In and Out
In and Out
It may be real hard
to get in
It will be much harder
to get out
it is typically easier
to get in
It is typically never easy
BEWARE THE IDES OF JUNE, KAKANFO ABIOLA, AND YORUBA LIBERATION
Unlike the simple way we number our calendar daily, the Romans numbered theirs in groups or blocks of days that are a little more complicated for our simple modern system.
There are three blocks of days in the month in the Roman calendar.
The first block is the Nones, which ends on the 12th or 13th day of most months.
The second block is the Ides, which ends on the 22nd day of most months.
The third block is the Kalends, which ends on the Ist day of most months.
THE RETURN (Part one)
His ordeal began with a brief phone call.
“Hallo? Hallo? Honorable! Are you there? Your mother. She was stolen from her house.”
A sharp pain pinched him in the middle of the chest and traveled slowly down to the bottom of his stomach.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” he thought.
For the past week he had been nursing an ominous feeling that something beyond his control was going to happen. Somehow his mind kept going to his mother.
He was thinking of driving to the village this weekend to visit her.
“Hallo? Hallo? Are you still there?” the voice asked again.
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part Forty-Three)
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part Forty-Three)
“Hey, Moyo,” Hilda yelled. “Are you alright? Are you with us?”
“Yes, I am,” I responded. I pulled myself back to the moment.
The traffic was light and the road excellent. The Lagos to Benin expressway was the best road I had ever driven on. The bus zoomed along on it effortlessly.
“You went so silent and looked so vacant, I could have sworn you were not here,” Steve said.
“I was here alright,” I answered.
“Thinking about Gina?” Hilda asked.
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part 38)
“Wole Soyinka wants to have a word with Rufus. Tell him to come as soon as possible. Kongi travels out of the country next week,” was the simple message that I got back from Kole Omotosho.
Omotosho was the head of the Dramatic Art Department, University of Ife. He sent a driver to me to collect a manuscript, “Marx and Mask,” written by the brilliant Ghanaian writer, Ayi Kwei Armah.
Soyinka regularly received manuscripts from several writers, and after making copies, he would distribute the manuscripts among his circle of intellectuals who met at least once a week to read and discuss the manuscripts.
Origin of the Yoruba
Origin of the Yoruba: according to oral tradition
Following strictly the words of Yoruba ancestors, as revealed by Ifa, life began for Yoruba people at Ile Ife.
There is no mention of mecca, or the middle east or any other origin.
Ifa is very clear on this topic.
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982 (Part Thirty-seven)
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY 1982 (Part Thirty-seven) “You are quite ugly too,” Mary said without a pause. “I knew you had too much palm wine today.”
“You are angry?” I asked.
“No,” she responded. “Did I sound angry? If so, I apologize.”
“I was only trying to let you understand a simple fact of life,” I explained. “Because you were unable to sexually arouse Joshua does not imply that Gina would also be unable to sexually arouse him.”
ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, 1982: (Part Thirty-Six)
***Reader’s Note:
I was informed that I should complete the ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY series before moving on to the next series, THE RETURN.
I will therefore return to the ENGLISHMAN IN BENIN CITY, and continue with Part Thirty-six. To refresh the memory of our readers, I have placed parts Thirty-five and Thirty-four at the end of Part Thirty-six.
THE RETURN
Here is a work of fiction titled THE RETURN
Total fiction.
It is set in today.
This is part One.
I will serialize it until we get to the end.
THE RETURN (PART 1)
He was flying back home for the first time in his life.
At thirty-six, he felt that he had waited a little too long.
HOW MUCH? Èrò Ni Ọkọ Dídó
HOW MUCH? Èrò Ni Ọkọ Dídó
Check the naira amount in your pocket or the bottom line in your bank account.
Has that transfer gone through?
But what does a fellow do with money that rapidly gets useless?
What do you do when a piece of paper loses its promisedvalue?
It still says One thousand Naira, but it only buys One hundred Naira worth of garri.
In the year 2019 when I left Nigeria, I brought with me some naira currency notes, stacked in one-thousand denominations.
Visitors From the Distant Past
Visitors From the Distant Past
They landed in three large pods.
“They look exactly as we envisaged,” one of them said, probing me.
“Bring him inside the pod.” Said another.
They took me inside the pod.
I looked around.
INNER VISION: OJÚ INÚ
About 50 villages, mostly located in Ogun States, have been abandoned by Yoruba farmers and their families, but now occupied by Fulani invaders who drove out these villagers.
This morning I saw videos of the officers of the Nigerian Customs and Excises raiding the shops of poor market women, removing items that these women bought for sale to their customers.
This is a two-prong attack: the villagers driven out of their villages are unable to farm and provide food supplies for the people in towns and cities.