Nkita was the first Igbo word I learnt. I do not think I knew another Igbo word for a long time after that. I am fluent in my language now. I will tell you the story of how I learnt to speak it later. During the time I spent in Enugu away from Kaduna, I managed to drink kerosene because I thought it was water. I had my first taste of breadfruit. I did not like it then. I do not like it now. My...
This is the story of my life. I have found it is necessary to not take life personally. I failed at a lot of things. I hope at the end of this series I have started to win at more things than I fail at. And that my successes are on a scale tremendously bigger than my failures. CN is an acronym of my name. CN is the first of five children born to Igbo parents of Nigeria, born in northern Kaduna...
In your journey of life, one day you suddenly understand time in perspective. It takes a human’s time from 1 day to an average of 90 and 150 years for the most extreme to grow and then die. It takes a tomato plant 30 days to 3 months. It takes a tree a few hundred years. And mountains a few thousand years. And so you wonder where you are in the midst of this. Are we but a puff of smoke in...
Today, we talk about feminism. My current favorite feminist quote reads thus: “Feminism is the radical notion that women are people.” Case in point, I attach the excerpt of legal proceedings from England in the year 1914 where Gwyneth Bebb sued for her rights to be admitted to the law society. Looking back from the year 2024, it may seem absurd. However, it is important to remind us that...
The random rumblings in my mind. I think of Life In the incremental ways that you look at a situation and gain more insight as time passes. But to do that, you require an open mind, otherwise you end up with a skewed view. The radical notion that all people who pass through your life add a sketch to the drawing called your life is called being existing – being alive. A friend who is also a...
No, I’m not dying young. I hope you don’t die young too. That you live long enough to make enough mistakes. Not to be overly theatrical. But don’t you occasionally wonder who will attend your funeral? Do you not think about life after death? For the ordinary African, and especially my mother, this is the most invasive thought. But I’m truly fascinated about it. I pray to God...
There is absolutely no effective case against formal schooling. The enormous value that formal education has brought to the world cannot be overstated. Wealth and power are universally associated with education, which may provide difficulty with what we believe to be payoffs. The ability to speak clearly and be understood comes from more than just within a class wall. It is an accumulated skill...
To be lonely is to experience a void. Something is missing. This emptiness affects our relationships, people, and careers. It might be a deep void at times, or it can be an awareness of the void—an awareness that something is missing. Everyone gets lonely at times in a large planet of 7 billion people. Everyone feels lonely at times, whether they are coupled, in a wonderful relationship, have...
As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves with more time on our hands than we know what to do with. And a way to spend it would be with family. But even with family, we want to spend time by ourselves. And so I propose reading new fiction. Travel into a time and era you would never experience. The past is gone and so we call them history. And historical genres are one we can only imagine...
It is the season of joy and laughter. A time to rest and bond with family. A time to rest and plan for the new year. In all your jaiye and Detty December, remember to rest. Stay home and see a movie with the kids or a significant other. Read a book and sip some wine or tea. Take a walk in the early morning; hopefully, the harmattan will come. Listen to some calming songs. Let the wind play on...