By Randell Zuleka Dauda


And so it begins…
Step by step, one train to another, airport security and then planes. Flying through those clouds like there is nothing to hold me back-maybe I should be the wings of the plane cutting through the clouds and not even looking back. Come to think about it life itself should be that way. What if we all just cruise through life without looking back? What if the memories from our past didn’t bother us and the ambiguity of the future didn’t interfere with our present? I guess what I’m trying to say is life would be so much better if we didn’t think past the moment. Sometimes, we need to just LIVE!

​When was the last time you did something that pleased you- I mean just you. When everyone around you said no, you said yes and you did it. When? Even if that thing was wrong you did it anyway knowing that it pleased you. This entry is dedicated to those few that live for today. Those that smile today instead of frowning when they think about yesterday’s trouble or the anticipated problem of the future. Life would be so much easier if we just live for the moment and enjoy every phase of life. They say life is too short, but to that I say its short enough, but with a lot of time to enjoy it. Too often we just waste time worrying about things we have no control over. The next time you find yourself worried with no answers to what the problem is- just quit worry and start living. If worrying is not going to change your situation why not try something else.

I know this sounds like one of those easy to say things, but completely difficult to actually do, but it is not impossible. When you are completely stress and over whelmed with life’s problem try doing what you find pleasure in. Your problems are not going to go away, but worrying does not solve it either. Kind of damn if I do, damn if I don’t- when in doubt, just do! If you have to waste moments of your life don’t you think it’s better to waste it on things you find pleasure in? How about you dance a little to the beat of your troubles every once in a while? That’s right, just dance along with your troubles. When you’re finish dancing your troubles will still be there, but you would be so familiar with it by then that you might crack a smile. Am I making sense? Stay with me….
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Let’s put this in a real life situation. I’ll use a situation I am all too familiar with; a break up or a heart break. When you love someone, they have a lot of control over your happiness. When they leave or when you leave it hurts more than any words can portray. The memories of the past hunt you daily and the possibility of a future without them scares you immensely. So for every tear you share during your heartbreak period, you should just be dancing. I keep suggesting dancing because when you dance the music helps you express your feelings through every muscle in your body. When your body is at work your mind can’t help but March to the beat of your body. For a few moments, you are in complete control of you and your situation. Even if it’s for two or three minutes-on that dance floor you cease the moment to just LIVE!
I’m going to stop writing now because there is so many ways I can take this. I’ll just stop to give you time to think about all this. Remember the next time you want to stress out about problems or whatever tough situation you are in, just live- Do something you like doing. Dance, sing, scream (not too loud you might disturb your inner happiness) jump, run, and etc if you have to. Do whatever you have to do to cease the moment & just LIVE! Return to your problem when you you’re done, it might not be gone, but you will have added more hours of happiness to your life. At the end of the day don’t we all just want to be happy?

 By Quadry Olalekan

While on my way to meet the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Forestry in Ogun State in Nigeria days ago, my uber driver randomly stroke a conversation with me. He assumed that I was one of those Africans who live in the western diaspora. He began with with a very harsh and sweepy assumption and criticism of his fellow Africans (Nigerians) living abroad. He said that he wasn’t sure whether I am the “bad kind or good kind who invest in our economy or the bad kind who are here for our capitalism gains or politics.” 

By Komlan Aloysh
 
It was 6 o’clock on harmathan morning. The sunrays entered my room, peering through the loose and transparent peach-looking cloth that hung as a curtain to my room window. The sun reflection caressed my sleepy oval face, reminding me that it was daybreak and time to fetch water for the house. Still half asleep and annoyed by the early morning awakes and work, I stretched my dried ashy harmathan-licked legs loosely off the bamboo-made bed covered with a few of my lappas, to the dusty floor in my room so as to find my tire-made slippers that grandma bought for me on last week’s market day. The roughness of the floor angrily kissed under my ashy feet with a reminder of the poor shape and condition that the room carried. I quickly threw on my long white socks that looked yellow from overuse and over-washing.