I am definitely not my hair 

By Thando Mabena

This, my thick black kinky hair,

is extremely coarse, dry and tightly coiled with broken promises

And a hidden agenda,

Much like our politicians.

It has the texture of an overworked old sisal rope and occasionally throws tantrums like my two year old when sleep chooses to battle him.

It is tough, this hair of mine, like hardship and poverty.

It will stand stiff and tall in gale force winds while roofs are being blown off houses and trees arch to back flip.

It will stare a bottle of gel in the face with neck snapping attitude when styled into a bun and vehemently refuse to lie back flat and sleek.

It’s length is a magic act fooling even the harshest of critics with the keenest of sight.

It will shrink and have me looking like a boy posing for a mugshot at the first contact with water.

Then the next hour, be shoulder length and frizzy like a cheap weave.

Combing it is so painful, like a break up via text message, but with more tears and even more confusion.

This here hair of mine, is a plea for forgiveness and mercy from karma for all our sins.

My hair is a real struggle.

Me, on the other hand, am a pretty easy going girl with a happy soul and a colourful personality like a packet of M&M’s.

Not to mention a deadly sense of style too.

TIGON

There’re forces that ‘d pay homage

As commandants of the nation’s pride

But they came to hold all hostage

Imposing only but hopeless ride:

One’s a tiger blinded with goggles

The other’s a lion with leopard’s colour

It’s a league of military baa–fool

That wanted to make everyone a fool:

One came into power

Through tactical negotiation

The other came

Through the madness called election…

Rigging and raping democratic ethos.

For the corrupt anti–corruption crusaders

It’s business more than as usual:

One stocked out billions

To sustain the economy

The other wasted more billions

On jamboree clubs’ infamy…

All in the name of wooing foreign investors.

It’s a case of all-round allusion not illusion

That the masses become tired of complaint:

One’s bluntly arrogant

Displaying madness within confines of rocks

But the other’s rascally insensitive;

Claiming to know it all

Only to suffer from poverty of ideas!

Despite the morbid oversea trips, junketing all days.

And being arrogant in ignorance,

he’s to be worshipped in foolishness!

For the citizenry it’s pure massacre

That blood letting’s but a daily routine:

Under one’s regime

Political enemies ’re dealt with

But the other killed millions

Just to make billions –

By allowing the masses to die of frustration.

It’s a hay day for democratic rape

That he smiles making man an ape!

And my conclusion…

The hybrid’s a Tigon:

The looter of the looted funds

That in this regime, there’s no comfortable

living but hunger

As each day bring to the masses more darkness

Making them innocent victims of idiotic madness.

What a bold stand for morality

That we turn rapists after the preachment

What a display of stupid arrogance

Setting up anti-corruption commission

by the most corruptible…

Oh what use’s catching a thief by a thief   If not to make thievery a religion?

It’s anarchy everywhere. Everyone’s in mega pains…

And it’s this, the buffoons do.

Dear friends, colleagues and fellow Nigerians.
We, bring you love and greetings from above, in a time such as now in our generation. In politics they say, that the heaviest prize for declining or refusing to lead or rule, is to allow, to be ruled by someone inferior to oneself. And on this ground, the time has come, when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, thus such a person must take the position because his conscience tells him it is the right thing, at the right time.
Holding onto this very truth, we present to you a true Nigerian, with great potentials and strong willpower, who has decided to take such position, without fear or favour.
It has always been said that, it is bad, that all the people who knows how to run a country are very busy, driving taxicabs, trading and or cutting hairs. But here is one among the equal that is ready and willing to prove it wrong.
This person is Ali Soyode.
Hear this, Our concern is not whether God almighty is on his side, but rather, Our greatest concern is how to remain steadfastly on God’s side, as God is forever right.
So, join us to support AS4President 2019. As he prepares to make his public declaration for 2019 presidential election, this week in Abuja. Nigeria
AS For Assured Solution
AS For Assured Security
AS For Assured Sovereign Nigeria
YES HE CAN
This message is brought to by… AS4PRESIDENT 2019 Diaspora Team.
Alistair Soyode
Bentv Channel 

The Last Song

{ For Ese and Other 25 Nigerian Women Who Died In The
Mediterranean Sea While Crossing Into Italy from Libya }

26 wooden coffins spread on a stone dais:
a white rose for each on the lid.

Now the flames of grief from the hearts
of sympathizers
have burnt the flesh of my Poetry…

And rains breaking
from the desert of their eyes have

been drowning a thousand silences
standing before post-mortem candles
flickering in solemn goodnight.

The grey womb of Salerno will house
you and others for eternity in the
dignity of humanity
which your homeland will play Judas.

“My country is a naked Sahara, stifling life.
A closed casket where today sleeps
in the carcasses of tomorrow,” you said with a heart
full of ageless graves,

Before travelling to pluck springs in a
land where fields are green with succulent
breasts and pointed nipples, to water

your parched home you left with torn
kinsmen waiting for your homecoming springs
to wash off the ageless dusts of privation.

But water was your enemy. Water was your
crossroads. It could have seen the stretched
scars of a broken clime in your smile.

It could have seen the scary sores on the streets
of your thighs after numberless phalli played forced
pornography inbetween
in Bani Walid.

It could have seen the sterile clouds hanging
on the afterbirths of your dreams.

But it let you and others to sink with a rickety
boat until your existence became absence.

If you had known you would have stayed
back and joined us in this wilderness called
home, breaking stones with teeth to survive,
wiping tears and blood from brows from
dawn to night.

Oh! You would have!
Dear comrades, you would have…

Madu Chisom Kingdavid

Let’s Talk

Let’s talk about her:

The girl who lost her name

In-between the thighs of some boys who caged her,

The girl who can’t afford ‘always’ always because her purse is empty as night,

The girl who doesn’t know the name to

Give the child nobody wants,

The girl who only sees girls in her eyes.

Let’s talk about him:

The boy with no father who lost his name

In the line of understanding boyness,

The boy who only knows a kind of love,

The boy who refuses to say his pain

Because he is afraid of being shamed,

The boy who died on the journey of finding purpose.

Let’s talk about them:

The children who lost their playground

To bombs and shrapnel,

The children who lost their parents to

Unemployment and then learnt hunger,

The children thrown into the dark and touched in soft ways,

The children who just want to smile, play, and know childhood.

Let’s talk about power

The thing the draws a line in-between us,

The thing the eraces humanity and embraces inhumanity,

The thing that makes one god-enough

To forget purpose and service.

Let’s talk.

Let’s talk you, me, them, us.

Let’s talk. Let’s talk.

Chinua Ezenwa

At AFRICA4U , WE PROUDLY PROMOTE the true life and success stories of AFRICANS IN THE DIASPORA AND AFRICANS AROUND THE WORLD
We have organised small scale AFRICA4U AWARD EVENTS in The UK, Germany, Holland, Nigeria, U.S.A, Malta and Romania

Watch this space for the list of selected nominees for The  AFRICA4U ONLNIE AWARDS FOR AFRICANS IN EUROPE 2018

IF YOU WOULD LIKE US TO ORGANISE AN AFRICA4U AWARDS TO RECOGNISE THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF AFRICAN ROLE MODELS IN YOUR REGION OR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE, THEN GET IN TOUCH WITH US TODAY ON +447882809005

“There is nothing wrong with Nigeria/Diaspora that cannot be cured by what is right with Nigeria/Diaspora”

I am neither a praise singer nor a ‘Yes, Sir’ man. I have always followed my conviction courtesy of the grace and magnanimity of the wise counsel of fellow patriots to whom I will ever remain grateful.

I am not perfect and can’t be, but try very hard to be reliable, pragmatic and I am very passionate about the Diaspora and Nigeria.

The responsibility, for action or inaction, lies on the shoulder of the central executive council (CEC), consisting of men and women of integrity, whose chairman I am fortunate to be. Together with the NIDOE Board of Trustees we regularly engage the other continental NIDO bodies and other sister Diaspora organisations.

The historic International Edition of Diaspora Day London, UK, has come to stay.

After hundreds of hours of our collective precious time at the cost of being with our families and loved ones, and as professionals, people of integrity and custodians of international best practices, we disagree to agree on the following.

1. Firstly, by a majority vote, NWW proposed for a change in the way Diaspora Day (DD) is celebrated. A DD celebration in the Diaspora was mooted as progressive and a necessity.

2. All NIDO Europe Chapters (BOT) unanimously endorsed the NIDOWW initiative through a clear democratic process, leading to all the Chapters suspending all planned programs including ‘A Week in Nigeria’ by NIDOE UK South.

3. This decision was reached after the SGF, NNVS and NASS did not object to this novelty idea i.e. DD 2018 taking place in the Diaspora to mobilize support for a new era of Diaspora engagement post-Nigerian Diaspora Commission. A letter was duly written to inform them about this.

4. In the NWW meeting, where all the continental bodies that constitute the NIDO World governing council were represented, it was agreed that in the event of a last minute change of mind by the SGF or the NNVS, then a hybrid type of event will endure. This meant NWW’s concept of DD 2018 in Diaspora will still go ahead while we send delegates to Nigeria. We are convinced that not all Diasporans will be able to travel to Nigeria and not all Diasporans will be able to travel to London. This was accepted as a win-win solution.

5. The current position by some individuals suggesting a disagreement in NWW is totally unpatriotic and uncalled for. The action of some of us is tantamount to what happens in Nigeria after elections. Once you lose an election you pull down others. It kept many of us wondering if some people actually have something to benefit by seeing us look divided. Most painful is it to see those who had held a leading position in this organization promoting such a notion.

6. I did submit that over the years, successive NIDO world stakeholders have been plagued with series of crises and challenges that negatively impacted on NIDO from achieving their goals in furtherance of the objective behind the establishment of NIDO. Though the Nigerian Diaspora landscape has changed dramatically over the years influenced by the structure and disposition to NIDO by successive administrations in Nigeria, each of these changes have also presented the key NIDO stakeholders with different sets of new challenges on how to engage with them. Tackling these challenges has met different degrees of success and failure.

7. I also concluded on the fact that the organisation is still standing today despite these daunting challenges and being explicitly mentioned in NIDCOM is an attestation of the resilient nature of our collective leadership past and present and our collective faith in the NIDO project. It is worthy of mention without being intimidated that some of the division that the organisation has faced are externally inspired to achieve a set objective.

8. Some of the brightest minds in the Diaspora have reasoned that this DD and generally DD whether in Nigeria or in Europe or in both geographical regions should be seen as an opportunity for growth and not compete with each other. I am in total agreement. One of the driving ideas of the first International Edition of the DD 2018 in the UK is because some of our policy makers in Nigeria consider Diaspora people as unserious opportunists only looking for government appointments or patronage. We needed to correct such uncharitable and misguided impressions.

“There is nothing wrong with Nigeria/Diaspora that cannot be cured by what is right with Nigeria/Diaspora”
Kenneth Gbandi
Continental Chairman Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe

Biography:

OYEDOKUN IBUKUN PENAWD is a ‘vocal-ink’ poet, playwright and prolific writer, who believes it’s not until one becomes a star, before one can administer words, and minister like a seer.

He was recently honoured as The Silver Award Winner for the Tony Tokunbo Fernandez International Online Poetry Competition 2018 with his winning poem “We are the children  of the norm ”

We are the children of the norm

We are the children of the norm…

Dignified drums beaten by the Negro’s drumsticks

As the entire creatures gather across south to west

Dancing dutifully to the tune of our ancestral quest

With our ignited minds, glued to the past revolutionists.

We are the children of the norm…

The beardless unclad lad and lass of similar peers

Assembling in rows when the sun has gone to sleep

And the local lamp dances to the beat of the breeze

As *Ìyá Àgbà’s tall tale of tortoise fills the atmosphere.

We are the children of the norm…

The ancient aged view of marriage as child rearing

For under one roof lives a man of thousand wives

With ocean of children, just for farming to thrive

Yet, the roof is not replaced with a burning roofing.

We are the children of the norm…

The darkened minds that see no flaw in olden philosophy

As superstitions and taboos tender perdition to the nation

Restricting the head to lead the feet to a perfect destination

As fear to perish gives unfriendly embrace to man’s totality.

We are the children of the norm…

The creatures that question not what a festival seeks boldly

As it dictates the clothing to bury in, and the state of mood

Such feast ends with fist of blows been buried in a bowl of soup

And some continue spending after being intrigued by their **oríkì.

We are the living dead whose life lie lifelessly on a single staff

For the crown’s spit shall surely shake and stay on the ground

Likewise a home of no rules shall have no offence been found

But we do have norms, we do have emblem, we do have an epitaph

We, are the children, of the norm.

Glossary:

*ìyá Àgbà: granny/ an old woman

**oríkì: panegyric

Poem:

[ symmetry ]

😐
there are times i wish to be something
i don’t know
maybe a falconer
{or} maybe a sacred verse
from the qu’ran
that reads like the first vowel
used by the prophet muhammad.

there are times i want to ask my father
how many sun-melt it took
for him to burn his beard
before meeting my mother
at the last page of his readings
but i do not have the gullet
to swallow much of those words
for to my father’s clansmen
a child learns to chew only
what his throat can carry.

i have fought the devil before
i know his strength
i have seen his eyes before
they look like that of a boy
dried in the sun – & the sun
is every magic that breaks
upon the opening of god’s morning eyes.

& here on this streamside
there are many who think of tears
as the only distance
that separates a girl’s face
from her make-up in the mirror—
when she realizes that
she is half cosmetic & half every rumour
carrying a sinner’s plight to the heavens.

a boy muscles his hopes heavenwards
he sticks his fairly penciled chin in the wind
asks the wind for where hope dies
after it had flown out of the body
& when the sun downs its head at eventide
the boy gathers his body into his palms:

there is no heaven after death
there is no devil in the hiding
– the two bodies
– are earth with us
& faith upon streaming waters.
😐

Bio:

Abeiku Arhin Tsiwah considers himself in two worlds: earth & (or) magic — and water or & [spirit] —sprinkled beside a converged highway of motionless bodies. His breathe cuts through the nerves of words & many beautiful things that aren’t always beautiful. A Ghanaian of the Cape Coast fatherhood, Abeiku creates and performs poetry with the Village Thinkers — an afro-poetry footprint & edits Poetry for Lunaris Review, Ghana and Nigeria respectively.
Although widely published [or baptized] in several streams on the internet and in collected texts, Tsiwah prefers the joy & freedom that comes with being a creek on social media — his narrow space of a wall on facebook under his name.

Attachments area

THE NEW GODS

Yesterday…

Our fathers reverenced the ancestors’ altars

With lowered gazes of bowed heads

And with sobered hearts, they poured libations

To appease their fury gods.

Our elders cowered at graven images

Like timid dogs before dead foxes

And with chorused voices, they chanted incantations

To offer their cowries of pleas.

Our mothers took refuge in sacred shrines

Where strange fires of blind sacrifices

Were prepared with stale sticks of traditions

To break the shadowy arms of discomforts.

But today…

We defile the altars of our ancestors

With the fermented urines of our children

And we hurl the rituals of our fathers

To the wandering wind of oblivion.

We break the vows made by our mothers

At the navel of the village square

Where the piety kolanuts of fortune

Were revered by the molars of our elders.

The venerated relics of native oracles

Are fired into forgotten ashes

And we flaunt around as new gods

Who feed not with broken gourds.

Biography:

Ogedengbe Tolulope Impact is a chemical engineering graduate of the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University  Ile-ife, Osun State. He started writing poems in 2012 and his works have appeared in various anthologies and literary websites.

Tolulope was one of the Wole Soyinka’s at 81 shortlisted poets, 2015 organised by the Poetry Court, and the 7th Korea Nigeria Poetry Fiesta, 2017 organised by Arojah Concepts. His poems won the 2016 maiden edition of Spring Literary contest, 2016 June edition of Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest (BPPC), and shortlisted poet for Poets in Nigeria poetry challenge.

Tolulope currently resides in Benin city where he writes and imparts children through teaching.