seeks their capture in real terms. This ingenuous disposition led him to envision a state that would ‘be the first choice investment destination and most preferred location to site new industries. The eagerness to realise this crucial projection informed the governor’s resolve to create a socially-stable business friendly environment that will attract both indigenes and foreigners to seek wealth creating opportunities in Anambra State. The frequent occurrence of Obiano’s vision and mission statements, along with the co-occurrence of his four-pillar development agenda (with the 12-enabler mantras) at discourses on the thrusts of his administration, points at the governor’s deliberateness in strategically bridging the gap between myth and  reality.

    Having first successfully spun the security wand, and conscious of the role of a sound economy in governance, Governor Obiano went ahead to institute statutory structures that would anchor the stable economy of his dream. The Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA), a one-stop clearing house was constituted less than two months in the life of the administration. ANSIPPA has successfully negotiated investments of over $7bn into the state from private concerns. These investors freely leverage on the safe business environment, improved infrastructures, the people’s inherent dynamic work ethics and other incentives provided by the state government.

    “You see things; and you say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say ‘Why not?’” George Bernard Shaw’s muse here aptly reflects the spontaneous imperatives of Governor Obiano’s novel perception of governance as a means of realizing conceivable development schemes. Obiano’s dream inclination is no mere happenstance. In his seminal Inaugural Address on March 17, 2014, he solemnly declared that ‘we are only limited by the scope of our dreams; not the depth of our talent or the breadth of our gifts.’

    Dreams and the zeal to live them therefore define the development thrills that have become the hallmark of Obiano’s administration. For instance, for well over three years running now, residents of Anambra, visitors to the state and other people who take keen interest in the state, hold continually fading memories of the losses, frustrations and depressions inflicted on the people by the infestation of crimes that seemed intractable in the state before now.

    Evidently, the increasing investments deplete the woes of unemployment among Anambra youths; they forestall endemic restiveness among large and unchecked army of unemployed youths. This gives credibility to the governor’s design of fighting crime by creating jobs. These jobs are more in the agricultural sector where the activities of Coshed Farms, JOSAN Farms, Delfarms, the ultra-modern Lynden Poultry Farm and Stine Rice Mill, among many other agric interests are increasingly providing food for ndi-Anambra and creating jobs for thousands of Anambra youths. The many ongoing civil infrastructural projects in the state equally engage ndi-Anambra of skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled capabilities.

    While encouraging the influx of big investors into the state, the governor recognises the relevance of small and medium scale enterprises as prime growers of economies such as Anambra’s. He therefore instituted the Anambra State Small Business Agency (ASBA), as a fund lending pool to facilitate expansion and sustenance of small and medium scale ventures where the youths in their numbers are gainfully engaged. Interests charged beneficiaries of ASBA loans are in single digits and the terms are made easily reachable.

    The remarkable uplift of Awka, the state capital, from just another rustic neighbourhood to a fast-growing modern metropolis spotting three expansive beautifully adorned flyovers and well-illuminated major streets at night is in sync with Obiano’s avowal on the day of his inauguration, that ‘Your clamour for a capital city that fully reflects the essence of our people will be addressed by my administration.’ In response to greatly improved infrastructures and environments supportive of businesses, economic activities are steadily on the increase within the capital territory, its satellite neighbourhoods, and indeed across the entire state. The increasing boom in the hospitality industry in the state tells of acceptance of Anambra as a congenial ground to do business.

    While it is true that the call for ndi-Anambra to invest home did not start with Obiano, never before his dispensation has the Aku luo uno philosophy (an appeal to the people of Anambra to invest at home) attracted as much credibility, respectability and positive response. It takes trust for people and organizations to haul capital to new locations. In just three years, indigenes are coming home with their associates in response to their governor’s request on March 17, 2014, when he entreated: ‘To our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora, I say; don’t forget whose children you are. The easy comfort of exile might be sweet, but nothing compares to the fulfillment of life among your people. Bring home your dollars and skills. Anambra State needs you. Ana Igbo (Igboland) needs you…”

    This explains the advent of many high-profile ventures in Anambra whose ownership is largely indigenous to the state. The economic activities in Anambra have upped so much so that prevailing statistics holds Anambra State as the fastest-growing state economy in Nigeria.

    Inferably, Governor Obiano blazes the trail in governance by adopting the insight and confidence that Pablo Picasso expressed as he, Picasso, asserted: “Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.”

  • In the future of our dreams…

    Everybody has an opinion on Muhammadu Buhari. Too many folk argue for and against the National Assembly, the corrupt judiciary and anti-corruption campaign. Add these to the antics of juvenile lawmakers, crooked attorneys, a shady populace and moral duplicity of the executive and you have a perfect condiment for a soap box tirade.

    But I would be insulting good reason by burning depth and wit on such worthless issues and characters. I would rather speak to the breed on whose watch Nigeria may resurrect and survive. I speak of the Nigerian youth. I speak of you and me.

    Beneath our passionate cry for change subsists a spinelessness that ornaments even the deserter with the valor of knights, thousands of miles from the scenes of combat and the valiant’s death. We have failed to make a response ideal to our cause. We have failed to display courage necessary to our survival and adequate to our time.

    It’s every man for himself. The successful journalist, doctor, banker, engineer, police officer to mention a few, do not care about anything and anybody else. It’s what Evelyn Waugh describes as the sly, sharp instinct for self-preservation that passes for wisdom among the rich. Hence the desperation of the Nigerian youth to get rich, within the bounds of that dear old “wisdom” and thought process that infinitely manifests as foolishness.

    Such is the mentality of several youths, regrettably lacking in guts and flimsy in substance. Our utterances persistently echo as discontent, insignificant as the spores of fungi yet impinged on the base surfaces of our minds. It’s shameful to see what cowardly lot we have become.

    We dream of the future and talk of change within the limits of our intelligence, forgetting that the world of such future that we anticipate, will foster a more demanding struggle against the limits of our intelligence; not a cozy rose bed in which we can lie down to be waited upon by a more compliant fate and forgiving time.

    Our cries are for a historic revolution, bloody or not. Yet our thoughts pander between the dangers of revolt and the inherent benefits in accepting the status quo in a prudent act of self-preservation. Hence we revolt by impotent words and a mad, desperate dash for wealth or what we’ve learnt to coin as our share of the Nigerian dream.

    This is our Nigerian dream: a lush, breathtaking future that de-emphasises toil and accords our vanities a caressing glance. In the future of our dreams, we hope to keep strings of constantly increasing bank accounts at home and abroad. We hope to drive the best cars, live in palatial mansions in posh neighbourhoods. We hope to own and enjoy the most lucrative businesses.

    In the future of our dreams, everything would work out just fine. Injustice and iniquity will persist. Public officers won’t be accountable to the electorate. Elections won’t be fair and free of fraud and other irregularities. Public service will fluorish by the whim of a criminal civil service.

    In the future of our dreams, we shall have more beautifully planned cities in replacement of our slums. We will bury the poor in the backwaters and project the rich and their gated communities to lure the world to the Nigerian dream.

    In the future of our dreams, more liberal journalists, writers, musicians, artistes shall be enslaved to deep pocket politicians and criminal masterminds.

    In pursuit of our dream future, we coalesce into riotous camps of retrograde youths, offering ourselves as willing tools to every devious politician, godfather and criminal mastermind with deep pocket and a destructive plan.

    Every youth seeks the easy shortcut to the future of his dreams. Collectively the sum of our dreams manifest as the worst human expression of  vanity, civilization and desire. We do not do much to improve our plight. This is why it is easy for most of us to ignore the human social crisis in Nigeria’s northeast while they obsess about Big Brother Nigeria’s reality of lust and ill bliss.  There is no conscious effort to mobilize ourselves for the good of our kind.

    Most youth pressure groups are a sham. Individually, members hustle to project themselves as the leaders of thought and drivers of hope of this generation. I speak of the self-styled “youth leaders,” “advocacy gurus,” “evangelists” and “mentors” endlessly seeking local and international merit awards, presidential tea sessions and handshakes for leadership and inspiration they are yet to offer – and are infinitely handicapped to offer.

    This shameful lot refuse to contribute their quota to the pursuit and achievement of the collective good. Yet they desperately apply for international and local funding, for their shady schemes and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Too many of them are muscles and agents of Nigeria’s crooked ruling class.

    Too many youth fall for their ruse thus indulging in unprecedented self-deception. The solutions we project are ill-suited for our problems. We conveniently apply the balm to our chests, while our hearts clog with lust for unearned victuals and ill-gotten wealth.

    Eventually our deceitfulness and greed roost with devastating consequences in our lives. Little wonder we have Boko Haram, Niger Delta militants, kidnappers, Yahoo Boys, and every other corrupt youth scattered across our tribes, workplaces and pressure groups to the detriment of all and the Nigerian dream.

    But rather than speak as much truth to ourselves as we love to speak to power, we conveniently ignore our dread for the truth in relation to our kind. The impact of our dishonesty extend far beyond our travails as you read. It gets scarier knowing we shall undoubtedly pay for our duplicity whether we like it or not as we are doing now.

    The post oil subsidy removal palliative cash has crashed from its fabled N1.3 trillion to N426 billion and then nothing. Thus our subsidy removal protests were in vain. The youths that died have died in vain. President Jonathan and company got away with fraud. Buhari and company are getting away with nepotism and more politically-correct racket.

    Shall we continue to do nothing about it? This is the minute we dismount the soap boxes in our living rooms, bars and offices to launch a decisive protest. This is the moment we act. The incumbent ruling class were done with us on March 28, 2015, immediately the new ruling party was announced. They will not remember us until election time. Let us begin to forget them.

    Is it so hard to evolve a party for the Nigerian youth?

     

    •To be continued

  • Dashed dreams

    Dashed dreams

    They had dreams of a better future after graduation. Those dreams were dashed when they were mobilised for the National Youth Service . Ifedolapo Oladepo, Asuquo Monday Ukeme and Chinyerem Elechi died in their camps last week. What do their colleagues say about them? WALE AJETUNMOBI writes.

    They were in high spirits when they left home to participate in the National Youth Service – a compulsory one-year exercise – they all braced for after completing their first degrees. Alas, none of them is alive to relive the service year experience. This is the depressing story of three National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members, who died in three camps, last week.

    Two of them, Ifedolapo Oladepo and Asuquo Monday Ukeme, graduated with a First Class, while Miss Chinyerem Elechi – the last victim – was said to be “a lady with promising future”. But, they all died as a result of alleged dysfunctional healthcare facilities in their respective camps

    The incidents happened within the first week of the 2016 Batch “B” (Stream 1) orientation, which will end next Tuesday.

    When Asuquo, who studied Petroleum Engineering got the NYSC call-up letter posting him to Zamfara State, he was said to have rejected it. His message to his brother reads: “Good morning Sir, I have been posted to Zamfara. I am so destabilised. Abeg, you have an idea of what I can, should and must do to overturn this? I can’t sleep oooo. Mbok (please), help a brother.”

    A few days after, he slumped in the NYSC camp and died of yet-to-be-ascertained causes.

    His classmate, Patrick Immo, recalled their last moments together – shopping for materials they would take to the NYSC camp.

    “It was a rude shock to me when I heard that Asuquo had died,” Patrick wrote on his Facebook wall, describing the late Asuquo as a “committed Christian worker” at Power City International, his church.

    Patrick said the late Asuquo won four scholarships and other top academic prizes during their graduation.

    Asuquo’s childhood friend, Leo Unyime, wrote: “Brother, why didn’t you pass on when we started our JSS 1 16 years ago? Why didn’t it happen when we became friends at age nine? Death has taken away the master of all courses; the Best Graduating Student of University of Uyo with Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.8.

    “He was a strong hope of his family, who used his scholarship to pay the school fees of others and helped his siblings. Death…you have given us a heartache that no one can heal except God.”

    His cousin, Sandy O. Sandy, said he spoke to him before he left for Zamfara State. He said: “He bade me goodbye when he was leaving for NYSC camp last week, only for me to be called this afternoon (December 1) that Asuquo died in the same camp. Death has turned down the glory of my beloved brother… Our entire family and friends are in pains over your death, Asuquo.”

    Faith Oboarekpe, another friend, said the NYSC has got a lot of questions to answer about Asuquo’s death.

    Like thousands of graduates posted to various camps, the 26-year-old Ifedolapo, a First Class graduate of Transport Management of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso (LAUTECH), would have been in high spirit to participate in the scheme.

    However, she died after one week at the NYSC camp in Kano State.

    Her family members alleged the late Ifedolapo could have been saved if she had been given proper attention by the NYSC officials.

    Her friend, Omolola Atinuke, recalled her last telephone conversation with the late Ifedolapo. She said: “I still can’t believe she has gone. I was so shocked when I heard the news of her death. In fact, I was praying that she should be in coma, hoping that my prayers would give her strength to stand on her feet. I can still remember our last discussion on telephone a few days after my wedding. I can’t say anything more. My prayer is for God to forgive all her sins.”

    Her school mate, Hope Olaniyan, who graduated from Pure and Applied Chemistry Department, said: “Till today, the beautiful smile she gave me on Sign-up Day keep appearing. I never knew I could miss her this much.”

    The late Chinyerem, a 27-year-old graduate of Ignatius Azuru University of Education in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was said to have been sick before she arrived at the Bayelsa State Orientation Kaiama NYSC Camp in Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

    The late Corps member reportedly bled from every part of the body and died on her way to the hospital.

     

  • Dreams from Omoni Oboli

    Dreams from Omoni Oboli

    Omoni Oboli—Nollywood actress, producer cum director and proud daughter of Niger Delta— has a dream that one day women will go on strike and make live hell for men who keep silent over the child-bride issue.

    She has a dream that one day men will beg their wives for intimacy and all they will get from the creeks to the city will be resounding nos.

    She has a dream that one day a senator will feel bad that he has compromised too much and failed to be the conscience of the upper legislature on matters such as the bride-child.

    She has a dream that one day international news organs will take interest in a strike called by local women traders to force men to see the evil in child-bride.

    She has a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of the creed that a boy-child and a girl-child deserve equal treatment.

    She has a dream that one day in the troubled nation called Nigeria, the daughters of the poor and the not-so-poor will be allowed to grow and be ready for marital life and not sold into bondage.

    She has a dream that one day this nation of injustice and of oppression will let the girl-child have the best of education and others.

    She has a dream that daughters will not be judged by their breasts and other feminine contours but by their brains and will power.

    Before the University of Benin-trained Omoni, Martin Luther-King jnr had dreams too and it took decades for almost all of the dreams to be fulfilled. I am not sure Omoni is willing to wait for decades for her dreams to become reality. I can hear her screaming: ‘Child-bride is evil. Stop it now!’

    To realise these dreams, she decided to be serious and unserious at the same time. She made a movie called Wives on Strike. The movie, which I saw last Friday in a packed cinema hall in Ikeja, has a bunch of pidgin-speaking women and men whose acts made us laugh and also think. It has also a group of senators and the wife of one of them whose acts made us think and ready to stop the child-bride craze.

    The movie is not comedy for comedy sake. It is comedy for social change. It is comedy for re-evaluation of our social mores. I doubt having seen this sort of socially-responsible comedy before. Omoni employed the trick of the rat, which usually fans its victims before attacking. Call it the carrot-and-stick approach to fighting against child-bride advocates and you won’t be wrong. You will laugh at the seeming jokes in the film while being hit unconsciously by the message: She is a child, not a bride!

    I suspect those guilty of the abuse against the girl-child will even laugh at many of the scenes before realising they are the ones being told to embrace change and abandon their archaic ways.

    Another thing I like about the movie is the clean language. Omoni deploys creative coinages to describe acts which kids are not supposed to be exposed to. One very creative coinage is ‘janglova’, which means love making. There is also ‘kongea’, which means pent-up sexual passion. I doff my hat for this laugh merchant with a mission.

    I also like the way the movie is being marketed. Last Saturday, Omoni was in Benin, the Edo State capital promoting this great work. She has also been in Akure, Lagos and others for the same purpose.

    Last weekend, Julius Agwu, one of the lead actors in the movie, was in Port Harcourt, the capital of the almighty Rivers State, which he last year dreamt of governing, to encourage people to see the movie. Ufuoma McDermott was at the Silverbird Cinema in Ikeja spreading the gospel according to Omoni Oboli.

    Other stars of the movie were also in different parts of the country to encourage cinema goers to see Wives on Strike.

    I foresee a situation where this movie will break the box office records. Yet, Omoni, I understand, was afraid to take it to the cinema because she feared people may not like it. Perhaps this fear explained why another movie she shot after it titled The First Lady came out first.

    Interestingly, some weeks before the premier of the movie, it was engulfed in a controversy. Reason: its central idea of women going on strike and preventing their husbands from having sex with them has a similar ring with the theme of Spike Lee’s satirical musical drama Chiraq. So, when the trailer of Wives on Strike came out, the mother of three was accused of copying Lee.

    The controversy forced                 Omoni to give vital background information on the movie.  The movie’s concept, she said, came to her about four years ago when she wanted to do a movie about women going on strike, but could not find a sensible reason for the strike.

    Her words: “We felt there was no sense in making comedy, just for comedy sake. At least, that’s how I think, and I like to stick to what I know and leave others who are better at their own areas of expertise to do theirs. So when my husband and I wanted to do something concerning the Child-Not-Bride issue which was steaming up back in 2013, we decided that we had found a good enough reason for the strike. I wrote the script, and when we were ready we started principal photography in April 2014.”

    She added that she got to know after her shoot that some women in South Sudan suggested a sex strike to end the war in their country.

    “The idea of going on strike was just fantasy and wishful thinking, not knowing that it had really been conceived by other women in practice, or by other filmmakers and playwrights in theory,” said Omoni.

    The director of Being Mrs Elliott said she heard of Chiraq for the first time last year, when her  husband sent her the trailer. Knowing what people could be capable of, she foresaw a situation whereby she would be accused of stealing Lee’s idea.

    She said she expected a reaction like this: “Nollywood is at it again! Copy! Copy! Copy! Omoni Oboli has joined the bandwagon of Nollywood producers who steal original works and make it their own.”

    She continued: “Spike Lee commenced principal photography (that means he started shooting) in June 2015, and released in select theatres on December 4 of the same year. Heaven forbid that Spike Lee would copy little old Omoni Oboli, who is in our Nigeria here! How can that happen?! If I had released it first on October 1st, instead of The First Lady like I did, then Spike Lee was definitely being artistic and the similarities were just mere coincidences, but since I decided to release later, then I ‘definitely’ (beyond a shadow of a doubt) copied Mr Lee. Case closed!”

    As a result of the good cinema run the movie is having, I ask Omoni to emulate Jesus Christ by declaring: forgive them because they know not what they are doing. God has also been good to her. So, resenting rumour mongers should not have a place in her heart. Like the great Nelson Mandela said: “Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemy.”

    From the look of things, this amazing daughter of Mosogar, Delta State—who shares not just birthday with me but also birth year — will continue to break a leg. And God will keep her, the three boys and the eternal treasure in her life called Nnamdi.

    My final take:  Although I have not seen First Lady and Being Mrs Elliot, the reviews have been great. This is another reason while forward should be the place Omoni looks to. And I am giving her an advice she gave her fans in a recent interview.  She should continue to trust in God and keep holding on to her dreams and they will come to pass and child-bride, VVF and other evils against the girl-child will die and be interred in unmarked graves.

  • Women urged to live their dreams

    The Chairman First Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika has urged women to strike a balance between their homes and workplace with Godly wisdom.

    Awosika gave the advice at this year’s Inspiring Change Conference organised by Esobs Heroes in commemoration of the World Mothers’ Day held at the Wisdom Arena, Agege Lagos.

    The event was celebrated simultaneously in Nigeria and across the world. The day presented an opportunity for people to pay tribute to their mothers and mother figures, thanking them for all their love and support.

    The programme tagged “Yes I Can”, brought together Christian faithful from across the country and featured prayers, lectures and distribution of free sewing machines, deep freezers, scale and cash donations to indigent entrepreneurs.

    She said women should know their roles as mothers in the home but should also understand that by operating within the order of the home as instructed by God there will be happiness in the home.

    “No matter what you think I am, in my house, my husband, in spite of my achievements, is the head of the home. Whatever I am today, I can kneel down before my husband in front of 10 million people and it would mean nothing to me because he is my husband,” she said.

    She advised mothers to hold their homes in very high esteem, even as she said they should not jeopardise their homes in the course of serving God.

    She also advised mothers to do what they are passionate about, adding that if Mrs. Awosika could be a successful mother, wife and entrepreneur, every woman too could.

    In her words, the convener of the programme, Mrs. Adesumbo Adeoye said the programme was aimed at encouraging and re-awakening the spirit of motherhood with a view to surmounting challenges of parenthood through entrepreneurship and capacity building.

    Adeoye advised women, in their capacity as mothers, not to bottle their dreams.

  • ‘We’ll realise Alamieyeseigha’s dreams’

    ‘We’ll realise Alamieyeseigha’s dreams’

    A Niger Delta activist, Ms Ankio Briggs, has said the human rights community and leaders from the region have resolved to realise the dream of the late former Governor of Bayelsa State Diepreye Alamieyeseigha for the emancipation of the residents.

    Ms Briggs, popularly called the Amazon of the Niger Delta, said the late Ijaw leader died for the political and economic freedom of the region, noting that the late governor did not die in vain.

    She said Niger Delta residents had united to engage the Federal Government in the struggle for resource control, fiscal federalism, justice and equity.

    Ms Briggs said: “But this is a turning point for the Ijaw and for Niger Delta. It is a turning point because we know that we have to make a decision to move ahead. Alamieyeseigha has left a legacy and the legacy will not die.

    “Martin Luther King dreamt of a black man governing America but he never saw him. Alamieyeseigha saw the emancipation of Niger Delta residents in the spirit and it will be achieved. Niger Delta will be emancipated.”

    Ms Briggs, who spoke in Yenagoa, the state capital, said Alamieyeseigha’s death would strengthen the Ijaw struggle and the region’s call for justice.

    The activist said various interests in the region would unite and confront those their enemy.

    She advised the leaders to stop their “divide-and-rule tactics.

    “His death will further strengthen Ijaw struggle and Niger Delta people’s call for justice. His death will further unite the Niger Delta and the Ijaw. We have no choice but to unite.

    “We also know that without the unity, the dreams of Alamieyeseigha will not be achieved. The issue of divide-and-rule will come to an end and I believe this is the beginning of the unity of the Niger Delta. He has handed over a baton of survival and we will survive and move ahead.”

    On the clean-up of Ogoni land, Ms Briggs said her comments on the move by the Federal Government to clean up the area was politicised.

  • Dreams alive again

    Dreams alive again

    The first time I knew he existed was in the dying days of the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration. It was in far away Atlanta, United States. Black, tall and lanky Gabriel Odidison, 21, cut the image of a hip-hop star. He actually sings. The tale he had to tell that night was tear-inducing.

    His story: “I finished secondary school in 2009. It was one of the most depressing years of my life. I was very young. I finished secondary school at 15. I am 21 now. I tried to get into college in Nigeria, Lagos to be precise and it was very hard. My parents were not rich but we were managing.”

    He paused. Shed some tears, bowed his head and took some seconds before continuing: “To cut the long story short, I left home in 2002 because I could not get into school. My parents loved me but they were ashamed of me because every one of my siblings was in school. I was the only one left at home. I woke up one morning and asked my mother for food one day and she told me all my siblings were in school and I was here asking for breakfast. So, I got tired. I loved singing. So, I went out  to find a record label. I had an uncle who worked for a record label. I tried that for a year. It was hard but I believed that some day it would be well. I woke up everything morning believing that somehow I would get something to eat and I ate and grew tall and big.”

    His dream of making it on the streets of Lagos did not work out. He decided to seek a way to further his studies like his siblings. He felt an aunt could help and to her he went. That was in 2013.

    Odidison went on: “I talked to my aunt about getting into school. She asked me to send her my WAEC result. My WAEC result was really good. I sent it to her and she said: ‘Always be by your phone. You might receive a phone call.’ Like two days later, I received a phone call. I think the woman I spoke with, her name is Dolapo, Auty Dolapo. She said you just earned a committee scholarship to study in America. When I heard the news I was like how? She asked me ‘what is your name?’ I thought it was a scam. So, I said ‘my name is Steve.’ She asked me where I lived and I said I lived in Lekki. Meanwhile I was living in Ketu. But she already had my details. So, she told me to come to Lekki Phase 1 in two days. So, two days later when I got to Lekki, I thought it was going to be like now you have the scholarship, go to America. But I realised that we had to take an exam every two weeks in preparation to come here. When I heard that, I thought I would not make it. I thought I had lost my intelligence those years of waiting after secondary school.”

    Now, he is a junior at Marist College in the United States, where he majors in Business and Finance. For this, he has one man to thank: Kingsley Kuku, who was the Special Adviser to Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme.

    That day when Odidison was speaking he knew Kuku’s days in office were numbered since the man who appointed him had been defeated by Muhammadu Buhari. But what he perhaps did not understand was the effect of the change on his dream of earning a degree in America and someday returning home to give back to the Niger Delta where he hails from and Nigeria, his fatherland.

    May 29 soon came and Kuku vacated the office. One month passed, second month passed and there was no replacement for Kuku. Unlike other government offices, the Amnesty Office is not your typical civil service setting. Yes, there are civil servants working there, but it relies on consultants to do most of its activities. With no head to give instructions, civil servants were the only one getting paid. Consultants, ex-militants and students overseas were left unpaid because there was no co-ordinator to give approval. The office is directly supervised by the Presidency.

    Each time I had cause to think about the absence of a head to make that office continue to function, Odidison always came to my mind. I also remember other students who were with us in Atlanta in May and the fear of their dreams dying was a major concern for me.

    It got to a head for me when Lufthansa sent home 13 pilot-trainees being sponsored by the Amnesty Office. The reason: they could not meet their financial obligations to the airline. Then there was another incident of some students in South Africa ‘abducting’ their food vendor because their allowance was not coming from home.

    Ex-militants who could not get their monthly stipends also blocked the East-West Road. And there were fears things could become bad if no head was appointed for the agency soon. It was this sort of fear that turned me to an ex-militant last week, so as to drive home the seriousness of the matter. I felt I needed to speak like one of those affected.

    Mind you it was not that there was no money in the office’s kitty, but there was no one to give instruction. If Pa Edwin Clark should be believed, the office still has N5 billion.

    My joy knew no bounds when four day after my piece ‘An ex-militants letter to the president’, Brigadier-General Paul Boroh (rtd.) was named the Coordinator of the Amnesty Programme.

    A statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said Brig. Boroh’s appointment takes immediate effect. Boroh has now taken over the responsibilities of the former Special Adviser on Niger Delta.

    To show that the President was not insensitive to public outcry over the absence of a head for the office, the statement said the appointment of Boroh “is to lead to the speedy resolution of recent hitches in its implementation such as the non-payment of outstanding allowances to ex-militants”.

    The hitches could have killed the dreams of the likes of Odidison. Their dreams are alive again. The trainee-pilots can go back to complete their training. Hope is alive again for the not less than 2,000 students abroad studying for one degree or the other on the bill of the programme. Some 30,000 ex-militants, who also depend on the stipends, can now be hopeful.

    My final take: What becomes of the programme with Boroh in charge remains to be seen. Boroh, who reminds me of the late Ijaw icon, Isaac Adaka Boroh, will want to show his style. There will certainly be some changes. If the views of Hajia Rahamah Sani, my Kano-based social worker friend, are anything to go by, the programme should be scrapped and not one kobo should be spent on ex-militants, who in her reaction to my column of last week, had sabotaged the economy. I disagree with Hajia Sani. The programme should be sustained. It may be refined and made better.

  • Shattered dreams (2)

    LOOKING back now in view of what occurred later, I should not have taken everything Cyndi told me at face value. But you see, I loved this lady so much and trusted and believed in her. I was madly, blindly in love and it blinded me to her faults and shortcomings.

    Anyway, as the saying goes, experience is the best teacher. Whatever happens to a man is for his own good because if he is wise, he will learn from his mistakes and make better choices  in life. To get back to my story, our wedding plans went on as scheduled with little hitches here and there. My mother, in her eagerness to put up a great, ‘show- stopping ceremony’ as she called it, handled most of the arrangements herself. She even took Cyndi to the U.K to shop for her wedding gown and other items women love to buy.

    My mother really tried. “You are my only son; if I don’t do this for you, who will?” she would say whenever I pleaded with her to reduce the scale of the wedding. As for my father, you know how men are when they are married to women like my mother who like to have their way most of the time. For the sake of peace, he allows her get away with a lot of things other men would not tolerate.

    “Why do you think our marriage has lasted all this while; this year will be our 41st wedding anniversary. One of us had to be deaf and dumb to make it work. Unfortunately, I your father had to play that role,” he said with a wry smile one evening while we were having drinks at the gazebo in the garden of our house. I knew what he meant. My father is the calm, cool-headed type who hardly shouts. Unlike my mother who is more of a drama queen- loud, blunt and argumentative.

    “I’m not sure I’m ready to do all that, be a fool or a deaf-mute just for my marriage to work,” I stated.

    My Dad just laughed and said:

    “My son, you will soon join the institution. You will understand what I’m saying when you get in. I wish you luck!” He raised his glass of brandy and made a toast to my future happiness with my bride…

     

    ***

    “Honey, I think you need to talk to my Dad o! He’s still insisting that my Mum can’t be at our wedding,” Cyndi stated one day. We were at her small apartment and had just finished eating the meal her young cousin, Gloria, a student on holiday had prepared.

    “I thought that issue had been sorted out,” I said, picking up the remote to change the channel to a sports channel where a premier league game was showing. Due their age-long quarrel and differences, Cyndi’s parents even after so many years had gone by, could not stand each other. Her Dad in particular, hated his ex-wife so much, he could not bear to mention her name.

    “I believed so as well especially after my uncle, Gloria’s Dad had spoken to him. Then, yesterday, when we spoke on the phone, he said he was no longer coming as he did not want to be in the same room as ‘that woman’ as he calls my Mum,” she said, a deep frown marring her smooth face.

    I drew her to me and stated reassuringly:

    “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I’m sure he will change his mind.”

    “He had better o! Or does he want me to go and ‘rent’ a father at Oshodi who will walk me down the aisle?” she grumbled. Gloria, who was sitting nearby on an armchair, laughed.

    “You find it funny, abi? Wait till your own turn comes and your Dad threatens to boycott your wedding and you will see how funny it is!” Cyndi said, hissing.

     

    Bachelor’s eve

    Reggie, who was to be one of my groomsmen and other friends of mine decided to organize a bachelor’s eve party for me. The venue was a new niteclub that was the newest hangout for many of the city’s silver spoon kids.

    “Must you go? It’s not compulsory to have a bachelor’s eve, you know,” said Cyndi a day before the party which was a week before our wedding day.

    I laughed and said:

    “Jealousy! Are you scared I will go off with one of the hot babes that will be there?”

    “Just try it! I have my spies so don’t try any silly games o! You guys are always up to no good at such parties,” Cyndi stated vehemently.

    “Baby, your fears are misplaced. You know there’s no one but you for me. Now and forever,” I vowed, hugging her tightly to me. She smiled then and began to talk about the hairstyle and make up she planned to do for her big day…

    The party went well and everyone was having a nice time. Then, just before the high point of the night when my friends were to ‘wash’ my head with drinks, someone hailed me. I turned and saw it was Dr Rogers, an old school mate of mine in secondary school.

    It looked as if he had just arrived as I had not seen him earlier.

    “Jeff, my guy! So you are leaving us behind in the bachelors’ club!” he said jokingly as he gave me a bear hug. I laughed, and punching him playfully on the chest, said:

    “Yes o, my brother. I’m getting old, you know. Time one settled down. I think you should do the same soon; find a nice girl and quit this your womanising!”

    He laughed then said: “Remind me to do that in five years time! Anyway, congrats! I should say double congratulations because of the baby as well.” Then he turned to talk to a mutual friend that just came up.

    The music inside the venue was loud and thumping so I thought my ears were deceiving me when Rogers said something about a baby. What baby was he talking about, I wondered. Later, on noticing he was alone, I grabbed his hand and dragged him outside where it was less noisy.

    “Guy, what’s up. We should be inside having fun not hanging outside,” Rogers protested.

    “Chill, this won’t take long. What did you mean about a baby while we were talking inside or were you drunk?” I said.

    “I might have taken a few beers but I’m not drunk yet. Unlike you, I have a large capacity for alcohol. Anyway, is that why you dragged me here. Don’t tell me you did not know your bride-to-be is pregnant?” he said.

    Pregnant? Cyndi? Was this a joke or what? I stood, gazing at him in the dim light, too shocked for words. Then I finally spoke.

    “Rogers, if this is a joke, it’s not funny. Tell me this is not true!”

    “Why would I joke with something like that? My colleague Charles, was the one who attended to her when she came to our hospital, I think she said she had fever or something. That was about a week ago. Anyway, I overheard him discussing it with someone in his office. It’s no secret. How come you are acting so shocked! You guys are getting married in a week’s time so what’s the big deal if she’s pregnant. The pregnancy is still young, so it won’t even show in her wedding gown if that’s what you are worried about. Besides, these days, cases of pregnant brides are quite common. Some are even rushed from the wedding reception to the delivery room to give birth. As a doctor, I have seen a lot in my career. So, guy, cheer up and lets go catch some fun!” said Rogers, patting me on the shoulder.

    But I flung his hand away and almost shouted at him:

    “How can you stand there and tell me to go have fun when my world, my life is crumbling in front of me!”

    “How! What are you talking about?” Rogers queried in a worried tone.

    “You don’t understand. If truly Cyndi is pregnant as your colleague says, then I can’t be responsible,” I said grimly.

    He shook his head.

    “You are right, I don’t understand. Why won’t you be the one responsible. You have been dating for a year or so now. Don’t tell me…” he began to say then stopped.

    “Yes. I have never touched Cyndi in that way since we have been together. We have never been intimate…” I told him.

    “Then, who, how come…” he said in a confused manner…

     

    To be continued next week

     

    So, who is responsible for Cyndi’s pregnancy? The mystery will be revealed next Saturday so book your copy of your favourite Nation on Saturday now!

    Send comments/suggestions to 08023201831(sms only), psaduwa@yahoo.com or psaduwa007@gmail.com

    Names have been changed to protect the identity of the narrator and other individuals in the story.