2023-06-09 21:04
I returned to school in January 2016 for the second term feeling a little low. I wouldn’t claim to be all fired up and passionate every second in the last term, but I wasn’t cold… Read More
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Hard Voices | For The Wretched Of The Earth Blog
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For the Wretched of the Earth
2023-05-05 21:08
In case you missed the last episode. Catch up here. * Ikenna and Hosea said it was a terrible idea, taking Obioma to my village. Hosea felt it was too soon; Ikenna felt sorry for my half-sal… Read More
2023-04-19 10:46
It’s April and the elections happened two months and one month past. It seems I’m coming to the party late except that this is just the beginning of what could become four years… Read More
2022-11-28 13:50
It is now one full year since I last published here. Like a cowardly man at the mention of pregnancy, I left after episode 34 and didn’t glance bank. Today, the child born in and by my… Read More
2021-11-30 11:13
In case you missed the previous episode. Read here * I got two queries on my desk the day after the Christmas Party. The first one was aiding and abetting a demonic dance move. The second on… Read More
2021-11-26 10:42
In case you missed the last episode The Christmas party was billed to start by 12pm but at a couple of minutes past 3, the ground was still rowdy and the high table wasn’t set. We were… Read More
2021-10-28 17:49
In case you missed the last episode a decade back, here is it * Every teacher was busy teaching a full class or a select group of students some dance, song, or debate to be presented during… Read More
2021-09-25 10:52
The last time I published this story, I mentioned that I was out for six weeks and it was considered too long and I made sure never to stay too long away. Now, six months later, I have retur… Read More
2021-08-11 17:38
When IPOB mandated that there would be a sit-at-home every Monday until their leader Nnamdi Kanu is released from detention, I saw blood. I knew it wouldn’t be as peaceful as the ones… Read More
2021-04-30 18:24
The last time I published this series was some six weeks ago. In case you missed the last episode, you can read it here. But here’s a refresher for you who didn’t miss it but hav… Read More
2021-03-18 16:21
In case you missed the previous episode I entered the staff room after the assembly, today, and saw Aunty Peace with her hands supporting her head, crying at her desk with Aunty Oge, the two… Read More
2021-02-20 07:06
In case you missed the last episode I finally went with Hosea and Ikenna to the lunch at the proprietress’. I called Ikenna on Saturday and he said he was game. Then on Sunday morning… Read More
2021-02-17 14:09
In case you missed the previous episode Adaora advanced towards me as though to hug me. “Shut the gate behind you,” I said. She braked and released what looked like a sigh. I did… Read More
2021-02-13 08:00
Previously on Memories Today, I decided to ask Obioma to marry me. She was a beautiful woman, she was kind, considerate, and God-fearing. What else do you want in a future wife? Once she agr… Read More
2021-02-05 11:45
Previously on Memories Today, I got a love letter on my desk. As soon as I saw a paper wedged between students’ assignment books, I suspected what it was. The assembly was just over an… Read More
2021-01-12 19:41
Previously on Memories I walked to the front of the hall and faced the hundreds of eyes devouring me, expectant. I could feel the small lump that stuck in my throat when the principal and th… Read More
2020-12-11 18:41
Read the previous post here A junior student of Mount Sinai International School threw himself down from the first floor of the secondary section. Yes, it is what you think – he wanted… Read More
2020-11-29 10:55
The last time I published here was on October 2nd. I skipped the following week because I travelled. Then EndSARS came upon us. With EndSARS protests, I couldn’t do this, I was on the… Read More
2020-10-02 18:36
In case you missed the last episode, here. Today, the 13th of October, 2015, I walked into the staff room and found a United Bank for Africa account opening form on my desk. I looked around… Read More
2020-09-25 19:22
In case you missed the previous episode, here. And if, by some metaphysical chance, you just dropped from the sky, here’s the very first episode. Today’s episode is for Moses Aus… Read More
2020-09-18 18:36
Read the previous episode here. * Yesterday, October 11th, 2015, Obioma and I went on a date to the Stadium to watch Ifeanyi Ubah FC. It was a memorable outing with her riding her lady&rsquo&hell…Read More
2020-09-10 05:13
Read the previous episode here My room didn’t have a chair. And no, this wasn’t strategic in the way young men meant it to be. But it was strategic in that a chair would have mad… Read More
2020-09-04 07:47
Seven years ago today, in a wet September night in Ahmadu Bello University Main Campus, I started this blog. Hundreds of posts later, nearly 200 thousand words published and read more than a… Read More
2020-08-25 17:40
Previously on Memories… I stopped by at Oby’s classroom window and saw her consoling a child. “Mother of many children,” I greeted her. She turned and beamed at me… Read More
2020-08-17 14:54
I apologize for speaking last week. I was choked up on my desk I didn’t realize the week was slipping away until it was Thursday. Would publish every Monday for the foreseeable f… Read More
2020-08-04 17:49
In case you missed the last episode, here is it. * A white cock, 7 tubers of yams, and a cartoon of Malt greeted me when I entered the staff room. The first lesson was just rung over and I w… Read More
2020-07-27 19:11
Previously on Memories * I always tell people I don’t have a hot temper and that is the truth. I usually think through my actions and consequences even in a time of serious vexation. I… Read More
2020-07-22 19:20
Read the previous episode here. * I had a nightmare that night. I was lying in bed in the dream and scores of members of the Nigeria Association of Widows, Nnewi Branch, were banging at the… Read More
2020-07-15 14:59
Sorry for the delay in posting this. I am running an online course plus a sea of other commitments. Please, let’s make this series a little flexible from Monday to Wednesday. But, you… Read More
2020-07-09 17:12
I am not good at remembering dates. I think apart from the regular Holidays such as Christmas, Independence, Children’s day etc, I am terrible with dates. But I know four dates. My bir… Read More
2020-07-06 17:05
This is the tenth episode, a milestone. I wish to thank everyone who ever shared or commented since April 27th. I wish to thank Moses Austin, Daddy’m, Chika, Kelvin, Mee, Saint Gab, UK… Read More
2020-06-30 09:07
Previously on Memories of a Young Man bla bla Because of the volume of work in the school, I usually carried books home every day. Home works to mark, class works to mark, lesson plans to wr… Read More
2020-06-22 16:00
In case you missed the previous episode. Also, I published a stand-alone story in the mid-week. Go see it. * When I was in the university, I found being broke romantic. You wake up, you have… Read More
2020-06-17 06:29
Adaku coughed all night. “Did you sleep a wink?” Her father asked her after their morning devotion around a table that is older than all the children in the family. “I boug… Read More
2020-06-15 18:58
In case you missed the last episode, read here. * First period, I taught SS3 English language. Second period, SS2 English. Third period, SS1 English. Fourth period, SS2 Literature. Then brea… Read More
2020-06-08 11:33
I apologize for not publishing last week. Last Monday ambushed me with work. Or let’s say lack of planning as the work from the previous week spilled into Monday and broke my desk. Aga… Read More
2020-05-25 19:18
Vengeance is of the Lord. Full stop. But no, humans don’t always close this remark with an affirmative dot, humans don’t always wait for God to act. One great quality we love abo… Read More
2020-05-18 17:56
Read the previous episode here. Read the very first episode here. * There were nine of us. The staff room was a small space, made to be a normal office but now crowded with desks and chairs… Read More
2020-05-11 14:52
I published the first two episodes of this series as Nwa Teacher. But the name “Nwa Teacher” doesn’t sound original to me, doesn’t own the story so I decided to tweak… Read More
2020-05-04 14:16
In case you are just seeing this, read the first episode here. The proprietress went through my CV cursorily. Her hands were full of fresh, not a single vein in view: The hands of one who wa… Read More
2020-04-30 15:33
In January 2015, Emmanuel said this is my year. I am getting married this year. 2015 came and past, he didn’t get married. When 2015 closed its last page and turned a fresh leave for 2… Read More
2020-04-27 17:30
After abandoning this site for some time, for nearly a year and only epileptically present for nearly three years now, I am coming back with two feet. I am returning with a series called Nwa… Read More
2019-08-31 19:52
Arinze is a short man who likes tall girls. Or used to like them. Or perhaps, he likes them and hates them at the same time – in equal proportion. He likes height and derives thin pres… Read More
2019-07-09 15:38
Eben entered my room. He was carrying a bag on his back and a broad smile on his face. “Baba na,” I said. “At last, you come.” “Walahi, traffic no gree.”… Read More
2018-12-30 07:04
So I finally come around to doing this. A short story. After a generation. Planned something for Christmas but it didn’t make it, so I did this to reflect the last days of the year. Me… Read More
2018-11-22 12:45
Writing a book is a noble act, up there with paying your debts in Nigeria (Yes, an average Nigerian hates paying their debt; when they do, usually it is because they want to borrow another d… Read More
2018-08-31 11:30
From 2015 when I published the August Proposal, I have made it a habit to publish an August-themed short story every August which saw me publish the August Meeting in 2016 and the … Read More
2018-08-07 00:17
More like I published a book. That makes me an author. I feel more like an auto. It is an ebook, maybe auto is what you call ebook writers. Maybe. 37 Ways to Survive Nigeria is the book. It… Read More
2018-07-09 09:04
Dear Eben, It has been a year since you left us. That day still feels like last week. One moment I was in a meeting, the next moment a phone call came in and that was the end of your journey… Read More
2018-06-23 08:07
Ekene stood at Dust Bin Bus Stop waiting for a keke. He wasn’t used to taking keke to anywhere, it was usually a bus for him, but this one was different, nay, special. He was going on… Read More
2018-06-15 10:05
First, she forgot her earrings. It was a small orb-shaped ornament the size of a giant bean. She didn’t have to remove it. But Nosa was on the eighteen-yard box and goal was on target… Read More
2018-04-30 16:07
For thousands of years, our most powerful tools to change the world and our surroundings have been our words. That’s still true today. From the lines you hear on TV, the commentary you… Read More
2018-03-30 09:21
I am traveling home for Easter. I need to see my mom and father and kin and kith. I had planned to go during Mothering Sunday but I was going to take a girl out-to watch Rangers versus Enyim… Read More
2018-02-28 21:04
They say my brother goes where the fighting is thickest and he’s only a pretender. – Game of Thrones University education used to be a big deal in Nigeria. Real big deal. I remem… Read More
2018-01-13 10:20
January has wasted thirteen days as it is now. 25 days to go. Yeah, yeah, I failed my maths, I know, I know but January is always a long month. Last year’s January lasted 55 days. Mehn… Read More
2017-12-25 06:07
They call themselves the three wise men from the East. They are from the East: Ifeanyi from Imo, Obinna from Abia, Emeka from Ebonyi. # It was Christmas day, the clock was striking 10 am and… Read More
2017-11-27 10:40
We are living in what I term the Age of Panic, rubbed with a fearful dose of violence. Today, Sylvanus Omoniyi takes on violence at home. This is not his first time here, he has written, for… Read More
2017-10-31 16:19
Trans Ekulu is my dream area in Enugu. Long before I first stepped foot on it, the name held a special fancy for me. Trans Ekulu has the kind of sound that revealed a glimpse of excellence a… Read More
2017-09-22 09:00
Nnamdi Kanu is not the problem here and it amuses me that we keep railing on and on at him and his group. Kanu is a manifestation of a problem. He is filling in a lacuna, one created by year… Read More
2017-08-28 09:40
Last August, I published The August Meeting; the August before, it was The August Proposal. Now, this. * The rain fell on the roof with steel, impatience and rage. For three hours the r… Read More
2017-07-24 07:26
Having gone to Lagos, Abuja and elsewhere in my interviews, I came home to Enugu and had a rich conversation with Sagar. Sagar or Sugar, as his babies call him, is a software programmer, a c… Read More
2017-07-10 08:38
“What happened to him? Who did this? I said who?” – Arrow of God, Chinua Achebe, 1964. That was Ezeulu when the corpse of Obika was brought into his obi. I read this in 200… Read More
2017-07-07 15:34
Kalu is not a chief. No kingdom, chiefdom, council, traditional or orthodox, autonomous or dependent, directly or indirectly, gave Kalu a chieftaincy title. The title ‘chief’ was… Read More
2017-07-01 04:57
Sigh. 2017 has blasted six months. It is half-past 2017. Six months to go. In January, I wrote 40-something things I wish to achieve this year, or stop doing. For instance, I set a goal of m… Read More
2017-06-17 10:53
Garri is dead. Garri is the latest victim of the locomotive destroyer we call change. Garri, gone! Garri, the defender of the broke, the student companion, the official first-aid of the Repu… Read More
2017-06-05 12:26
I was arrested on a fine Saturday morning. The sun was shining without malice and the beautiful pattern its reflection through the window made on my floor made me think of love and tomorrow… Read More
2017-05-11 12:29
All Nigerian banks are the same- I (2017) Pass me the handkerchief. Last week, Diamond Bank broke my heart. It is a big deal, so big that it prompts this blog. Firstly, Diamond Bank is a ban… Read More
2017-04-29 20:23
Dear Lady, Good morning. Or good afternoon or evening. I don’t know the time there. It doesn’t matter. What matters is the good. On Friday (I work in the media so I see all the n… Read More
2017-04-26 10:56
Hampered by work and restricted by time, I haven’t written anything here in more than two weeks, since six types of suicides. Thankfully, Sylvanus Omoniyi comes to my rescue with this… Read More
2017-04-06 14:34
Someone must have lied against me because without having done anything wrong, I got a truckload of work on my desk. The work ate me alive and vomited me whole. Phew, I survived. Pass me a me… Read More
2017-03-13 09:49
These days, I am getting serious insights. I will sit down eating and suddenly 12 signs you are a terrible eater would drop into my mind. I get into a car—18 signs your car is made in… Read More
2017-03-06 09:11
All my life, I have attended nearly ten weddings; three of them last February. These weddings were hits back to back. I have been thinking of marriage since then, having been seduced by the… Read More
2017-02-22 08:41
Das’ penis, Caro noticed from where she lay on the bed, looked like a short banana. She had since undressed and had climbed the bed to watch him struggle off his heavy robes, then figh… Read More
2017-02-16 10:08
Ogbanje in Igbo mythology is a spirit child who takes the form of a human being, comes as a child, lives a couple of months or a year or two, dies, gets born again, lives, dies in infa… Read More
2017-01-24 11:55
I wanted to post this on Facebook but, on the last minute, I decided to put it on the blog in order to have a better conversation. By putting it on the blog, I have cut off a large number of… Read More
2017-01-05 09:23
‘God’s prophecies are never controversial, it is people that are controversial’- TB Joshua (2016) Happy New Year controversial people. Look at your big ears like withered c… Read More
2016-12-24 23:09
Read last year’s Christmas Story here 25th December, 2016, Enugu, harmattan is blowing a reluctant wind and somewhere a young lady is nursing a heartbreak. Let’s call h… Read More
2016-12-14 12:40
Has MMM crashed? There are two answers to this question. Depending on whom you ask. There are two people you can channel this dreadful question to. The Realist and the Optimist. Has MMM cras… Read More
2016-12-09 00:08
Have you met Sylvanus Omoniyi? He is, among many things, a writer, broadcaster and trouble-maker. I cornered him the other day and we had a chat. Some chat. Grab a sack of pop corn. * Hard V… Read More
2016-11-30 23:02
Read the very first rambling. I don’t know why I have the feeling that this is the last time I ramble about Nigeria. I have three suggestions. Maybe I am going to die tomorrow. Maybe I… Read More
2016-11-10 08:29
‘If I have Five hours to see a prophecy, I will use four hours to ask God whether to disclose the prophecy or not.’ Sometimes, God might just be gisting with you and you will jus… Read More
2016-11-03 23:19
Amanda Chisom is a social media force, blogger, feminist and activist. Among other things. In this interview, we spoke about many things, feminism, blogging, blackmail, relationships, etc. C… Read More
2016-10-25 23:23
‘I am a strong believer in the tyranny, the dictatorship, the absolute authority of the writer.’― Philip Pullman Read the very first episode here. Read the last episode her… Read More
2016-10-18 12:42
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under-H.L Mencken Read the opening episode here It was a nineteen year old boy in the University of Ilorin who wrote the president&rsqu&hell…Read More
2016-10-14 00:59
The last time I had anything to do with football review was in March 2015. being a while, you can say that again. Let’s get to business. Saturday, 15 Oct., 2016 Chelsea V Leices… Read More
2016-10-10 23:15
‘I keep wondering,’ Chuks says. He is lying on Folu’s bed, a careless leg her bare lap. They have just had a lengthy passionate release and he feels great, and loquacious… Read More
2016-10-07 03:59
Neec is a creative photographer, a lighting artist and, is, into film production and swimming in naira (something he denies, I don’t believe him!). Neec is a completely certified craze… Read More
2016-10-01 01:15
‘The Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese triads, the Russian Bratva, the Mexican cartel, the Irish mob… the Nigerian government!’- A viral …Continue reading → Read More
2016-09-27 23:01
This is a story of a regular guy in Enugu. No, his real name is not Ciroma Chukwuma Adekunle, of …Continue reading → Read More
2016-09-16 07:50
Life was better for me when I was a goat, roaming shepherd-less in the bush, eating grass, yam peels and, …Continue reading → Read More
2016-09-09 07:59
Chimamanda once referred to journalism as a sacred and beautiful art. Hmmm. And journalism is my root and, indeed, I …Continue reading → Read More
2016-09-03 16:27
The man who looks like a presenter, in black well-fitting suit, with a cheeky haircut and carrying a briefcase walks …Continue reading → Read More
2016-08-18 08:14
Every August, I try to post an August-themed story here. Last year I posted The August Proposal, you should read …Continue reading → Read More
2016-08-06 16:36
Stupid characters series are unrelated stories that defile common sense in uncommon manners. The most read post in this blog …Continue reading → Read More
2016-08-01 18:52
(Congratulations! Welcome to August!) On the last day of July 2016, I was in a bus where I had the …Continue reading → Read More
2016-07-21 09:44
Jacinta was paying total attention to the Suya Man but she couldn’t understand anything, she couldn’t hear a thing. He …Continue reading → Read More
2016-06-30 23:18
Sigh. Six months have been chopped off of 2016. It’s July 1st. The first half is gone, gone forever and …Continue reading → Read More
2016-06-24 05:00
We are each our own devil, and make this world our hell.- Oscar Wilde A lot, as usual, is going …Continue reading → Read More
2016-06-17 05:15
Here’s the concluding part of Bedroom Slippers. Read part one here. We didn’t have honeymoon. We had planned to honeymoon …Continue reading → Read More
2016-06-12 06:15
I have always promised to wrote about the fire I passed through under my supervisor while doing my degree project. …Continue reading → Read More
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