ode to iya dapo;the woman that shaped the man

The first cry of a child heralds one thing; symbolises different things. To the mother, it is music to her ears; the end of a nine-month sojourn, the fulfilment of her goddess purpose; the beginning of a lifetime of watching, praying, fear, love, joy, beatings (my mother didn’t forget this part), success and finally, the reversal of roles where the caretaker becomes the one being taken care of. To the father, well, it is a period of imprinting, ingraining and when you misbehave, reminding your mother “se ori omo e?” (can u see YOUR child?) and when you do well, “omo mi niyen” (that’s MY child). Of course, at all times, you are your mother’s “omo mi”(MY child; MY own). To the barren, it is a cause to remind God of their existence and of course to some, it is a reason to prep the stomach for the naming ceremony.(others can fill what it means to them here,thank you)

RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: BOKO HARAM AND THE NIGERIAN REALITY

Hobbesian philosophy would have us believe man was in the beginning a brutish, savage being who, after a while, slowly became aware of himself, his environment and fellow man; upon this awareness, civilization was born. One thing, however, that man had, even at the start, was the belief in the existence of a Being more powerful than he; a being which he must pay obeisance to. The bone of contention is therefore on the manner in which this Being should be worshipped and what name to call It.  This bone of contention has littered history with instances of war, chaos and anarchy and Nigeria’s is no different.