One Problem With Some Igbo People Of Nigeria

One evening, I was on a bus returning home from Lekki, and there was this man seated next to me. He was an Igbo man and I knew that from the way he spoke to the woman seated next to him and in the way he talked with someone on the phone.

 At first, we were discussing Nigerian politics and some problems of Nigeria and, we moved to some of the reasons why Lagos was too congested. He told me that since there are Ports in Calabar,  Port Harcourt and Warri, he thought that government should make those ports functional so that people can leave Lagos and carry their business transactions in other cities since a lot of people are in Lagos because of the seaport.  When I learnt that he was from my zone,  Abia state, I switched from English to the Igbo language to make our conversation more homely and enjoyable but he never replied in Igbo, rather he replied with the  English language. When I spoke Igbo to him again, he replied with English. Then I got tired of him replying with the English language then I stopped the conversation.

"In many parts of the world, languages are in danger of going extinct. It might be tempting to believe that English has become the lingua franca of global business and the Internet, but when languages die, the loss has repercussions far beyond simply the loss of a lexicon. Individuals lose out on the ability to contribute to the marketplace of ideas, businesses stand to lose a customer base, and an important connection to culture is lost." -Missi Smith.

Igbo people need to learn the act of being proud of their roots and appreciate their culture just as the Yoruba and the Hausa. If you are Ignorant and you are not proud of where you come from or the language, I think there is something wrong with you somewhere. I wonder why you would not be proud of where you come from.  You didn't choose your tribe yourself,  God did. This happens also when you find yourself in Alaba International market or Idumota market in Lagos to buy things, once you speak Igbo to a fellow Igbo man,  he won't reply with Igbo because he may likely think that once he does that, you will beat down the price of the commodity you intended buying.  Or rather, that he would not sell the goods the way he planned to sell it. And these men are full-fledged Igbo men who ought to be the one to uphold this language and culture that is going into extinction.

In my village Nkporo, once it is Christmas season and you happen to be in the village, you will assume that English and Yoruba language are the official languages there. Those Igbo children born in Ghana, Benin Republic and Lagos can't speak the Igbo language.  Even the majority of Children born in Lagos cannot speak Igbo Language but can speak Yoruba and English Language fluently. It hurts me a lot to see the parents of these young ones commending and appreciating them on how fluent they are in English and Yoruba language against their own language. Hence, we talk about unity amongst our people of Eastern Coast.  We talk about upholding our relationship with one another while those things that bring us together are no more of value to our people.

The most bitter part of this is that our parents also take part in this. I have seen an Igbo father communicating with his son in the Yoruba language while this so-called boy can not even say a word or speak Igbo but the father can,  then why is he communicating in a strange language with his son?. 

Although, there are many reasons why languages die. The reasons are often political, economic or cultural in nature. Speakers of a minority language may, for example, decide that it is better for their children’s future to teach them a language that is tied to economic success. But we shouldn't allow our to die.

I stopped going to my town meeting because of this. I won't be in a meeting where we are supposed to use the Igbo language to deliberate on our issues and someone is communicating with us in a strange language. It is disgusting! Shame on us!  Shame on those parents who prefer English to the Igbo Language?  Shame on you fathers whose children are all grown up but cannot speak Igbo!  I know it means nothing to you,  yes,  some people have said that to me. But I think it is necessary we tackle this issue now before it gets out of hand. It is very annoying, very annoying when you meet a brother speak Igbo to him and he behaves like you are speaking Chinese to him. And sometimes, he won't even reply. Remember, this language is our freedom. It is the only thing that can unite us as one body. A language that can keep us safe from our foes, would you allow this language to go into extinction? Would you not pass it to the next generation? Won't you keep this culture blossoming day in day out?  We now have modern Igbo language, a fusion of 80% of English language and 20% of Igbo language together.

This is not common with the Yoruba people and Hausa people let alone the other minor tribes in Nigeria. In Yoruba land, the first language most Yoruba children learn from their parents is the Yoruba language. It is same as their culture but this is not what we see among those parents living abroad.  An Igbo mother in Lagos State prefers teaching her son how to speak English than the Igbo language. The other one in the USA prefers teaching her daughter the western culture to that of Igbo. It doesn't matter where the children were born or raised. Asa, one of the finest artists I have grown up to know was born in Paris and although she relocated with her parents and grew in her state, Ogun, she went back to France to kickstart her music career in the 2000s. Despite this, she is one of the best Yoruba singers. The likes of Brymo, Beautiful Nubia among others are doing great lifting their cultures home and abroad. Today,  Contemporary writers like Tomi Adeyemi, and the rest are writing adventurous stories with Yoruba myths serving as their materials. All over universities in the US and UK, Yoruba culture and Ifa mythology are being studied. I have once watched a video about eleven years ago of some Cuban guys living in Cuba who practised the Yoruba religion. It is that widespread because the Yoruba value their roots.

In Igbo land, we still prohibit our children from speaking Igbo in school, we say it is vernacular and these students graduate without learning how to speak or write the Igbo language. What will happen to this language in the next fifty years to come?  Some Igbo children born and bred in Port Harcourt cannot even speak Igbo how much more know anything about their roots. And the Igbos born and bred in Lagos have made the Yoruba language their language. Over 40% of Agbero in Lagos State are Igbos who have served and nationalized themselves as Yoruba.  Igbo people need to learn and be educated on how to preserve their language and culture from other tribes in Nigeria especially the Yoruba and Hausa People! I don't know why the Igbo language is not made compulsory for all the students in the Eastern zone!  I don't know why a young man who graduated from a college in Enugu, Onitsha, Aba, Ebonyi and Owerri cannot write the Igbo language! Why? Why? Please, can someone explain why? 

By John Chizoba Vincent

chizobavincent@gmail.com

T.Y. Bello's Song "Cold" : A Reflection Of What We Have Become.

I have always admired this particular woman not just because she is a singer, but because of the depth in all her songs. She is an accomplished photographer that sees through the eyes of a lens. She single-handedly changed the story of the bread seller, Olajumoke years ago.

I remember one of her songs which was a celebration of the late Octogenarian, Mama Ekundayo. She went on to showcase the beautiful aspect of motherhood, and how Mama Ekundayo raised hundreds of kids that were not even hers. You can rarely find such noble actions in this society that is fast becoming selfish.

That was the length T.Y. Bello would go to tell the world stories of happenings in our society. Her music and videos are backed up with research and when the lyrics are broken down into lines, you must definitely feel the impact and get lost when trying to find yourself.

From 'The Land Is Green', which took Nigerians by the storm to 'Ekundayo',  'Jesus Jesus' and now 'Cold'. I had downloaded the song 'Cold' months ago before I finished National Youth Service, but I just did not have time to listen to it. So today, while I was looking for a music to listen to that, will ignite my muse and make me write better, I stumbled on 'Cold' by T.Y. Bello. This particular song called on the sleeping Soldiers (not just the Soldiers, but the Citizens also) to wake up to their responsibilities. 

The song shares what is now fast trending in our society. Every man for himself. We are all trying to make money, jostle for power, have fun and make love here and there. So much so that we even forgot that there are wars going on in the North East, the Fulani Herdsmen killing in the Middle-Belt, while hundreds of Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB members have been killed and arrested by the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police. 

 "Give us heart and flesh O God, a true burning for men O God."

This line will touch anyone who still has a conscience left in him. It is a plea to God to give us heart and flesh to be able to see the sufferings of people around us. Nigeria and Nigerians are increasingly becoming selfish, as long as their immediate family is doing great, the rest can go to hell. How are we going to move forward with this kind of attitude?

Our Politicians grew up with this mentality, that is why I don't blame them. When they get into office, all they do is amass wealth and steal funds that even their unborn generations cannot finish spending.

Do you know that your Politicians, after leaving office, retire with different packages which include; houses, cars, drivers, cooks and so on? Now I can confirm to you that it is true.

Have you ever asked yourself why your present Governors picked up their party tickets to run for the National Assembly? If they succeed, they will collect all the lifetime benefits listed above and they still collect many other benefits as a Senators even after their exit from the National Assembly.

 "Have mercy Lord, we are cold, we've turned away from the crying, we've turned away from the dying. So we run, run after money, we run, run, run after power."

Yes in the West here, and every other part of Nigeria that is free from attacks by these demon blood-sucking terrorists and killers. We have turned away from the sad realities of the inhabitants of those in these precarious situations. Indeed I have listened to many people saying that the Northerners are killing themselves to acquire Power. While this may be true, it may also be false.

What about the innocent ones who were massacred in a Catholic church in Benue?

What about those in the IDP camps scattered across different parts of Nigeria?

What about those kids who did not have the means to go to school in your own locality?

What about those kids that ordinarily should be in School and not in the streets hawking?

What have you done to help the situation?

What about those poor women who toil daily to make a living?

How about those boys and girls of tomorrow who don't know where their next meal will come from?

How about you lending a helping hand to that blind man that needs to cross to the other side of the road?

How about you check on your loved ones that you've never called in a year, months and in days?

How about you give a smile to that little employee working with you?

Nigeria is currently ranked the world capital of poverty, but automobiles fill our streets in droves. 

Have you ever visited big eateries like SHOPRITE, KFC, MR BIGGS and so on and see the population that throng their buildings every day?

Where do they get the money?

Are we truly poor as a Nation?

Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying that you should not spend your money, you earn it, so you should spend it. But at the same time, also remember the people in your environment who need help.

There are foreign men and women who would leave their comfort zone to Nigeria to help educate our youths, teach children, give them scholarships, help in cases of disasters. But it saddens my heart these days to see Nigerians who claim to be religious but in the true sense of the word, they are Godless. Some of these whites don't even believe in God, but they are ready to help, even to sell their house to make sure their neighbours, not just their neighbours are alive and well. But look at our very religious Nigerians, look at the Churches, Mosques Pastors and Imams, what do you see?

If we are going to build a sustainable economy, if we are going to have relative peace, we must start investing in the people. If we don't, these forgotten souls will one day raise an army of killers against us.

TY-Bello song 'Cold' is what we all need to listen to, and re-evaluate our lives, change our mindset about Money, about wealth and life in general.

By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
 omotoyorsiiadeolu@gmail.com

Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu is a Writer, Poet, Digital Marketer and a Laptop Specialist based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Writing is a Lifestyle

'We write to taste life twice, in a moment and in retrospect' -  Anais Nin. 

A lifestyle is the typical way of life of an individual, group, or culture.

Wikipedia defines lifestyle as the interests, opinions, behaviours, and behavioural orientations of an individual, group, or culture. 

The ability for you to create things that never existed is the same as you being a god. You give life to none existing things. Although sometimes you are not being paid for these things the passion leads you, the drive makes you want to write more and more without stopping even if your hands ache. People criticize you negatively; make a mockery of what you have written but you keep pushing on because you have made it part of you, a blossoming lifestyle. You don’t really care what they say about; you only want to pass a vital message through this lifestyle called writing. 

You the creator, you make non- living things come to life. You the maker; you establish things from its fragments and give those things hope. You never know the power you have within you. I don’t think you know yourself. You don't know you have the ability to give and take life, you never know you can kill and make alive. You don’t know your worth in the world and that is why you allow people to kick you around.  You never knew what tomorrow has in store for you. Have you forgotten you have a lifestyle to protect? In this pleasurable world, do you know you were made to change some certain things? To give opportunities to those who deserve it?

Have you looked at yourself in the mirror and told yourself sweet words as a writer that tells the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end?  Do you know that this lifestyle chose you, you didn’t choose it? Do you know that many who criticize you want to be like you? Why do you fear?  You were afraid yesterday, you were conquered yesterday, you were abused yesterday, but you never gave up because you created this lifestyle to be a writer. Because you created another YOU from the previous ones they used to see. Why are you shattered? You were cheated, you were battered, but you never gave in yesterday. 

Why are you frustrated? Your works were rejected on several occasions but, you keep pushing on this lifestyle you carved for yourself. Writing is an endless lifestyle that stays on after you have gone into the abyss.  Because you have to write the books that need to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for adults, then you write it for children. I never knew you to be this weak, yes, I know writers are stronger than the foundation of this world. Be strong there!

If writers wrote as carelessly as some people talk, then life will be as careless as it is written.  Ernest Hemingway once wrote that all good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you: the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer.  

And Albert Camus wrote that the purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself. As a writer with a lifestyle and purpose, the more you leave out, the more you highlight what you live in. Never you judge but try to understand.

“Great writers are indecent people they live unfairly saving the best part for people. Good human beings of the world so that bastards like me can keep creating art, become immortal if you read this after I am dead it means I made it.” Charles Bukowski

“A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his friends” Friedrich Nietzsche

“The good writers touch life often. The mediocre ones run a quick hand over her. The bad ones rape her and leave her for the flies” Ray Bradbury.

It’s never been a better time to be a writer or aspire to become one in a country like ours but those of us that have this lifestyle of writing chosen by us will keep pushing. If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. Create your space, a lifestyle that has never been created. Be deadly to find the right place to do that, either writing something worth reading or do something worth writing that is the lifestyle.
 

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader “Robert Frost.

Read, read, and read. Read everything--- trash, classic, good and bad, and see how they do it.  Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. 

If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it is not, throw it out of the window “William Falkner.

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live. You can shake off everything as you write, your pains, sorrow, agony, loss of loved ones, abuse; and disappointment and then, rebirth your courage and wit. Yes, that is what the lifestyle entails. 

Don’t get discouraged with how you live this lifestyle as people will always talk. Don’t look at the dumb side of it but the positive aspect of you living as an immortal after death welcomes you home.

Live your life to the fullest and write those things that needed to be written to satisfy the curiosity of those that will come after us.

Writing is a lifestyle and not a game of trial.

By John Chizoba Vincent

chizobavincent@gmail.com

The Servitude Called NYSC

In submission I yielded to the clarion call,

You clothed me in drills and labour

The rigour akin to the harsh whip of our slave masters.

Soldiers, camp commandant, platoon officers

All made me weep in regret.

I was issued a meal ticket

Malnourished from food with sparse ingredients

Food meant for prisoners on death row

Perhaps, even, bad enough to wake the dead.

My settlement was a beehive of activities;

Filled with people; teaching, smoking and lounging.

I took solace in the body of village girls

Randomly occupying the honeypot between their legs.

What a pity !

I also sought satisfaction in the bosoms of local girls.

As I agonized that I wasted my time and energy on meaningless tasks,

Like birds beating their wings,

Against the bars of a cage, in a struggle for freedom.

In the end, I was greeted with a paper;

My name was stamped boldly on it

It resembled a certificate

Which signified my freedom

From the chains of modern slavery.

I took it with mixed feelings

Danced away my sorrows into the winds

Filled with happiness, freedom and prospects.

Even the musicians dropped their instruments

To applaud.

By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
 omotoyorsiiadeolu@gmail.com

To My Unborn Children

Dear Obianuju and Wemimo, 

I know you really want to come into this world, but I do not want you to suffer for my wrongs. I see friends having fun, from having fun they break up, I don't want such for myself. 


See I am trying to build a life for you and the woman I will call my wife. I know someday I will be a father, I am sure by then your mother will be ready. 

Dear Obianuju, you are a girl do not join the class of slay queens, you should make sure you slay academically, financially, morally, mentally and spiritually. Do not sell your body to any man, respect your body as a temple of God. There is still pride in virginity, free your mind from those charlatans who see virginity as nothing but old and not a cherished virtue. 

Obianuju, I promise to get you a good mother, who will bring you up in a Godly way. A mother, who will guide you spiritually and teach you all you need to know about your Creator.

Please discard anything that has to do with tribalism and ethnicity. Always see every other individual as you see yourself. I have been a victim of tribalism, do away with that. Treat every other person you meet based on the content of their character and not where they come from. Settle down and build a family with the man who understands you very well. Don't be an housewife, be a career woman, do not join 'all those feminist' people.

I did not give you a Yoruba name because I married from another tribe- IGBO. Remember, I told you to do away with tribalism.

Dear Wemimo, the man of the house, I hope you will uphold the integrity I have struggled so hard to gather for my name.

Please always treat the female gender with respect and love, under no circumstances should you lay your hands on any female...or anybody for that matter. If you have feelings for any woman, express yourself honourably to her. If she accepts, FINE, If not, please MOVE ON. Do not force yourself on any woman. I am not a rapist, neither are you.

Education is the best legacy, take your education very seriously. Do not rely on just certificates, create time to develop yourself. Adapt yourself to every new change in the world, acquire every skill that interests you, embrace knowledge, learning never ends.

The place of God in your life is so important, however make sure you have a personal encounter with your creator. Do not let all these 'gods-of-men' that call themselves 'Men-Of-God' deceive you. Use your instincts to discern the true ones among them.

Wemimo, you might not be strict like me, but do not let people take advantage of you. I am a philosopher and I can tell you that patience is everything. Sometimes things will be tough, sometimes it will be smooth, you must keep moving. Have confidence in yourself and never allow anybody belittle or put you down.

Finally, prepare yourself for the future and marriage. Work towards perfecting your life and your marriage. As a rule I followed, marry only one wife, do not exceed that. I wish you grace to solve problems, surmount challenges and be a conqueror. 

You are the greatest my dear son.

By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
 omotoyorsiiadeolu@gmail.com

The Lonely Man

My heart is made of shattered glasses
In which I drenched my loneliness
Ready to cut you in pieces
With the rage of celibacy

Sometimes my shadow
Becomes my only companion
In it, I see myself clearly
Hanging on to the wallow

I once watched at a glance
In my dream, I poured a libation
Swimming across the ocean
And gathering pawn at dawn

Sometimes I don't know
If I should blame Maa'mi
Or blame Baa'mi
That I am alone
Like bank notes in a vault

I met a Miss
She blew me a kiss
But I took the drug of sorrow
And hid in the sands of time

Love is a drug
Sold by those whose hearts are made of stones, 
ready to break my heart made of glasses
Traded on the stock of loneliness

Maa'mi says time will heal me
She told a beautiful lie
The type pitted cities against each other
As the clock stopped ticking

Maa'mi told me to live freely
Like a rich man's offspring
Because soon and very soon
God shall be without a faith

But the world dies abruptly
And with it, my melancholy.

By Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu
 omotoyorsiiadeolu@gmail.com

I Am Bigger Than Papers

“It makes little difference how many university courses and degrees a person may own. If he cannot use words to move an idea from one point to another, his education is incomplete" - Norman Cousins

"Economists who have studied the relationship between education and economic growth confirm what common sense suggests: the number of college degrees is not nearly as important as how well students develop cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problems solving ability." - Derek Bok.

"What I have learnt is that a whole lot of people with degrees don’t know a damn thing and a lot of people with no degrees are brilliant " - John Henrik Clarke   

I have met many great men of great repute who weren’t defined by what they or by the certificates and degrees they acquired from school. Some of them opted out from school to become who they are now while some of them dropped out from school for one reason or the other.  

Melancholy and sadness give room to doubt… doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning of the differing degrees of wickedness. It has become a norm in our country, Nigeria, for people to be acknowledged or get acquainted with other people based on the number of certificates or degrees they acquired from higher institutions, without having any clue of what those who acquired those degrees stand to offer to the society.

I am not saying that degrees are not good to acquire or not important, we know that to compete for the jobs of the 21 century and thrive in a global economy, we need a growing, skilled and educated workforce, particularly in the area of science, technology, engineering and math. Nigerians with bachelor’s degrees have half the unemployment rate of those with high school degree but, I am of the opinion that degrees should not be a criterion to judge people base on what they can do or cannot do.  Everyone should be giving a chance in the industry. Don’t judge anybody on his/her educational background. One can be better than those things being taught inside the classroom. One may even end up better than those people that went to school to acquire thousands of certificates and degrees. We have great men who became great today not because of what they studied in school but because they discovered themselves; they discovered their lives beyond what men conditioned on papers with ink.

"Leadership consists not in degrees of techniques but in traits of character, it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint" - Lewis Lapham. 

We should all feel confident in our intelligence. By the way, intelligence to me isn’t being book-smart or having degrees here and there; it’s trusting your gut instincts, being intuitive, thinking outside the box, and sometimes just realizing that things need to change and being smart enough to change it. You can be all you want to be without degrees littered on your shelf.  

Don’t allow anyone to put you down because you don’t have a PhD or HND or Bachelor's Degree, no! Your dog only bears the name you call it every day.  

Shakuntala Devi once said that Education is not just about going to school and getting a degree. It’s about widening your knowledge and absorbing the truth about life. 

Although Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who are prepared not in degrees but in what can be beneficial to the world. Stop judging people based on the degrees before their names, judge them base on what they can offer to help make the world a better place. We are all bigger and greater than those papers on our shelves.

Truth be told, many people nowadays don’t work with their degrees or certificates. A lot of people don't work based on what they studied in school. Many who studied Sociology ended up working as presenters and some who studied Psychology ended up working in the banking sector.  

So, it is not all about what you studied or the degree you were awarded in the university, it is all about what you can do yourself. I am bigger than those papers likewise you; don’t be defined by it.

 by John Chizoba Vincent
chizobavincent@gmail.com

For Those Humans And Writers Who Feel Lost In The World Of Social Media.

 

The effect the social media has on us as humans and writers cannot be quantified, it is like an umbrella that shields us from the rain, and when your data is exhausted, the umbrella is stolen by your network providers. Gone into the ashes of lost memories not to be seen nor found no more until you subscribe again.

During those moments, it can be the most boring time ever, as you are shut out of this world, alone and alone with no one to hear your voice especially if you weave words into life like me.

Technology has given us everything that we need but at the same time, it has also robbed us of everything we once cherished. The things we hold dear, memories, priceless friendships, family, love and togetherness.

While the slay queens and slay mama's who seek relevance and validation by the likes and

comments of their followers are doing theirs, the SMALL GIRLS with BIG GOD are also catching the flight of social media paparazzo. 

Some of these girls feel alive when the likes and comments breathe life into them and make beauty out of their ashes, but when the likes and comments go into oblivion, they panic jump into the river of inferiority complex, hiding their faces just like "Small Doctor" said.

What about the boys?
Those ones especially the Yahoo Boys are the kings that sit on no throne, they were crowned by their ability to play on the intelligence of gullible people, but they have a makeshift throne, which is surrounded by the Slay Queens and Slay Mamas.

Some writers also count their worth by the likes and comments on their social media handles, for those writers, I say they have impaired intellects. The purpose of writing is to live an indelible mark on this earth, that even when you leave to suck the breasts of your ancestors, your leftover milk will still serve as a refuge to thousands and millions, if not billions of generations years after your exit.

Everybody is a celebrity in a day according to social media, that day is the day you were born, your birthday, the likes and comments gulp your timeline.
You are celebrated far and wide. But as the day comes to a dead end, you will realise it was just an illusion.

This is also to those ghost friends that the only time they resurrect is when you post the news and pictures of the death of your loved ones. They will be the first to comment with their usual condolence messages. I hope you will just go back into your grave and get cemented by the gravel of history?

And to those humans who have found a new way of committing suicide, the ones that do live videos and shut themselves out of this world, I hope you can begin to see the need to still give life another chance and use this platform as a means of dialogue and conversation with your followers. Your lives mean more than this world to us.

You know how you feel when your data vanishes into the pit of hell or when your gadget is struck by a lightning or thunder. The whole world comes crashing on you. The new world welcomes you with open arms, suddenly you feel like hugging the sun, but the ray of the sun is too much for you to bear because you are not so hot to give the sun a 10.

What a world!
The social media world, where we all allow the likes and comments be the muse that keeps our ink bleeding and flowing. In your confused memory and assisted by your village people, you feel you are really doing something, well done, Oh my god ! "won ti get tie."

This goes to those humans and writers that pretend that likes and comments do not matter, they forgot that no one fetches the ocean empty, neither has anyone ever filled a tanker carrying a basket.

As much as you all pretend, it is evident in your daily life, most of you cannot do without your social media for a day, depression becomes your guardian angel whenever you propose to the likes and comments and they both turn you down.
The earth refuses you an accommodation and your accomplishments 

are now standing trial in the court of social media, with "likes as the prosecuting counsel" and "Comments as the trial Judge."
There you are as the defendants manned by your lawyers -your Pen and Muse.

After back and forth arguments, the Social Media courts give his judgement as follows ;

Do not let the likes and comments be your muse, if they come, accept them with a warm reception, if they don't come, keep working and never stop working.

Never you compare your timeline with another.

We are not judged by our likes and comments, but by the quality of the contents we push out.

There will be comments that will break you and even pierce your hearts, but rise above them and keep churning out quality content.

After the judgement, the chains of likes and comments are gunned down and you are free to attain your full potential in life.

My thoughts and ink that flow through the South, East, West and North into my bleeding pen are always with you all.

 by Adetayo Omotoyosi Adeolu

 omotoyorsiiadeolu@gmail.com