LAST NIGHT.

LAST NIGHT.

It was only the 3^rd round and I already felt my bones were too weak to continue. We still had four more rounds to go, but I wasn’t sure I could wait to see the last bout. I had been lying in the sofa with my eyes glued to the TV set, waiting for that moment when Thomas would be declared the winner. He has always been my favourite boxer, and this night he was fighting for the heavyweight championship.

       Suddenly I saw it coming, and like a splash Johnson was squealing on the floor of the ring, the low jab from Thomas was so hard that even Mohammed Ali would have fallen for it.

       Is this bout going to end in a knockout? I wondered, as the umpire counted 4…5…6…7… The excitement was already building and I can see the smile on Thomas’s face. Suddenly Johnson moved and gradually he got back to his feet. He fought hard, and to the amazement of all, he clinched the title in the 7^th round, after he left Thomas sprawling on the floor from a fast upper cut.

      Thomas lost lots of his fans after that night. According to him, he thought it was all over in the 3^rd round; he thought he had already won, but he eventually lost.

      After listening to his loser’s speech that night, I realized I was still far from my destiny, no matter the lot I might have achieved so far, I can still be toppled. The fight made me understand that being better is of no use, if I can be the best. 

 

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2014.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

THIS IS WHERE I WAS BORN.

THIS IS WHERE I WAS BORN.

This is where I was born, it was already pretty bad news, and then they built a wall around this when I was 18years old. Did I do anything to deserve that punishment? No. I respected every law to the letter. And I didn’t quit school in 9^th grade to sell crack, it’s because they closed the school down. The only thing I ever did wrong was getting born here.

          Who do I blame? The man and woman I call my parents, was it their fault? Were they part of the decayed government? I wonder how little we have become in the eyes of those who promised us heaven before we voted them in. Instead of the heaven they promised, they increased the fire of the hell we now find ourselves.

          I have got to endure the suffering that has now become a habit. They never gave us schools but they expect us to be the better leaders of tomorrow that might never come; they didn’t give us jobs, yet they expect us to quit our lucrative business of dope. How can we quit, when they even patronize us. Why place a ban on dope, if you can’t quit smoking. Who is fooling who?

          “Smokers are liable to die young” that’s what they tell us, yet they ship the sticks in. They send us to jail for the possession of firearms they gave us during their frivolous campaigns. They train us, and use us during campaigns, and expect us to forget all we have learnt after the elections. How can we? We are not that daft, we still retain their lessons on assassination, kidnapping, robbery and lots more. How can a teacher expect his student to forget all he has learnt? We are just being attentive students, thereby making our teachers proud.

          They send their black thugs after us, and when the black ones fail, they release the green boss, and without mercy they jump into our streets, killing our innocents, raping our girls, while we watch them in shame. If we raise complaints, they array us before the bar, where their white caps give us a list of offences, and without fair trial, we are let down the rail road with long sentences.

 

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2014.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

 

 

 

LOCAL BOY

LOCAL BOY

From the slums of the darkest street to the lights of the brightest city, he always had to fight; a fight for freedom, and quest for stardom.

          Like the local gin, he pierced the hearts of many with his attitudes. His parents would stay awake till 11p.m waiting for their local son to return home. His only excuse for staying out late was “hustle”.

          Having known the taste of poverty, he wished to sip the wine of wealth, but no one gave him a glass. All he could do was sit around and wait. But when glasses never came, and the wine was going down, he had to grab the bottle for a gulp.

          Each day he had 24miles to travel, and each year he had 365 mysteries to unravel. His life was a gridlock of opportunities and disappointments.

          He never gave up on the girl that called him a “local boy”, or the man that called him a “failure”. He knew he was bigger than what they saw, and he struggled to break out.

          He was bounced at the gates, slept in studios, managed one shirt and trouser, all in the name of hustle. He did all this to get to the limelight.

          Funny enough, his parents were not his best friends, because he chose a different dream from what they had for their local son. They wanted him in Suit and Tie, but he preferred Fez Caps and Jimmy Boots.

          The street became the only friend he could run to, and he was gladly accepted. He fought hard on the line, just to break bread before the time; he never gave in to side attractions. He aimed for the sky, and the street was the inspiration that made him high.

          He didn’t only dream big, he also created a link. He could no longer wait for the key of success to be tossed to him, so he had to break in. like a volcano, he shattered the rock of failure.

          Today, the girl that once called him a “local boy”, now wish to have his autograph. The man that once saw him as a failure now chose him as a role model for his son.

          Amidst all his achievements, his parents still saw him as their local son. To them he was just a local boy with an international dream. They believe he was the local boy that got the best from his locality.

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2014.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

 

 

LETTER TO MY FELLOW STUDENTS:

LETTER TO MY FELLOW STUDENTS:

It’s more than four months and we are still sitting silently in this dungeon, like a patient waiting helplessly for the sharp blade of the knife of the surgeon. We have been help against our will, as captives of a decayed academic structure.

       What is rightfully ours have been forcefully taken from us. We have been denied our mental food; our limbs are now too weak to fight back.

       The infamous Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is gradually digging the foundation of our future (education), and has left us in the bitter experience of psychosomatic trauma. In a bid to salvage the academic structure, they are gradually unearthing the foundation of those structures.

       Our education sector is now a victim of the whims and caprice of politics. This strike is a typical solecism of our lettered professors. Their much vaunted academic prowess has been put to question, following their recent actions.

       We have heard and received a lot of canards with regards to the strike. But the truth is that we are not going back to school anytime soon. the last NEC meeting held on Saturday 23rd November 2013, was just another of those meeting held, merely to waste time and to fulfill all righteousness, as no conclusions were reached. While 60% of the academic gurus agitated for a call off, the rest were praying for a probe into the death of their colleague who they claimed was assassinated, and so the strike can go on.

       It is our belief that one day we shall be free from the mental torture and inhumane treatment meted on us by our captors (ASUU). This is a battle for our right and we must fight to any height.

Yours Sincerely

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2013.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

HOT GISTS:

HOT GISTS:

Ø     Those agitating for the total cancellation of Anambra guber elections are indirectly advocating for the extension of Gov Obi's tenure. if it took INEC more than 1 year to prepare and organize an election that will later be cancelled due to incompetence, how long does one think it will take them to prepare and organize an election that will later be upheld. Probably this time it will take 2 or more years, thereby extending Obi's tenure which has barely few months to lapse.

Ø     Hon. Uche Ekwunife should be ashamed of her recent political actions. During the campaign she was one of the APGA stalwarts that raised Obiano's hand and declared him the best candidate for Anambra. How come she's now going to court to contest Obiano's legibility to contest? She probably thinks that the events of Rivers state, (where Omehia won and Rotimi took over six months later, after Omehia's legibility was contested and won in court) would happen in Anambra. Her political advisors, if she has any, should wake her from this pipe dream. She should have a better dream than that of becoming a Governor in 2014.

Ø     Without being bias, I think this ASUU strike is becoming one of those dirty games of politics. They now claim that their dead colleague was assassinated, and so the mystery behind his death should be unraveled before they can call off the strike. They also want the President to pay them the 4months salary that was held during the time of their strike. Who is fooling who? Have we forgotten the saying: "no work, no pay"? You leave your work place for 4months in the name of strike, and expect salary for those months. I seriously think that all those professors need a therapy to evaluate their mental proficiency, because they are recently behaving like retards.

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2013.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

MIRROR OF LIFE.

MIRROR OF LIFE.

Each time I look into the mirror, I have three questions in mind. Do I see who I was? Do I see who I am? Or do I see who I want to be? Unfortunately, there is no one around to answer these questions but myself.

I have lied to myself most times. I have always thought that I am better than the drug addict that smokes hemp in the bush behind my house; I have thought myself to be better than the derelict that sleeps in the street; I have thought myself to be better than the drop-out who now uses the trigger to earn a living. Maybe I have been wrong all this while.

       Looking at the mirror this morning, I saw a shadow, a shadow I have thought for so long to be myself; A shadow that bears the exterior and not my interior resemblance. For how long have I lived  in ignorance. How long have I ignored my mistakes because no one was there to see them?

       What is the difference between me and the drug addict or the derelict across the street? They all made mistakes like I did, but people never saw mine like they saw theirs.

I have tried enough living in a borrowed world and covering my mistakes in ignorance.

Could this be my past haunting me, or are my being taunted by the image on the broken mirror. Who do I really see in this mirror?

I might have made mistakes in the past, but now I have to correct them, or join the long queue on the line of doom.

Most times in life we think we are better than others, but if we could take a closer look in the mirror of our life, we might see ourselves drowning with others.

Change is not far from the moment when you looked into that mirror. You might not be close to where it started, but if you try, you might be close to where it ends. A decision is taken in a moment, and that moment can change a life.

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2013.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com

ASUU STRIKE: A HOSTAGE SITUATION

ASUU STRIKE: A HOSTAGE SITUATION

The problem with ASUU and the government is that they don’t understand. They don’t care to know where the students stand. They have been throwing these stones at each other for so long, without caring about who gets caught in the middle.

       Gradually, days run into weeks, months run into years and nobody cares. In a bid to salvage the academic structures of the country, they are gradually unearthing the pillars of these structures.

       What has the death of a man got to do with millions of lives at stake? Why not accord the dead respect with a minute silence or maybe an hour silence or even more, as they may prefer? But no! ASUU chose to postpone a crucial meeting that would decide the fate of Millions of Nigerian Students in order to mourn a dead colleague for seven days.

       I have wondered: what if this man never died? What if he was in coma? I bet ASUU would have told the students to wait till he is out of coma, before anything could be said about the 4 month old strike.

       This strike is gradually becoming a hostage situation. ASUU is the hostile, students, parents government and the entire Education Sector is the hostages. What ransom will be due for ASUU to release the education sector from this hostage situation? 

       I thought the grey hairs of these professors were insignias of wisdom, but their recent actions have made me wonder if these hairs were bleached. Where they should have fought with wisdom of their grey hairs, they have fumbled with dirt in their bare hands.

       This is a breach to our Human rights. We are entitled to sound education, but ASUU have denied us this entitlement, with their subterfuge to hold on the strike. It is high time we demanded justice.

       If we don’t rise up to the situation and tackle this problem with both hands, then we might be using those hands to bury more dead bodies and probably mourn them for the rest of our lives.

Augustus C.

07033000052

^©2013.

www.umuahianlodge.blogspot.com