GEJ and Amanpour discuss Boko Haram, Corruption and other social challenges.
No fit for the faint hearted! Locating the devil!
The faces of corruption! “Ima mmadu” is one face of this scourge!
By Noel Ihebuzor
Indeed, social media are opening up the Nigeria social space in new ways. It is now the new equaliser that is breaking the information monopoly that was enjoyed by the state and a few media houses. In the process, it is unleashing hidden journalistic talents as we witness a mushrooming of bloggers, social commentators and critics.
There is evidence of a growing use of the social media by Nigerians. Facebook and Twitter have become invaluable tools for keeping in touch with friends and family. Indeed, social media are opening up the Nigeria social space in new ways. It is now the new equaliser that is breaking the information monopoly that was enjoyed by the state and a few media houses. In the process, it is unleashing hidden journalistic talents as we witness a mushrooming of bloggers, social commentators and critics. The latter are a part of a new generation of social…
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For you. Thank you.
Reading Chibundu Onuzo’s The Spider King’s Daughter is a sedate but thrilling experience. The senses travel everywhere with this gentle storyteller as she quietly but accurately records the history of contemporary Nigerian dysfunction. At some point, you realize you have been tricked, this is a love story. Romance! This is not your traditional genre of romance literature, where you are told from the first sentence of the book: This is going to be about heart-break and you will love it. Onuzo’s lovely book straddles the no-man’s land between chicklit and serious literature. No, The Spider King’s Daughter is not “serious literature”, as self-appointed purists of African literature would say in the unctuous and supercilious manner that only they can conjure up. This is a compliment to Onuzo. For the weary reader, “serious literature” as it is applied to African writing is fast becoming a pejorative…
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Voice and viewpoint – a case for realism and dialogue.
By Nwachukwu Egbunike
“With the democratization of the media space, an ever increasing number of blogotivists command large constituencies of followers and now see themselves as powerful persons whose voices must not only be heard but also feared. Having drunk from the bowl of power, some have morphed into agenda setters, news framers, experts on all matters, and final social arbiters whose views, judgements and solutions must always prevail. And such solutions are not in short supply but are sadly either time bound, simplistic and/or betray an obsession with the here and now. Therein lays the danger of immediacy – that of thinking that the change we all hope for will come like a flash of lighting. Or even worse, with the same immediacy of the social media.”
The Nigeria blogosphere is increasingly becoming a political springboard for what I term blogotivisim (blogosphere-activism). With the democratization of the…
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a little help can go a long way
Stirred by anger
By Nwachukwu Egbunike
sadly those sired by anger
are boiling with hate
to lose their commonwealth
they look at all with grim
sadly they take the same path
falling into same pit
those dug by their patriarchs
step siding the truth piously
the ping of their bb
rings with curses and malfeasance
roaring with disgust
for the pooh-pooh sprawling on their mats
they tweet all day
not as stewards of truth
but slaves of hate
passionately greedier than their dads
same short cuts taken
same mistakes made
shying away from the facts
sole path of breaking the curse
wishing to change the tide
with same tools that caused the flood
without rationality that paves the flow
wrapped up with sentiments that blind the face
but we’ll still hope
though we see none
but knowing that greed last not forever
by truth we’ll change this land
it might tarry
it might delay
but one day, despite the delay
it will mighty arise
(Nwachukwu Egbunike, 12/12/12)
***Nwachukwu Egbunike is a Nigerian writer, critic and social commentator. His book “Dyed thoughts, a conversation in and from my country” is a collection of critical articles on the challenges of nationhood in Nigeria. He lives in Ibadan.
The voice of punctuations, the song of shapes
By Noel Ihebuzor
Punctuations speak and sing.
They hum breaks, pauses and stops.
Shapes float and dance and whisper meanings,
in their shy whispers and gentle murmurs, yet audibly
spoons are no longer just for the table,
even if they still collocate with meals and eating
in these new fresh environments
all descriptive and so so suggestive
*** prompted by a lovely little poem written by SLD
She uses so few words
To say so much
Her verbal dexterity
Is as precise as a gymnast
Defying gravity with a flourish
Creatively observing each object
And every action and inaction
Rhyme, reason and contradiction
With the insight of the ages
Sculpting verbal works of art
That should be cast in bronze
Or chiseled from Carraran quarries
By some modern Michaelangelo
But instead
Even better
Her words are winged electric
Appearing wherever they need to
Now
And now
And now
To you
David Trudel © 2013
Reflections 