Hello!!!! I know i wont be winning favorite blogger of the year but i promise (*goes down on knees*) that 2014 will be so much better.. Before i forget Merry Christmas in arrears.. How was your Christmas? Mine had a lot of activities and it didn't include turning up, i was babysitting.. I spent the holidays with my cousin and it was overwhelming.. Having kids is not quite glamorous, i don't know how celebs make it look easy..
JUST SO YOU KNOW!!!
So on Christmas day, I cooked fried rice for the family and it was nice :).The reduced bride-price must increase. If i continue at this rate my bride price will soon escalate to pounds and no Nigerian man will be able to pay it, na only expatriate :|
Back to the matter...

Can we all agree that Pastor Paul Adefarasin is one beautiful man (inside and outside??). The idea behind THE EXPERIENCE is such a wonderful one. The thought of bringing worshipers around Lagos just to worship God is applaudible and the best part is that it is FREE!!!
This was my first experience and i must say that i was wowed. I was having second thoughts, because I was thinking of worse case scenarios: what if they steal my phone ( God replied, Ifeoma you use a china phone, trust me nobody will steal it) and He was right.
The Experience was beautiful, the performance by different artistes were electrifying from Freke, Midnight Crew (my favorite), Tye Tribett (the guy has so much energy), Donnie McClurkin, Cece, Frank Edwards, Don Moen, Mike Aremu.
I couldn't help shouting #TURNUPFORJESUS at every performance.
Even the MC's voice was bursting my brain, I actually thought it was BBA'S IK but after my investigation on twira, I found out it was the Asst Pastor HOTR.
I was also impressed at the level of security: everyone that could inflict pains on erring persons were present; from soldiers, to police officers, to personal bodyguards. They were everywhere, they even caught one guy, if you see see wetin dem take the boy eye see, no be today we go talk am.
Well this post is for people who will be attending The Experience 9. These are the rules of survival:

I heard the news that Nelson Mandela had passed on via twitter. During the day I was just discussing with my mum and how I felt they should take him off life support so he would finally go and rest.

My mum said South Africans just wanted him alive as he stood for a lot of things. In other words, he was their hero. He gave them his youth; maybe that’s why they all kept praying that he would stay alive.

Madiba was one of a kind.  He fought for freedom, justice, democracy, he came out of jail He lived a life of relevance, one of compassion for his fellow man. Mandela stood for equality for the black man. He can be compared to the Malcom X, Martin Luther King Jr, Mother Theresa of his time.

After all is said and done I can only pray that all he fought for while alive doesn’t die with him.

Nelson Mandela deserves to be celebrated because as Africans we all know that there might be no leader like him in a very long time. We know that no leader will give up their youth just to right a wrong. 

I know this piece doesn’t do Madiba justice, but I am still choosing to celebrate him.

In the words of Wole Soyinka, "The soul of Africa has departed, and there is nothing miraculous left in the world."

When you are gone, what will people say about you and i don't mean the nice things people say at funerals just to let time pass. Whatever people say on that they will they mean it? Will it actually be the truth? Live a life of purpose, strive to leave a legacy behind, reach out and help others..

RIP Nelson Mandela, sleep well in the bosom of our Lord.

                                                                              Xoxo,

                                                                              Ifeoma N.

 

Is that a rat i see using my blog space to play? *pursues rat with broom* *phew*
How una dey? long time no see!!!! Let me start explaining what happened.
My fellow brethren, this semester has not being easy but God has been faithful from: my laptop messing up 3 months after purchasing it to my sister's laptop messing up after she gave me hers to replace mine.
I have seen it all, someone even went as far as changing my login details for my internet access (so much for raising a new generation of leaders)
At the beginning of this week, my friend comes to my room and says, Ifeoma, my sis brought this system for me but you can have it till she comes to collect it. Just when i had given up on getting a laptop to read for the semester. You see how God works in miraculous ways, when you are not expecting or when you are not calculating.

At the beginning of the semester..

after the tests, exams and bad laptops!!

This semester has being my most stressful, I  have lost all the weight i gained during SIWES, my colleagues at work even dedicated Iyanya's ur waist to me (is that one, even a compliment?)!!!!!! Now I look like a bag of bones with a Chinese bum.
I have even grown darker my friend suggested I use handy handy to bleach my skin, LMAO!!!! Who says that?
The semester ends in 10 days time and I am grateful to God. I keep saying that after everything i have seen in the past 4 months I can go through anything in this life.
I am grateful for all the relationships I forged this semester, the ones that had issues and will heal over time.
I am grateful for financial blessings (at least, whenever I am broke I have money to call home and say, Iya, ko si owo, compared to my 100 level days.
I am grateful because this semester, I have had a wonderful time in God's presence.
I could go on and on but we all get the message.
                                                          ********
Seeing that the year is about to end and one of my new year resolutions was to live a life dedicated to reading, I decided to start reading books by African authors.
When I learnt that Festus Iyayi died in an accident (RIP, sir). I remembered his book Violence and I decided to get a copy of it and read it again. Anyone who hasn't read it and is interested should let me know, I will mail you the pdf version.
Please give me suggestions what book should I read next?
I also started my water cleanse (it means I will only take water and fruits; no drinks) I did it for a week and fell like a pack of cards when I saw a bottle of CWAY Apple drink (that drink is life).I can feel it, few years from now, I will be the face of CWAY :). If you know anybody there let me know, ka anyi kpa ego (lets talk money) hehe :D

So how have you guys being? What new in your life? Let me know!!!!
                                                                                                 xoxo,
                                                                                                 Ifeoma N.

The internet space has been abuzz with pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo and Ese Walter's story.
To be honest i think the both of them are at fault, the fact that Ese decided to make it public doesn't make her the saint here. As far as i am concerned i think they were two adults who decided to just act naughty.
I have no love for women who decided on their own to have affairs with married men and later cry foul, its just not right. If Ese wants closure good for her, she should go and settle with God and apologize to pastor Biodun's wife, now that closure. All these coming online and mentioned names is just disrespectful to  the man's wife, its bad enough that you slept with her husband but for you to now decide to make it public is just wrong.As far as i am concerned you are not a victim, you are a young woman who had the opportunity to choose between right and wrong and you made your choice.A grown man tells you to feel free and sit on his laps, you sef siddon, for your mind na firewood him be abi?
As for pastor Biodun, nothing annoys me like a person who takes their leadership position for granted, you have been kept as a shepherd for lost sheep and all you can think of is to sleep with the ones who come to you for help? Haba, fear God. Its hypocritical that most Saturdays you join young men and women who have decided to stay together and chances are that they look up to you. Be a man and stop saying you will return with a robust reply. is it a competition for the one with the best PR guys? Man up and say you are sorry, real men make mistakes and accept responsibilities, stop playing politics.
To my fellow congregants, I think as Christians we have forgotten that we are meant to look up to Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith not our pastors, many of us have failed to remember this so we see pastors as demi-gods who can do things and get away with with because they have a special type of grace.
I think its high time we start demanding answers and responsibility from our spiritual leaders instead of shouting 'all is well', 'bless you', 'my wife and I love you'. Life is more than black and white it has plenty shades of grey, you cant just keep seeing things at the surface level.
Lets discuss, what do you think?
Have wonderful week ahead!!!!
                                                         Love,
                                                         Ifeoma N.

Before resumption I decide to take time out and bond with my friend Nancy, I just met her and we really hit it off nicely, she is one of the nicest persons I have met both living and dead. We decided to see Yvonne Nelson's House of Gold which was meant to show by 3pm. The plan was to leave by 2pm but I cajoled her to make it 2:15 as I was cooking for the family. After cooking, I took my bath and even ate an Nncy had not called me to say,'ifeoma, oya come to your busstop, I will pick you up from there'. So I called her and her number several times and it wasn't going through.
I thought Nancy had left me so I vexed and took a bus to GDC, Nancy was still not there. So I decided to just hang around the cinema, after a while Iwent to the bookshop close to GDC because I saw Bobo Omotayo's London life Lagos living book, as I checked the price it was N3500, I quickly respected myself and dropped it back(remind me to borrow Elijah or UB's copy).
After I finished from the bookshop I went to the cinema railings hoping to see NAncy
10 minutes later

One boy came to meet me(can I say something?The fact that you are taller than me is not enough reason for you to come and start a fruitless conversation, ehn ehn it is not allowed), he said his name was Nnamdi and he had just finished seeing Wolverine in 3D with his friends and he was still bored(what do people really want?). I asked him, 'can't you go back home?'. He said he was new in town and he wanted to flex. I said, 'Have you checked the book shop, they have nice books there'. He gave me the most ridiculous answer, 'No o!!! I am not that dry joor. See this small pikin, so because you just gained admission  and you are trying to form nonchalance is the new cool, aya e lenu.
I don't just understand kids of nowadays. To  honest I think being geeky is the new cool. I think reading makes you an interesting person to interact with,with reading you connect with the experiences of others and adopt them as yours (if you want to sha).
After Nnamdi and sons left me I went back to the bookshop and started going through the books and I even noted down some titles I can get online for free(don't judge me, their books are ridiculously expensive), I have actually missed reading books maybe that's why I am really excited about my resumption.
Well I want to use this opportunity to appreciate the beautiful people at Cyberspace Network Limited , y'all won't be forgotten in a hurry, especially Prince thanks for the branded radio, I am really grateful.
It's being two weeks since resumption and many students haven't resumed and I believe for most of  them it's because of the increase in fees this semester, can you please say a word of prayer for them?
Have a wonderful Sunday service.
                                                                                     Love,
                                                                                     Ifeoma N.

Hi everybody, Its being a while, I have been so lazy, lets just say I have had nothing to actually put up.BTW, pardon this title.
A week ago i saw on some blogs that Funke Akindele had separated from her husband of one year and when I saw it I was just sad. Maybe its because I am a firm believer of marriage and family and its just heartbreaking how people most people look up to decide  that they cant stay together anymore, how bad can it possibly be? This is not a self-righteous piece saying what she did was good or bad, I wasn't with her in the marriage.
Yesterday, I saw that Betty and Soni Irabor celebrated their 30th year in marriage, and for some reason I was just happy. I think its good to see people you look up to succeed in something you believe strongly. Its good to see that people make up their mind to love each other even when they don't feel like it.
Well this piece is dedicated to firm believers  like me.
Most of my friends graduated last week Friday, so I am taking this time out to congratulate them.You all deserve it
                                                                   Love,
                                                                   Ifeoma N.

Hello,How was your weekend? Mine was great, I was at Dumebi's house this weekend and i had a blast!! From going to Jakande Market to shop for food ingredients(not clothes like some people thought), to learning how to cook fried rice and downing it with a cup of Carlo Rossi, which i mixed with strawberry Ribena (all my friends have being insulting me for that singular act).

On Sunday, we went to House on the Rock and i must say that Pastor Paul and Ifeanyi Adefarasin are the most beautiful people I have seen, they are so down-to-earth!!! The service was great from the praise session down to the long benediction a visiting Zambian pastor led (I was proud to be Nigerian for 15 mins, lol).
After service, Dums prepared better white rice and stew for us: that babe na beta wife material o!! After a while we carried our two left legs to V.I for Dums to make her hair. When we got there she asked for the price to relax her hair and the woman said 2k (yepa, ni tori kini?) and we never fix hair o!!We couldn't even go back, the kain waka wey we waka no be gist for today, and the other day I was complaining that i relaxed hair for 800 naira. Dont you think all these people that set up businesses on the Island are robbers? Tom-Tom is N10, Peak milk is N50, ki re? Lekki is not London o!!
Well my weekend was really memorable, hope yours was? Have a fabulous week ahead.
                                                                                       Love,
                                                                                       Ifeoma N.

Holla,
I have being missing from the blogosphere. I'm so sorry..
We all know 2face is LEGEND wait for it.. DARY. But I didn't expect him to pull this song off this well, but he did.
Dr Victor Olaiya still has my respect, Baby Jowo the original made popular by OGD All stars is wonderful, but the remix is just AMAZING
The video was directed by Kunle Afolayan and features Kemi 'Lala' Akindoju.
Hope you enjoy it, like I did have a wonderful weekend ahead.

I love radio!! One of my favorite programs is Sharing Life's   issues on Inspiration Fm hosted by the beautiful Wana Udobang.
Yesterday, the topic discussed was about sexual harassment in universities. She was talking about some students in UNILAG's creative Arts department who were protesting and as usual it wasn't given enough publicity by the media. The first caller called and she refused to mention the name of the school or lecturers involved, however she mentioned the name of the department (biko of what use is the department without the school in question?)
It just got me thinking, these people are not ready to fight this issue, if you are going to fix a challenge, how about you address the issue by saying it as it is? It is irritating how this case of sexual harassment has become normal. One of the callers said, 'its the fault of these female students o! they dress to kill'. That is just trash. The issue of how you dress is a thing of the mind, even if you wrapped a tree with a skirt these men will still chase the tree!! I kid not.
Another mumu caller said why are the girls complaining, that most of them sleep with married men for money, that its the same as sleeping with lecturers for grades, she said the lecturers didn't ave money to give the girls so they used good grades as a substitute. One might say she has a point but I choose to disagree even if a girl sleeps with a married man, she did it because she wants to do it, she wasn't forced!!(Please I don't support sleeping with married men,but to each their own, its an issue for another day).
A woman called and said 21 years ago she was asked out by her lecturer and 21 years after, sexual harassment is still part of the system. Another lady wasted 2 years of her life because he refused to listen to listen to her plea even after her mother begged this man.
Sexual harassment is NOT normal, we shouldn't get used to it. 2015 is around the corner and these politicians will start campaigning, it is these areas that they should focus on.
The future leaders of  tomorrow are in these schools and they are getting frustrated, education should not be frustrating. We don't want frustrated people graduated every year, who are indifferent about our nation. We cant come this far as a nation and still be battling with this ugly disease.
Ministries such as Ministry of Education, Ministry for Women Affairs, Ministry for Youth Affairs should step in and take these things personal, stricter rules should be put in place and the police should be involved.
How about we start by mentioning the names of schools, lecturers and record such conversations with your latest android smartphone (the phones are not just meant for snapping pinshure!!!)
Till I come your way next time, have a fabulous weekend..
                                                                                              Love,
                                                                                              Ifeoma N.