LamikayTy

Between my last post and this, so much has happened that I don’t even know where to start. I won’t regale you with the details but do help me Praise the most High God who spared my life and continues to do so.
My favorite verse of scripture is Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the thoughts of a mans heart but the counsel of the Lord that shall stand”.
I started out with plans and hopes for 2010 and almost (if not all) those plans have been re-written.
God has given me a testimony that causes me each day to be so grateful.
I was ill and he healed me, gave me fresh hope, new insight into His word.
Encouragement for anyone going through anything, anything at all - Dig into Gods word, dig out his promises and hold on to them as if your life depends on it, because it does.
God has been kind to me. He is a faithful God and He does not lie. His word is true, His word is everlasting, His word is LIFE!
I’ll definitely share soon but meanwhile ‘E ba mi Yin Oluwa logo’*

*Praise the Lord

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God, health, praise the lord, thanks, word

This is not meant to sound like a righteous and holy post  but haven said that let me sound like that. I have never believed in living beyond my means. If  I cannot afford a particular shoe I’ve been eyeing…, I simply close my eyes until I can afford it or never. Emmm…it helps that I cannot be considered a fashion freak.

Reading Guerrilla Basements post on Spending inspired this post.

I know a certain gentleman who runs through money like he is drinking water. His lifestyle is certainly termed extravagant by the likes of us who abhor designer labels and I really cannot fathom why anyone would go hire a Taxi for the whole day regardless of whether he can afford it or not. None of these hurt as much as the fact that it is quite obvious to all around him that he is living beyond his means. Gbese po! (he is heavily indebted) and widely spread too. I have concluded that anyone who lends him any amount of money is simply bidding such cash a swift bye-bye.

The Lagos life (for some) depending on what circles you run in seem to extract from people certain debts that only foolish people pay. Those who think that it is unheard of to conduct a wedding ceremony and limit numbers. Ah, Ki la won eyan ma ro (What will people think? ) they ask. Yet the Bokoto*, Eja osan* and 5Alife*(sic)  you are killing yourself to obtain will be gone down the throats of invited and uninvited guests, well-wishers and doom-sayers in what?30minutes! Gone never to come back again. And then, drinking garri begins…

The wedding ceremony full of the trappings of the Nouveau-riche leave the families and sadly the new couples with enough debt for 2,3 years. At a salon yesterday my ears were almost ‘burnt’ with the ‘news’ of a forthcoming funeral. The amount of money to be spent was mind-boggling. Costs of flying the corpse down alone from the UK was enough to conduct funerals for 5 people not to talk of how many aso-ebi’s have been bought….(A booming business for our country of traders)

I turn a deaf ear to any beggars at work. However, I’ve been conned a few times with sweet tales and sweeter tongues but never again. The people coming to borrow are so well dressed you wonder why they cannot sell a few of their items to raise the much needed cash. I mean if you can afford that gold chain hanging down your neck as opposed to my bare necked one, why come borrow from me?  The same rule applies, chew only what your mouth can hold.

I agree I’m standing on a moral high horse but I’m just  a bit bewildered at why people have eyes larger than their heads. Why do you buy a car you cannot afford to maintain? I mean there has to be another reason apart from wanting the ‘world’ to hail you as a rich person. I cannot imagine living in fear of the ‘Osomalo’*

Credit societies like the US have seen first-hand what that kind of lifestyle can bring and for humans I daresay such cravings start small and can grow out of proportion if not properly managed. The bottomline though is that the ‘Onigbese’s** will always be with us the same way Jesus said the Poor will always be around. No amount of talk will change this and I think I’ll just go about calmly in the knowledge that our world will be spiced by people like me and people like them and we are just that ‘Human!’

*Osomalo - Typical Ijesa traders who sold goods on hire purchase terms. They were very pleasant when selling but discarded this gentle mask when it was time for the debtor to pay up.

**Onigbeses - Debtors

Bokoto* - Meat innards considered a delicacy

Eja osan* - Fresh fish straight from the Sea

5Alife* - 5 Alive - a juice drink packaged by CocaCola!

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My last 10 facebook status messages…. I wonder what that says about me. *thinking deeply* lol!

Its amazing how much fb lingo has crossed over to blogsville…Has it always been like this?

Please note that numbers 5-10 were put up during Nigeria’s quarter-final match against Zambia on Monday night. Was watching clips of it while keeping my hubby company as well as ‘facebooking’ and attempting to work on an assignment. Women sha!

1. *Ipad*

2. Justice served! Uzoma Okere awarded 100m Naira in assault by Naval ratings case! yes, Yes, Yes!!!!

3.Who Killed Dele Giwa, Alfred Rewane, Bola Ige, Jerry Agbeyegbe, Funso Williams and Dipo Dina? Mr. Nobody!

4. The Nigerian Police needs to be scrapped! Dipo Dina is killed and the useless statement they make is ‘He was going for spiritual cleansing’. What rubbish? A ni ta lo pa yan, en so kati kati lenu (We ask who killed him and you are talking rubbish). Needless to say , his killers will never be found and some poor unfortunate men would be roped in and tagged the killers!

5.Moral of the story: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong but time & chance happeneth to them all!

6.Okay o! Our support for our hubbys passions not in vain! lol!

7. its a penality(sic)….! lol!

8. Emmm….any ‘joiners’ ? Group: “I love football by force Wives club”

9. Its a Goal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Na yam? lol!

10. Methinks the Eagles were poisoned with ’slow poison’ just before this match! Is this what people pay to watch?

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Mo lo wo cinema o! (Yoruba for “I went to the Cinema” though its literal meaning “I went to watch cinema” cinema pronounced with a thick yoruba accent) Cinema meaning film or a really cinematographic spectacle , such as people fighting (Yes this is Lagos!).

Actually I went to the E-Centre Cinema at Yaba. My very ever very first time last week Thursday. I almost did not because I was tired but I allowed myself to be persuaded by my husband and his siblings.

The film?

‘Avatar’!

It was nice but I think the movie was “over-hyped”. I had read a thousand reviews of the film and my expectations came sadly floating down.

I was amused as I tried to cover my daughters (Age 2 plus) eyes at parts I considered brutal or parts I shrieked at, but she brushed off any further tries with a firm push and stern face while she chomped on pop-corn. Thankfully she slept off soon after.

The theater, the E-centre was not crowded and there were no Parrots or other such nuisances except for a man who paid N1,000 to come and sleep whose snoring almost wrecked the show.

Outside were a half-dozen beggers including mothers and children who have become adept at offering prayer. They chanted as we went in and eventually left. The government should do something about child-beggers!

It was nice, but I’m not a film-buff so I doubt I’d go back anytime soon. I can’t get hooked on film-watching…give me a book anyday!

Just thought i’d chronicle my first day at the Cinema!

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avatar, cinema, e-centre, film

1. Oluwa sanu mi! (Yoruba for God have mercy upon me). If you’ve been with me for any length of time, the chances that I’ll say it 5 times in 10mins is 100%. I smile now as I had not realised it until several people pointed it out to me…It has become habit.

What am I thinking of when this word comes out? I more often than not need to be helped. I’m writing code and I come across a snag and cannot continue “Oluwa Sanu mi”. I have a tight deadline to meet “Oluwa sanu mi”, I’m running late for lunch, “Oluwa sanu mi”, I’m thinking about my daughter “Oluwa sanu mi”. Well, well…I need His mercy and grace for life, don’t you think?

2. Father of Light - this falls into my list of once-upon-a-time words. Suffice to say it has been displaced by Number 1. A bunkmate of mine once told me she thought I belonged to the Eckancker (sorry how is that spelt) sect because the first time I met her, I must have uttered the word several times in a short space of time. I wonder what sect I’ll be thought to belong now that I say “Oluwa sanu mi” lol!

3. Sebi, Nowwww, Nko and the latest addition Yessoooo! My Yoruba-English words that serve purpose all the time. Used to emphasise certain words and phrases and the last an emphatic affirmation to any question, these are handy and short-cuts to ‘big grammer’. Disgraceful now that I think of the fact that I’ve added these words to my daughters vocabulary! I must say them a lot.

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grammer, vocabulary, words, yoruba

The ongoing travails of formerly respected Nigerian bankers is nothing new. A cycle that has been repeated before and will be repeated again in the near future. Men and women suddenly plunged from the top of their empires to the mire of dunghills. Their names which were yesterday printed in gold now conscripted to the output of court typewriters in black oooh so Black characters!

I never cease to wonder how they could have thought the game could last for so long without them being discovered. I wonder how many hours they slept at night convinced (having convinced their souls) that the black deed would stay hidden and out of sight for eternity.

Listening to all the commentaries and shocking words written about them and the shock expressed by the common man on the streets is almost akin to smelling the night waste truckers who empty their black contents into the depths of the lagoon when everyone is asleep. Its just that this time the smells are not left for the night time but for broad day light.

I do not pity men or women who have spent the better part of time at the top of their careers. Haven fulfilled all (in their puny minds) and haven reached the pinnacle of their careers there was no where to turn but downwards. Creative thinking applied to wrong thoughts and absolute greed displayed for all to see. Carried in their secret chambers, the details are now the gist of every market place. Reminds me of the bible verse …Nothing is hidden which will not be loudly proclaimed from…wait for it…the rooftops!

Aided by new media technology, rooftop gist has spread widely.

Their proclamations of innocence just stink. How on earth can men and sadly, women be so blinded as to be able to say “I am not a thief” when all they’ve done is steal. How can they still have the guts to open their mouths to talk when the loot they’ve ‘chopped’ (eaten) is still hanging between their teeth? Amazing, isn’t it?

What can I say to these people who refuse (in vain) to be labelled thieves. Okay, while we wait for the courts to determine your guilt or innocence, I’ll just end by saying, Thank God my parents are not thieves. After years of hardwork, they seemingly have little to show for it, no landed properties in choice areas, no foreign bank accounts filled to the brim, no expensive state of the art cars….

BUT

….I can proudly proclaim I have honest folks who have never taken another penny from anyone fraudulenty…

I can state with all confidence that my parents are not thieves but hard working professionals who do not believe in quick money but hard work and God’s grace and in the end that is much much better than silver or gold!

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June 7, 2010 my blog (I started out on blogspot) will be 5 years old! Waow! 5….just thinking about it makes me smile…

I’ve been thinking about what to do and I’m thinking of a

BLOOD DRIVE!

To celebrate there’ll be a number of posts (before then) to enlist a large number of people to donate just 1 pint of their blood to save someone else’s life.

I know you know 7pints of blood saved my life and since then I had to wait a while before I could donate safely, when I could….my blood didn’t flow well! …:) So I was asked to go back and come back later when I had jeun’yo’d (lol) Yoruba for eaten well…I still haven’t done so but June is the month to do so!

Anyway, anyway this is just a teaser….! There’ll be posters up in about a month and a proper announcement with plenty of information for all so please stay tuned and eager to pass this on via your blogs, facebook pages, etc!

Meanwhile you can check out the BLOOD FOR LIFE group on Facebook and join! Its a project for an NGO that I’m a member of.

5 years *amazed shake of the head* tell me something!

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I remember clearly (I use the word remember a lot) coming home from hospital still in pain after a painless delivery but almost botched and fatal after-delivery session and being welcomed back by a visitor with “Ahhh the next one will be 2 boys”.

I was stunned, my 9-months of ‘pre-labor’ and surgery that almost took my life after a natural birth was not reckoned to be anything by this ignoramus! all because I had a beautiful daughter to show for it and not a son? Of course not but such ignorance (even among highly or supposedly educated people) is displayed in large numbers in our society.

Lase, my darling turned 2 and the questions which had hitherto been largely muted (only obvious sometimes because of questioning looks at ones mid-section) suddenly grew loud mouths - Ojo wo ni o ma gba aburo? She needs playmates o! I reply with “She has many!” When has one child suddenly become not enough? - this is a post for another day!

I do not know what a boy is supposed to portray - a family name that will thankfully now go on forever or …???? I don’t know o! My sister and I (my twin) were only-children for almost 10years before my brother came along. It was only then we realised (or let me speak for myself) I realised that ’something’ had been missing. My parents never said or did anything to indicate we weren’t welcome - far from it! It was the comments from visitors…”Aah my mums feet had now been planted solidly in the home” Duh! After 10 years??? An elderly relative came rushing into the house almost knocking us down in her bid to see the ‘Son’ and we were ……? lol!

Thankfully I grew up knowing that we were not inconsequential in the scheme of things! Girls and boys are human beings, gifts from God and to be treated as such. My daughter will grow up knowing she’s special and I won’t trade her for 10 boys. She’ll grow up in the knowledge (Because I will teach her) of her place in society, family and culture albeit with the useless notion that ‘boys’ complete homes erased from the lessons I’ll pass on to her.

Like a song we sang a lot back then ….

“Lord I keep on thanking you,

for making me a woman (Lord)

and not a man (said with jeering faces at the boys in sunday school)

Lord, make me a virtuous one

One whose price is far above rubies.”

…I’m precious, I’m special and I’m loved by my father (on earth and in Heaven) and that counts a great deal!

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Trouble dey sleep, yanga go wake am!

One phrase which in pidgin English connotes the fact that ‘yanga’ (now what is Yanga in English o?) emmmm, shakara, hmmm, ako!. What exactly do these words mean? In English ‘airs’, conceit or arrogance usually displayed with exaggerated body movements. (think Head held high, nose in the air, hands bent at the wrists….etc)

Too many times there is a breakdown in communication because words are spoken and implied to be mean several things for both the speaker and the listener. I meant A but I heard B. I’m no expert in communication but in the last few days or rather hours I’ve been reminded that innocent remarks spoken in truth and without any ‘meanings implied’ might  just read for the hearer the total opposite.

Existing mindsets and worldviews all help to cloud or frame these words in different packages for both the hearers and the speakers.

Its important I think to smile or at learn how to form a ‘plain’ face. Its important to come out looking earnest (whatever that means) when serious discussions are to be had or funny when you mean for others to laugh…but thats another thing altogether…who is the judge of funny, earnest faces? Who can correctly predict what is going through anothers’ mind and determine that the face muscles are pulled in the direction of the persons thoughts…

Who can determine that my words and face match? I guess a couple after sometime learn this troubled language and parents over time can tell a lie from the truth by just looking at their childrens faces. Otherwise, I term this discipline ’sleeping trouble’ and only Yanga dares wake it up!

ps: my thots are in a jumble today and this is really not what I wanted or how I wanted to write. If I cannot make sense of my own thoughts, why should anyone else attempt to?

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