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ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-five)
Oyinbo drove us home from the burial ceremony.
Rufus and Felicia sat in the middle row of the bus. I sat all by myself at the back row. Nobody said a word as Steve drove slowly and solemnly through the city, negotiating the traffic with the dexterity of a spider moving through its tightly woven web.
When he was new, Steve found it difficult to drive through the city, because in Britain, they drive on the left side of the road, but in Nigeria people drive on the right side. Also, Steve found the drivers on the roads of Benin City extremely rough for his temperament.
Iyalode: Before the Invention of Women
Iyalode: Before the Invention of Women
My grandmother, Iya Oyo, belonged to the generation of women who didn’t experience what the sociology scholar, Professor Oyeronke Oyewumi described as the “invention of women.”
What Professor Oyewumi means is that nowadays, there are lots of rules and regulations that appear to specify what a woman is supposed to do, and what she is not supposed to be.
HOW TO DEVELOP A MUMUCRACY
HOW TO DEVELOP A MUMUCRACY
My friend in Nigeria said she is starting poultry.
She said she would just buy a couple of hens, feed them, and daily she would collect eggs from them and eat them.
“Impossible,” I said. “The hens would attack you and poke out your eyes.”
ÒTURÁ ÒDÍ/ ÒTÚRÚPỌ̀N ÒTURÁ
This morning, a friend from Nigeria called me and asked the question: “What will happen to the politics of Nigeria, to President Buhari, and the 2023 elections in Nigeria?”
“I don’t know,” I responded.
“But Ifa knows, right?” she asked. “Isn’t Ifa supposed to know everything?”
“Okay,” I responded. “I will ask Ifa and let you know later.”
I brought out my laptop and used the Ifa computation system.
19 years
I was 19 years old in 1975 and an undergraduate studying painting at the University of Ife when my friend, Augusta Akusu-Ossai, took this picture of me.
The attire I’m wearing in the picture is typical of what I always wore in those days: a long adire (batik) top that I designed and sewed myself, and the baggy pants of that era.