BrownySays

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Dry bones

Jummai woke up startled. She had just had a dream. In her dream she had been running alongside some people she recognized as her colleagues then suddenly, she fell but when she did her colleagues did not stop running so she became annoyed in the dream such that she stood up and raced after them. She overtook them in the dream and then she woke up.

Jummai was bothered about the dream,although she had been having problems with her co-workers at work, she never thought it would be as serious as to cause her nightmares. Later on in the day after telling her bosom friend who encouraged her to wave it that it was just her mind playing pranks on her, she felt relieved.

Two weeks later, while rushing to work, Jummai was caught up in a traffic jam which led to her arriving 30mins late to work. Her boss who had been pestering her for an affair didn’t waste time before handing her an indefinite suspension letter. To add insult to her injury, other colleagues including junior workers especially the oga’s secretary just laughed at her saying it served her right.

Jummai cried all the way home, now her fears had been confirmed. Where would she start from. All efforts made by Jummai’s friends to bring her out of her bad state proved abortive. But one day after much persuasion Jummai agreed to follow her friends to the beach. At the beach a young girl of about fifteen years handed Jummai a tract before walking away. It read “DRY BONES SHALL RISE AGAIN”. She read the content but didn’t really meditate on it, it was just a tract she thought.

She kept writing applications but was constantly turned down. One day she remembered her bible and was led to open it. Surprisingly as she opened, she opened to “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it well”. She then started to think. She had learnt catering earlier on in school. So she returned to church and told them about her ideas they later gave her some money as capital and she started. Anytime she felt like quitting she would remember that Christ never promised us a smooth journey on earth so she forged on until one day she got a contract through the church to bake the cake & pastries to be served at a top notch wedding in the society.

At the wedding, the wife of the Governor who was in attendance liked her snacks and requested to meet her. After listening to her story, the middle aged woman who was after youth empowerment and encouraging entrepreneurship offered to sponsor her opening a big pastries supermarket. Jummai was overjoyed. Her old boss having heard the news apologised and recalled her, back to her job but she refused. She had already stepped up to an higher level. Dry bones surely can rise again.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Olympics at Rio

Never did I imagine I will be writing on this but then some things just happen because they are bound to happen. I started getting interested in Nigeria’s house ambassadors when my curious friend called my attention to the Nigerian ambassador to the Olympics at Rio. She wanted to know what the ambassador’s role was in Rio, why he was needed if he won’t be directly involved in arranging for venues or making sure the athletes get to the venue in good conditions, what benefits he gets, if this was just a compensation to him for running for president and losing under the ruling party? why he was even associated with sports in the first place, if there are no others who could fit the bill, how much it was costing the government to sponsor him and the athletes, why the Olympics ambassador was not too persistent about athletes’ welfare…..

It was in the bid to find answers to these questions that I realized that Nigeria had financial problems sponsoring the athletes and encouraging the athletes to Rio, yet ambassadors were sponsored to Rio. Perhaps the fate of the Rio team could have been different if a designated fund for an African games held in Congo last year hadn’t been declared missing or embezzled one way or the other.

Sending over 70 athletes to another country with little preparation, the president gave a speech on dwindling revenue and global economic challenges being a factor to the inadequate funding of the trip. But an ambassador who has no link whatsoever to games or sports was sponsored to Rio. Which brings me back to how House Ambassadors in Nigeria came to be. Was it based on influence in the society? Popularity? Did some people bribe their way into the ambassadorial seat just because they needed power and affluence one way or the other? How is it that some set of people get paid and recognized as ambassadors and their impact isn’t felt in and on Nigeria?

Some even have this seat as titles and strength to their political prowess.
When I was younger , I learnt that an ambassador is a trustworthy, deserving and accredited individual who is well learned and vast in knowledge sent by a country as its representative in a foreign country. Ambassadors used to be people who represent the interests of the country to foreign government, people who are extraordinary, passionate and selfless. People who bring solutions, ideas and innovations from other countries. Wouldn’t it be such a relief if our house ambassadors are like this?

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Diary of an Ibadan corper 7

In this episode, another guest author, Anifowose Mariam a fresh Ibadan corper shares some of her experience as a serving Ibadan corper ..

All i wanted was to serve my country, but I was disappointed when I didn’t go with the stream 1 . To make matters worse stream 2 couldn’t go to camp on the scheduled date due to ‘logistic reasons’ as NYSC had said then.

Eventually June 13 came, I travelled to the NYSC orientation camp at iseyin oyo state. Hmmm, my first experience that day I just won't forget it. I was told to carry my box on my head and walk to the main entrance of the camp. The man o war people didn’t pity my petite stature, thank God I didn’t go with much load. I did as I was instructed, did my registration and collected my kit.

To my greatest surprise I was given a giant sized khaki uniform , to add salt to my injury I was given a jungle boot of size 45 whereas my real size is 36. I ended up swapping with other corp members four times until I eventually ended up with a size 39 which was just manageable.

Everything in camp was regimented starting from the early morning exercise that is always spiced up with lovely music. I always find myself dancing instead of doing exercise. Anyway dancing is a form of exercise.

17days later, I was discharged to my place of primary assignment, ministry of health Ibadan, Ibadan north local government area.
Serving in Ibadan has its sweet funny and bitter experience.

The taxi drivers and okada riders are always ready to swindle corps members, once they see us in khaki. I almost spent all my money on transportation to the local government for cds my first time. Transportation fare of ₦50 I ended up paying ₦150. One has to been very smart with the market women too. They tend to sell their products at exorbitant prices once they see corps member in khaki.

PV signing in Ibadan north local government is another experience worth sharing. For my first PV signing, I got to the LG around 8am in the morning only to end up being number 42 on the list. Was it that some corps members didn’t sleep in their houses? Even at number 42 I still didn’t sign PV that day instead my white t-shirt got stained with brown powder, different shapes and colours of lip stick by other female corps member. To be sincere I think I stained other corps members's t-shirt with my lipstick too. Don’t blame us o, the female corps members in Ibadan north are fashion talented.

Ibadan is really a big city, it has quite a number of tall buildings like cocoa house, shopping malls like shoprite, cinemas , recreational centres like agodi gardens eatries like foodco, tantalizers, dominos pizza , KFC, food companies like sweetco, sumal foods etc. Allawee of 19800 hasn’t given me the opportunity to visit all those places I mentioned.

Ibadan people can be very funny when it comes to pronunciations. Omo Ibadan ki ni so re? there is this word I always hear from the taxi drivers ‘kin cenma’, on one faithful day I told my friend I will like to take a tour around Ibadan we were sitting down in the micra waiting patiently for the micra to get filled up. Suddenly I just heard that word again ‘kin cenma’ I decided to ask my friend where kin cenma is. Oh lord of mercy the driver was trying to pronounce queen cinema!

Anifowose Maryam, is a nutritionist. She loves writing and reading novels. A picky eater but skilled in cooking. she cherishes her sleep a lot and doesn't joke with it. maryamanifowose@yahoo.com

Friday, September 23, 2016

Pride of London

The rivalry this weekend will wholly prove the long-lasting antagonism between Arsenal and Chelsea. On Saturday at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal and Chelsea fans will be taunting each other when both teams meet this weekend. The first meeting between both teams was in November 1907, a match in which Chelsea FC won; 2-1. The total meeting between them is 187; with Arsenal being victorious in 72 games, drawing 54 games and losing 61 times to Chelsea.

The home supporters (Arsenal fans) are claiming to be the pride of London based on their numbers of trophies and history. Arsenal have won 12 FA cups, 13 league titles, two league cups, 14 FA community shields, and 1 UEFA cup winner’s cup. Their fans are like: “Chelsea, you have no history.” Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger reinvented football. He led his team to an unbeaten season in 2003-04; “The invincible.”

Chelsea believes they are the pride of London, asking Arsenal fans: “Have you won the champions league?” Chelsea have won 7 FA cups, 5 league cups, 4 FA community shields, 1 UEFA champions league, two UEFA cup winner’s cups, 1 UEFA Europa league and 1 UEFA Super cup. Chelsea are the only London team to have won the UEFA champions league.

Chelsea FC bringing in Jose Mourinho in 2004 as their manager, added toxicity between both clubs. It started when Henry of Arsenal scored a free kick while Chelsea’s goal keeper was still arranging his players.

After this, Mourinho has been feeding media with words to strike at Arsenal and their manager, Wenger. There is always an intense-feeling between the players and supporters whenever they meet. The 2007 Carling Cup final is an example: Chelsea’s captain, John Terry was made unconscious after Abou Diaby accidentally kicked him in the face. After Didier Drogba, the higest scoring player in a match between both teams, scored an 84th minute goal, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor and John Mikel Obi were given red cards for fighting. Last season’s first encounter saw Chelsea claim a 2-0 victory against Arsenal. Arsenal were reduced to ten men after Diego Costa pretends led to the sending off of Gabriel.

Later, they got another red card, which reduced them to nine. During that same game, Gary Cahill’s harsh challenge on Alexis Sanchez vexed Wenger. Arsene Wenger and Mourinho were physically involved. Wenger pushes Mourinho on the chest, knocking Mourinho off balance. Wenger and Arsenal fans believe Chelsea are boring and defensive.

Mourinho believes Arsenal’s manager, Wenger, is a “specialist in failure and that Arsenal have a “tradition of crying.” With Mourinho gone, the rivalry between both teams continue. From 1996 till date Arsene Wenger of Arsenal have coached against 13 different managers in charge of Chelsea. With Antonio Conte presently involved as Chelsea’s manager the atmosphere this Saturday won’t be different. The new

Chelsea boss is very tactical and defensively minded. Arsenal fans won’t hesitate to boo their former midfielder, Cesc Fabregas and the player who they dislike most, Diego Costa.

Still no derby has grown like that of these two teams in England. Arsenal and Chelsea match have been competitive over the years, longer than that of Manchester derby. Which team will claim bragging right this weekend? Which team will be the pride of London, Arsenal or Chelsea?

Yemi Onayemi a biochemistry graduate who has found his path into Film writing and make up artistry.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Pretence

Being around people who pretend as much as they breathe lately got me wondering, why do people pretend? Why has it become so rampant? I looked further into what they stood to gain or lose. You will agree with me that pretence is an attempt to make something that is not the case appear true. Pretence is falsification of situations and reality, putting up a false show. Now we all know that nothing good can come out of anything false. So I can say that the disadvantages outweighs the advantages.

In the first place, pretence is a phenomenon which has to do with personality. The personality of the pretender and the one on the receiving end.

The pretender
Most times people pretend to be what they are not because they want to fit into the society, because they want to be accepted or in most cases they want to get over a feeling of low self esteem they have which is as a result of something.

A pretender has everything to hide. Either about situations or about his/her person, hiding who they really are. Having fake relationships, fake friends, unrelaxed nature and way of life isn't left behind. A pretender forgets that by pretending, he/she is alienating his/herself, no one can reach out to a pretender's soul, pretenders engage in covering up their true needs thereby living an unfulfilled life.

The receiving end
As an individual at the receiving end you must ask yourself several questions to ascertain what exactly the situation is. Why should you be deceived? Have you in anyway through your body language shown that you are not a trustworthy or friendly person? Have you been wicked? On the other hand are you a threat to someone or people? Are you being threatened? Are you being envied or ganged up against? Someone pretending around you might actually be a sign that you need to watch your back or watch your ways.

How to stop pretending
Stop trying to please others, learn to say no when you should.

Create your own path and walk in it, do not try to be someoneelse

Do not be selfish, remember the whole world does not revolve around you alone

Pray and ask for help.

Friday, September 9, 2016

Manchester Derby

Here is a guest article from a guest author on brownysays blog, Yemi Onayemi's maiden article on the blog is on the always discussed EPL. Enjoy....

This weekend, English Premier League (EPL) is about to get even harder as Manchester United faces Manchester City at Old Trafford Stadium. This will be the mother of derby matches in England; two teams with the two best managers in the world, fighting for pride and the EPL title. With history between these two teams, meeting 171 times; Manchester United have won 71, they’ve drawn 51, Manchester City have won 49 times. Saturday being the first meeting between the two managers on England shores. So much is at stake when these two teams face each other:

On Both Teams This Season:
This season, Jose Mourinho has wasted no time in spending 145 million pounds at Manchester United, bringing in; Eric Baily, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Harikh Mkhitaryan and Paul Pogba. Interestingly, Man-UTD didn’t sell any player. The Portuguese boss, Mourinho is trying to build a squad capable of winning the Premier League. After playing three matches Man UTD are third on table, winning three matches to get 9 points, scored 6goals and have a +5 goals difference.

On the other hand, Manchester City has spent the total of 136.4 million pounds this season, bringing in; Bravo, Gundogan, Nolito, Sane, and Stones. For Man-City, Joe Hart, Nasri and Bony have been loaned out. Man-City tops the table with 9points, 9goals advantage and +6 goals difference. As expected from Guardiola’s team, they have played fascinating football and have been in control of all their games scoring goals.

On Both Managers:
On touchlines and in press conferences both managers have become best of enemies. This weekend is the opening of new rivalry between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola. The pair have met 16 times: Mourinho have won 3, drawn 6 and Guardiola have won 7.
On their performance this season, Mourinho and Guardiola were both nominated for the EPL manager of the month, August 2016. Mourinho edged Guardiola to win the manager of the month award.

MOURINHO’S PRESS CONFERENCES:
“I prefer to be more aggressive and say we want to win…”
Mourinho on his model of football: “What is playing well? It is scoring more goals than the opponent, conceding less, making your fans proud because you give everything and win.”
GUARDIOLA ON MOURINHO: We’re both here, Jose and I. He wants to win, I want to win. We know each other pretty well.
Guardiola on his model of football: “I need to adapt my ideas to the quality of the players. We are going to train to win. It’s better to be with that pressure.
KEYS PLAYERS:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has well proven himself to us that truly: “age is a number.” The 34 year old striker has scored 3 goals in 3 EPL games for Manchester United.
Antonio Valencia, the right back seems to be enjoying a good spell under his new manager. His performance has gained him recognition this season as he was nominated for the player of the month award.
Sergio Aguero has also scored 3 goals for his team, Manchester City but won’t feature in the match on Saturday due to suspension. How do Man-City cope without their star man, Aguero?
It’s a complete turnaround for in form man, Raheem Sterling, who struggled in the second half of last season. The 22-year old is brimming with confidence since the arrival of his boss Pep Guardiola. He also scored twice in their last EPL game against West Ham. Raheem Sterling has been credited for his transformation as he was deservedly nominated for the EPL player of the month, August 2016.
With either teams having 100 percent record so far, continuing with this record is filled with uncertainty; it’s either one loss or the other wins or they draw. Two big teams with everything to fight for; what colour will Manchester be tomorrow? Red or Sky blue?

yemi Onayemi is a biochemistry graduate who has found his path into film writing, article writing and make up artistry.follow him @yemhigh

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

10 things to learn from Mark Zuckerberg's visit...

I was at work, surfing through the net for news as usual when the headline “ Linda Ikeji gets blasted by fans because of c

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Thursday, August 25, 2016

Parent teen 2

In my first parent teen article, I categorized teenagers based on the type of parents who raised them and the type pf background/ environment they find themselves. The article continues with

THE WEEKEND PARENT RAISED TEEN
Oye’s father works far away from home, the only times he comes home are on weekends, he doesn’t even show up every weekend, Oye gets all she needs from her mother but she still wishes her father comes home frequently or even everyday like her friend’s father. She was always getting into one argument or the other with her mother. They were always fighting, her mother didn’t seem to understand why she needed her privacy, why

she didn’t like wearing a particular cloth as well. She also needed her father’s re-assuring words and encouragement.

Musa hates the fact that his father who was never around will suddenly show up one weekend trying to re-structure his life in a day. He hates the fact that his father who hardlyhad enough time to get to know him concluded easily about issues concerning him and even tries to make decisions for him. His father was always bossy, annoying and inconsiderate.

THE ABHORED TEEN
Damisi being a member of the school of thought that earrings, trousers, hair perming is a sin, Damisi’s parents prevented their daughter from using any of these. They decided what type of clothes to wear, where she could go and where she could spend her time doing. They never allowed her have friends or visit friends. Damisi secretly wishes she was free, able to express herself as well.

Kunle’s parents are uptight and domineering. They liked to enforce their beliefs and opinion. Kunle was their first child and they wanted him to be great, they wanted him to be the best amongst his equals. They never listened to his own point of view or ideas, they didn’t want him to get too convenient, they never wanted him to play with friends or have time for recreation, all they wanted was for him to gain admission to study medicine in the university.
Kunle was totally disturbed about his bothersome parents.

RICH PARENT RAISED TEEN
Yarinya is beautiful and always well dressed. Not only does she have all she wants she never lacks anything she desires. Except for the fact that her parents were too busy to be home relating with her. Her best friends, advisers and confidants were her friends, the maids and the driver. She hardly saw her parents, her mother was always travelling as well.

Ola’s parents are rich Christians and at the same time they have time to spend with him, he is lucky you would say, but there is one thing Ola desires, to be free, to have a feeling of making it on his own, doing things on his own, achieving feats without the help of his parents and their connections but Ola’s parents wouldn’t have it. They were ready to make life easy for their son to the last, even if it meant spending all their money or using all their connection and position in the society.

THE POORLY RAISED TEEN

Iyi is eighteen and he lives with a good samaritan who accepted to be his guardian when his parents fought and separated he was only fifteen then. His mother alone was left with the responsibility if catering for his siblings, she thereby left him in care of this guardian. Iyi in return helps his guardian with housechores as he gets food and shelter Iyi suffers low self esteem terribly, to crown it all, his guardian's children never relate with him as one of them. He blames his parents constantly and therefore harbours bitterness and pain in his heart.

Ego started working as a maid the minute she finished secondary school. First she worked as a canteen maid before becoming a maid to a widow and her children. Ego became the breadwinner of her family when her father lost his job and her mother's business dwindled. With so many mouths to cater for she hardly ever had time to do what young people did. Go to university and study, visit friends, have meaningful relationships and attend decent social gatherings. She lives in an enclosed world, where she hs no idea of what tomorrow holds..

I cannot say that teenagers born into this categories are less privileged or more prileged than each other. It is also not their fault as no one gets to choose the circumstances surrounding their births and families but then how to relate with teenagers and help teenagers

in all of these categories successfully will be explained in the next article on parents and teens.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Diary of an Ibadan corper 6

The months flew past and everything became routine like and monotonous. Temptations to stab CDS started coming, it was easy kind of, all I had to do was ask someone to sign for me, of course signature will be forged, but I still was unable to do it. you may say it is because I like being honest and avoiding untruthfulness, discrepancies and the likes, you may say I have a very active guilty conscience or maybe it’s the fact that I know that nothing comes free the person who helps me sign today will expect that I repay the “good deed” someday soon and God knows I don’t have such guts. Anyway bottom line is I couldn’t do it , so my trips to Ibadan north local government continued weekly.

The annoying queues came too as well as unending annoying addresses they usually gave, come to think of it, those address hardly benefitted one. It was either the local government inspector was complaining about indecent dressing or he was complaining about certain payments.

There was a time SAED ,skill acquisition training was compulsory.
So compulsory that without a SAED pass from whoever you are training with you are not allowed to sign monthly clearance, which implies that your allawee that month might go missing. So we had to keep up with SAED, some of us go to bribe our SAED trainers for clearance especially those who never attended classes or pay “training money” but then I had to pay training money at some points o. unfortunately the SAED that was compulsory later became optional after complaints got to the ogas at the top I think. You know SAED was actually supposed to be a good initiative initially, people learn handworks and crafts that might be useful to them even if they are unable to get jobs. But like every other initiative or innovation in Nigeria it was turned into an unscrupulous means of syphoning money.

Well there is good in bad and there is bad in good, as some people still benefited from this ventures, one of the good things I appreciate my NYSC experience for , one of the memorable things I participated in then was visits to the orphanage homes. Yes I was in charity CDS. We visited one particular orphanage one time, it was a special orphanage for abnormal children, I was shocked and amazed to see that in Nigeria we still have individuals who believe in disabled children. Everyone at the orphanage (special) that day was touched and withdra

wn, we all couldn’t fathom how the owner of the orphanage and her co-workers and helpers are able to look at the children not to talk of care for them. I imagined what must be going on through the minds of these children, I wonder if they that something is wrong with them. I felt really sorry that there were teenagers and even adults amongst them who still looked like babies because of the disability.

As we sang for them they made gestures which implied that they were excited and happy. We were at least glad that we could do something for them that appealed to their emotions other than give them food and clothing. There are other experiences this Ibadan corper went through….. sharing experience continues

Monday, August 8, 2016

Your television might be killing you....

“that’s definitely not possible, at least in this generation”! my friend was quick to respond when I declared it would do young people more good to stay away from television.

Did somebody just say really? Yes really and seriously! A lot of young people today have problems with their academics because of excessive viewing , a teacher once complained bitterly about the fallen standard of education.
I am not saying that television is entirely bad, there are times when you watch certain interesting and benefitting programs but for those who spend an abnormal amount of time in front of a T.V its definitely killing you gradually.

It diminishes your IQ because it reduces your ability to think critically since while watching T.V the brain activities switches from left to right and the right side tends not to critically analyze incoming information. You waste certain hours of your life watching other people making money.

Excessive television viewing can increase your risk of premature death, this is because it has been linked to degenerative brain disorders later in life such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. If you are over the age of 25 every hour spent in front of the T.V cuts 22minutes off your life span! That can equate to five years worth if you watch T.V six hours a day which some people actually do!
Have you ever wondered why you feel tired, empty, headache after watching T.V for long hours? Its because while watching your brain shuts off, energy is sapped since it has no work to do ,remember the saying its either you use it or lose it! this goes for the brain too. Watching T.V also puts you into a form of hypnotic state that is why people sleep while watching T.V.
Reading which we find difficult is a better option. This is because when you read your brain has to use its imagination to come up with feelings described in a book or an article. Although there are a few television programs that give room for imaginative thinking, reading still performs a better job. Reduce the amount of time you spend watching T.V. determine to read more this increases your brain’s longevity.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

As baked as biscuit..

As I watched the biscuit shaped dough go into the oven, I began to analyse and examine the processes the dough undergoes. The moulding stage, the baking stage which involves heat at different stages at temperatures above 100 degrees before it finally comes out has “ready to eat” biscuit.

The biscuit oven has 3 zones, zone 1, zone 2 and zone 3. At each zone, different processes occur at different temperatures and heat level. At the first and second zone, the moisture in the dough is eliminated and proofing begins, the dough rises and forms at these stages, structure and texture is determined at this stages as well. While the third zone is responsible for the biscuit colour.

Dough is made to pass through thorough mixing, kneading ,proofing and baking just before it comes out as biscuit. All of the various processes and treatments the dough is made to go through is usually forgotten as soon as the biscuit is out of the oven and ready to eat.

My point exactly ? As ordinary dough has to go through all these before it becomes delicious and wanted, human beings on the face of the earth are made to go through likewise different unpalatable stages, sometimes the heat gets too much and unlike the dough we complain and try to get out.

When the heat gets too much for the semi

cooked dough and it seems the biscuit is about to come out burnt and useless, the oven man is quick to detect and adjust the temperature, he lets out some heat. . In the end the outcome is the reward . But we as humans usually forget that God, our own oven man is set and ever ready to help us if the heat becomes too much so that we can still come out fine and attractive.

The priceless look of satisfaction on the face of the mixer, the moulder, the checker and the oven man supercedes the processes and stress before the biscuit comes out.

All in all, we must always remember that nothing good comes easy, nothing worthwhile comes cheap, we must be ready to pass through the heat just as dough to come out refined, valuable, beneficial and useful.