GRIEF ☹

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It’s been one month today since I lost my dad. Daddy, as I always called him. The one person I know I loved and admired dearly. Losing my dad this year was not on my bingo card—I mean, not with him recovering well after the first surgery last year. A month later, I still don’t fully understand what it means …

2024: Year in Review (Jehovah Jireh)

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“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (KJV) If I had a theme song for 2024, it would be “Be Still and Know” by Cece Winans. At the start of the year, I chose “Consolidation” as the theme for the year. I began 2024 excited, knowing it would …

THE WINDING DOWN (Postgrad edition)

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Fourteen years after my first degree I have bagged my second, and the timing feels just right. I wasn’t concerned about pursuing another degree for the first ten years, even though one of my bosses encouraged me to. My banking career was thriving, promotions came without needing further qualifications, and I wasn’t ready to explore other career paths. In 2020, …

ANOTHER THING I DISLIKE ABOUT BIRTHDAYS

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Another December 14 has come and gone again. Birthdays have never been my favourite. There’s something about the attention – (numerous phone calls and messages) that wears me down, added to the yearly reminder that I am getting older. With each passing birthday, the age gets scarier, and it feels like time is passing by too quickly, especially as the …

2024 so far…

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After living in this country for a year and six months, I feel settled, which almost made me forget what this current life phase is about. It is one I long called ‘my eyes are watching God’. It’s funny that I forgot because I do not waste the opportunity to tell people how suffering huge financial losses led me to …

MUSIC REVIEW – MY TOP ALBUMS OF 2023

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2023 was a year for Afrobeats. The genre brought more excitement to the music scene and consolidated its worldwide impact, while mainstream acts sort of did their usual stuff.  If I were to judge, I’d say 2023 was an average year in music that was carried by strong albums released towards the end of 2022. After outstanding EP releases, Sam …

2023: Year in Review (Gratitude)

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For someone who has never fully trusted happiness, always weary that soon enough something will go wrong, it’s amazing just how I freely gave into joy for most parts of 2023. Tagging 2023 my happiest year yet won’t be farfetched. I’ve had good years in the past, but 2023 stands out not because everything worked out (I still haven’t passed my …

NOW THE ‘STORM’ IS OVER

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After yet another grueling three months, I once again got to shut down my laptop, signaling the end of yet another semester. This semester broke me. Right from resumption there was a disconnect I felt towards my studies (I still can’t place it), unlike the first semester I was wholeheartedly excited about. Something didn’t feel right with some of the …

THE PAST FIVE MONTHS (Work-life)

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I think when people say you have to be ready to work hard while living abroad, they are mostly referring to the culture shock that comes with earning per hour in contrast to the fixed monthly pay (sometimes commission based) obtainable in Nigeria. I was giving Musa a rundown of my experience working here compared to Nigeria and we both …

THE PAST THREE MONTHS (Surviving Graduate School)

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‘Life is not what I thought it wasTwenty-four hours agoStill I’m singing ‘Spirit,Take me up in arms with You’And I’m not who I thought I wasTwenty-four hours ago’ – Twenty four (Switchfoot) Someone recently asked if I don’t write anymore, and my response was I have been busy writing academic papers for the past three months.It always felt morally wrong …