BLOOD ON BELLO WAY

               The sky has become dark

Now clothes will soon become black

As some have crossed to the great beyond

just because they were present at the banging sound

The plateau mourns

Bukuru hears the sound of the wailing

And the bello way is soaked in  red

For once again! we have been struck

Hands have fallen and fences broken

rain fall from eyes until its swollen

what do we say?

who do we tell

The plateau is on the spotlight

but I pray that grace make things right

And there is hope for a day so bright

and strength for the brokenhearted

THE GUNNING START

         Eight minutes into an experience that was supposed to be interesting, and we began to see a cause to lose hope. My God! after going this far, to lose again? to hull city? mehn! matter for too cast. I could not watch the match because of other engagements, but my eyes were glued to goal.com expecting miracle to happen. I began all those positive confessions that look like faith ( We cannot lose, we will equalize etc). The thought of Arsenal not winning the cup, was just something I was not ready to think about.

         But Alas! it was a double blast for me. A wonderful prayer section in the retreat and an  FA Cup to celebrate afterwards. We had to wait 9 years, not 9 months oh...haba. But all the same, we are no more trophy-less and that is what counts. The passion, expectation and joy in the players, were replicated in the hearts of the fans, little wonder the main message was "  thanks to our fans". 

        

   Wittingly, I will like to point out that we could use a devote christian arsenal fan to explain the benefit of patience or long suffering. Cos, in the midst of the talks, abuses, cartoons etc; we remain steadfast! knowing that all will be well. 

GBAGAUN!

           kai! I just finished a day. I watched as the clock ticked, noticing every ticking of the second. I naturally became nocturnal in the days leading to the summit. The head was full, but like a cloud that refuses to pour out rain, I remained. The flow could not match the speed; and I struggled to stain the paper with the ink.  All these happened because the deadline drew closer and the assignment was not ready.

         Most times, people tell me: I work best under pressure , but this one looked difficult. It was like a diver at the bed of a sea with too much pressure. In the midst of this I became like the prodigal, I made a resolution( which I pray I keep) that I will be dealing with assignments as they come and not waiting for the arrival of the D-day. Quite alright, the product of this deadlines matter are wonderful, and then we begin to wonder what would have happened, if we had settled down to work with the right mindset.

           The mind remains the seat of our thoughts and the oven of a lot of bread that come out as actions or habits. I believe that " I work better under pressure" , is a mindset that can be adjusted to produce maximum impact. Most times, it begins with a decision to want to change, which most times is not easy to make because we have become comfortable with the former. But the approach is stop the excuses and activate the cruise

        In addition, even nature teaches us that the best of things take time to build, your excellent work under pressure, is something extra-ordinary if it was given enough time to brood. With my today's experience, the aim is to make efforts that it doesn't happen again and be that producer of gems i.e a furnace that takes time with her precious stones.

    

    Deadlines! A supposed friend to a few

sometimes sweet in the mix like stew

Can also rush us out of the beauty of the morning dew

looking for fellows in the business as crew

Deadlines!too far yet very near

I will do it tomorrow

says the heart that might forget about it

Wont you do it now? no I still have time he says

Its now! and the rush begins

At this point every other thing looks like bins

but when there was time we chose to chop beans

And with speed, we miss the extraordinary's creed

Gbagaun! the heart beats with the tick

the tock makes us look at the clock

almost time, the heart panicks

but we could have rested if we planned well

                                                  

LIGHTS ON

       Ehen! Now we can sleep well; without heat and stinging fangs of mosquitoes. Mehn, it was an experience. I began to wonder, what it felt like for people that were living in areas without electricity and without money to properly sort out the need for themselves. You need to see the smiles on the faces of ekehuan students as some of us got into the hostels to see the bulbs shining during the day time, it was on PMs , TLs, facebook walls etc and this goes a long way to emphasize the importance of electricity to convenient living.
       I say a big thank you to the School management, for their speedy intervention. I saw them bring in a transformer on a truck, that means it was most likely an issue with the transformer. And for those of us that have once stayed in the streets, we know how long it takes to get things like that sorted out.May God bless them and continue to take us to greater heights.
      The Life has returned...long live magareth Ekpo! Long Live Nelson Mandela Hostel!...Long Live Ekehuan. Two and a half gbosa for Ek - city; GBOSA! GBOSA! gbos! ( You need to have heard how that sounded

LIGHTS OFF

       We may not have the hustle and bustle of the daughter campus. Her largeness in size and population including the craze in terms of attention. But we remain the beautiful small hub of creativity, with comfortable rooms and a serene environment for learning. The communal environment is one of a kind, as we enjoy the  beauty of knowing each other( at least from afar). Undoubtedly, we are the mother campus that gave birth to a child, and we are not jealous of the fact that our daughter is growing, we just continue to maintain our style, excellence and heart.

       However, Lightning struck and it affected one of the constituents of our comfort. Normally we can boast of about 18-20 hours access to electricity, which is a buzz to interesting life. But during the outpouring from heaven's heart, the hostel suddenly became dark; little did we know that this was a beginning of another experience. Now we have to learn to live in one of the harsh realities experienced in other areas.

      The first night was an experience, as like the bible times electricity passed over the doors of the hostels as it saw the signs and everywhere had light apart from Mandela and Margaret.We were at the mercy of the school generator till about 2 am , and then mosquitoes began to sing songs of praise as the heat made the body succulent enough. Normally, the fan would have helped us in times , like this but the absence of light, meant the presence of darkness. 

       Ha!the hostel light is bad, the classes are the only options for charging phones and systems. We now have to limit the bed fun times,food matters are on the table unattended to...e no easy oh. We are so used to light like Ajebo ehn, that this is looking like ...Although the school tried today to put on the generator for us in the afternoon to bring us little succor, nothing for us beats the excitement of resting in your room, the bulbs on and the fan blowing us to sleep.

      Maintenance oh! help!...I saw them carrying ladder, hope its for the better oh. Especially with the way assignments are flooding us in this final year. maybe,this is a ploy to take us to the classes to read? but where we have to choose between the fangs of the mosquitoes and the slippery bodies, none of the options is good oh.... We continue the wait!

CHIBOK GIRLS

Sisters! where are you?

      Hope you can see the sky as blue

I cannot imagine the stress you are going through

Been thought the hard lessons of life by the gun barrels

Sisters! can you hear me? 

We will continue to shout, even in whispers

we will  remain on the streets

 As we protest for effective efforts for your release

Tears fill the faces of mothers

And the fathers try to remain calm

O what will bring the soothing balm

to the pains of those that bore the pain

Forests! I know you have ears

Can you just do something to help our girls

we have not seen them in weeks 

And they say they are hidden in you

Sisters! You are missed

arrgh! this situation is a sad lip to be kissed

I really do not know what you are going through now

but I pray that  soonest we will hear the shouts of Joy....

phlegvinyl

OKOKU GRANDANI

                When new students come into school, they are the fresh inputs and hence a lot of spheres make efforts to bring them to the knowledge of their beliefs.  The Keggites do meetings to indoctrinate them into the life of the palm wine. The Man O war make their impact known (I.e. displaying the opportunities available if you are part of them) right from the clearance exercise at the Akin DEKO main Auditorium. The Red Cross show how helpful they can be and even some banks display kindness of different sorts; the lists of “welcomes” by different belief systems are endless.

                However, I concern myself with the efforts of the Christians to bring freshers to the fold of believers on campus. Programmes ranging from the CTY (Catch Them Young) to the fresher’s Welcome are organised to share messages of the riches of his grace and love. Saving the lost, steadying those that are shaking and encouraging those that are firm in Christ like Iron sharpens iron.  Hence, in the spirit of OKoku Grandani, I express my feelings on the beauty of the Freshers welcome organised by the house of CU-NIFES (Christian Union – Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical students) for the new intakes of the 2013/ 2014 session.

                In 2010/2011 session, I was “Atote Percektuara” – the determined ones, the next year came; I had to be part of those to welcome the “Monadikous Thisavrous” – Unique Treasures to campus. And then as an exco, I participated fully in the unveiling of the “SuuKapale” – Mouthpiece of the 2012/2013 session. And then, this year came and they called it “OKOKU Gradani”...and I waited patiently for the unveiling of the theme by the evangelism secretaries.

                The choir scatter my head with their presentation, Praises and worship was from the planet called “wow”. The MCs Jide and Onyinye made sure, boring moments were lacking. I could feel the kicks of passions on the drums through the subwoofers on the front panels and grace soaked the atmosphere. Back to the choir jare, their dressing make sense to the core and NICUDU ( NiFES –CU Drama Unit) did not dull in their own presentation.  Jesus Generation Singers built on their excellent performance of last year to thrill us with beautiful dance steps that pleased our eyes and touched our souls.

                “We think say e don finish oh”... little did we know that the sweetness of the programme was just changing gears. Dr.Ken Katas, mounted the pulpit to share Gods word and the service entered into another realm. Although, the clocked ticked tirelessly as the time counted, I think the time was worth it. Live were changed, transformed and saved. The Holy Spirit expressed himself in the beauty of his awesomeness, inhabiting the praises of his people and touching lifes...Moving like the wind, where we see the impact but not really the visual person.

                Okoku Grandani, freshers welcome for the 2013/ 2014 session means “Kingdom Citizens”...and the kingdom of God invaded the earth in lives and I know this is a start of something beautiful and great. They are the kingdom Citizens (me sef  join oh) ,  to function from the perspective of the kingdom and express Gods will on earth. Hmmm...na so we see am, some things we cannot just explain except you were there...all glory to God