₦airaland Forum

CHAPTER 1

Gloria dropped the book she had been reading all day, as she yawned and stretched herself out on the bed. She had been lost in the pages of a novel, a world totally different from her reality, one she could not imagine, not even in her dreams. A perfect world. It had been impossible to drop the book since she picked it up in the morning. The only pauses had been to eat, drink some water and use the rest room. Lying on her bed, getting lost in an interesting novel is always the highlight of her holidays. As an only child, she has learnt to overcome loneliness and find company in the amazing worlds of different writers’ imaginations.
Her parents are a little strict, especially when it comes to hanging out with fellow villagers. They have always told her how they believe that she is destined for much more and that associating with those ‘wayward girls and miscreant boys’ in the village would only derail her from her very bright future.
Her mother always says:
“Gloria, don’t you know your future is very bright? You are a very intelligent girl and you are meant for much more than this village. Don’t associate with these wayward, good-for-nothing girls around, oh! All they think about is sex and money. And all these stupid boys really have nothing to offer. Most of them are thieves, robbing people on the streets at night, all so they can flash little cash and get the attention of innocent girls like you. My dear, they just get the girls pregnant and abandon them. You must not fall into their trap. You will be successful and leave this village, and eventually come and take us to big cities like Kano, Abuja and even Lagos.”
Her parents really believe in her. Sometimes it scares her that she might fail them and crush all their dreams.
Her mother, Esther Yaya, is a trader. She has a small stall in the village market where she sells most of the produce from her husband’s farm. Very hardworking and industrious, she wakes up as early as 4am every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, public holidays and even on Christmas day. When she was much younger, she always thought that once she became a woman like her mother, she would no longer sleep so much. She thought sleeping was one of the things she would outgrow, because women like her mother were always awake and about. When she would be dozing off at nights, her mother would still be up and about the house and it was still her mother that always woke her up in the mornings. . .
“Gloriaaaaa!” Her mum’s voice bellowed from the kitchen, totally cutting her off her day-dreaming.
“Yes, mummy?” She responded, lazily shifting on her bed.
“Come and take your food, or are you planning not to eat dinner this night?” Her mother asked.
“I’m coming, mummy” She replied, reluctantly getting off her bed to go pick up her dinner in the kitchen. Gloria loved to eat in her room, on her bed, a bad habit her mother indulged sometimes when her father was not home.
“Is Daddy back yet?” She asked her mother, trying to decide where to go with her plate of rice.
Her mother looked at her with the corner of her eyes, without moving her face in her direction, barely glancing at her.
“Not yet. If you want to eat in your room, you had better do it fast before your father returns. I don’t have power for wahala this evening, abeg”.
Gloria smiled. It amused her the way her mother always saw right through her. It’s probably one of the reasons they were so close. She could hardly keep anything from Mama Gloria, as she is popularly called in the village.
“Your father has gone for the village farmers meeting again. I wonder what they are always talking about. Do they really have to meet for hours every week? It’s almost as if they spend as much time talking as they spend on their farms working. Mtcheeeeeeeeew.”
Gloria smiled. Her mother hated it when her father went for these meetings. Gloria wondered if it was because her father usually returned late from these meetings, or because on those days, he would eat very little and keep to himself for the rest of the night.
Jonathan Yaya was by nature a very lively man. His sense of humor was in a class of its own. Whenever he was home, he usually joked around with his ‘girls’ – as he fondly referred to his wife and daughter.
He would tell them stories about his childhood, his trips to some of the big cities like Lagos and Port Harcourt. He would talk about how crowded it was in Lagos, how the commuters were always in a hurry, how they had to chase the yellow public buses, which he said they called danfo, just to get from one part of Lagos to another.
Her father told them of one occasion in a place called Oshodi. He struggled to board one of the danfos with many other Lagosians – as he calls them in his funny judgmental way, wrinkling his face slightly in that way that usually makes her laugh. Immediately after boarding the bus, he checked his pocket and his phone and wallet had disappeared. He had had to trek the rest of the way home. That was the day, according to her father, he became a Lagosian.
“If your pocket hasn’t been picked on the streets of Lagos, you are not yet a true Lagosian” her father had said, concluding the story.
She had laughed so hard that evening, and gone to bed thinking about pick-pocketing on Lagos streets. That night, she dreamt about struggling to board a bus and a guy dipping his hand into her pocket and bringing it out immediately with a shriek, because the sharp razor blade in her pocket had cut deeply into his fingers.

our land is red
filled with the blood of its citizens
how long will we continue in silence,
waking daily to the massacre of our families?
two hundred today, five hundred tomorrow
children, parents and even the unborn
how long will we continue to pray
feeling helpless, hopeless and depressed?
our grasses and farmlands, formerly green
are now watered with the blood of their owners
our land is red
and we can no longer keep silent

DEDICATION

To Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi girls, the Chibok girls, their family members and loved ones.
To John Chibok, whose father was brutally murdered by the terrorists, and whose cousins were among the kidnapped Chibok girls.
To the victims of the bombings and herdsmen attacks.
To their family members and loved ones who will carry this loss with them through their life time,
To Oby Ezekwesili, Aisha Yesufu, and the members of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, who remind us daily that our girls are still out there.
To Nigerians, in this time of continuous loss and tragedy.
To a New Nigeria, where there is peace and security, where the lives of the citizens matter, and our girls are not snatched from their families in their prime and where the lives of animals do not trump that of its citizens.

All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and the author.

This digital edition published by Harmony Publishing in 2018
Plot 1 Emmanuel Anabor Street, off Mopo road, Akakaiye, United Estate, Sangotedo,
Lekki-Epe Expressway,Lagos,Nigeria
Tel: +2347032212481
Email: publish@harmonypublishing.com.ng
Copyright © Chineye Ochem

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 978-0-46375-293-7

Our land is red


And we can no longer keep silent






A fictional piece based on the tragic happenings in Northern Nigeria.

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cutebebe:
kindly send a mail to loveaina971@yahoo.com, thanks

mail sent

Maximus85:
What is the cost implications of you publishing this book for us? Just asking because we don't intend going to a publishing house in the first place. But you did a good job on the naijasinglegirl book. Kudos.

Please send us a detailed mail info.mcjohnprocurement@gmail.com

I sent an email from publish@harmonypublishing.com.ng

Maximus85:
What is the cost implications of you publishing this book for us? Just asking because we don't intend going to a publishing house in the first place. But you did a good job on the naijasinglegirl book. Kudos.

Please send us a detailed mail info.mcjohnprocurement@gmail.com

I sent an email from publish@harmonypublishing.com.ng

Maximus85:
Goodday.

I'm Jimmy. I'm a researcher and lover of peace. I've been researching and writing a book with a friend for the past 3 years. And we have a big dream about this marriage and relationship building, fixing and maintainance book. We have a mental picture of how it will come out but we don't really know the steps.

One thing is, we don't want to approach any publisher.

That is why i'm here on the literature section of nairaland for your assistance.

Thanks.

Is the manuscript completely ready?
How much soon are you publishing?
Pls Fill this page form http://harmonypublishing.com.ng/get-published/

We published Naijasinglegirl book

oludare007:
I understand there are lots and 99% of vanity publishers in Nigeria, but will you stop calling yourself 'publishers' because that is a misrepresentation. You are printers. Calling yourself publiahers' is preparing a snare for new writers who didn't knw that giving you the right the ISBN means you own the author. That is pure fraud because the author definitely paid for his printing. More than a quarter if a million is not child's play. Accord the author his/her rights.

In self publishing, the indie author is the publisher and not the platform. Unless, of course, you opted to use the platform to generate an ISBN.

In self publishing, you pay for editing, pay for printing, collect your printed books and start marketing. If ever a printer sees that the book will sell, he can decide to share in the loss and profit by contributing to the whole of the financial process...

Now, I am not saying that authors cannot use vanity press, I only want them to realise what they are doing and what they really want.

To be known, you can use a vanity publishers, but be great assured, getting a real publisher is not that hard.

I wish you success.

To get a real publisher is not that bad...so why do people self published. Pls tell new authors where they can get "real publishers"

We can be of help. Start here http://harmonypublishing.com.ng/get-published/

We published Naijasinglegirl

We can be of help. Start here http://harmonypublishing.com.ng/get-published/

We published Naijasinglegirl

k2fresh:
it seems you are one of the so- called vanity press.

we published naijasinglegirl book. We are self publishing company. That's what we do.

Pls define the difference between self publishing and vanity press

99% of all books in nigeria are published by so called vanity press. We don't have any traditional publishing company in nigeria because we don't have the structure. Find a good so called vanity press, publish your book and begin to sell. The problem with most nigerian authors is that they don't have fan base and they haven't take time to build one. Another thing is that most authors think their manuscript is the best thing after slice bread. My advice to you is; build your base through blog and social media. Understand how the market works. Look for a small successful nigerian authors and ask them questions or follow them closely. You will notice all of them used so called vanity press.

Pecca:
I write crime fictions and I have a few manuscripts( completed & uncompleted) put away. My dream of becoming a published writer was cut short by Spectrum Books. Their conditions was quite discouraging then. give me your publishers' link. Who knows, I may just un-earth my manuscripts ie if their conditions are favourable. Thanks.

We can make your dream come true. Call us today. Thank you

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