In The Cyber Cafe

I don't know why people make an issue of the "ember" months especially with regards to evil; am sure the night vigil of August 30 would have been filled to capacity across the Nation. Am looking at the "S" word in September and wondering what caption to use. Is it solemn, secret, sacred, stingy, selfish, special or surprise? One thing is for sure some soul searching needs to be done this new month and it might require my going back into the shell. The two noisiest girls are back from their travel and the estate is in a state. One of them has learnt a new generator procedure and its quite alarming. She just puts it on by 9pm and leaves it on till the petrol finishes. The first night sleep took me over and so it was more of the news at 7 to hear that the "i pass my neighbor" was on till 2am but last night I experienced first hand the sound of that empty barrel and it was about 4.47am that the stuff eventually gave way. To think that this girls are supposed to be students from poor homes but I understand they have some "oppressors". The other one puts her generator on to be blasting dbanj - you make me fall in love.

My sister informed me that the pastor in their church has called a 3 day fast to avert the evil of the ember month. These pastors and politicians are just one and the same - all out to make themselves relevant and of course collect the money from the people who are mostly gullible. Incidentally the Ramadan fast has begun about the same time and really it amuses me. People wake up at night and eat as much as 4 meals and then in the day time they will tell you they are fasting when their stomach is quite busy. O well there is an improvement in the electricity situation in the university and its environs which is good for business and pleasure.

Even though she was just recovering from malaria treatment, we all agreed that it will be good for her to proceed for a 3 day training course in Slovakia at least for a change in environment. Left Port Harcourt on Monday and got back the following Sunday quite excited. Initially she was wondering why the people at the visa office in Abuja were making yanga but now its all so clear. Bratislava the capital of Slovakia is a beautiful European town with rich history. The country has a population of 50 million people yet boasts of about 20 universities. They don't speak English and were actually a bit scared of the dark colour of the Kenyans who together with Nigerians made up the African team. A clean and spotless town; it could easily have passed for heaven when compared to the filth down here. Though there was no airport in the capital, transportation was very efficient and of course no talk of power cut. Back here the last time we saw NEPA was like 24 hours ago and the noise/ generator fumes is about to drive me crazy.

The other day was a transformer fuse blowout in the estate so each tenant was asked to pay 200 for the repair. Some of the co - tenants said they will pay later as they do not have money just then. In any case the caretaker is a known stingy fellow just like his uncle the pastor who owns the place. All through the morning till the time NEPA engineers switched off the line to work there was power supply. As they finished the line separation and load balancing and left there was no power supply and when it came much later, we who had contributed did not have light. Personally it was just one of those ironies that occur from time to time but some of my neighbours will have none of that and went to protest loudly. Luckily the estate management quickly got their acts together to restore electricity to our block

Finally went to the catholic chaplaincy to watch her play football. The grounds around the church are quite large and there was so much activity going on about the same time. The National Federation of Catholic Students (NFCS) were having their week and the finals of the female football was between the management faculty and CASOR. It was my first time of entering the auditorium and boy was I impressed; the structure was better designed than what we have in the protestant chaplaincy. She was surprised to see me sitting down with some peeps and wondered what I was doing there; in any case I made sure she understood that I came just to watch her play. A light shower started and I really pitied her because of her wet hair. Chanced to meet some other associates who started teasing that surely it must have been my girl friend that forced me to come to their church at which I just smiled. In any case, their team won the match.

Choba market is held every 8 days and gives me the opportunity to eat bananas. Now of course you can buy banana and groundnut from some selected outdoor spots but the banana sold by Mama Ike is quite juicy. Banana fills my system very fast and I end up not being able to eat any other thing after wards. Today is the rag day for the undergraduate students in the university after their burn fire night which left the university campus in a state of filth. Spent half of today in the cyber cafe which was quite tiring; the network kept deteriorating and the alternate emergency link just will not come up. This our Nigeria presents us with so much challenges which makes the obvious seem impossible.

Don't like looking at people through the eyes of tribal perceptions but some times one cannot just help it. I used to think the Yorubas were very superstitious but my sister says an encounter with the Chinese will change such perceptions. Don't know what is with the Ibos and going abroad. Some of them have abandoned plum jobs in Nigeria packed their bags and gone to "Yankee" in the hope of making it only to end up being a gate man or taxi driver. They call it "traveling out" and now it appears my best friend is set to join the bandwagon who are going to school. They say the Urhobo man has a way with women and tends to have many outside but the Ibos have this thing with "male" child the absence of which leads to an eventual break up of the marriage.

Y? Its the only country where the impossible can possibly happen. Just when i commended NEPA that they put into a new round of darkness but we are used to such now so no shaking. The caretaker says they brought a new bill of 120k for darkness supplied and he does not have the heart to show that to the tenants so he is going to have a tete - a - tete with those dudes. The office was just there the other day so I went to town though reluctantly and ended up with some somewhere challenges in a beautiful hotel - elkan terrace at Abacha road GRA. The food was good, tried as I could the stuff wont just finish. Chicken pepper soup then pounded yam with afang soup laced with cow tail, dry fish, stock fish and then fruit salad. Port Harcourt town is in need of infrastructural intervention. The cars have increased and the pot holes have doubled, so also have the police check points - I almost ran into one the other night; boy was I exhausted and they thought to have got me but when they felt the touch of my amana chilling they asked but why did i not stop? I replied that i was tired and they were just confused and asked me to go. Men I hate stress don't know about you.

There is marriage craze in the air, the altar seems to be congested with many people tying the knots but me still thinks its unAfrican. My mom was complaining the other day that as my friend is marrying "catholic" she hopes am not planning to do the same. In the same vein her colleague is opposed to the marriage of their catholic daughter to an Anglican fellow. The whole thing sounds very ridiculous coming from parents who are in academics and supposed to know better. As I was telling  a friend am not so sure if any tribe is ruled out for now though in the past - Ibos, Edos and Ikwerres were in the blacklist together with non - believers which included Catholics. Now i have decided to keep an open mind as long as the girl understands the concept of eternal life and has style laced with humility.

Akonuche give you wisdom, naim be the wisdom it comes from the lord. My ikwerre colleague in the office a very nice woman told me "akonuche" means thinking faculty. Tomorrow will start a 5 - day public holiday and today being the last friday of september was going to be explosive. Some people will go for night vigil and others will go for night vigil yes. One will be at church and the other will be in a club but both groups will meet on sunday but don't ask me where. From 9pm the signs were everywhere, the junction behind my window was becoming quite violent - at a point it appeared some gals were unwilling giving or receiving the HIV virus courtesy of some rapists who might also be cultists. Some guy refused to be robbed and shouted for help from the mopol at the other end but they were too far off and there was no light. Those guys were already high from the "indian hemps" they had consumed and the alcohol was getting the better of them. That was only the part I because by 2am the whole place was turned to a burial ground for broken bottles as this boys were really in "the spirit" come and hear them sing. This time around there was light and the guys were calling all the gals to come out and have it in double measure. It became a case of catch me if you can; infact break the gate and door then we will know your serious. After like 45 minutes they all staggard to their places of abode. By 7am the place was filled with more violence only this time the mopol were brought by some of the unfortunate girls to point out the estates where those hooligans were suspected to be leaving. In the end 2 guys were carried away for some special anointing. Am sure going to have a swell time this long weekend.

Nigeria we hail thee, our dear own native land. Though tribe and tongue may differ in brotherhood we stand. Am not too sure I'll be proud to serve my mother land though. Tried as I could ended up not doing the academic work i planned to do. Did get a haircut though and activated my yahoo messenger on my mobile phone. Had hollandia blackcurrant yogurt with biscuit for breakfast and bread with corn flakes for lunch. Practiced some makossa lines on the bass guitar. There was light most of the day to my surprise

What is wrong with MTN? last week they suddenly increased the prices of their recharge cards and by today the cards are not available at all. In fact we got news that people were picking up recharge cards and loading in their phones. The weekend was spent quietly making corrections to my MBA thesis. Had to go drop my cousins son in Federal, Port Harcourt and as usual the roads were a nightmare. Go slow caused by people disobeying traffic rules, police collecting their own everywhere and people double parking. Actually read a book "conspiracy of silence" by Chukwuemeka Ike which showed the plight of the "fatherless children" in Igbo culture and some women marrying women. Oh my God I felt really sorry. The day was very hot and I was happy to be alone.

The week has been quite busy and at times it was like a part of me wanted to explode in anger. Many times things just seem to fall in place at the very last minute making me to look up in awe. Surely my steps are ordered even when everything seems to be in a mess. Its been almost 10 days now since I read my CISA manual but a lot of other things have been achieved. There has been no light most of the week though in most parts of Port Harcourt especially the federal grid and the spate of kidnapping has become quite embarrassing. I hear even the mallams abi aboki that sell chewing gum now engage in kidnapping only their own money no too much - just three hundred thousand.

When the pastors talk of fertile grounds I wonder if the congregation understand the meaning. There are many many o and its fast becoming a case of give em an inch and you loose a mile. These days na smile i dey take answer person no be small. My actions are speaking louder yeah and the dance is becoming more intense but the music seems to be slowing down. It was not funny yesterday evening; was actually very hungry but undecided as to what to eat. Ended up going home with a very blank mind. What is wrong with me? Perhaps some music would have helped, i better load up my IPOD.

This my office people have started again and it does not seem to add up. Now the oga is my paddy man so talking bad about him just wont fly but many times his actions are so very unbelievable. He has just approved 4 people for a networking training of which only 1 person is a member of the network team. Incidentally 2 of them are on annual leave and tongues are just wagging all over the place. I started a new posting today with a new helpdesk and its fun because am going to learn to talk gently and firmly. Some people were giving query the other day - 13 of them for coming late to work and they are all annoyed; thank God it did not reach me.

I almost loose it when am angry; though it occurs rarely. Had a terrible nightmare yesterday and then woke up with a frown. They have been opening locked cars in my estate and searching them; i am tempted to leave my car unlocked at night to save them the stress of break in though I always remove my car stereo face. Am always excited when the month comes to an end and today being the last Friday of the month is going to be night vigil for those that go. My reading has been slowing down for a while but am going to revive it.