₦airaland Forum

Reliving a Dying Tradition: The Rebirth of Igbu Ichi



The sound of ringing bells blends with the thrumming of drums. One man is beating two slit wooden drums and another jingling the rattles (oyo) in unison. Ufie music welcomes the Nwadioka, traditional tattooist to the compound of the Nwa-ichi, the man to be tattooed. Known beyond Neni, Ufie—the music produced by the instruments—is an important music with traditional significance. It is played at prominent ceremonial events like festivals, chieftaincy, as well as during Igbu-Ichi. As the compere takes the microphone, it stops.



“Dioka!” shouted the Master of the Ceremony, Ikem Mgbemena.



“Abunya!” responded members of the audience who were familiar with the call.



It is a common salutation among the Umudioka people of Neni, Anambra state. It is also an expression of patriotism, of loyalty to their community. After the Nigerian National Anthem was sung; it was followed by the Umudioka anthem which was sung solely in Igbo; what did you expect?... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/18/reliving-a-dying-tradition-the-rebirth-of-igbu-ichi/

“Lost Dreams” by Ibrahim “Dreezy” Idris

My uncle set his dreams
At the age of 16
And it all ended
At the war of ’63
Pushing for glory
In service for country
A young man in uniform
Returns home
Wrapped with fur
Labelled to be
A victim of war

We talked oftentimes
On Sunday mornings
Sharing our worries
Over a cup of coffee
As it became boring
We raced across rails
Leading upstate
As we discovered the city
In the midst of our plays

We returned home late
At times by past 8... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/17/lost-dreams-by-ibrahim-dreezy-idris/

Get rejected by publishers and magazines, feel the rejections and bounce back.Get abused but never relent on it. Let them squeeze your manuscripts for once and throw it in a waste can, yes, for once; It would make you better, dear boys. Allow a publisher to kick you out and allow your heart to cry over it, you will feel better at the end of it all. This is what makes you a writer. Expect anything at any time from your readers because they are your second eyes. Just be free, boys and expect the sun on you.

They will not give you a voice except the one you created yourself. They will push you to the wall in the name of critigue it is left for you to stand tall and never fall asleep with their words. If you know you know and if you will understand, you will know. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged by their ancestral lies and likes. Do not find your self a mentor because they are modern slave masters. They will always want you to reshapen your mind to think their theirs. Forget about the cliques among the contemporary writers.http://syncityng.com/2018/09/15/for-boys-like-me-who-are-writers-by-john-chizoba-vincent/

One of those things I promised myself that I will teach my boys when I have them is how to keep away from domestic violence. I will teach them that women are not punching bags. I will teach them how to build their own home, play the fatherly role, the husband role and also teach them how to strike a balance between them and their wives and children not patterning their moral into the illusion of the so called African myth of man being the head of the family and thereby, having the right or the emunity over women. I will teach them the right culture, our African culture. I will teach them how to respect women and their dignity not excluding their pride. For in the pride of a woman is the woman herself.

Domestic violence and abuse do not discriminate. It does not look at faces or something else. Abuse happens among heterosexual couples and in same-sex partnerships. It occurs within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels not minding the language differences or tribes. And while women are more commonly victimized, men are also abused, boys—especially verbally and emotionally by women who they are in a relationship with. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never acceptable by the society or the world in general, whether it’s coming from a man, a woman, a teenager, or an older adult. You deserve to feel valued, respected, joyful and safe in the hand of a person you so much love. Boys, be vigilate and careful with whom you chose to marry or plan to spend the rest of your life with. Don't marry out of pity or trying to please someone who you think http://syncityng.com/2018/09/14/epistle-to-the-boys-domestic-violence-by-john-vincent-chizoba/

“I Never Sent To Her” by Mosope Akinrinmade

Never speak ‘the voice of rape’, silence the sound of a pulled trigger.

Emotions are dead and my heart is scared.

Looking at the past, time has proven to be a beast in our love affair.

Hate has grown and sprouted.

Our love is gone.

If love did exist in outer space, I need the right pace because this phase of life is just a scene in my mirage.

I need a place to make my eyes see.

Give me a seed and I’d grow for you trees, fresh and green for the whole world to see and believe that good is still in me.

Essence is life, being is living; my breath is still, my voice is mute.

Save me!!

My strength is like the breast of an aged woman, it’s bent like the aged man with his stick... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/13/i-never-sent-to-her-by-mosope-akinrinmade/

Welcome to the SyncityNG Literary Lord and Ladies show, a platform where we showcase the finest literary creatives in our midst. Today’s guest is an award winning writer, satirist, and occasional actor. His debut novel, Easy Motion Tourist, features female Nigerian protagonist, Amaka, who works to protect the sex workers of Lagos. The second book in the Amaka Thriller series published this month is When Trouble Sleeps. In this second Naijo Noir thriller, Amaka gets embroiled in politics on a do or die level.

Some know our guest as the literary Tarantino while some know him as *clears throat*. Ladies and gentlemen, with a round of applause, let’s make welcome, the true crime fiction writer of our time.



Welcome Leye Adenle! So glad to have you join the exclusive list of those who have graced the show.

It’s me you are referring to, shey? as one of the finest literary minds. Thanks for having me.


How much mental energy did it take to produce EMT?

Mental energy sha. Hard to say. It took three months to bang out the first draft, then many years to get it polished enough to start sending to publishers for rejections. Took quite some effort, and lots of red wine. I am happy to answer the marital status question too. (Let me shoot my shot on your platform.) No one has put a ring on it yet, so….



Ah… Red wine. Why the choice of crime fiction? That’s one of the hardest genres to pull off.

You are right, crime fiction is hard to pull off if you want to get it righ. Just like any other genre, I find the way ... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/12/i-wrote-easy-motion-tourist-because-of-money-leye-adenle/

A Melody Of Malady by Daniel Nkanga

The saddest melody of malady

The highest Salary of Hilary

For which he worked tirelessly

Is now kept uselessly



He has been thought a lesson

He won’t skip telling Nelson

That’s is enough for a person

That ever refuses to listen



Before him lay his father

The memories of him struck harder

Smotting him like the stung of an adder

Now the hope for living seemed farther... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/11/a-melody-of-malady-by-daniel-nkanga/

The ability for you to create things that never existed is same as you being a god. You give life to none existing things. You make them live. Although, sometimes you are not being paid for these things but the passion leads you, the drive makes you want to write more and more without stopping even if your hands ache. People critique you negatively; make mockery of what you have written but you keep keeping on because you have made it part of you, a blossoming lifestyle. You don’t really mind what they are talking about; you only want to pass a vital message through this life style called writing.
You the creator, you make non- living things to live, you the maker; you establish things from its fragments and give them hope. You never knew the power you have within you. I don’t think you know yourself… You never knew you have the ability to give and take life, you never knew you can kill and make alive. You don’t know your worth in the world and that is why you allow them to kick you here and there. You never knew what tomorrow have in stock for you, no, you pocket your lifestyle because of what they said before, and you made them think you are a nemesis to the world. Have you forgotten you have a life style to protect? In this pleasurable world, do you know you were made to change some certain things? To change the world and give opportunities to those that deserves it?... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/07/writing-is-a-life-style-by-john-chizoba-vincent/

(Pre)Resumption week is here for both pupils and students of the primary and secondary school so let’s throw it back to that time between the late 90’s and the early 2000s when reading a book was really a thing of delight for the Nigerian child.

These books had a general sweep in the country; no way were you a child in Nigeria at that time and missed any of these, nope! Those of us who are good “keepers” still have our good ol’ books neatly stashed somewhere in the house, gathering dust or not.

We have made a compilation of some of the books that will always be a memorable part of our childhood:

�Sugar Girl: the story of the poor sweet adorable village girl Ralia who spent all day taking care of her sick parents instead of going to school because abject poverty but still won’t be left in peace by that wicked witch, Ayawa.

I mean, hello, sugar girl already had enough troubles in her life. Why must you go and kidnap her again? Na wa o.

Expectedly, sweet Ralia won the sympathy of your darling little heart and Ayawa, your curses.

The book kept you on toes because you kept anticipating what would happen next.

�Macmillan Primary English: Unarguably the best class textbook at the time. I don’t know what texts they use these days but these, these had the finest, and most engaging stories that we all could relate with, alongside its exercises.

From Ali and Simbi and Mr and Mrs Salami to Edet who lived in Calabar to Agbo who lived in the town of Lagun and Mr Nwosu with the two fat hens for Christmas, remembering these textbooks sure bring back nostalgic feelings... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/06/8-classic-books-every-nigerian-child-from-the-90s-definitely-read/

Rainbows share our story

As we fell inches from glory

Hoping to rewrite history

On a levelled ground

Trying to reconnect

With the love we found

But our past seems meaningless

As we glare over the horizons

Witnessing richness

At its proximity

As a deep spectra emanates

Standing for our feelings

So they predominate

Our state of mind

As rainbows continue... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/05/rainbow-a-poem-by-ibrahim-dreezy-idris/

Introducing Your Child To Outside-School Books

Parents and guardians heave a sigh of relief, mutter a word of thanksgiving under their breath and a prayer for extra patience — the holidays for the kids are about to end in a week.

A new session means that they are a good 70% off our hands (for day students/pupils), in school, attending to their school books. It also means for some parents, worrying about the performance of their child’s schoolwork begins afresh.

Will not these outside-school books interfere with my child’s school activities, you may wonder?

The answer is no. But they sure will aid your child’s school activities and add positively to your child’s life as a whole.

A story is told of a primary three pupil (I hear they call them “graders” or “basic class” but like I said earlier, I’ll stick with old school names) was having difficulty catching up with his school work, a slow learner he was. To put it plainly, he was a dull pupil.

His mother worried about the constant 24/25 written in red ink in the space where “position in class” is usually written, the meetings with his class teacher and quite frankly fed up of dishing out the, “When I was your age, I was the best student overall in the entire country,” blah blah tired mantra (which we all know truthfully not to be true) that you parents never stop yapping out to slow learners, set out to find ways on how she could help her son deal with what was becoming a serious problem... http://syncityng.com/2018/09/03/back-to-school-back-to-books-introducing-your-child-to-outside-school-books/

A creaking door. Slow moving feet. Murmurs. That was the noise that woke you. You had fallen asleep while putting your child to sleep. It had been a hectic day: the child dedication at church and hosting friends afterwards. By evening, your mouth was tired of saying “thank you for coming”; your whole body, weak. And your crying child became a perfect excuse to leave the living room.

“What is this noise?” You wondered as you got up carefully not to wake the sleeping child. You pick your way through the darkness in the room. You open the door slowly.

That was when the sitting room lights came on. For some seconds, you shut your eyes immediately to get accustomed to the startling brightness. When you opened your eyes, they—your husband, Wale and your two friends, Halima and Ogadinma—were singing “Happy birthday”. That was when you saw the transformed living room: a banner wishing you happy birthday; balloons spelling 33. It was your birthday, you had forgotten. The demands of motherhood had sapped you of all memory of the day. It was your birthday, they had remembered. They had put everything aside to surprise you.

You stood rooted to the ground, shocked at first.

“How did they plan this without you suspecting?”

That was when they started coming to you, one after the other... Continue reading at
http://syncityng.com/2018/07/27/the-three-musketeers-by-temitayo-olofinlua/

“Dioka!” Ikem Mgbemena, the compere of the day shouted.

“Abunya!” responded some members of the audience.

The natives of Umudioka community in Neni, Anambra state understood this salutation as well as their community anthem, while non-natives of the community listened and enjoyed the patriotism that oozed out of the singing voices.

Next was the kola nut breaking session. This was another lesson in Igbo tradition. The kola nut is that constant at every traditional Igbo outing. The host of the event would present the bowl of kola nut to the oldest person in the gathering. After which it is passed according to age from one person to the next. This tradition, sometimes, is wrought with playful banters on superiority. The bowl of kola moved from one elder’s hand to the next, accompanied by prayers—all recited in Igbo because the kola nut does not understand any other language.


One of the highlights ... Continue reading at http://syncityng.com/2018/08/29/ebulue-not-your-conventional-book-launch/

Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature is a digital company that aims to create a rallying point for writers and artists to commune and progress their craft. The magazine showcases unique arts, literature, podcasts and performance poetry from both established and emerging writers, artists and poets.

Daniel John Tukura – popularly known as Tee Jay Dan, – is a writer and documentary filmmaker who initially trained as Screenwriter with the New York Film Academy. He is founder, publisher and digital editor at Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature.

Jennifer Chinenye Emelife is co-founder and lead correspondent at Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature.
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Hello TJ! Nice to have you on the show.
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It’s a pleasure to be here!
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Let’s begin. How did an established filmmaker think of establishing a digital publishing platform?
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I have always wanted to see a digital platform that does more than publishing of works of fiction and annual or quarterly issues. So I wrote down some other things such platform could do and reached others to those already in existence. They all rejected my ideas. So, in 2015 I put together a team and we started Praxis Magazine for Arts and Literature. We wanted a digital platform for everyone- photographers, painters, writers, poets, readers and some more! I was in love with ... https:///2BRl1cB

Femi Fairchild Morgan is a PR executive, creative entrepreneur, culture and content curator at Fairchild Media. Fairchild Media runs a publishing imprint; Baron’s Cafe.

Baron’s Cafe is an avant-garde publishing brand that drives new and important narratives across genres. Baron’s Cafe, an imprint has published 5 books; two amongst which has achieved ‘Sold Out’ status, A Tiny Place Called Happiness by Nwilo Bura-Bari (Shortlisted for the ANA Prize for Short Stories 2016, Nominated by GARARA Book Reader’s Award for Book Cover ) and The Call by Chinedu Akiti-Diego which explores nationhood, migration, the shocks of return.
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#Synners please give a round of applause as we welcome on the show, Femi Morgan!
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Thank you! It’s an honour to be here!
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Let’s begin. @Fairchild09, do you introduce yourself as “publisher” and even after that, do people ask what you really do?
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I prefer the title Creative director. The creative house, Fairchild Media is a PR, Content Management and creative enterprise firm. Baron’s Cafe is a publishing brand of Fairchild Media. Beyond titles, it is slot of work. I prefer the title Creative director, it is a robust team of creative folks and associates. People do not have a full sense of what a publisher do but at least some are contented with the familiarity of the job. But when you complicate by saying you are creative director, then you have to explain... http://syncityng.com/2018/08/24/i-dont-think-you-can-sell-books-without-being-a-nomad-femi-fairchild-morgan/

Kerete sat on the low wooden stool, chopping vegetables on a tray that he balanced on his laps. The knife went chop-chop; he had to be fast or when his madam came into the kitchen, she would yank his ears and give him a blow on the back.

Tried as much he could to concentrate, his mind kept replaying the phone conversation he’d had with his sister the day before.


“Brother Kerete,” Aniema’s voice had sounded frantic and teary, “doctor say if we no do the operation fast fast for Mama say she go die. Abeg, brohda send us some money.”

Kerete had never felt so helpless as he did when he talked with his sister. He wanted to blurt out the painful reality; that he had no money, that the highest amount of money he had ever received from his boss was a fifty naira note and that was to buy beans for his breakfast.

Instead, he said, “No worry, I go soon send money to una.”

He transferred the chopped Afang leaves into a colander and stood up. The pot of meat and assortments was boiling over the fire-lit stove. As he washed the leaves... Continue reading at http://syncityng.com/2018/06/29/the-houseboy-a-short-story-by-tosan-tarre/

Welcome to the #SyncityNGLLL show! Today’s guest is Nyana Kakoma. She is the founder of Sooo Many Stories! Before venturing into fiction writing, she worked as a reporter for The New Vision and later joined The Daily Monitor. She has been published in The Suubi Collection (online publication), The Caine Prize Anthology (2013) and Jalada. She is a member of Uganda Women Writers Association (Femrite) and one of the founding members of Jalada, a PanAfrican collective of writers.

Let’s begin. @SoooManyStories is a force to reckon with in the Ugandan literary scene. How did the journey begin?
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Hard to know where exactly to say it started but it began with my love for reading. When I look back now, the simple love for books led me.

So, book lover to scribbler to blogger to news reporter to sub-editor to magazine editor and Publications Manager to publisher.
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Wow. All in 3 years? We want to know how you did it! How has the world of publishing treated someone with no prior experience?

I did all that before opening the publishing house. It’s been tough but I feel I have finally found the one that I love and can work to be really good at... https:///2NgfIUY

Classroom Disciplinary Measures (contd)

I talked about using the first few weeks to get to know each child in my class.

The second step is to let them set the rules. Children hardly break rules they set and even remind each other when one attempts to err.

Conversations like this happens:

“If you do not turn in your assignment at the right time because you chose to play or not ask for help when you need it, what happens?”

You begin to hear suggestions like, “flog us”, “the person won’t go for break”, “No play time”, “no visit to the library”, etc.

The dicey thing about these suggestions is that each child is saying what they love to do and wouldn’t love to be denied so I pick the common one. Yes I know I’m ‘wickedt’ like that! *inserts naughty cackle*... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/25/miss-abbys-classroom-with-abigail-adetokunbo-3/

BRIEF PROFILE: SERVIO GBADAMOSI

Poet, publisher and arts administrator, Servio Gbadamosi heads Winepress Publishing and its parent company, Noirledge Limited, a robust independent publishing house helping to mainstream a generation of new voices in contemporary Nigerian writing.
Through the Sankofa Initiative for Culture and Development, he works with emerging writers, artists and culture practitioners across the country providing multiple development and promotional platforms. Gbadamosi also co-hosts the weekly radio show, Alpha Culture, on Lead Radio 106.5 FM (www.leadradio1065.com).
The arts centric program extends the frontiers of Nigeria’s literary offerings to the mainstream media through its purposeful popularisation of bold new works by emergent writers and creatives in the country.

Gbadamosi’s works have appeared online as well as in journals, newspapers and anthologies like the Association of Nigerian Authors’ (ANA) Review 2017, Crossroads: Anthology of Poems in Honour of Christopher Okigbo, Fela’s Re-arrangement: A Collage of the Poetic Biography of Nigeria’s Folkhero of Afrobeat Music and The Sky is Our Earth: Anthology of Fifty Young Nigerian Poets. He coedited the poetry collections; The Promise this Time was Not a Flood: A Sevhage Anthology of Flood Poems and Salt of the Heart: Anthology of Poems for Nigeria at 50. His debut poetry collection, A Tributary in Servitude, released in February, 2015 won the 2015 Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Poetry, one of Nigeria’s most prestigious literary prizes.

A 2016 recipient of the Ebedi International Writers Residency fellowship where he co-wrote the chapbook, A Half-Formed Thing with fellow residents, Ehi’zogie Iyeoman and Ikechukwu Nwaogu, Gbadamosi also curates the Arts and Culture Exchange program in Ibadan and edits SankofaMag, a culture and development magazine at www.mag.sankofainitiative.org.

Tonight at 7 pm on Twitter, he will be joining us on the SyncityNG Publisher series show.

Come one, come all!

TAG your friends and foes!

If you wish to be tagged, drop your Twitter handle in the comment section ���

Writers Can Learn from Onjerika’s Caine Prize Gift to the Poor

After being confirmed winner of the 2018 Caine prize for literature, Makena Onjerika has touched the hearts of many by her act of absolute authorial philanthropy by declaring that she will be donating a tenth of her £10,000 prize money to street children in Kenya.

This is only happening when most of Kenyan politicians are looking for the ways of how to stop teaching the arts in Kenya. One of the political suggestion to do away with the arts education in Kenya has been that arts teachers have to be paid lower salary compared to the science teachers.

Thank goodness, Onjerika is now proving those that are anti-arts education to be wrong. Especially, when she made the statement of her intention to help the street family when speaking to BBC on 6th July 2018. Onjerika said that the money will help rehabilitate street children in Kenya. She also added that she chose to write about street children because the people of Kenya. Kenyans are nonchalant about street children and only used the derogatroy... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/22/writers-can-learn-from-onjerikas-caine-prize-gift-to-the-poor/

Ngugi wa Thiong’o Leads the Alternative Nobel Prize Longlist



The New Academy, which is an organisation of Swedish librarians in response to failure of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature following the sex scandal rocking the Swedish Academy developed the Alternative Nobel Prize nomination which Ngugi wa Thiong’o topped the list. Other african writers on the list are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Nnedi Okorafor. These are the only three Africans nominated.

The list had 47-names that includes such literary heavyweights like; Marilynne Robinson, Haruki Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, Joyce Carol Oates, JK Rowling, Don DeLillo, Ian McEwan, Jamaica Kincaid, Margaret Atwood, Thomas Pynchon, Arundhati Roy, Donna Tartt, Zadie Smith, and Elena Ferrante. However, the award is still open for voting until August 14.

The Alternative Nobel Prize commitee justified their listing by stating that; ‘... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/21/ngugi-wa-thiongo-leads-the-alternative-nobel-prize-longlist/

5 Crazy Places You Should Be Having Outdoor Sex This Weekend

Another weekend is here and this should be an opportunity to get down to some sweet good ol’ lovemaking that the stress of the week wouldn’t allow.

Not every time indoor sex. Try something crazy, something spontaneous, something that when you sit back and remember it’ll literally take your breath away with each memory.

Try these 5 crazy places for outdoor sex this weekend:


1. Mouth Jobs In The Bathroom of a Friend’s House:... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/21/5-crazy-places-you-should-be-having-outdoor-sex-this-weekend/

It is Vulgar Nationalism to Claim that Kikuyus are a Blessed Race

Among the hullaballoo that greeted a song Hatuna Deni (we owe no one a debt) played to rally the Kikuyu community against the 2022 Presidential bid by William Ruto was the reckless thinking and verbal out-put by a Kikuyu politician that the Kikuyu community is a blessed race, hence it has a divine right to rule Kenya for ever.
This statement was reported in the lead story by the Nairobi Star Newspaper on 9th July 2018. The person that composed the song and the politician that claimed the Kikuyus to be a blessed race both come from Gatundu South Constituency. This is also the constituency of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The song and the political statement are made at the time when the Kikuyu community is expected to honour the agreement they had with the William Ruto that they will vote for him to be the president in 2022 as a recompense to William Ruto for having successfully rallied his Kalenjin community to vote for Uhuru Kenyatta in the past two consecutive presidential terms. Thus the claim of blessed race... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/18/it-is-vulgar-nationalism-to-claim-that-kikuyus-are-a-blessed-race/

It’s holiday time!

Last week, I told you in my post that I was going to share the disciplinary measures I use in my classroom. Let’s roll!

Now, some schools have this “No use of cane here” rule and I’ve heard teachers talk about its impossibility, even parents are on the divide.

Camp one says, “Please beat my children o! I was beaten too and it didn’t kill me,”

Camp two is like, “Use the cane but I don’t want to see any mark or blood or else…”

Camp three interrupts, “Don’t you even dare use the cane on my children! I WILL ARREST YOU!”

This issue has been making waves. Earlier this year, ... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/17/miss-abbys-classroom-with-abigail-adetokunbo-2/

If you missed yesterday's twitter-view with Nur-d-din Busari, CEO, AMAB Books, catch up on the blog!!

An Excerpt

Wow! So impressive. Nice to have you here, sir.
Let’s begin: How has the terrain been since you started publishing?
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Publishing terrain in Nigeria is challenging, daunting as well as encouraging. Encouraging because there are very many creatives and literary artists out there to work with. They have good manuscript and they also have good entrepreneurial spirits
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Challenging because you have a lot of issues to contend with. Publishing is a form of business and business terrain in Nigeria is full of unimaginable potholes.



You started publishing a few years ago but there has been little published compared to massive works out there. Why is this so?
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We started the publishing arm of our business in the year 2015 and we have published ... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/17/an-interview-with-nur-d-din-busari-ceo-amab-books/

"Small Girl, Big God” by Eduoe Ndifreke

Every night, he tugs his ears at the wall demarcating his room from ours,

Hoping to gather echoes of Mama’s heart-cries

Just so he could profess solutions that would make me

Fall prey to his schemes –

Like a politician icing his poisonous tongue,

So voters may inhale an enticing breathe.


He is an offspring of the loud-old-dude

In whose abode we obtain shelter;

Therefore, he knows the numbers of akara Mama has to fry

To settle the bill of their decayed roof

Which smiles sheepishly at Mama’s bald head.


He knows the numbers of academic trials I’ve missed

For lack of “Bubu’s notes”... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/16/small-girl-big-god-by-eduoe-ndifreke/

Our highly acclaimed weekly show is back!
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At SyncityNG (Nigeria's fastest growing literary blog), we profiled publishers we wanted to have on the show and "King of the North" came up several times.
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Nurdin Tèmítáyò Búsàrí and in extension, Amab books, is fondly known as King of the "North". This appendage might be because he operates his business from there and is often seen a staunch promoter of literary activities for members of the Northern literatti.
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Whether or not we can classify his abode as core North is up for debate. Not withstanding, AMAB Books is a worthy guest for the SyncityNG Literary Lords and Ladies show. Nurdin is the second publisher to be a guest on show. The first was Azafi Omoluabi-Ogosi, the CEO of Parresia. Read her interview... http://syncityng.com/2018/06/26/interview-how-i-left-farafina-to-start-parresia-books-azafi-omoluabi-ogosi/
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Nur-d-din Temitayo Busari is the Chief Executive Officer of AMAB Books & Publishing. He has a degree in English from the University of Ibadan.
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He worked in various high level capacities at the Office of the Governor of Niger State between 2008 and 2015. These included documentation, strategic manpower development, protocol, executive secretariat and programme planning.
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He has attended various trainings and conferences on literary arts development, E-learning/ICT4D, governance and development in the country and other notable countries across Africa, Europe and America.
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He is currently undergoing a degree-inclined research in African Literature in the Digital Age.
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AMAB Books & Publishing started with book selling operations in 2014, where online customers are cordially handled on pays-after- delivery basis. The publishing arm was registered in 2015. So far, we have published 4 poetry collections, three novels, four children books and three academic books. Some of these are part of the three international copyright arrangements.
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This Monday on Twitter by 7pm, Mr Busari will be joining us on the #SyncityNGPublisherseries show
Make it a date, friends!! You don't want to miss this!

If you wished to be tagged, kindly drop your Twitter handle in the comments section ��

When Made came to live with us I really can’t remember but I’ve always known she was unloved by Mummy.

Mummy told me many frightful things about her, most times in hushed whispers lest anyone happened on us suddenly.

Made was disabled in the left leg, short and bent; this was because (Mummy told me) her own mother was a witch and had given Made some witchcraft too. I was to separate myself from her lest she gave me witchcraft too.

Mummy treated Made kindly only when Daddy was present but badly when he wasn’t, calling her names, “dirty housegirl” topping the list. Sometimes, it was painful to watch her, disabled leg, lifting very heavy things and doing tedious work; so against Mummy’s wish, when she wasn’t watching, I stole away to assist her with the chores.

But Made was kind, vibrant and full of life. I know this because at night... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/13/save-these-juices-with-tosan-tarre-4/

“I’m Afraid” A Poem by Favour Ifee Izuchukwu

I’m afraid that someday I’d have to love a man

I’m afraid to wake up in the morning and not be alone

I’m afraid to stay up till the neighbors sleep in order to cry and still have someone ask me “what’s wrong?”

I’m afraid my tears will break up with my pillows and get married to a person

I’m afraid to let my pain walk naked before another human being

I’m afraid my demons will love him... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/12/im-afraid-a-poem-by-favour-ifee-izuchukwu/

Miss Abby’s Classroom with Abigail Adetokunbo

I have shared stories on how wonderful and humorous my children are but I haven’t shared stories on how mischievous they are or have been or can be.

Here’s one:

On this day, we’d just had our long break and I’d scolded one of my girls who decided to make the Locker Room (also known as Inner Room) her Sorry centre.

Few minutes later, I would hear something like the clangs of tiny bells.

“What is that?” I enquired.

One of them told me, “Miss Abigail it’s a broken glass cup.”

Broken glass cup ke? In my class? How? How did I not know? Who put it there?... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/11/miss-abbys-classroom-with-abigail-adetokunbo/

Dear boys, have your mind fixed in the dead arms around your waist. You are closer to the streamlines of hope. We are not sure of how hell would look, we are not even sure of how heaven would also look like but we’ll likely not allow your shadows roam in the Vacuum where emptiness rules. Emptiness stumbled upon on the ocean of thoughts.

Boys, your breeze of your thoughts were the first thing we saw opening our doors. Your blood spoke first, then, your shadows roamed into our eyes through the harshness of the herdsmen daggers. We were shocked when the wind brought the tales to our ears of how you were slaughtered. Body separated, arms and legs tied around like a goat ready to be killed. Your ghost agitated protesting against the callousness of the noon in their hands.

It may be a single sin or a multitude of sins if we do not learn to make our mouths drums to tell of this crime lavaged on our forehead. We have printed sorrow on the pages of blank papers, we have knitted sweat and blood together then allowed our inconsistency introduce hunger of lost ones into our life. We have failed you and the stories went though like a pieces of forgotten land in a lagoon. We created a country that only seek for the interest of it own. We created a lootful land where blood speak louder than water ... http://syncityng.com/2018/07/11/the-boy-child-voice-with-john-chizoba/