The Relentless Builder: September 2011

27 September 2011

One Lovely Blog Award [Featured Artiste: Jeremiah Gyang]

Did I mention that I LOVE surprises? Boy, was I surprised today to find out that Uduak of Finally Me had passed on the ‘One Lovely Blog Award’ to me! *Does a little “komole-ing,” gives Jesus a wiper and quickly decides against doing a “split” for obvious reasons … Oush!* Thank you so much, Uduak! I am truly grateful. Please check out her blog (if you have not already done so) HERE. You will not regret it.

Now, to pay the price of being tagged. So, here are “ze RULES” (in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice):

Link back to the person who gave you the award
Complete the form below
Tell seven random things about yourself
Nominate 15 bloggers

*Takes in a deep breath* … Here we go!

21 September 2011

10 comments

Simbi goes to school [Featured Artiste: Psalmos]

Labels: Cultism, Education, Hess, Music, Psalmos, Universities

Simbi / Image Source: BBM

Remember Ali and Simbi from your primary school textbook? Well, the picture on the right should refresh your memory. Let’s assume for today that Simbi has graduated from secondary school. The next logical step for her to take is to go to the university, right? Once upon a time, Simbi had no choice, but to go to a public university (federal or state), since private universities in Nigeria were more or less non-existent. Fast-forward to 2011. Simbi can choose to attend either a public or private university. Okay, let me snap out of this third person narration mode for now.

One problem we can all agree on that plagues Nigerian universities is cultism. It used to be that this was a problem that was peculiar to public universities, and that the private universities were “squeaky clean” and did not have cults. But the reality is that regardless of the affiliation of the private universities (e.g. Bowen University is owned by the Nigerian Baptist Convention, and Babcock is owned by the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Nigeria), there is a growing problem of cultism in private universities. It does not matter whether the cultists in private schools are ex-cultists who were rusticated from public universities or whether some students feel that their learning experience is not complete without cultism (hence the need to create cults in an otherwise “cult-free” environment). What matters though is the implication of this trend for private universities in Nigeria.

13 September 2011

21 comments

The Myth of the Nigerian Accent [Featured Artiste: T Sharp]

Labels: Music, T Sharp

Image Source: Tumblr

Apart from the shock of seeing a certain cousin in a gospel music video today, my week has been quite good. How has yours been? So-so? Ah well, stay positive. Like Nigerians say, “God Dey.” Speaking of which, today’s topic is something that has been sitting in my heart for a couple of years now. I debated on whether or not to actually discuss it, and after torturing myself and oscillating between two choices, I settled on this one, i.e. to air my views on this singular issue. Now, this is highly subjective, so feel free to share your own thoughts as well.

In several classes in college here in the US, I found myself to be the only black person in the classroom, and consequently, the only Nigerian (Well, duh!) I still do not know if it was just culture shock, or just me having a “deer in the headlights” moment (more than one moment, actually, if you count all the classes I took). But what usually happened was that when the teacher or professor called on me to answer a question, my own voice sounded very different to me, like the voice of another person.

That was a major shift from the two years I spent in UNILAG where everyone pretty much sounded the same way. It was a lot worse in law school where they practiced the so-called “Socratic Method,” i.e. the professor can “call on” you randomly to answer a question, and depending on the professor’s teaching style, he might call on ONLY you for the entire class period. Needless to say, for those who were caught unawares (which was pretty much everyone), “boys were not smiling.” In fact, I have had a few people (Americans obviously) tell me that I sound Jamaican! *rolls eyes* Of course, there is nothing wrong with sounding Jamaican, except for one thing: I am a NIGERIAN. And that begs the question: What does a Nigerian accent sound like?

05 September 2011

13 comments

Capture It [Featured Artiste: Nosa]

Labels: Memories, Music, Nosa, Pictures

Image Credit: Flickr

I recently came across some old pictures of myself and immediate family members from the time when we lived in Nigeria and also shortly after we moved to the US. Apart from the obvious nostalgia that accompanied this discovery (and not to mention seeing how I looked several pounds lighter), it made me wonder at what my philosophies on life were back then. I have a few journal notes that I wrote back then, so I can refer back to those. But for the most part, I have to rely on my memory. I journal a lot more now more than I did back then (and also take a lot more pictures, thanks to the proliferation of digital cameras at affordable prices), so I guess it will help in the long run.

Speaking of pictures, did I ever mention one of my favorite pastimes? I love visiting photo blogs to see pictures of weddings and other events. Pictures speak volumes you know. I particularly find these interesting: pictures of grooms who look trapped and brides who look "triumphant," pictures of a groom crying as his bride walks down the aisle towards him, pictures of the faces of the in-laws as they receive their new daughter or son in a traditional wedding, and of course, pictures of wedding favors and memorabilia with captions like "Nene HOOKS Obinna." (That word "hooks" is so hilarious to me....like say Obinna be fish and Nene be fisherman .... Poor Obi! LOL!)