American University of Nigeria

I was at the convocation ceremony of the American University of Nigeria. This time around, the pledge was administered to the entire AUN community and I participated in it enthusiastically.… Continue reading →

Barka da Sallah!

I woke up today and dressed for the office parole as usual. After I stepped out of my residence, I did not see the shuttle bus to… Continue reading →

The London Olympics accounts for another eventful moment of summer 2012. Although I have followed the events in a lackluster manner, I am intrigued by the inspiring stories of those… Continue reading →

Love, destiny, and time–any connection? Yes, there is! I have played with these three words in my mind and I have tossed to a position where… Continue reading →

In the fortnight, I have been in the field wilding for ideas that will become my next blog post. Searching forth and back like a hunter in the bush looking… Continue reading →

Here we come to the end of the summer semester. The long awaited day for many students enrolled in classes. This is the most “interesting” summer ever. Even students that are not enrolled in classes were anticipating the end of the summer term. To my colleagues in the alumni dorm, we had more time in boredom within our secluded residential area. This is particularly true for me, except for the few times my next door neighbour, Michael Ameh came around with some “butterflies” to initiate the game of Truth and Dare, and for the third time again, I defeated Ismail Oyejobi in the game of chess last night. Amazing! Continue reading →

In the fortnight, I have lived my life hustling and shuffling up and down, left and right, back and forth, trying different things, and putting tides together.   Summer… Continue reading →

I can only begin by saying that I love it here. In order to understand how I arrived at this conclusion, it is better to start at the beginning: my first reaction to a positive response from AUN was an obvious one—obvious, at least, to someone brought up in the relative comfort and security of the United States. I thought, “hold on, this is Nigeria we’re talking about here: a third world, West African nation that is primarily known for a bloody civil war (Biafra), poverty (the majority of people live on less than 2$ a day), civil unrest, rampant corruption, and religious tension. Headlines from Nigeria aren’t generally comforting, and it doesn’t help that, as an oil-producing country, Nigeria is likely to be at the forefront of the next global energy crisis…” As you can imagine, I had quite a few second thoughts. A curious idea then occurred to me: I did not want to dismiss an entire country filled with a unique culture, heritage, perspective, and people, on the basis of headlines that may not accurately represent the soul of the place—nor did I want to miss out on an opportunity to experience the genuine spirit of a country so far removed from what I knew and understood. I was looking for radical change, a shift in my own perspective that would give me new eyes. Continue reading →