A LETTER TO PROF CHINUA ACHEBE

Dear Achebe,

Please, If you see Ojukwu, tell him that his brothers and sisters are experiencing another Pogrom in Kano.

Tell Awolowo that Nigeria is preparing for another war.

Tell Zik that those things that made him cross the ocean 50 times seeking for peace is looming again.

Tell Yar’Adua that the amnesty he granted is causing wahala.

Tell Tafewa Balewa that his scions are carrying weapons against Nigeria.

Obviously you may not see Abacha but if you see any one that will see him, tell him that Almustapha is still in kirikiri prison and of course Alameyesieha has been released.

Tell MKO Abiola that another June 12 is looming and tell him that Nigeria’s officials have extended to be convicted criminals who are looting the nation dry.

Don’t be disappointed with Nigeria dear Achebe just that THINGS HAVE FALLEN APART, NIGERIA IS NO LONGER AT EASE AND THE ARROW OF GOD IS NOW POINTING SERIOUSLY AT NIGERIA, BECAUSE OF THE TROUBLE WITH NIGERIA, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE HAD A MAN OF THE PEOPLE LIKE YOU; INDEED THERE WAS A COUNTRY.

Yours’ Faithfully

Concerned Citizen

IF YOU ARE.....

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies; succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway… You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.”

Written by: Iweanya Veronica

IF I CAN'T HAVE HIM. FINAL EPISODE

Halima sat on the floor of the station with tears running down her face. It was bad enough that she had lost someone she loved and to crown it all, the police were accusing her for being responsible. Pain and anger tugged at her heart. She had pleaded, cried and voiced out her innocence but the police had refused to let her out of detention or even go on a bail.

Maxwell stared at her through the bars of the prison where he was locked up with no form of sorry or pity written on his face, he simply smirked and turned away in anger. He had hoped that finding another suspect would hasten his release but his guess was all wrong. With a hiss, he flopped on the floor. Some hours later, Halima was locked up in the same cell as Maxwell. It was the most unpleasant scenario ever as they barely spoke to each other. Later, while they were asleep, some police-officers barged into the cell and took them to separate rooms where they were tortured. No confession came out of it.

Over at Zurax college, rumour had spread round that Maxwell and Halima conspired to kill Chuks because they wanted to run away together. The storyline of the gist was completely pathetic and led the creation of terrible nick-names for both of them. For days, evidence remained inadequate and the case became more mysterious. However, one faithful day while Halima and Maxwell were in the prison they got into a fight. Apparently, Maxwell hit Halima accidentally and she responded with a heavy slap which caused him to regard her as a sloth and boy-friend killer. The insult was too much for Halima as she responded “I will kill you oh!”.

“You want to send me to where you sent Chuks to” Maxwell voiced out angrily

“I will do worse, I will make sure that nobody finds your body to bury it” Halima retorted.

Just then, the police-officers arrived. Unfortunately, the cameras had captured the entire scene and Halima was retracted from the prison-cell for further questioning. On refusing to confess, she was given the worst torture of her life and hot metal was used on her body. In pain, she screamed “I didn’t mean to kill him, I just wanted to teach those stupid girls that were always harassing me”.

“What did you want to teach them” the officer bellowed loudly placing the hot iron on another part of her body.

In pain she screamed “I wanted to let them know that if I can’t have Chuks then they can’t”.

Complete shock was written on the face of all the police-officers. Halima Williams was responsible for the death of Chuks.

Written By: Olugbeje Temitope

Website: Astoldbytope.com

WOMEN ARE LOVELY

Here’s a few reasons why women are lovely…found it somewhere and decided to post it...

1. They will always smell good even if its just shampoo
2. The way their heads always find the right spot on our shoulder
3. How cute they look when they sleep
4. The ease in which they fit into our arms
5. How cute they are when they eat
6. The way they take hours to get dressed but in the end makes it all worth while
7. Because they are always warm even when its minus 30 out side
8. The way they look good no matter what they wear
9. The way they fish for compliments even though you both know that you think she’s the most beautiful thing on this earth
10. How cute they are when they argue
11. The way her hand always finds yours
12. The way they smile
13. The way you feel when you see their name on the call ID after you just had a big fight
14. The way she says “lets not fight anymore” even though you know that an hour later you will be arguing about something
15. The way they fall into your arms when they cry
16. Then the way they apologize for crying over something that silly
17. The way they hit you and expect it to hurt
18. Then the way they apologize when it does hurt . (even though we don’t admit it)!
19. The way they say “I miss you”
20. The way you miss them
21. The way their tears make you want to change the world so that it doesn’t hurt her anymore…..

 And finally... Especially when they are the Proverbs 31 Lady
I've looked deeply into a girls eyes and all i saw was God's creativity.....

*Source 

The Africa You Can't See On CNN

I came across these pictures on the internet and i was like wooooow!! Africa is beautiful, forget what the media  shows you.... Now a little competition, whoever can tell me which country this is, will get $20 or the Naira Equivalent... *Cross My Heart*

PHOTOGRAPHY

If you can dress better than this guy you need to send your pictures cos this is Brilliant!!!!!

Photograph By: COLOSSUS PHOTOGRAPHY

INSPIRATION

To The Best Elder Brother In The World

Here’s to that one person that means a lot without knowing…
Deep down that tough skin, his heart, as soft as ever
Deep down those large hands, lies a space for mine,
Beneath those silly fights, the love we share,
Beneath those insults, compliments and praises,
Beneath those tantrums, our value for each other,
Beneath our outrageous behavior to our younger brother, unending unquestionable commitment to him,
Beneath those lies told for one another, a reminder that we’d always have our backs,
Beneath those numerous ‘No’s said to each other, is a lesson learnt,
Beneath those days of argument over stuff, our love in sharing,
Beneath those uncountable ‘debts’ owed, a reminder we’d always be indebted to each other,
Beneath those discouraging words that were never meant, words of encouragement in all you will do,
Beneath all the arguments on who’s better at games, you would always be the one,
Beneath the entire ‘girl’ gist we share, an assurance there’s always a space for me,
Beneath the scar on my head, a twisted wrist, and a broken tooth, memories I’d never wish to forget,
Beneath the burn on your back, lie a heap of regrets for spoiling such a perfect you.
This is simply to show how much you mean to me and to all of us…
With truckloads of love,
Your younger sister.

Written By: Iweanya Veronica

RELATIONSHIP QUESTIONS I'D LIKE YOU TO ANSWER

1) Single, Taken, or Crushing? 
2) Are you happy with where you are? 
3) When you meet the right person, do you fall fast? 
4) Have you ever had your heart broken? 
5) Do you believe that there are certain circumstances where cheating  is ok? 
6) Would you ever take  someone back if they cheated on you? 
7) Have you talked about marriage with another person? 
8) Do you want children? 
9) How many? 
10) Would you consider adoption? 
11) If somebody liked you right now, what do you think is a cool way to  let you know? 
12) Do you enjoy playing hard to  get? 
13) Do you believe love at first sight exists? 
14) Do you believe in celebrating anniverseries? 
15) Do you believe that you can change someone? 
16) If you could get married anywhere, money's not an object? 
17) Do you have feelings for someone right now? 
18) Have you ever wished you could've had someone but you couldn't? 
19) Have you ever broken a heart? 
20) Would you ever fight  somebody over your significant other? 
21) What would you say about your last ex?
22) Should age be a factor in a relationship?

Just write the question number and your response.....

Found at this site
Image Source

SHOULD AGE BE A FACTOR IN A RELATIONSHIP?

This is an issue I've argued and slapped argued about.. Personally i don't feel age should be a factor unless you are 45 and she's 12.. I don't know why people break their head about the age factor in a relationship. It doesnt matter if the guy is older than you as long as he loves you and behaves mature enough to take care of you that's enough. I believe that Age is just a number but Maturity is in the head.. When you love someone, Age, Distance, Height, Weight is just a damn number!... I might be wrong and i stand to be corrected but what is your say in this issue?

Liebster Award Courtesy The Relentless Builder

*whoop whoop* i got a Liebster Award from The RelentlessBuilder. *Head bows* Thank you very much, I’m highly excited and really appreciate it. This is my 2nd of many Awards to come..

The Rules

1. Thank and link back to the giver

2. Answer the giver's questions

3. Nominate 5 other bloggers with fewer than 200 followers

4. Ask 5 questions for the nominees to answer

5. Post it on your blog

Questions from The Relentless Builder:

1. Who is one person you'd like to meet and why?

Well... one person I’d like to meet will be My Future wife because I’d like to know what she would look like ... Lol!!

2. What was your fantasy *dream job* as a child?

My dream Job was to be a Commercial Pilot until my dad told me he I should look for someone who will pay my fees for an Air school while I was filling the JAMB form... But looking back, I Thank God I didn’t follow that Career line but my Dad was strict sha..

3. Place in order of priority - Husband/Wife, Children, Father, Mother, Best Friend, Work, Church.

Let’s see.....

1. .     Church/God
2. .     Wife
3. .     Children
4. .     Mother
5. .     Father
6. .     Best Friend
7. .     Work

4. Have you ever been broken-hearted? When and How?

YES!!!!! I have been heart-broken multiple times but let me see the one I’d like to share. I was broken-hearted the semester I had a carry-over course. It was in my 3rd Year; gosh I never knew it could happen to me it was bad, I think I cried sef. I learnt a lesson in that period of my life, Life goes on....

5. Let's dream a little .... Describe your ideal other half and how he will pop /popped the question

My ideal half hmm.... let’s go there.... Inasmuch as I don’t place so much priority on outer beauty, its outer beauty that first attracts you... that’s until she speaks (Light travels faster than sound). So, she will be presentable, knows how to laugh (I can’t stand someone who can’t laugh), speaks smartly, vision driven and most of all, She must know God... there are other things but this are the priorities. Obviously she can’t pop the question so let me describe how I will pop the question.... Pardon me if it’s not romantic enough..

We would have probably had a nice time together maybe after a watching a movie at the cinema or just spending time somewhere else... so, on our way back from the quality time spent, when we are at a very busy pedestrian traffic area, I would act like something fell down from my pocket and then go down on my knees to pick it which would actually be the ring.. So on that knee position in the pedestrian packed area I would then pop the question looking straight at her heart through her eyes.. it will be something like this.... see you, you never tire to dey read.. Lol!!

The final Task, I nominate the following  incredible Bloggers

David Adeleke’s Blog

Sandra Amarachi’s Blog

Oddy Macfoy

In His Thoughts

My Questions for the nominees are:

1. Who is one person you'd like to meet and why?

2. What was your fantasy *dream job* as a child?

3. Can you date someone older than you if you’re a guy and can you date somone younger than you if you are a Female.

4. Have you ever been broken-hearted? When and How?

5. Let's dream a little.... Describe your ideal other half and how he will pop /popped the question

Thank you so much for reading... 

PHOTOGRAPHY

Beautiful!!!!!,  i'm actually "writeless".......

PHOTOGRAPH BY: COLOSSUS PHOTOGRAPHY

IF I CAN'T HAVE HIM. EPISODE 3

Investigations had begun and efforts were geared at catching the culprit that was responsible for the death of Chuks Ifionu. A solemn assembly was held in reverence of Late Chuks but no amount of silence could bring him back. The next day, Halima was revived in the hospital. She was in complete wreck and sorrow create its headquarters in her face. No level of consolation warmed her heart. For days she refused to eat, refused to sleep and refused to talk to anybody. There were times when she simply stared into thin air and kept repeating the words “May God punish the person that killed Chuks”. On the day of his burial, the most absurd thing happened as they lowered his coffin into the ground. Halima practically jumped after the coffin in tears. It took hefty men to pull her out with bruises all over her. The story made head-lines for newspapers and magazine. Many who heard about it shook their head and whispered “She must have really loved the guy”.

Some days later, police-officers barged into one of the male halls of Zurax University and arrested a guy named “Maxwell” who happened to be Chuks room-mate. Apparently, he was the only one that hated Chuks and made an open display of it. Even after his death, Maxwell voiced out statements like “Good-riddance to bad rubbish....people die everyday so what’s all the fuss about the death of an additional person....Chuks deserved to die jare”. Unfortunately for him, a record of the statement was made by a passer-by who forwarded it to the police station. He became a major suspect and so all investigations where focused on him. Several means of tormenting him in other to get him to confess was adopted. However, Maxwell maintained his stance “I didn’t kill Chuks and one day, God will justify me”. Hot iron had been used on him, he had been put under painful metals just to get him to speak but Maxwell reiterated in tears “I will prove that I didn’t kill Chuks”.

Later that week, the investigations continued and Maxwell was held hostage at the police-station in a bid to get him to confess. The whole school was already filled with rumours stating that Maxwell killed Chuks. In fact, some even stated that they saw him hit Chuks with a knife. The case was becoming more intense. Halima remained silent about the entire story. She had just returned from the library and decided to have a meal in her room when the door barged open. A man in uniform identified himself as the inspector general and with him were two other men. They searched her room frantically and found nothing. They were about to give up when the inspector noticed a part of the floor that was different from other parts of the floor. On close view, he realized that it was a detachable door in the floor. Investigations were channelled towards that direction and right inside the floor was a blood-stained knife. “You’re coming with us to the station” the inspector general informed Halima.

PHOTOGRAPHY

What exactly is happening here??? All these photographers will be killing us with concepts.

Photograph by: Lexash Photography (obviously right?)

IF I CAN'T HAVE HIM. EPISODE TWO

It was raining heavily with intermittent sounds of crashing thunder and eye-blinding lightning. The death of Ifionu Chukshit the entire school like a bomb-attack which left many devastated. Staff and students were left at the mourning zone and most girls had refused to leave their halls of residence where crying groups had been formed. Halima walked out of the library where she had just finished reading with several things on her mind. She had heard a scream during her early hours in the library and hadn’t heard news pertaining to the scream. “This rain had better stop so I can get to my hall” she muttered under her breath. Luckily for her another student with an umbrella came out of the library and offered to share his umbrella with her. “Thanks” she voiced coldly as they took a stroll. “It’s the least I can do after what has happened” the stranger responded calmly.

“What do you mean? What happened?” Halima wondered as she looked at the kind stranger.

“Aren’t you Halima, the girl-friend of the guy who died some hours ago?” the stranger responded as he assumed that she knew what had happened to Chuks.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking of, Which girl-friend? Which guy died?” Halima questioned with a puzzled look on her face.

On noticing that Halima was blank, the stranger opted out from being the one to break the news so he simply ended with the words “I have to run now; it was nice talking to you”. With those words, he walked away as fast as possible leaving Halima to drown in confusion.

The rain drops had reduced but Halima still felt a storm about to rise in her life. “God forbid” she muttered under her breath as she walked into her hall. People were crying virtually everywhere. “What’s going on?” she asked a friend who walked up to her. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard”

“Heard what?” Halima probed with concern written all over her face. Instantly, her friend turned away. “What happened? Talk to me, what’s going on?” Halima voiced near tears. Just then, another student walked past them and without noticing Halima voiced out the words “I can’t believe Chuks is dead”.

Halima’s eyes widened as she took in the words slowly. Pain and sadness gripped her heart causing her to experience chest discomforts and signs of an attack.  Suddenly, every-thing became blurry as Halima felt herself passing away. Five seconds later, Halima was on the floor. She had fainted.

New Kidnapping Tactics I Saw

You might find this a very valuable piece of information. Yesterday someone very close to me entered a taxi, and on her/his way home the driver diverted to a scantily populated street and stole her/his phone and money this occurred at 10am. Around 10pm or thereabout she/he received a phone call with her siblings phone and the call was from her stolen line. The person speaking told her/him that he found the phone in an abandoned taxi but wanted to alert the owner (which was a lie actually) and that she/he should pick it up at a specified location. She/he told the caller that the location was very far so they fixed a location very close to the house ,also She/he told the caller that she/he was coming with his/her dad and this threw the caller aback but he still approved the meeting.

On getting there they discovered that the caller abandoned the phone there and was not seen........ But this is not even the main thing.... Two months ago this same scenario happened to 3 people here in Port harcourt, they celebrated the successful retrieval of their phone(Blackberry) not knowing that the phone was tampered with and their movement was tracked. So they were eventually kidnapped at another day and location.

If your phone is ever stolen and then you are told to pick it up, its better you don't go at all but just deactivate the line through your network provider.... Stay Safe

REBOOT YOUR EDUCATION PERCEPTION

Culled from Forbes

In the 70’s and 80’s, nearly every college degree guaranteed a good paying job, and just twenty years ago, 87% of graduates with a BA had a job within a year after graduation and only 4.4% of these graduates were unemployed (this is why your parents have likely preached in favor of college throughout your life). Unfortunately, times have changed, and over 11% of last year’s graduates are still looking for employment. It doesn’t help that more students are graduating from college than ever before. The Pew Research Center finds that one-third of 25 to 29-year-olds in the United States have earned at least a bachelor’s degree — a number that has increased significantly from the one-fifth of young adults earning Bachelor’s degrees in the 1970’s. You’re going to graduate with a record number of other people just like you, and those “good-paying” middle class jobs are disappearing fast, so it is critical that you find ways to set yourself apart and get more value out of your education. Ultimately, the question is not, “Is an undergraduate degree worth it?”, but rather, “How are you going to be more entrepreneurial about your education?”

If you’re about to enter college for the first time, it’s worth reminding yourself that what you’re really getting is “a piece of parchment paper with proper hand written calligraphy on it, that you’re paying full retail for” — to quote my friend Marc Ecko.  The positive side is that college provides a time in your life when you might have very few fiscal or other ‘adult’ responsibilities yet, and more importantly, you’ve been given a concentrated environment of resources to take advantage of.

I have two challenges to all incoming and current undergraduate students. If done right, I guarantee these will land you a decent job when you graduate, and more importantly, separate you from the thousands of other graduating students competing for the same jobs and opportunities with nothing more than the same piece of parchment paper you have.

Less class, more coffee.

During your college career, buy coffee for at least one person a week that you want to get to know and could learn from. This is the start of one of the most important things in life that college does not teach well — investing in your network. This may make you uncomfortable or intimidate you, but that is good; you are one step ahead of your fellow students learning a skill that will be valuable for your future.

I guarantee you will learn more from these hundreds of people and have more opportunities come from these conversations than sitting in a lecture hall listening to a curriculum developed 15 years ago.  Not to mention, building a large network of people who trust you and think you’re talented will be invaluable when you look for jobs.

Create your own internships and opportunities.

Put yourself in the shoes of the people who will potentially be hiring you after you graduate. Do you think they honestly care that you had a 4.0 and had a perfect attendance in class? Most of them certainly do not. The truth is, only your mom cares about that.  Employers care about cultural fit, your life experiences, and if you’re trainable (no one wants to babysit). While in college, you should focus on getting as much experience as you can.  This could be an Internship, working for a startup, or starting your own company — if these seem too lofty, start by putting yourself out in the local community — not just the constructed college campus environment — and start meeting people.

Most students will only get an internship if it is required and the ones that do get them will all compete after the same advertised positions. Ultimately, most of the internships are not that valuable. In many cases, you will be fetching coffee for people for three months just to add a few extra lines to your resume. But what if you could create your dream internship?

At Startup Weekend, we don’t have a formal internship program and we have never posted an internship position, but for some reason we always have at least one college kid in our office helping with projects. Where did these kids come from? These students created their own internship.  They knew they wanted to work with us and they knew it would be a great opportunity.  We said no, but they didn’t take no for an answer and convinced us why we needed to have them around.  This is the type of hustle that you will not learn in college, but will ultimately get you a better job than your fellow graduates.

If these reminders seem obvious, try doing a web search with the terms “Generation Y” and “Entitlement” — it seems that our future workforce could use this advice before graduating and finding a disappointing version of their often-grandiose expectations. The bottom line is, entrepreneur or not, you should be more entrepreneurial about your education.  If you, your parents, or anyone else is going to pay for an investment that significant, you would be foolish to only play by the rules. Think outside the box and get innovative about your education and experiences — you’ll find out fast that taking action and getting unique perspectives will render the best “life resume” possible. It’s up to you to claim your education — no one else is going to do it for you.

INSPIRATION

PHOTOGRAPHY

You think you can play with colours???? wait till you meet these guys...

Photograph by: Colossus Photography

IF I CAN'T HAVE HIM. EPISODE 1

Chuks Ifionu was tall, dark and handsome. Everybody loved Chuks or at least that was what it seemed like. He made everyone laugh when he was around; his presence had a way of calming the atmosphere and he was the most generous person that ever existed. He could give until he had nothing left. His endearing qualities earned him several secret and open admirers especially in terms of the female gender but one thing Chuks always stated was “my heart belongs to someone and her name is Halima Williams”.

Chuks and Halima were the most popular couple in school and maybe it was Chuks’ fame that made their relationship known to all, one thing was sure, every girl at Zurax College envied Halima and some even went as far as making it known. There were days when Halima would meet dirty water in the locker where she kept her books and other times when she met ugly letters like “You don’t deserve Chuks” in her wallet. Initially she had ignored such comments and decided not to let it get to her but her distaste knew no boundary when she woke up one morning only to discover that all her clothes had been shredded into pieces with a note stating “These and many more you would get if you don’t stay away from Chuks Ifionu”. That day, she cried until no tear was left in het tear-gland. Eventually, when Chuks came to see her, she had planned to end the relationship but staring at his glistening eyes as he consoled her, she knew that ending the relationship wasn’t the answer. Something else was and no matter what other girls did to ruin her relationship, she wasn’t going to give them the benefit of winning. Chuks was hers and she was determined to keep him for life.

On the last day of May 1989, a loud scream was heard from the back of the library. This was followed by curious passers-by rushing to the scene in other to ensure that nothing was wrong. Just in front of the emergency exit door was the body of Chuks Ifionu lying in a pool of blood. He had been stabbed. It was a terrible sight as the blood kept coming out from the open wound. He was still breathing but each breath he took was slow and filled with pain. Persons struggled to catch a view of the dying Chuks, some guys took a video of the scenario on their phones, and some girls were in tears while others were gasping with words of “Ah!”. Only one person had the dignity to call for medical assistance. Halima was no-where to be found. Some minutes later, an ambulance arrived and Chuks was placed on a stretcher. Amidst the paramedic frenzy Chuks mouthed these word “Halima”. In his dying breath, her name was still on his lips. Before the ambulance left Chuks gave up the ghost repeating the word “Halima”. 

Excerpt From New Drama Series "IF I CAN'T HAVE HIM"

"Amidst the paramedic frenzy Chuks mouthed these word “Halima”. In his dying breath, her name was still on his lips. Before the ambulance left Chuks gave up the ghost repeating the word “Halima”. 

The first episode would be posted in a couple of hours and subsequent episodes would run weekly till the end of April before a new series kicks off. Read and enjoy.....

OUR GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS THE BUSINESS OF TERRORISM

I wouldn't be saying this if not for the recent development on Amnesty for Boko Haram. In the case of MEND, they had a reason; Oil was drilled from their communities and there was no evidence of the Oil money in their communities. I'm not justifying their means of using arms to make their voices heard, i'm only saying they had a reason to take up arms.

But the case of Boko Haram is pointless. You blow people up and destroy properties because you hate "Western Education" but meanwhile the guns and bombs you use were not developed and  constructed in Arabic. Now the "Boko Haramites" want amnesty for what? for being highly illiterate?. The painful part of the whole thing is that the government is even considering thinking about granting them amnesty. It's like Obama granting amnesty to Bin Laden so that peace will reign, does it make sense?. 

If the government grants amnesty to Boko Haram, they will automatically create well paying Jobs because trust me terrorism would be the biggest business in town. Like a friend of mine posted on Facebook "When I graduate, I guess I''ll just get an AK assault rifle, kill as many as i can, and then I would be granted amnesty........"

Place a comment to make your voices heard on "No Amnesty for Boko Haram"

PHOTOGRAPHY

All Gold everything

RELATIONSHIPS: LDR's

Which is it?: Distance makes the heart grow fonder or  out of sight, out of mind..... 

I'll definitely pick one of the two, which do you pick?

If you're wondering what is LDR, it means Long Distance Relationship.

By: Lydia Usman- Adejo

PHOTOGRAPHY

Is that a bird?, is that a plane?....... NO!!!! its Onah Valentine....
I think we need a photography competition here.....

SOMEBODY SAVE SABRINA. EPISODE 5

I didn’t know who to tell or even what to do. I wanted to run away but where was I going to run to. I thought of abortion but then, the fear of killing an unborn child choked me to death so I just couldn’t engage in the act. I decided to call my friend who had called me some days earlier and informed her that I was going to come and spend some days with her. Thankfully, she agreed and even offered to come and pick me. When I informed my aunt and uncle of the idea, they were surprised, my uncle especially. Without me having to do too much convincing, my aunt agreed that I needed some time out even if it was for a week. My uncle blatantly refused stating that I was just a young girl and if I stayed in the wrong place, I could be victimized by young and useless boys. My aunt and I watched as he ranted on about how I was too precious to go. He concluded with the words “Who would take care of me when you travel to Abuja?” I was in a state of complete shock as I wanted to scream “How dare you?” but I simply kept quiet and stared as tears began to stroll down my face. On seeing my tears, my aunty spoke out loudly and sharply “Sabrina would go and spend some time with her friend even if it means that this week I won’t go to Abuja”. With my aunt’s final say, Uncle kept quiet as he grumbled under his breath.

The next day, my dear friend- Chioma, came to pick me up. Joyfully, I left the house without wasting much time saying good-byes. Sincerely, I didn’t want to return. Chima made me feel much better and her family was the exact definition of welcoming and loving. They treated me as their own daughter and answered to my every need. For the first time in a long while, I felt the warmth of a family and guess what, I actually smiled several times. Three (3) nights after, Chioma reminded me about the crusade that was to hold the next day. I wasn’t really interested but Chioma had done so much for me in the little time I had spent with them and I didn’t want to make her feel bad so I accepted to come along. The next day, the entire family set out for the crusade, I was surprised as I thought it was just me and Chioma but then, I was very excited. The Okatas reminded me so much of my late family members. At the crusade, the worship was amazing and for the first time, I saw myself crying during the worship asking God to just take-over my life. I remembered all the hurtful things I said about God and asked him to please forgive me and accept my worship. As soon as I made that statement, it was like my worship went to the next levels. When the minister came on board, the atmosphere was something else as the Holy Spirit powered the atmosphere. His words weren’t ordinary, it was like they were anointed. He spoke about God’s love for us and then went on to talk about the fact that even when we go through our deepest darkness, God is right there beside us. He reminded me of the scripture in which God said “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you”. It was like he was talking to me. When the altar call was made, I didn’t need any coercion to take me to the front where the preacher was. I was in tears, asking God to have mercy on me. After the sinners prayer, it was like a weight had been lifted from me. For the first time, I mouthed these words “Thank you Lord for saving Sabrina”. That day, as we returned back home, I decided to buy myself a bible from a nearby bookstore. However, I didn’t see a car coming from the other side. Before Chioma could stop me by calling my name, the car hit me. Instantly, I went into a black out.

Two (2) weeks later, I woke up in the hospital. My aunt was beside me. She was praying quietly and on noticing that I had woke up, she went to call the doctor. After a round of checks, the doctor responded “She’s doing fine”. With that, he left. As soon as he left, my aunt went on her knees and began to beg me “Please Sabrina, forgive me for not knowing what my husband was doing to you”. She was in tears. “How did you know?” I asked gently. One night while he was sleeping, he began to talk about everything that happened while he was away. Initially, I thought he was sleep-talking and so I woke him up then confronted him. He denied it over and over again so I decided to interrogate the gate-man who eventually told me that every weekend when I travelled, he usually heard you screaming at night, he told me everything he knew”. “Where is Uncle?” I finally voiced. “I ensured he was arrested and he’s not going to be coming back” My aunty continued. 

With the little strength in me, I whispered “It’s alright aunty, I’ve forgiven Uncle Lugo”.

“What happened to you?” My aunty asked surprised or rather shocked.

“Christ happened to me, he saved Sabrina”.  

My Aunty smiled with joy as she held me and promised to take care of my unborn child.

(THE END)

Written by: Olugbeje Temitope

Website:      Astoldbytope.com