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So after a maelstrom 12 days of travel and activity; 7 cities, 4 major events, and lots of travel time I’m finally back to hopefully face my books squarely. Thankfully, I met all but one of the 9 key objectives I set out to achieve. I had three full hours to kill at Heathrow both ways and for want of something more mentally challenging to do, I decided to try to categorize the African/ Naija people around.. I thought they fit broadly into ten categories.. Enjoy…. ...

I’m at a crossroad of sorts – not life threatening, not even 5-year-plan shaking just yet, but a conundrum nonetheless… There is the gravitation towards SAFETY; the attraction to the proverbial tried and tested terra firma, then there is the lure of ADVENTURE; the exhilarating heights that finally conquering some not so far-flung terra incognito promises, and then there is the potential SATISFACTION that finally decomposing a thorny problem promises… ...

For TheB, and all the other broken hearts… Though tears like a river course down like rain, And your heart by cupid’s fiery barbs is rent. Although your cracked voice breaks out in wails, And hell with all its fury and fiends seem sent. Be still, Stay strong, you’ll make it home. Though fear like a cloak your mind enshrouds, And rabid voices, your reasoning besiege. Though Night descends, your dreams to hound, And heart beats resonate to a symphony of rage. Be still, Stay strong, you’ll make it home. ...

Quite an interesting discussion the last post generated. I for one believe that virtual communities have their place, but they should not be allowed to upstage our real life relationships. I’ve made real friends from blogging that I would include in my Top Ten all time friends, but that has come about because at some stage I, or they reached out and made contact beyond what the very open forum of blogging can provide. I’ve tried to summarize the positions you all held and tried to comment.. Enjoy… Farida talked about the opportunity to raise issues and fight injustices via the vehicle of blogging: I agree explicitly with you on that one. The global accessibility that the internet provides makes it a great tool to raise awareness on topical issues – if people get to read it that is. With the level of internet penetration in Nigeria though, I’d be very surprised if blogs do not merely cater to the already intellectually aware. ...

I jumped at the chance to participate in BlogTourSpot’s review of Shane Hipps new book: Flickering Pixels – How Technology Shapes Your Faith for two reasons. I was at a stage where I thought the clutter of technology was squeezing sense out of my normal life, plus I’d get a copy of the book for free. The author’s background is in advertising, which has given him a unique insight into the working of media and how it is changing how we think, which ultimately affects how we share and live out our faith. The book sets out in broad strokes the insidious dangers that the changes media brings to our lives can generate, and by sounding out a clarion call, we can be on the lookout for them and avoid them as they arise. Several key points stand out 1. All Faith is based on communication – either from God to us or between us as adherents, and the way we primarily communicate affects our interpretation of our faith. 2. Each more ‘efficient’ means of communication we pick up has a dark side – it increases the propensity to clutter rather than clarify. 3. Media is not neutral – the message we actually get from communicating is both dependent on the message and the medium. 4. Pictures & Images (such as television) hijack our imagination. Words and printed matter however encourage us to generate our own images of the concepts being discussed, as opposed to being fed an image which in reality is one man’s interpretation of the words behind the image. 5. We have slowly become a tribe of individuals – sharing experiences on an unprecedented scale (shared experiences build community, a ‘tribal’ ethos) but yet utilizing the self same tools to build an illusion of closeness whilst in reality, it is only yet another layer of interaction, another screen between the real us and the next person. 6. For Christians, we are both the medium and the message and all other forms of communication should only be to facilitate that primary, face to face communication model, not replace it. ...

well……. db is live in las gidi after much! thankfully the peeps @ mtn reactivated my contract, so i’m good to roll…albeit intermittently via a USB connection between my lappie and my phone! now i need to locate ‘mama put’ for some piping hot amala and ewedu soup… keep those questions for the 29th rolling in..looking very interesting already….. cheers peeps!

Minerva in all her dainty, god-like, grandeur failed to walk, On the slippery inclines you choose to run. Buxom Efik Princesses turned tail and baulked, But you bashfully refuse away to turn. Like Polaris oblivious to the lure of southern skies, Unfazed by the heady fumes that rise so high, I refrain in spite of many tries, From Cupid’s fiery barbs which doth truly fly. Shall you, o little lady, proceed? Where others of ilk more intense have floundered? Shall your sultry charms succeed? Where others of great skill have turned and surrendered? ...

Hey peeps… I’ve got a number of key projects to deliver in April - off to Nigeria for a number of weddings, and massive book work issues to resolve. I’ll thus be off on a mini-hiatus for a large portion of April, aside of two key posts; a review of Shane Hipps book Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith sometime next week, as well as my Blogference for the 29th. As I cannot confirm that I will have access to the internet, I may not be able to do blog rounds or respond to your comments within the period. If you can lay your hands on the Shane Hipps book, do give it a read. I expect it will make for a stimulating discussion.Do keep the questions flowing in, and have a great month! ...

Totally beserk she plies her trade, Enchantingly verbose, weaving her tirades. Mired in Nigeria, books became her fad. Inspired blocks of verse, besmirching her façade. Titillating? No mark that a charade. Enchantingly refreshing, she makes the music fade.

I was talking to a couple of elderly peeps back in 9ja a few weeks ago and the case of a son who seems to be intent on self-destruction came up. The father opined that the chaps name might be part of the problem - his name is Ojo (I understand its given to a child whose birth was particularly difficult) and his moniker was Ojo-Jogbon (which seems to carry a connotation of a trouble maker). I decided, just for the fun of it to see what research had been carried out on the subject, and was shocked to discover a whole body of knowledge exists on it - aptly called normative determinism. Ochuko blogged about his name and its meaning, as did justdoyin’s post where a Noel Gist was talking about rumours! ...