ENUGU...the coal city.

Its noon here in the coal city, the luxurious eastern part of Nigeria and am enjoying every bit of it as the days move on. Though every moment is poised between lethargy and enthusiasm, I still want to linger on as if life was perfect. It is rather difficult sometimes to be capricious but I needed it this time. The environment is so different from where I come from; a state full of hustle and bustle. Even the wind lost its mild nature as man and machines roar here and there. Hardly had the dawn herald than the populace find their way to the street in search of their means of survival. But here in Enugu, everywhere seems so capacious that serenity pays you a visit. The song of the birds is what brings you back to life in the morn and economic activities begin three hours before noon.

After leaving the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp in Awgu, I decided to visit some friends and acquaintances in the capital of the state and there I found distinctive characteristics. The city was enclosed with mountains and hills and I cannot but open my mouth in amazement as I enjoy the wonderful view. The epileptic weather condition delivers calmness and harshness in the city. When it is raining, it is a heavy downpour. When it is sunny, its scorch and the wind are always cool like the ambient temperature in an efficacious refrigerator. I become a callow youth and was ready to experience new things. The dialect is hard at first but I was willing to learn so as to flow with the community.

In the morning, the first communication that spreads out is “Otutuoma!” meaning “Good morning”. When I was first greeted in this manner, my instinct suggested that it was a compliment and then I was taught to say “Daalu!” which means “Thank you”. One of those things that appeal to my appetite is their dishes. The day I devoured “Okpa”, I experimented it with hope of enjoyment and I never regretted taking it. Then it was “Abatcha”, a leafy nutritious meal that is loved by all. Nna ehn, the people of this city loathe seasoning their rice with salt which is contrary to the way we do in the western part of the country. It is believed generally that health wise, it is not good to have too much salt in the food, especially for hypertensive people. What even draws my love more to this place is their ethnical and religious tolerance.

Being a state popularly dense with Christians, you’ll probably think they will be hostile to other religious beliefs, due to the security threat going on in the country by some religious fanatics’ sect. But to my astonishment, I found a remote community at the extreme of the state where there are indigenous Muslims living peacefully with other theological group and they are practising their worship with ease. What national development can be better than that?

A community replete with no dissonance and obdurate youth will sooner or later engender an abode of peace and tranquillity and hence development. Enugu…the coal city! I love this state. “Aye no na coal city”.

Relaxation... the bedrock of success

A popular Yoruba cliché says “a hardworking and dedicated child requires a period of leisure and relaxation”. This is what led me to my renewed quest to the movie house. It will be my second time to this place; my first was through the support of my sister, who just felt like brushing my social realm because I never had one. It was interesting and I wanted to go again. I just finished offering my seasonal sacrificial fasting, which lasted for 4 weeks. So, this is an avenue for me to relax myself after hearkening to my Creator’s call. Many people always troop in here every day to relax and meet with friends. It has become an avenue for guys to prove to their ladies that they are responsible. Parents also bring their children to play games, watch cartoons, and buy interesting kiddie kits.

The reality about life is that you can’t subject yourself to every day psyche hoarding. You need to give the brain a break. But the best you can do is to utilize the leisure positively, while others prefer to use their spare time to read or sleep, some prefer to socialize and mingle with people, exchange contact with new people and network. It is this same period that some use to harness the negative factor in them. Indulging in acts like excessive dancing, drinking and smooching of all kind is another means of relaxation for themselves. Like I always do, my discussion is always towards the youth. There are many responsibilities of the youth in the society. A country with deformed or misinformed youths is a fruitless country and the country or society is vulnerable to war and chaos. This is because when there is underdevelopment as a result of the deformed youth, there is blasphemy and then war. But if the youth are determined and positively oriented, the outcome will forever be improving the world. So, to harness and ignite these untapped resources, he must work and also relax. Fantastic ideas even sprout out during the time of leisure because you are naturally relaxing your muscles and the work function of the heartbeat is to the minimal, thereby creating room for initiative and outstanding thoughts.

Health workers have even made us understand that man needs rest of nearly eight hours a day. It’s not about sleeping but it’s about relaxing. Relaxation is one of the bedrock of the fountain of success.

YOU WILL SURVIVE.

This part of my life is the period of thinking and achievement. I can’t explain how I felt when I watched the film “The Pursuit of Happiness” and understand that this life is a memoir of expressions; the time to laugh; the time to cry; the time to reflect. Many times you think that the situation you find yourself is so terrible that you cannot but release gallons of tears through your eyes either because you were not able to take your three-square meal or because you just had a rough day at workplace or you just lost loved ones or  the government just demanded for an outrageous tax from your financial reservoir. But out of these seas of emotional situation, you still have to move on because you’ll be surprised that some are in a more sophisticated situation than you. If I say that you are far better than a sick person, you’ll rather respond in affirmation without any surprise. But if I tell you that there are some people who are hale and hearty, have their meals as expected but are just frustrated out of life that they prefer to commit suicide, you’ll wonder why!

Imagine an economy devoid of grace and grant for the populace, let alone the masses. No matter how much you try, the status quo have been set in such a way that you’ll keep on running the race. While they call it excellence, I call it survival. Excellence is forever pursued by all from the period you start crawling till the period you start slowly dying. A child will always want to impress his parent by trying to crawl, even though he is not ready just because he wants to excel; a student will want to pass his exams whatever it takes just to achieve excellence; a man will want to be promoted and praised in all he does simply to excel; even an old man will want to be fit at his senile age all in the name of excellence, after all he deserves to live longer! We all subject ourselves to an arbitrary race to survive, to scale through the hurdles and be recognised. A person once told me that if you follow success, excellence will chase you, hands down. But a situation where the system is not giving you any chance to excel, making the medium seem so sleazy that you can’t find your way through; you can be frustrated that you begin to venerate failure. But I need to tell you that you can make it no matter what. All you need do is to get yourself prepared, expect the unexpected and move on with life and pray for better days ahead.

Portray positive thinking, do what you have to do when you have to do them, think big, equip yourself for the upcoming opportunities, smile, absorb and release magnificent energy, accept criticism and try to work on them, impact in your environment, eschew stress and don’t put too much pressure on yourself over what had happened to you. But in all, be sure that ALL IS WELL.