As I gazed at the burnt remains of Dr. Ezennaya, I felt grieved as I knew that in the heap of the charred body of this man was a combined library and a teaching hospital destroyed. He was murdered by Bakassi Boys, a group of young men with an Igbo-wide mandate to identify evil people in Igboland, kill them by the sword and set their bodies on fire. Armed robbers and their native doctor consultants that prepared charms for them were primary targets. I have an equal share of biological relationships with good, successful and bad people. Dr. Ezennaya (a.k.a…
Author: Ikenga Ezenwegbu
There is this brand of capital many intelligent people have used to achieve more in their various life endeavours. It has also helped them in their times of crisis. It’s worth more than money. It works when money is available but cannot change the situation. It is called social capital. Social capital has been aptly defined as the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively. It is the capital drawn from the members of the society by a needy member to solve his or her overwhelming problems or…
I sincerely regret my inability to apologize to my dad just as I rue my lack of opportunity to seek his forgiveness for hating him so much before he died. I hated my dad because of the way he treated my mother. As far as I could see and tell, as a 5-year old, my dad was wicked. He maltreated my mum. What kind of man would pretend to be a good dad, caring husband and a good Christian but would always make the wife cry in the night every two days? Our house, built during the civil war, was…
I have been a salesman all my life to know why some products sell and others do not. Aside from what we have been taught in the holy books about marriage, I have concluded that good grooming and packaging, amongst other salient values, are today’s best qualities any lady should have to attract a good long-lasting husband, a real man. My conviction is further reinforced by the failure of marriages of very spiritual-minded couples and marriage counsellors. They knew what to do but could not do what they needed to do, and the cookie crumbled. Every perceptive mother should refocus…
There is a growing disenchantment amongst our people most especially businessmen and women who have succumbed to the antics of prophecy merchants alluding their current low in sales or activities to spiritual attacks. Many innocent persons, usually neighbours or relations have now been accused of shelling devilish missiles by pastors of fortune hence causing enmity between hitherto peaceful people. I have noticed that two of my close relatives currently distance themselves from me. They have gone highly spiritual these days. They stylishly returned my monetary gifts just to safeguard their destinies. I feel them. I neither asked why nor got…
Nigerian banking and financial space is getting interesting in that with a mobile application on hand one can access soft loans from almost all the commercial banks repayable over a short period of less than 48 months. In this area also are micro lenders using financial technologies to solve immediate borrowing needs of the public. These forms of borrowing are convenient but are highly priced to reflect the repayment risks. These facilities known as Retail or Consumer loans are not the kind of loans a business person needs. The amounts are usually small. When a business loan or more structured…
Our ancestors had forewarned that “uzo eji nwa adighi èchí échî”, meaning that “a marital relationship that has produced a child can never be deemed closed or ended.” Even at that, it is natural for a man or woman to decide to call it quits when fed up with a marriage. However, the Western courts’ superiority over Igbo cultural norms has now made it easier for many couples of Igbo extraction to sidestep the extant traditional ways and methods of resolving marriage challenges and now prefer to approach the regular courts for divorce rather than following the ancestral route. Chief…
A medieval king had employed three men whose job it was to appear before him before he went to bed telling him, “His majesty, remember that you a mere human, a mortal man and will die one day standing in judgement before the true King, you’re not all knowing or more powerful than the power God has allotted to you”. The king did so to dilute in his brain, the effects of praise-singers and hero-worshippers living in his courts. Many politicians and wealthy people have been destroyed by people surrounding them who have through devious methods pumped up their ego…
In the news is how Davido, a young Nigerian musician posted an appeal to his friends to gift him one million naira each and within 5 days, he has raised up to 200 million naira and still counting. Worthy of note is that Davido didn’t call anyone personally, write a letter of appeal or visit physically to beg. He carelessly made his appeal on social media and his friends started the race to be counted. Even our politicians braced the tape first. Are you surprised? What you see happening is this brand of capital many intelligent people have used to…
In the course of my profession, which allows me to meet the affluent and influential, saints and sinners as well as anybody that has, had and will have money, I have seen big family businesses and dreams go down because none of the children sent abroad to study is interested in returning to run the family businesses. It is not entirely the making of the children. The parents prepared the stage for their heartaches. The kids were raised in foreign values, and they look forward to living their foreign dream. Like our ancestors that welcomed the Whiteman unto our shores,…
I returned from work to find Chichi, my daughter very sad. She was so inconsolable that her heart was bursting out through her mouth. It was a relief for her to pour out her grief to me, her affectionate daddy. She was waiting for me to return from work. Gaining and maintaining the trust of my children in that they could tell me everything, I adjudge, is my greatest achievement as a parent. “I sense Joan doesn’t like me anymore”, my daughter said in a tone betraying a sense of let down. And she continued, “Joan was very cold to…
