The first time I spoke to Yajide, I had just woken from a light sleep and he was standing there, staring at me, wearing a beautiful smile, and that singular outfit of dark blue jeans and a white t-shirt. I no longer ask if those are his only clothes; there is something comforting in knowing […]
“You will not kill me in this house. You stupid girl.” “Mummy ndo, sorry, sorry.” “Sharrap! At your age, you are still bed-wetting. Sixteen years old” – she splayed out her fingers as if the digits were sixteen in number – “and you are still peeing on the bed like a baby. Agadi nwanyi baby! […]
He came. First, it was at night. You wondered how he had managed to get in seeing as the house was full; or had they all gone to bed? He came. Boy! Did he look good. You wondered why you had never know him before now; he had been around since your childhood, only that […]
Catch up on the previous episodes HERE She picked on the first ring, like she had been waiting for the call. For an instant, Genesis was caught off-guard. “Finally!” she spoke, almost breathless. “Hello, who’s this?” “I…um…this is Genesis from…” “Ah, Genesis! I need a favour from you immediately, please! Do you stay anywhere […]
They say tough times call for tough measures; for ‘Winie says’ column on Words Are Work, tough times call for tough posts. So today is a bit different than we’re used to but just trust and stay with me … Monday mornings are always one kain; I’m always like “Dede Monday, wait small joor. Ahn ahn!”. […]
At first, it was all about the disease. They said I had breast cancer. I did not cry. I was too busy to cry, too busy not believing; the pains, the spongy lumps I ignored out of fear. Like that faulty tire you simply shun and drive on, telling yourself that it can’t be lethal, […]
This month’s feature on The Lectern is Dr Sigmund Freud’s theory of how all of your adult life can be traced to an unconscious sexual unraveling that happened in your wee years. I knew when I first heard it narrated – and I am more certain now – that this is a theory you want […]
The proprietress of the secondary school I attended in Aba had this saying she was very fond of and made sure we never stopped hearing. On many occasions while we were in class, or standing on the hard-clay assembly grounds behind the main school building, or seated in the large auditorium, she would face us […]
Still on the hottest issue in the country right about now, Ebola which is quite literally going viral all over; the market for hand sanitizers turned lucrative overnight as the demand rose following speculations that the chemicals were adequate protection against contracting Ebola. We recently learned though that hand sanitizers are anti-bacterial, whereas the Ebola […]
The sky was a brooding blue-grey up above as I navigated the human maze of the popular Marina market in Lagos with Chidi. It was well into the rainy season so the atmosphere was more humid than hot; yet there was a cloak of heat that hung in the air, from the many human bodies […]
