Fear Not the Storm
Àwa kò bẹ̀rù (We are not afraid)
Àyà kò fò wá (Scared are we not)
Olódùmarè lalákǒso (The Almighty is in charge)
Kò sí bí ìjì náà ṣe lè tó (However wild the storm may rage)
Àwa ọmọ Irúnmọlẹ̀ (We are the children of Divine forces)
As I think about my new granddaughter, my daughter and what they know about me, about Africa, and about their tradition, a tormenting thought ran through my mind:
We, members of my generation, stand between the light and the void. And we are the last stand holding up the ancestral heritage. We must mine what is available and keep them in a culture bank, or too much will perish.
Yesterday, my daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter.And I almost got arrested yesterday.I met this police officer at my favorite coffee shop.One of those cops who rode huge bikes. As he got down from his bike, I was parking my jeep.I guessed he came for coffee as I did.
One may live long
And one may not.
One should share whatever one could to posterity when one is still able to do so.
This morning I decided to share this Odu because it is very important.
To all Omo a yọ orù bá wọn tọ́jú ọmọ tuntun;
Ọmọ́ gbó,
Orù ò gbó:
the offspring of those who bring out the orù pot of herbs to care for infants;
the baby prospers,
and the pot does not falter.”
FINALLY, I FIGURED IT OUT: A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream? The time was exactly 01:23 am. “Iya…
We often talk of three ethnic groups: Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.
But in reality we are a lot more than these.
Do you belong to any of the following 371 ethnic groups in Nigeria?
If not write your ethnic group here and tell us the state in which you are classified.
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR
When the civil war officially ended in Nigeria in 1970, a different type of civil war began.
It is what you may describe as the asymmetrical civil war: the war by the desperate and poor against all others in the country.
TRUE STORY AGAIN: She was fully dressed when she climbed into bed next to me. She…
TRUE STORY
This story actually happened to me.
I am making up none of it.
It was just another boring day in 1987.
I left my house early in the morning for the University of Ife where I was teaching art.
The beginning of time.
Is it a house?
Or a kolanut?
Is this thing an insect inside the mystery of life?
OLÓDÙMARÈ is what I have written here, using the Yoruba alphabet that I just designed. It…