The CJ Factor

I like it when it rains. There is just something about a downpour, it gives me a sense of renewal and freshness. In the past, I would spend several minutes playing in the rain until my mother would come home and give me a severe toungue lashing "do you want to catch pneumonia?!" She would ask incredulously. I didn't care. I often felt like her scolding was a small price to pay for the exhilaration I got from being in the rain. Now I don't play in the rain anymore, I find myself wishing I could but I have to accept that the chapter in my life is closed and settle for appreciating the beauty of rainfall from my window pane. The thought of old age is distressing. I will never be fourteen again, I will never know that kind of freedom ever again. I am closer now to being a parent who would reprimand my child if I ever caught him in the rain. I can imagine myself giving him or her a lecture on the dangers of playing in the rain but I sure hope he defies me and does it anywa...

A very strange thought has just popped into my mind. Imagine the deplorable state of the education system in our country. The primary schools are a shadow of what they were as recently as the year 2000 when I was a pupil, the standard of teaching and the performance of students in secondary schools continues to plummet and is at an all time low, Universities in the country are no where near what qualifies as tertiary institutions, yet and this is the strange part; it is not the worst part of the situation. For every 3000 half-baked graduates out of a Nigerian university every year, there are about 7000 more who are struggling to get in. As a matter of fact, only a mere 30% of Nigerian youths are even fortunate enough to stand a chance of being a part of this decaying system. The rest are unable to get basic education let alone, go to the university. That is a whopping 70% of young men and women who cannot read, write or even afford three square meals. That is seven in every ten people ...

The collection of songs by this talented young lady is surely one of the better works I have heard from by an upcoming artist in Nigeria. The single Shekere is the one that stands out for me and has gotten some great reviews on social media. We hope to hear more from her in the coming months. Credit also has to go to the producer, Maffy Beats for the song, great collaboration from the two talented young Nigerians! http://soundcloud.com/becky-o/control?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=mshare&utm_medium=twitter&utm_content=http://soundcloud.com/becky-o/control

The most rampant phenomenon in this fast paced world we live in today, is the absolute lack of patience in most people. It is in everything, some of us are too impatient for traffic so we drive way too fast, we are too impatient to eat healthy so we prefer instant noodles, we are heading to the future so damn fast, we don't care what composites our present. I am a typical example of this madness but lately, I have been learning about patience. It is a wonderful feeling to not be in a hurry, the problem is that we have somehow managed to convince ourselves that the only way to be successful or happy is by doing it first! It is a scam. Life teaches us, along with time that a true sense of fulfilment does not depend on the when but the what and the how well. As a victim of the Nigerian tertiary education system, I know firsthand what it feels like to not be in control of one's own progress at a certain time in life. I spent the greater part of the last two years at home because of...

I was under the illusion that it had become a thing of the past in our society, something of a dying vice. But I've come to learn the hard way that armed robbery is still very much alive in Nigeria and I am concerned that our security agencies in the wake of recent terrorist activities in the country have now ignored this age long scourge. It was mid-week, around 8:30 pm or so. The evening was planned out, we had exams in two days so my friend T.boy and I had organised a group study session with a couple of girls in our class. I had just finished a plate of indomie noodles and we were engaged in a bit of idle talk as we waited for Joy who was to join us shortly. There was a knock on the door and Matilda rushed to open it. I was the first to notice. Joy walked in without a word and an expressionless face. At first I wasn't sure if what I was looking at was for real. By the time the others noticed him, he was already pointing the semi automatic rifle at me. I had a few thoughts;...