Category: Hall of Fame
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I belong to a kingdom – opinion piece 5
Many people claim they do not believe in the supernatural. There is no life after death, they’re convinced. Implying that it doesn’t matter the quantum of evil they have committed, once they die, the chance of their avengers to settle any scores goes with them into their grave, into flames. I wonder what such people…
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Sandra
As I descended the narrow hilly road leading home, I tried to imagine the scene behind me. The shop that was always open and yet I never saw any customer buying anything from it, the fenced land overgrown with weed, the house where funeral canopies, drums and decorations were rented out, and the main road…
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inferior
a foot in its bellyhands feeling its tips and sidesthe tweaking foot pausesseems a fitlots and lots of hagglingand counting of what looked like crumpled sweat-softened notesfinally, off the shelf and into a polybaggoing through twists and turns blindfoldedthen into a new home, unto a new shelfnights and days pass bythen the familiar feet returntheir…
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folly unfolding – opinion piece 4
It always starts with the belief in something weird, something controversial …and before you know, adherents are looking and behaving like the very things they believe in. The sad part is the deliberate shutting down of critical thinking skills. Especially when people get to that borderline called faith, where they cross into the territory of…
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strange times
It all started with village folktales. Of ghosts loitering in the silence of midnight, stalking a wandering stranger or a lone recalcitrant youth returning home late. As mother lowered the wick of the lantern, the darkness in the room loomed large. I shut my eyes tight, careful to not think about dark tales of the…
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Keep calm- Opinion piece 1
The ability to remain calm under pressure is a skill that takes time to develop. For the first time in our lives that we decide to keep calm during tough moments, it’s normal for our resolve to keep calm to bend and succumb to defeat, like every muscle that has never known heat. What does…
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Sunday night drama
I turned to find mother crying. I did not understand why. But I always kept the incident in my heart, together with the storyline of the movie we were watching that day. When I was a child, every Sunday night there was this programme on television by name “Akan Drama”. It happened that on one…
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an ocean within
Sometimes on your writing career journey, you come to that point where you feel you have nothing to write about, and might never get something to write about again. Maybe it happens to the musician too, who comes to that point where they wonder if they can produce another hit song. If ever they would,…
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night falls with its eyesores
as night falls with its eyesoreshawling memories of the day beyond the horizonhordes of people return homesome to mess, and debtsmurmuring in low tonesothers return with relief,glad to have found the holy paycheckto purchase their daily breadand peacesinging Hallelujahloud enough to be heardeven in Californiabut however your day may beI hope the lessons can be…
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Her name is Samira
My weakness was that I couldn’t be discreet. Which was why when I fell in love with the cook, the affair was like an open secret. Was it love? I couldn’t tell what label to put on a mixture of lust, loneliness and desperation. She didn’t resist my advances, neither did she give me the…
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they’ll see you rise
like the sun they’ll see you risethe fake, foes and fraudsters who sawyou weep, crawl and beg will falltheir faces abraded likemetal gods scrubbed with wire gauze here, no vest is bulletproofjust bodies taking in bulletstill they feel tipsy and staggeran unsettling truthmakes the most vocal stutter but this is the furnace in which the…
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Refuse to bend
life wields a set of unfortunate incidents into a powerful anvil against which I am being struck the strikes are persistent and slow, draining me of every urge to hold on the clinical, persistent strikes linger, my resilience is a palpable mass of bleeding mess It pays to be patientbut patience is difficult to masterrequires…
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We always smell it from afar
Back then, we knew nothing about sexual harassment. All we knew was that teacher Musah loved Mansa and we all envied her whenever she walked about the school head high like a princess. Many ugly girls in the school winced at the thought of not having half her beauty. That Mansa was a minor, we…
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Red wine
For me, red wine is symbolic of pleasant memories. It was a windy Sunday afternoon in late December. I did not go to church that day. My habit whenever I didn’t have money for offertory. Or felt guilty of a secret sin. Feeling bored, I lay in my room on my little mattress spread on…
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They all know
From the moment the cup is handed to one of them, they all know that the recipient is going to be the hitsong maker of that year. They never had disagreements among themselves like other categories of artists were fond of doing on social media, and were always cited as role models, until a video…
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The tricky top
seems simple stepsthese tedious tasksthese tragic trekspacked phony pathssuch savage slopesslow stressful streakshurt hollow hopeswild windy weeksdark doleful daysmad mystic mazeposh pleasant peak https://wp.me/paf3ao-mTO
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The rocks and the trees have become one
on this mountainthe trees,like tourists,come and gobut the rocks never diethey’ve been lying here watching the once mighty waterfallage and shrink even the tallest of trees come and gonone lives foreverthe rocksthey have always been here from the beginningbut the presence of the invading treeshave left marks on the mighty rockslike signatures of passing timeset in…
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There will be bloodshed
He predicted that there will be bloodshed. Nothing like the nation ever saw. A few months after his wild predictions, he died. Nobody thought much about him or his prophecies of doom. Until ten years later. The first of his predictions was slowly turning into reality, like the seedling of a young plant indistinguishable from…
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The watch uncle gave me
Mother had traveled. And upon returning, she brought me a toy phone and a wrist watch. Gifts from Uncle T. Normally, uncle would be called on the phone for me to say ‘thank you’ to him. But phones were not common those days, and my parents didn’t have one. Imagine my joy having a phone…
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A lonely trip to Tripoli
a lonely trip to Tripoliwhere abandoned motel light bulbs dangle in violent windslike the balls of a bull in motioncasting concrete eerie shadowson squeaky doors with no keysscreaming softlyas if mourning the death of a once buoyant city a lone guitarist plays for the listening windsmessages that never reach the earsof the sleeping, heaving wavesof…
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God is watching …
Sometimes it feels some people have turned themselves into GodDeciding what is right and what is wrongDeciding who should live and who should dieMany imposters may try to play GodBut that role is too big to be filled by any pair of buttsGod sees everythingHe hears everythingThe worst a mortal can do is kill another…
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I will get there
I munch food noisily. Not deliberately. Naturally. I did not know this. I’ve been living alone and I had never paid attention. Until I found myself at a dinner, in the midst of respectable people, with no music to mask anything. The discovery was embarrassing. There and then I had to practice eating in a…
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Butukwen and his mother
Her son had a challenge. Physically, he was alright. Mentally, he was unstable, couldn’t sit at one place and behaved more like a toddler for his age. Personally, I felt his mother should have looked for a personal teacher for him, a teacher who taught him at home. Or maybe, the school should have separate…
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The new preacher
I stared at the WhatsApp post for a while. Of course I recognized the face. An old classmate. Lost touch with him since we completed school many years ago. Here he was, on the WhatsApp status of a close friend, posing as a preacher. I found it hard to accept the change. That boy has…
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Last time I saw Uncle Maduk
The last time I saw Uncle Maduk, he told me he knew he wasn’t going to survive the operation, and that by the time I am back for the next holidays, he might be no more. He thanked me for constantly paying him visits, bringing him fruits despite the rumors that he was an evil…
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They say you’re not good
they say you’re not goodthat you’re a hypocritea wolf in sheepskin they say you’re a disappointmentyou had so much potentialbut what are you today?a burdena watered seed that never germinatesyour gardeners are agingperhaps it’s strangers that will reap their toil but youwhat have you got to say about yourself?you’ve been silentsilently workingopening up your sores,…
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Good bye my friend
Today my heart is saddened. News. Of the loss of a close friend. How strange she would have found it, seeing posters of herself on walls of houses and electric poles, and on WhatsApp statuses. Obituary. If only she could see it all coming. Just last year we were home together, I unemployed, and she,…
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Blind plants
Plants are like blind servants. They stand at one place all their lives with arms stretched out, with their roots, stems, leaves, fruits and any other thing they can offer on the tray to serve humanity. When our water bodies are polluted from chemicals like those used in mining minerals in water bodies, the blind…
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wake every beast
honed every skilltried every trickcombed every streetwoke every beastcrossed every seatossed every diceate every lielicked every woundpaid every duesplayed every tunedealt every cardtook every chanceknocked every doorfought every dogticked every box yet for all my effortsa harvest of winds but I keep pressing onunrelentingly https://wp.me/paf3ao-m3z
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Lazy morning
I wake up, unsure what time it is. Can’t remember where my phone is. I doze off a little, waking again not knowing how many minutes extra I’ve slept. I look up at the windows. Slightly lit. Must be 5am thereabout. I grope in the slightly dark room, on my bedsheets, for my phone. There…
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It’s a long story
I can’t remember what sent me there that morning. I had assumed she was awake by then. Many of her next-door neighbors were still asleep when I got there. There was one worker who was leaving early to work. He told me he heard her voice so I should knock a little louder. Perhaps she…
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I fear these dark valleys
I fear these dark valleysWhere echoes of footstepsHaunt meI dread these lonesome journeysWhere pieces of broken promises Jab meI fish these empty spacesFor something to fill the emptiness withinPalpable emptiness, all I catchI’ll revere these formative yearsAnd the tears, uncertainties and testsThey fed me Email:Benjaminnambu1@gmail.com WhatsApp: +233 541 824 839
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Live
LiveDon’t be a cowardRecoiling every timeYou’re struckYou’re hitYou’re sunkPushEmergeHit back, hit hardRefuse to remain underDon’t let them knock offThat smile, that shineDon’t let them dampenYour indomitable spiritYour optimism Stand tallFor agesBe consistently youNo matter what they do to youBe kind, full of smilesAlways extending a hand to the needyA hand to thoseWho have no one…
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Ladies on a balcony
They were a bunch of female students, on the balcony of the last floor of our hostel, hooting and jeering at passersby. I hadn’t seen them until I was stabbed with a remark about my clothes. They said my combination was off. It was embarrassing. I took a look at what I wore. They were…
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A script of shallow truths
When everything is working for you,you think you know the rulesWhen everything stops working for youYou shrink into a script of shallow truthsYou stink with echoes of ruinsHow a tiny pore can spark a ship’s demiseHow a mighty fall can reveal subtle pride https://wp.me/p4GQQl-C5w
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Default colour
To the uneducated, the scholar is a nuisance Like love birds to one who cannot find loveLike a single unemployed mother and her daughter Seated in a corner of the houseWatching children rushing to welcomeTheir fathers returning from workEnvy is the default colourWhen one is sketched beside things one cannot haveBut scholars have their problems…
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Hide your face
Even the sun hides its faceBehind cloudsSkirting stealthily across the skyEven stumbling and falling over the horizonIts absence giving it the impression of renewed strengthWhen it rises againIts absence part of the reasons Nature misses itWhen it returns Even Earth refuses to let the Sun see all of its nakednessIt keeps turning, revealing a piece…
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A lesson well learnt
The first time Mina moved into her hostel, she noticed the cold attitude of her roommates. It was as if she needed to pay them to respond to her greetings based on the number of words in their responses. One was actually sitting on her bed and the reluctance with which she stood up was…
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They ask me
They ask me why I’ve become quiet these days. I do not answer. And when they insist, “There’s nothing,” is all I say. They don’t believe. I don’t care. Things change. People must level up. I realized the need for distance. Respect is important for maintaining long term relations with people. We laugh together too…
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The comeback
Was she sorry for what she did? A question that constantly roamed Joe’s mind and wouldn’t settle. Where could she be now? He hoped time will teach her a lesson. Time was a fertile ground on which character took root and bore fruits – some a hundred fold, some fifty. He prayed her harvest will…
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Kaiza
A limited market. That’s what this country is. The more people are pumped into the system, the the more the market becomes choked; everyone will eventually go broke. But these idiots don’t realize that. They claimed they’re giving the next generation a chance. Kaiza has always been in his corner, minding his business. He’s the…
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The new place
For a moment I thought she wasn’t going to pick up. Perhaps she’s not around the phone. As I psyched myself to give up on dialing her number, I was picturing where her phone could be. Maybe in the kitchen or bedroom, and she’s probably on the compound, busy with some activity. Oh! And then…
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No filters
Each time I’m woundedThere has always been a tendencyTo shut myself inBut a covered plantCannot blossomEven if it doesWhat healthy growth could that be?That’s why I keep shining, I keep smilingEven when it’s difficult dilating my lipsThat’s why I keep doing goodEven when I’m paid ingratitude in returnSee the many things I would have missedHad…
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Rich, rare
Patience is what makes a seed growPatience is withinThe French say,God’s middle nameIs TimeAnd one day time will sow youIn some abandoned placeWhere you will be trampled underfootForgottenBut that is how you multiplyYou’ll not stay downBelow the soil is not your placeYou shall germinateYou shall riseAbove every obstacleYour genes are not the type that succumbTo…
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In search of bread
Early morning. I have somewhere urgent to go in about an hour and half. Back from my morning jogging routine. Very hungry. Forgot to take my wallet. Had to to go to the room to fetch it. The atmosphere in the room is different. It’s quiet and a little stuffy. Outside, there’s so much fresh…
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The New Chairman
It was offertory time. And before a song was raised for us to dance and give out our monies, the pastor read out some information. It was a breakdown of our offerings for each month from the various local assemblies. Apparently, he was pleased with the figures, adding that he didn’t want members to become…
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The Controversy
It was everyone’s dream and wish that Akweley marries. For she was so kind, humble and generous. She was an interpreter at her local church, helping her town people understand what the English priest said. Even the priest prayed that she find a good husband. On one occasion while she was interpreting his sermon, he…
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Under a mango tree
A street hawkerA young boyHe’s sitting under the shadeOf a mango treeHis feet, white with dustFrom wandering in the scotchy sunHis throat, parchedHe looks like he’s on the brinkOf giving upPerhaps one of those boysFrom the northIn the south, in searchOf a better lifeBetter livingWhatever might have pushed him hereIs causing him to now reconsiderHow…
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Your story will change
One day your story will change You’ll take your rightful place It will happen like a dreamLike nothing you’ve ever seen Keep moving even when hope burns outThe resiliency within mustn’t be quenched Champions are not made in the gymChampions are baked in the heat Of the rough road with few travelers
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A journey through a dark school
Those days our village had no electricity. In each home were lanterns we bought kerosene to power. For big events in the village such as political rallies, funerals or mega religious activities organized at nights, generators were used to light the settings. One night, we ran out of kerosene in our house. Usually, it was…
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He thanked her, and walked away
Kezia looked at the gentleman in front of her, from feet to toe, toe to feet. A reminder of how low she had sunk. How rich and handsome guys used to pursue her. How she could easily choose them like wine, sip just a little and try the next. It was a privilege for a…
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This storm
I’ve been defeated many timesI’ve learnt to take in blows silentlyI’ve leant to moan silentlyI’ve encountered so many lossesI’ve learnt to live on lessI’ve lived through wintery timesSeems I’ve become insensitive to coldI’m used to hearing bad newsI now look forward to themI’ve had good reasons to give upJust don’t know what keeps me goingAs…
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Harvest of patience
I cast my net wideThe temptation to draw upThe little fish circling in the netIs strong, but I resistHunger pushesBut I hold onIf this net must be filledWith varieties of big fishesI must be patientBut patience, like fuelRuns outI have reaped the fruitsOf impatienceFruits that never matureInto anything usefulNow, I come on bended kneesFor a…
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Sumaru and Jango
At night the two maids retired to their room. Daytime they were donkeys. Nighttime, they were masters of themselves in their own room, where they could fart and sleep naked as they pleased, and eat whatever they could sneak out and buy. Or, if they were broke, confine themselves to whatever their Madam served them.…
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Some days
Some days I have nothing to saySome days I have no strengthTo push onSome days I’m confusedSome days I feel left behindSo many of my friendsSeem far aheadSome days I find so many things around meAnnoyingSome days I wonderIf I can make itTill the endSome days I have a line-upOf exciting thingsTo look forward toSome…
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How it all started
I cannot remember what day of the week it happened. All I remember was that I woke up that day with absolutely no idea how my day was going to turn out. I was in my room that morning, probably thinking of what to eat as breakfast.Then I had a call. It was Channel. A…
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Tailor this cloth
Imagine you spent an entire evening one Friday, helping with preparations for a key wedding the following day. The decorations and planning eat late into the night and you end up sleeping as late as 3:30am, only to be woken up at around 6am for the more tedious task of hosting the wedding. Imagine the…
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Not my Africa!
It was at the reading room I first met him. I couldn’t help but stare. At the dreadlocks. Dirty, unusually bushy, on his tiny, skinny skull. He stood out. In his shabby clothes. A sharp contrast to the atmosphere of decency and order and respect in a room filled with serious students. I wondered what…
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Bull’s Testicle
Times were hard. It was the kind of difficulty that forced enemies to collaborate and thrive. My friend Desmond and his roommates frequently fought. But during tough times like these, no one had energy for quarrels. Initially, Desmond phoned his parents. They were tired of his constant complaints of not having money. “What happened to…
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The last time we saw him
They said it wasn’t his time. That the accident abruptly ended his young life, and great dreams. They said the incident wasn’t normal. That was why the night he was proclaimed dead, no one could sleep in his house, as an invisible hand scattered bowls and plates in the kitchen, opened and closed doors in…
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The journey is a teacher
While you’re searching for the smartest way to start, the most impressive way to make an entry into an industry, the right moment to strike, the best climate under which to cultivate new habits, the morality of a new move, someone has begun their journey all the same. Without luggage, without any guarantee of enough…
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Earn your name with respect
Earn your name with respectTurn your pain into successYearn for fame, not regretsTell your tales, they impressSet the pace for the rest When your face is depressedAnd your game is shatteredAnd your days are numberedAnd you’re labeled a bastardLearn the mistakes, start afresh https://wp.me/paf3ao-k7w
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We harm ourselves
We create our own problems. We sowed the seeds of what we’re harvesting today. We create mess for ourselves. And though we know that what we’re doing has terrible implications, we cannot stop the habit we’ve become accustomed to. It even seems fun destroying ourselves. But how long can we keep doing this? These days…
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Religious people
I hate religious people. Oh, by “religious”, I mean people who have distorted perceptions of what their faith means. More specifically, I’m referring to Christians who still have a lot to learn about what true Christianity means. I give you specific examples. I once had roommates who were very religious. At dawn while I’m trying…
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Excuses
When times are tough, many things are hard to come by: money, loyal friends, encouragement. But one thing remains in abundance. Excuses. Excuses to not keep up reading books you planned to finish by the close of the year. Excuses to not keep up working out four times a week as scheduled. Excuses to divert…
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Life humbles the young and foolish.
I knew a lady who operated a bar right behind my window. “If you make a complaint at the police station, they will shut it down. It’s against the law to set up a noisy business where people live.” a friend told me one day when he came to visit. The landlord overheard him but…
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Marriage
There was this relationship coach. She was very beautiful, friendly and highly resourceful. Her profound advice and rich experience in counseling couples helped save countless marriages. She guided many young people in making wise choices about their life partners, contributing immensely to their happiness and productivity in life. She has conducted surveys, written books, given…
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They forget
They say you’re a failureYour friends are far ahead in lifeWhat have you to showfor all the investments made in you?You do wellin making excusesFor how your life turned out Failure. It’s what they call youBut,They forgotAs they always doThat a tree stump grows new shootsThat a complicated plot makes a storyrich, interesting, memorableThey do not knowThat…
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A lot has changed
Giovanni, a lot has changed since you left. Mango Street is no more what it used to be. Remember the spot where Alima and Saada fought one New Year eve? We woke up one morning to find a thief lynched and tied to an electric pole there. We did not know how the whole incident…
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A room with a unique view
There are stages in life that feel so good that we are reluctant to advance. We have come a long way, and need some rest. We rationalize. Soon, the excuses we sow mature into good reasons to extend our stay. We do not realize how we have outgrown our new environment until moving on becomes…
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Mission Impossible
Sarah and Cliff. They’d only been apart for a week and Cliff already had a new woman hanging off his arm. The news was hard to swallow, but it came from a reliable gossip. Cliff must be out of his mind! We set off to his house to give him a piece of our mind.…
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Missing cigarettes
I used to steal from my father’s pack of cigarettes. I hid somewhere to smoke. I remember the sensation as smoke escaped my lips, into the air. It felt great. Especially the effect of the heat on the tongue. This went on for weeks. Little did I know that the old man was aware but…
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It’s no coincidence
Life is a long lecture. You may choose to sleep in class, but you will eventually wake up to find your mates ahead of you and bills to settle, including lessons you’ve missed. Nothing is free. A new life costs lots of pains to birth. Whenever you are fed up with an old life and…
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One starless night
Dark melodies, playing over and over all night from a nearby cottage. Anna sat in their little farmhouse, attention fixed on Grandpa recounting dreadful tales best left untold, and hoping that evil spirits will catch a whiff of the incense mother was burning and be warded off. “For years she had no news of her…
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Talent Management
I know a rapper who was so talented that I couldn’t believe there will be any point in his music career where his popularity would wane. Unfortunately, he’s begun falling gradually and I was so sad to see it. To me, the problem is mentorship. When artists get to that point where they are managers…
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No Limit
Sometimes getting some things done is like getting unto a moving bus. The longer you wait, the more speed the bus picks up. And there are certain buses once you miss, you might as well give up on wherever you think you are going. What sometimes keeps you from implementing very good ideas you come…
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Cultivate your appetites
Whatever you hunger for, be it sex, success or food, learn to satisfy these appetites in little doses in such a way that they are never satisfied completely at any time. It is a strategic way of cultivating those appetites. By so doing, the appetite grows. It is a way of mastering addiction. However, this…
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Road signs to be ignored
Whenever you begin something new, if the start looks promising, there will be lots of people to comment and encourage you. There is usually the tendency to tailor what you’ve started to the likes of your new followers. You are careful not to ‘fall out of grace’ with them. Road signs. Ignore. Move on. Stick…
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Roots
It was a world of nature and magic. Tough times baked people into tough heroes. And the difficulties of survival enriched tales told from one generation to the other, deepening the grip of their songs on the heart. My mind was thirsty for stories when I was a child and I would pester the adults…
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Audacity and Legacies
They will say you are unrealistic. They will say you are young and one of these days, hunger will wake you up to the hash realities of life and you will soon forget your hallucinations of ‘big dreams’. They will associate pride with your ambitious spirit. Let them. Dogs are barking. Throw no stone. Continue…
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Linda Ngissah
One evening, while returning from a stroll in the woods, I found a moist, torn piece of paper on the floor with a very beautiful drawing of an African mother scolding her child who is about setting off to school. I stood in those woods for minutes, admiring the creativity of the artist in capturing…
Diary of a Wanderer 