a picture of moyo okediji working on a art piece

My first month

ByMoyo Okediji

My first month in the United States, 1992.

I began to paint in my office at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I was trying to discover myself again in a new world after leaving behind Nigeria and everything that was meaningful to me, everything that had anchored me.

I wanted to move away from gravity and try other things, even as the past held me down.

Looking back almost three decades later, I know I have not changed but the world around me has been changing and redefining me.

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

ByMoyo Okediji

Is it merely a coincidence that the news of the abduction and assassination by suspected Fulani invaders of Oba Israel Adeusi, the Olufon of Ifon, happened the very same day that the United States is celebrating the annual Thanksgiving event?

There is no coincidence in history.

Nature times things with organic orchestration.

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-Seven)

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-Seven)

ByMoyo Okediji

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-Seven)

“So whose panties are those?” Adolo asked, pointing at something.

She had just finished wiping down my feverish body. She sat on the chair. Felicia sat on the table and Steve stood, holding on to the open door of the wardrobe.

I didn’t know what Adolo was referring to.

“What panties?” I asked.

“These ones,” She said.

Steve looked in her direction, and answered, “Gina’s”

I was weary and in a dreamlike state. The fan whirling above was noisy, and as it blew the air on my wet body, I felt bone-rattling shivering spells.

I really wanted to cover my body with the blanket.

“She must have left them there when she was here,” Steve said.

“Gina?” Adolo asked. “Who is Gina?”

“Guess you may say Moyo’s new girl,” Steve said.

“Moyo? He has a new girlfriend?” Adolo asked.

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-two)

ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1981 (Part Twenty-two)

ByMoyo Okediji

“You’re kidding me, right?” I asked Steve when he said that Gina was probably in my room. He extended his bottle of beer to Rufus who yanked off the top with his teeth and handed it back.

“Why sounding so alarmed?” Steve asked. “If you asked me, I’d say let’s swap places.”

“What!” I said, alarmed at his suggestion.

“You can stay in my cold room tonight,” Steve, “and I can use your warm room.”

“Is that British custom?” I asked sarcastically.

Did he wink? I couldn’t quite tell in the dark. He said, “The British have no custom. Only Africans have customs.”

Disappointments can be a blessing.

Disappointments can be a blessing.

ByMoyo Okediji

Disappointments can be a blessing.

If Nigeria had not disappointed me, I would not be in Ghana now.

But because the political situation in Nigeria has dampened my spirit with the killing of thousands of people, the daily abduction of ordinary citizens, the lawlessness and lack of judicial repercussion for those who plunder the coffer of the country, I have started shifting my gaze away from Nigeria, and started looking at other African countries for a place to vacation, invest and create.

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