Being A King

So I keep quiet because “I don’t want to be tagged miss goody two shoes”... So I keep quiet because “I want to fit in”… So I keep quiet because “hey it’s not my business, she’s not my child, brother, sister, and therefore why should I correct them”? So I keep quiet because “it’s just easier not to say anything than to get into a silly argument”... So I keep quiet because “I’m not ready to be insulted, more so from my juniors”.

I keep quiet and miss an opportunity to teach... I keep quiet and miss an opportunity to preach... I keep quiet and God shakes His head in disapproval. I don’t get to see that action because I can’t see him with my physical eyes, but my spiritual eyes see the disapproval and in my heart i feel a thread loosen.. One more thread of truth dissolve away as a result of unspoken words. Let me be! I have my life to live, heck I’m not perfect therefore why should I worry about another man’s issues?

Why should I care that she’s wearing a top with half her boobs pouring out? Why should I care that a child is destroying the back of the seats with a pencil? Why should I care that my friend is clearly on a downward spiral engaging in illicit affairs? Why should I care that all he cares about is the next pretty chic he can ‘meet’? Why should I care that she’s disrespectful, rude and arrogant? Why should I care that he’s so self-centered and only uses people for his advantage? Why should I care that she has such a bad attitude, no one cares to tell her or even remain close? Why should I care that all that proceeds from his mouth is foul language? Why do I care to be nicer at work and give a damn about everyone else around me, after all I dislike the place? Should i be pleased to drink another man's panadol?

 Why should I care to be different and not keep quiet when I see wrongdoing? When do I know to speak out because it might save a soul? Do I withhold because the log of wood is still in my eyes? When will I see clearly in order to help others see? When do I know not to be politically correct but spiritually exact? When will it show that I am different or can be different? How will people recognize it when they see it? Is it in my speech, clothes, walk, talk, composure, lifestyle, attitude, what is it in? When will I realize that I have been pre-designed to be powerful? When will I see that the path I walk is the path I have chosen not that which has been created for me? How will the world know that I am a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a king in the order of Melchizedek, a person set apart to show forth the praise of Him who has called me out of darkness? How will they know that as a king I do not beg for what I desire, but I declare for what I wish? How will they know that when I speak as a King, mountains move, the underworld trembles, Satan flees! How will they know that who I am makes the enemy fidget? How will they know that the God WHO IS, is my Father?

What is it about me that sets me apart? Who am I? Who am I to be?

FIRE LAST NIGHT

I was going to write today about how sometimes as a writer one struggles with 'writer's block', and then fortunately for my writing but unfortunately for my house, i got a topic in the form of fire last night! 

It was about 1230am, I was already lying in bed and had just gotten off the phone with my boo when it all began. First of all the lights went out and i thought to myself, 'PHCN abi NEPA is at it again' but i was so sure they'd bring it back shortly as these days we seemed to have a lot of light. Anyway ten minutes or so later, the light flickers on and off and that's when i heard the spark. Already accustomed to electrical sparks every now and again, i didn't budge from my bed and wasn't shaken by the sounds of the sparks until it got worse and i heard footsteps and voices outside. I got up from my bed and looked out the window to see our 'meter house' in smoke, and i thought wow this might be serious. 
The meter house is a small house that houses all the electrical connections of the two storey building where i live. You don't want to imagine what kind of poor connection is in there, seeing as we are hardly safety conscious about such and getting 'unqualified' electricians to constantly fix one issue or the other isn't out of the norm. So anyway as at that time it was just smoke coming out of the house so i thought 'oh somethings probably blown and cut out the lights'. At that point my flatmate walks out of her room to ask if i know what's going on cause she saw the smoke and all and i said i had a perfect view of it all. Anyway within a span of two minutes, fire starts and my flatmate's driver who is outside calls for tenants to rush downstairs and move their cars. Again i stall thinking 'oh c'mon it can't be that serious' and even though i hold the car keys, i still wait. Anyway finally i decide to rush downstairs to see what's up and lo and behold, there's an actual fire! And guess who's car is parked right in front of the meter house??! I was scared sh** to get into the car and move it back seeing as there was 'sparks' or 'explosions' with the fire. Anyway people shout to me to get in and move it out, and i dash in, start the car and try to reverse. The car won't budge easily and I'm thinking what da hell is wrong with the car, not realizing the hand brake was still up!! Anyway i manage to reverse the car out of harm's way (with the hand brake still up), people rush to their cars to reverse and to bring out their extinguishers, neighbors from the next compound rush to assist and finally the fire is put out! (OK the fire wasn't that big since small extinguishers could put it out but still....) It coulda been worse seeing as there were fuel and diesel filled generators all around the meter house. I just thank God it wasn't.

My building is presently without power and i hear our (my flat) prepaid meter is completely fried and is estimated to cost plus other electrical damages at least $650! Who da hell is gonna pay for that?? No way I'm taking up the landlord's cost! This is exactly why i said in one of my older posts, "LANDLORD TRAVEL & SEE"!! I mean why build a house you're not prepared to take full responsibility and insurance for?! Anyway i think I'll have to move for the time being to my sister's house (if she'll have me:) till this brouhaha ends!

When does it all end? So much drama living in a house that is not yours! I gotta have my own house for shizzy...

THE COCONUT VS THE COCOYAM

A coconut is brown on the outside and white on the inside, so is a cocoyam. For those who do not know, a cocoyam is a locally grown edible starchy tuberous root of taro plants found mostly in West Africa. I’m hoping I don’t need to tell us what a coconut is? OK web definition says A coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm, native to southeast Asia but found in tropical regions. The coconut is sweeter and smoother on the inside and outside than a cocoyam is. A cocoyam is bland and rough around the edges, nothing too fabulous to remember. (See pictures for proof)

Coconut

Cocoyam

Why am I talking about coconut and cocoyam? Well because I’m a Cocoyam and my twin, is a Coconut! (She’ll kill me for saying this here).. I just think she looks brown on the outside but is more “white” on the inside, hence the tag coconut! If you’re looking for her, you’ll most likely catch her in Southeast Asia, specifically Laos! (Have you even heard of the place? Believe it or not she’s been there!!) She craves intercontinental dishes I could never imagine craving for, hummus and garlic bread, chili con-carne, sushi and any other funny name etc. She can only be found in airplanes (on her way to a different continent), theatres, ice rinks and London tube! You’ll also find her auditioning for the likes of X-factor and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire!

I on the other hand, I'm a cocoyam through and through!! If you’re looking for me you’ll find me in tropical Africa, specifically Nigeria (9ja for life)!! I’m brown on the outside and by serious fertilization (if you know what I mean) creamish/whitish. I can only be caught eating eba and afang, isi-ewu and designer jollof rice (favorite spot being Natives in Victoria Island). I can be found on okada’s, yellow taxis and buses and occasionally if I feel like I want the experience of sitting in a ‘convertible car’, I’ll hop on “keke-napep aka auto rikshaw (as the Indians call it). Auditions? I think I recall dreaming to get on ‘tales by moonlight’ as a kid, that’s as far as my auditions resume ends. Oh and to be a little posh now, I’m hoping to apply for Big Brother Africa, let me see if I can switch to a coconut small..hehehe.

So you see a Coconut and a Cocoyam are very similar but very different. And this is our story, the Coconut Vs Cocoyam… Loool! I hope you enjoyed reading this  as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Hasta luego!

Chinny ;)

                                                                                                                                         

CONFORMITY OR NECESSITY TO VOTE

All i hear these days is everyone preaching the gospel according to “Have you registered?”, “You should register?”, “We must vote”. It sounds all quite proactive and encouraging to see that people in this country have become sensitized to the need to rise up and speak out. And yet I ask myself if I am to register am I doing so because of conformity to the crowd or necessity because I actually believe in the presidential aspirants?

Who are these people? Where did they come from? What does their history say? What steps have they taken to get to where they are today? What courses or classes did they take? What positions have they held? Whose lives have they changed? What impact have they brought? What change will they bring? What legacy will they leave? I don’t know all the answers to these questions. So I ask myself the question, should I register? Should I vote? You may read this and have differing opinions on what I’m saying but its OK, we all beg to differ. Am I obligated to vote, out of conformity or necessity? No. Am I obligated to vote because my vote counts (in my mind)? Yes. Will I vote? No. I’m not going to vote and not because I don’t care, I’m not going to vote because I care. I care who sits at the cockpit manning the plane. Is he a trained pilot? Or is he a wannabe pilot? Does he have a license to fly or has he been selected and shoved into the seat, willingly, to cater for lives of his passengers? Our country has been likened to an airplane filled with passengers and left in the hands of a neophyte to fly. He crashes the plane and is blamed for the crash whereas no one sought to ask if he had the right qualifications to fly the plane in the first place. The saying goes that the “devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know”, is this really true? I mean the devil is the devil and an angel is an angel. Each has their own characteristics, good and bad. What works for the goose may not work for the gander. There are people who believe Mother Theresa wasn’t ALL THAT or even Nelson Mandela. I say this to highlight the differences in opinions and analysis of characters.

If we were all to ask ourselves the above questions about the presidential aspirants, will we reconsider voting? Are you voting out of conformity because everyone says we should vote and because our vote does count? Or are you voting because you absolutely believe in the candidate and therefore it is imperative you play your part in putting him on the seat?

Ask yourselves these questions people and then decide to vote or not. 

Don’t judge me because I won’t vote.  I’ll vote when in my spirit the conviction is as necessary as I breathe. 

Till my next blog,

Tuyo por siempre.

Chinny! :)

When Distracted....

• Banging on the door to someone else's apartment, convinced it was yours
• Dabbing your face with mouthwash convinced you were using your exfoliating lotion
• Holding your pen in your hand and searching everywhere for it
• Drinking to stupor, releasing your belt with an attempt to pee only to never unfasten your zip and wet your pants
• Holding your shoe and bread in your hands only to microwave your shoe instead of the bread
• Trying to make a cup of tea only to use salt instead of sugar
• Gossiping about your boss to your colleague via email and sending the email to your boss instead
• Walking down the street with your sister whose right beside you, only to turn back looking for her
• Wearing 2 different shoes to work
• Answering a call and wondering where your phone is!
• Wiping your butt with 'toilet wipes' thinking you were using 'baby wipes' (yikes!!)

These are some of the silly things we do when distracted! I’m guilty of 1 to 3, 10 and 11!! (I just told my bizness publicly!) lol… Well we all have silly stuff we’ve done only to hit our hands on our head in rebuke. I’m not ashamed of mine though so if you think you are daring enough, drop me a line and tell me the silly stuff you’ve done “when distracted”. I'd love to make this list as long as possible so help me out here guys! :D.. Thanks!

Toodles!

Chinny ;)

FROZEN

They say if you love someone you should tell them because the person may just love you back or have room to love you and not have the courage to say. You should also tell because you’ll feel free and know that you tried even if the answer turns out differently from your expectations.

And each time you try to tell, your heart starts to pound, your fingers become icy cold and yet the temperature outside is 30^oC

Butterflies in your stomach leave you feeling like a visit to the doc would be necessary

You ask yourself a million questions, most of which start with “what if’

You tell yourself ‘there’s no big deal’, go right ahead and tell, 'what's the worst that could happen'

You let yourself see what your eyes want to see, a person who’s frozen by fear of the unknown

You try with ‘hints’, ‘green light’, ‘silly questions and comments’, even 'poems', and the recipient of your love feigns ignorance to your quest

And then again you give up and walk away, telling yourself you’ll live to try another day, after all c'est la vie (that's life)

Another day comes, three years pass by, then four and you still haven’t told…

And someday when you decide you have only one life to live, you tell….

You tell to be free, you tell to know you tried, you tell to love and be loved…

And what transpires next, lets you float on a cloud to the skies with your eyes closed and a smile splashed across your face in the midst of your daydream,

She says Yes…

And the beauty of your dreams becomes a reality because you know you finally had the courage to tell..

And then you say, "Au revoir" to the unwelcome attribute called Frozen.

And "Bienvenue" to the welcome attribute called Courage. 

Tuyo por siempre,

Chinny ;)

HUMAN/BRAZILIAN HAIR

A few years ago a guy asked me why I had to fix my hair when my pretty friend (who was standing beside me) was wearing her long and natural hair. I casually replied him saying, ‘you can buy your hair if it won’t grow’! (Remember lyrics of the song Unpretty by TLC). We laughed about it but I meant it and to buttress my point look around you and tell me if you don’t see 4 out of 5 Nigerian women with fake hair on?!

There’s a running joke that women are now valuable in the kidnapping industry in 9ja, reason being that they carry from $500-$1000 on their hair all in the name of ‘I must fix Brazilian hair’. So if you need some quick cash and have run out of ideas, kidnap a lady, ask her to loosen her hair, and then release her and sell the hair for at least $500. 

(Disclaimer: 

9jaspitiout blog is not liable for crimes committed out of experiment or any crimes out of content posted here):D

I watched a preview once on national geographic or was it discovery channel, of the sale of human hair across the globe; apparently women in India have their hair shaved as a religious sacrifice to a high power for ‘different reasons’ ranging from thanksgiving for blessings to pleas for blessings in areas of their lives to sale for a few chips (Benjamins). What is disturbing about this act is that most of these women believe their hair is tossed into the bin and discarded of; little do they know that it makes its way around the world to different continents of which my humble Africa is no exception. Some of them willingly give their hair away knowing it will end up in other continents. Matter of fact it is also said that some of this hair comes from corpses!! My goodness….just imagine the hair of a corpse of on your head?? Yikes! Indians are not the only country involved in this horrifying act, apparently investigations conducted by British pop star Jamelia, traced its way to Russia where girls as young as 13 are shaving their hair for a few pounds! These poor people are coaxed into selling their hair and given peanuts in comparison to the actual price at which their hair is sold off at. It is estimated that in the UK alone, a whooping £65 million a year goes on hair extensions. What that money could do for an economy?!

human hair being processed...

It’s quite sad to see how desperate people have become for money that they would shave their hair for a few pennies though my sympathy goes to their impoverished lives as some can’t afford to feed a day. I won’t ostracize myself from being one of those that has fixed these hair extensions, taken off possibly some poor lady in another part of the world trying to make a living. God forgive my vanity but no be me ask for am, no be me buy am but na me dey fix am sha and honestly my hair really could do with extensions! :D.. I know some ladies who wouldn't fix any other hair that isn’t ‘Brazilian hair’ or lace wig (as if it’s been always available in the market!) Please give me a break! Vanity upon vanity, all is vanity says the preacher! My man Ecclesiastes, he was right even in 2000BC!

Anyway ladies if you want to keep buying these human hair extensions feel free but please try to determine the source of the hair (I know your thoughts, as if that wouldn’t be a herculean task).

In the words of Jamelia: Whose Hair Is It Anyway?!

P.S: I’ll try to add ‘not using human hair extensions’ to my resolution for 2012, for now make I rock the wan wey my mama give me..hehehe…

Ladies, must 'he' pop the big question? Guys, must 'she' say yes?

I was watching the movie ‘Valentine’s Day’, you may or not have watched it, and in it Ashton Kutcher nervously proposed to Jessica Alba and she excitedly said ‘yes’! He then went onto boast to his friend that she said ‘yes’, and it made me wonder if he ever expected a different answer?! I mean you’re supposed to know or not if your girlfriend will say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ right? Anyway it got me thinking that in my country most men are probably sure that their girlfriends will say ‘yes’, seeing as there is now a serious shortage of ‘eligible bachelors’ in the dating market. 

Demand is higher than supply on the dating scene. And for that reason a girl must be outta her mind not to say ‘yes’ to a marriage proposal. After all there is a saying that goes “a time will come when seven women will run after one man” (I’d love to see the guy run!) they say its in the bible, I've searched but haven't been able to find it. Anyway it appears that time has most certainly come, seeing as some of my fellow women folk have now belittled their selves to propose to guys or to ask them to be their ‘baby daddy’only! Ludicrous I tell ya.But yet an often occurrence out of desperation to be hooked. No one wants to remain single, its as though being single is an abomination. 

Guys, I ask you this question, Are you sure she will say ‘yes’? Do you want her to say ‘yes’ because you love her or because it’s the next logical step in the equation of your relationship or because she’s ‘take home to mama’ but not necessarily take home to your heart or because she’s expecting the proposal so it’s just as well if you offer one or because she’s superwoman in all the areas you expect?

Women, I ask you this question, bearing in mind recent facts on the dating scene, is it possible that when he pops the big question your answer can be different from Yes? Will you go on to say ‘yes’ because you truly love him or because it’s ‘****ally’ convenient to be with him or because you just need your family to back off your case as to why you’re still unmarried or because he’s good looking, has good genes in his blood and will transfer that to your unborn and unknown babies or because the biological clock is ticking and you need to start reproducing?

Do you know when to walk away because in your heart you truly know you can’t walk the mile with him or her? Are you so caught up in your fantasy for heart beating, blood pumping, butterflies in stomach idea of love that you don’t see the writing on the wall before you make one of, if not the most important decision of your lives? I wonder….. Marriage is a never ending school. But guess what? It’s the only school few take time to prepare for..…no books, few classes, few group discussions…… just a proposal, wedding outfits, matriculation ceremony and voila! You’re in for life!

Women: Must 'HE' pop the question?

Guys: Must she say YES?

I'd like to get your views on this, feel free to comment below!

Chinny

LANDLORDS, TRAVEL AND SEE!!

I got a call from my sister at about 6:20am telling me she was on her way to my place to pick up a suitcase for my mum and hence I should be ready to come downstairs when she calls next. So I lay in bed eagerly awaiting her call so I could go right back to sleep, already upset to be awakened at that time on a weekend..……That was when I felt it…...vibrating and with a loud thud....my heart skipped a bit and I wondered what was going on! It reminded me of when I used to awaken almost every morning with a racing heartbeat as though I was scared to be alive or I had awakened from a nightmare….. I asked myself what could be wrong. I looked over at my friend who lay on the other side of the bed, she looked lost in sleep and I wondered if she may have felt it too….. Then my cell phone rang and I rushed to answer it, eager to remove my straying thoughts of impending danger. My sister asked me to come downstairs. I walked to the bathroom and put on my robe, opened the door and grabbed the suitcase, dragging it down 2 floors to the ground floor. And that was when I saw it…. I was too confused and upset to be awake at that time to make sense of it….. I looked at it, walked past the two men who stood by perplexed and went outside to give her the suitcase, barely muttering good morning to her and her husband. I gave him the suitcase and stomped off..

Then walking back upstairs I mustered the courage to look on and lo and behold what I saw was shocking, funny and ridiculous! I saw half of the fence of our compound on the ground!!!Now I knew that was what I felt earlier! The fence fell, the house vibrated and my heart skipped a beat!

The rumble from the fall is an obvious sign of a bad foundation. Lekki residents, beware of bad foundations…

The title? Travel and see because most of them are not resident in the country and don’t give a rat’s ass about the condition of their property or the comfort of their tenants. This is just one of the many problems with housing in Lekki.

With that said, I implore all Lekki landlords to TRAVEL AND SEE OOO!!

Tuyo por siempre,
Chinny

WOMEN HAVE EXPIRY DATE IN THE DATING WORLD??

Hola Mi Bloggers & Readers!
Happy new year and welcome to 2011! I apologize for my absence, its been a busy holiday.. But i'm back and i'm here to stay. Before i go onto the above topic, let me first of all wish us all the very best that life has to offer. We have only God to thank for a new year and i'm sure He'll see us through to the very end gracefully. Amen.


So today's topic of discussion was inspired by a dear friend of mine and faithful follower of my blog, who thought to share her conversational experiences with "guys" on older women and dating! ....Throat clearing....hmm.... Apparently some 'age grade' of guys are of the opinion that women have expiry date in the dating world! Wonders shall never cease to amaze me when i hear the things 'guys' say concerning 'older women'. 
Quote from her goes as follows... "I've had discussions with some guys in the 28-30 age bracket  over the past few weeks and there seems to be a resounding consensus from these men that dating/marrying over 25's is "undesirable" for a multitude of reasons-some of which are......take a deep breath......we're stuck in our ways cause we are older, we're not as respectful, we're just plain ol old!" 
The guys in question went onto say their ideal age is 23 and one almost didn't marry his current wife because she 'was 27'.. The highlight of the conversation for my friend though was when one guy said to her "don't worry sha, you still have 2 more years to go...it's when you hit 28 that you know say your own don finish!"....For the benefit of my non-African readers i'll translate the last statement to English which simply means "don't worry about it as you still have 2 more years to go....its only when you turn 28 that you'll know you're finished!"


In other words, they are inferring that women expire on the dating scene! Girls, can you believe that??  I'm almost speechless! My train of thoughts on issues of life normally flows freely but in this case................ i don't know........ hmm..... it's not funny!


Fact: Women are more mature intellectually than guys their same age
Fact: Between 18 and 22 i couldn't imagine dating a guy my age or even 2 years older, he wasn't old enough! 
Fact: I'm 27, my views on "age dating" have changed... (and not because i'm still single)
Fact: Now i know Love has got absolutely nothing to do with age (look at Ashton and Demi)
Fact: Guys age faster than women so its to our detriment if we marry a guy close range in age (sorry guys but its true)
Fact: Some men are intimidated by seemingly 'successful and content women"
Fact: Its not the norm for a girl to propose to a guy, so what's a girl to do if she turns 28 and is still single?! Celebrate herself as best she can! U bet.. 


The saying goes that 'beer is made by men, but wine by God'- Martin Luther. Older women are like wine, fermented, refined and fortified in the sands of time and the phases of life created by God..... We need not be younger to be fulfilled or content.. The saying also goes that "fish, to taste good, must swim three times: in water, in butter and in wine"- polish proverb. Older women are "priceless fishes"....hard to catch and sweet to keep, after having swam in old wine!
Its unfortunate that men don't smell or see good wine when its right in front of them.. They prefer to reach for beer, deceived by its volume only to desire more beer afterwards, whereas a glass or two of wine does the trick!


To all my single ladies, fret not nor fear your not for your knight in shining armor or coat of many colors made from rags, who knows, appreciates and celebrates your value, measured by the stories in your eyes, will come one day and when he does, you'll be glad you waited!


To the guys that think women expire, WISE up!


Till i write again...


Tuyo por siempre,
Chinny ;)