My fascination with the Juju man / Books of 2010

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Esan (Ishan): Ẹwa’ẹn Aah rẹ gbi udia nọ timan bhi ikpẹkẹn. 
Eng: Killing a tsetse fly that perches on one’s scrotum demands wisdom. - Esan Proverb
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[I am fascinated by the juju man. His confidence (in his god) is on another level. He turns everything into a toy. He takes food for the gods and them eats them. The man, and his priests, cannot whisper. They must shout. Perhaps the god of the juju man is half deaf. A long time ago, being from Ogbomos(h)o and Benin City, could I have become a juju priestess?


But I have never seen a juju woman.


I am writing a story about a juju man; I have had to find out a lot about him. But each juju man differs from the next one. If I dare enough, I will write about a juju woman.]


On another note:
[What books do we have lined up to read in 2011? I've presented my list [of Nigerian books] below. There are just five books listed and definitely, I will read more than that but I usually pick as I go. I will also be reading non-Nigerian literature, of course. Please share yours so that we can all be aware of books that are out / good.  I'm so excited for the new year, 2010 was a fantastic literary year.] 


1. Feddie Girl                                          - Nona David
2. You Must Set Forth at Dawn             - Prof. Wole Soyinka
3. The Icarus Girl                                   -Helen Oyeyemi
4. The Blacksmith's Daughter               - Ngozi Achebe
5.  Abyssinian Boy                                  - Onyeka Nwelue


To see the books I read in 2010, check here.


Have a Blessed Rest-of-the-year, 2010,
NakedSha.

A picture of paintbrushes!

...Omonoba...
Our People Say:
Ishan: Emhinh erebhe ne ribhi omhọn ti egbele itata. 
Eng: Every ingredient in soup likes to be seen as meat. - Ishan Proverb.
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. I like to exchange postcards (just like letters). I sent a postcard to KTravula of KTravula.com and he sent me four very beautiful postcards in return. Actually, two of them were photographs and two were actual postcards. I had to share the photographs.

 

{These paintbrushes belong to a friend of KTravula's.} 

{The St. Louis Arch, a view from the bridge - KTravula.}

Today's Facial Art!

{Right: Original Photo} I think my eyebrow scar looks very unique. Love it.

Have a blessed week, my people. And congratulations on the completion of another term / semester / year / degree, etc. I wish those who are still writing exams the very best.

My name is NakedSha.

The Tenth of December - The fifth one

...Omonoba...
Our People Say:
Esan: Ufẹmhẹn si obhokhan kha na, Aah ki yọ owualẹn kkani ọhle ni ọle. 
Eng: When the arrow from a child’s bow travels far, an adult is suspected to be responsible. - Ishan Proverb.
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5 years later, I am strong.

My angels - all 60 of you - I love you.

I think of you always. Three days ago, I was telling a friend about what happened and I broke down in tears...what would you have been doing now? What would we have been talking about?

Chinonye Egbosimba, we spoke with your mum recently. She laughed with us. My sister never forgets to mention that you were her childhood best friend.

Sandra Gbemudu, 
Stephanie Nwoko, 
The Illabors, 
The Awaji's. 
All of you.

This past Sunday was your fifth memorial service, in LJC. My father went for memorial mass and to visit my little brother. My brother and I sang the 2007 memorial song together; we always sing that song.

'Our Story' is the book which was launched in your honor, this past Sunday. I have not read the book, when my little brother comes back from Kairo's retreat, he will give me the book. My father bought a copy too.

But I love you and I miss you. I do not know if I am bitter about the circumstances surrounding your death but when December comes around, I know that if I make it through the 10th, I will be stronger.

Kechi Okwuchi, resilience does little justice in defining you.

After the tenth of December, if I make it through, I will be a year stronger.

And I will make it through this fifth time.

NakedSha.

A gazillion shades of blurry, gray pencil streaks.

...Omonoba...
Our people say:
Esan: Aah ii tọni egbe bi eji egbe rẹ tọnọ. 
English: Do not scratch your skin just the way it itches you. - Esan (Ishan) proverb. 
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I initially strayed from the original topic.  'my fascination with the juju man'... COMING SOON! Let this serve as a prelude.Daalu.

(One morning in the mountains, just looking. 

It is easy to take for granted the mysteries around us)

It is safe to say that there are few things I stand for, since a couple of principles usually cover many other things and are enough to live a  beautiful life. Few things, also, in this life are black and white - I can count them before I run out of fingers. The rest of life is painted in a gazillion shades of gray. So, the few principles for which I stand are broad scopes like my belief in most things not being strictly black or white, my belief that I must live my life today with hope for tomorrow and reasons for yesterday (they must not be good, there just have to be answers), my belief in (my) God, etc. When I am faced with paintings of gray, blurry, inconsistent pencil streaks, I will be able to act accordingly, based on the principles of broader scope. So, this part of my living, for the most part, is clear and straight-to-the-point in my books.

Within my head, however, is an array of cleverly interwoven threads of oxymoron.

Perhaps as an entity, I embody oxymoron. After all, taking the country from which I stem, there lie so many contradictions that seem to exist side by side and without much interference with the other side. Nigerians are ingenious in the art of resilience. So, in my head is a field where I grow maize and plantains and fish and cattle and imported dainty flowers. I am the farmer who must attend to these since I should not be taking in more than I am willing and able to cultivate well.

But when my cattle start to drink up all the water and there is insufficient for maize to thrive, what do I do?

Sometimes, I have to choose, other times I have to remember that perhaps one is more resilient than the other and could stand a little more abandon that the other. In fact, that is the only way to survive through paradox. And paradox is not new to me, it is like my middle name.
Sooner than later, I learned that I do not need to defend my actions up till the point where everyone has made logical sense of it. As a matter of fact, I am the only one who even remotely believes in such a possibility since the rest of the world is made up of people with varying beliefs / approaches and some will just not make logical reasoning of mine just like I will never make logical reasoning of theirs. So, since I need to convince only myself, how do I assure upbringing that experience and exposure have now secured a place in my living and so have interaction and faith?

Recently, I have listened more and observed even more than I have talked and have seen that there are many situations of gray shades where I would need to allow seemingly contradictory stances live side by side. Co-live and co-thrive, not just co-exist. And my life has become better. But upbringing and experience and exposure and interaction as well as faith, have learned to argue intelligently without resulting in war. I am still learning which ones are more resilient than the others and may suffer greater abandon. For the times when they all match - like parts of a puzzle - I am extremely thankful.

NakedSha.