Do Not Say It’s Not Your Country. The Review

Do Not Say It’s Not Your Country
Author: Nnamdi Oguike
Publisher: Griots Lounge

Review by Namse Udosen

“Do Not Say It’s Not Your Country” is a collection of twelve short stories set in diverse places and filled with intriguing characters. Slums, waterside ghettos, Islands, deserts, megacities all play host to scenes of love, lust, romance, scams, terror, deceit, and smashing fights.

Each story is told in a unique way and appeals to different sentiments. The stories show some depth of research to an extent and are glued together by excellent storytelling. “A little Private Get Together”, “Kumba’s Sister”, “My Beloved Infidel”, “A Passage Through Libya”, “In Our Father’s House”, are my favourite five. I feel a deep connection to the stories. The words are soaked in a bowl of humanity.

“A Little Private Get Together” is comic and tragic. Just when a couple thinks they have severed their ties with toxic demons. The demons come back in fatal fashion. Baba, Mama and Bwana Odede are a toxic mix, but their conversations will get you rolling on the floor.
The plot twists in “Kumba’s Sister” was heartbreaking. Susan’s Bay reminds me of the communities along the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. It brought back a few my childhood memories.

Just when I get excited about Finda and Bobo’s love affair, Kamara strikes! What a devil. A whole community is consumed by one man’s lust.

“My Beloved Infidel” is personal to me. The struggle of falling in love across religious borders is a big deal in Nigeria. Love and affection break convention and artificial religious boundaries imposed by conservative societies.

Nnamdi Oguike boldly describes a teenage love affair between a Muslim lad and a Christian girl in the heart of Abuja. The tragedy at the end turned the story on its head.

There is a mix up in the Sallah celebration by the author. The Sallah after Ramadan is actually the small one. It’s Eid Fitri, not Eid-El-Kabir as stated in the story.

“A Passage Through Libya” is a story dripping with emotions. The pains and anxiety of the people making the Lampudesa marathon pierce through the paper. It tells the journey of Africans braving adversity and staring death in the face, for the sake of greener pastures.

Tataa is one hell of a man. The protagonist in “In My Father’s House” is a melancholic that Insists things will work out if the family sticks to his plan. The problem, however, is his ‘plan’. His plan spirals his family down into a vortex of poverty and misery.

The other stories are equally beautiful, but these five are a crowning of the beautiful moments in the book.

The writer uses simple words and plots to tell humane stories. Most of the characters are well rounded with a few flat ones. Some stories could be better with some more research.

In all, it’s a great collection.

The plot twists in “Kumba’s Sister” was heartbreaking. Susan’s Bay reminds me of the communities along the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. It brought back a few my childhood memories.

Just when I get excited about Finda and Bobo’s love affair, Kamara strikes! What a devil. A whole community is consumed by one man’s lust.

“My Beloved Infidel” is personal to me. The struggle of falling in love across religious borders is a big deal in Nigeria. Love and affection break convention and artificial religious boundaries imposed by conservative societies.

Nnamdi Oguike boldly describes a teenage love affair between a Muslim lad and a Christian girl in the heart of Abuja. The tragedy at the end turned the story on its head.

There is a mix up in the Sallah celebration by the author. The Sallah after Ramadan is actually the small one. It’s Eid Fitri, not Eid-El-Kabir as stated in the story.

“A Passage Through Libya” is a story dripping with emotions. The pains and anxiety of the people making the Lampudesa marathon pierce through the paper. It tells the journey of Africans braving adversity and staring death in the face, for the sake of greener pastures.

Tataa is one hell of a man. The protagonist in “In My Father’s House” is a melancholic that Insists things will work out if the family sticks to his plan. The problem, however, is his ‘plan’. His plan spirals his family down into a vortex of poverty and misery.

The other stories are equally beautiful, but these five are a crowning of the beautiful moments in the book.

The writer uses simple words and plots to tell humane stories. Most of the characters are well rounded with a few flat ones. Some stories could be better with some more research.

In all, it’s a great collection.

Book reviewThe plot twists in “Kumba’s Sister” was heartbreaking. Susan’s Bay reminds me of the communities along the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. It brought back a few my childhood memories.

Just when I get excited about Finda and Bobo’s love affair, Kamara strikes! What a devil. A whole community is consumed by one man’s lust.

“My Beloved Infidel” is personal to me. The struggle of falling in love across religious borders is a big deal in Nigeria. Love and affection break convention and artificial religious boundaries imposed by conservative societies.

Nnamdi Oguike boldly describes a teenage love affair between a Muslim lad and a Christian girl in the heart of Abuja. The tragedy at the end turned the story on its head.

There is a mix up in the Sallah celebration by the author. The Sallah after Ramadan is actually the small one. It’s Eid Fitri, not Eid-El-Kabir as stated in the story.

“A Passage Through Libya” is a story dripping with emotions. The pains and anxiety of the people making the Lampudesa marathon pierce through the paper. It tells the journey of Africans braving adversity and staring death in the face, for the sake of greener pastures.

Tataa is one hell of a man. The protagonist in “In My Father’s House” is a melancholic that Insists things will work out if the family sticks to his plan. The problem, however, is his ‘plan’. His plan spirals his family down into a vortex of poverty and misery.

The other stories are equally beautiful, but these five are a crowning of the beautiful moments in the book.

The writer uses simple words and plots to tell humane stories. Most of the characters are well rounded with a few flat ones. Some stories could be better with some more research.

In all, it’s a great collection.

Book review was published on Qwenu Magazine https://qwenu.com/2020/05/20/title-do-not-say-its-not-your-country-author-nnamdi-oguike-book-review-by-namse-udosen/

Namse Udosen

Literacy Drive in Public School in Kaduna

I woke up tired on Monday morning. It was supposed to be one day off from work for me. My conversation with the headteacher LEA Mahuta and Leslie Dongh kicked me into action. I had a pact to set up a library and train the teachers on literacy development strategies.

Names Udosen, Principal Consultant, Tanar Educational Consultancy

I arrived with a bag full of goodies. It was break time and the dust enveloped the atmosphere. Amid the chaos, one young guy ran up to assist me. We walked bag in our middle to the headteacher’s office. He wanted to dash back to running and playing under the sun.

Literacy kits

“Not so fast son!” I grabbed him.
His face radiated joy as I gifted him “Sambo and Juju“. His voice ran faster than his legs to announce his new gift. That was the end of his play session. My eyes caught him in a corner, hunched over, a crowd around him as they explored a new world.

Pupil of LEA Mahuta, Kaduna

In my meeting with the teachers, I told them I am a teacher like them as their body language suggested they wanted some mouth-watering incentives for being interrupted from their chilling. I implored a change of attitude and told them they are no different from the government they cry about if they don’t make personal sacrifices to help these children develop lifelong skills.

We had an interactive session on building critical thinking, literacy and self-confidence in children.

Thanks to Onokpe Joseph and the Street Library guys in Lagos, I was able to source games, puzzles and reading resources for the library.

You can support it too. Follow the link or drop me a message.

https://gifter.com.ng/event/1927

Group picture with staff and Pupils of LEA Mahuta, Kaduna

Walk For Literacy

Walk For Literacy 2021

On September 8th 2021, history was made on the dusty streets on Ungwan Maigeiro, a bustling suburb in Chikun local government area of Kaduna state. Young men and women defied the heat blows from the flaming sun to walk for a cause. Never before had people in any part of Northern Nigeria walked the streets to encourage literacy.
The first-ever walk for literacy put together by Tanar Educational Consultancy was led by Baboshiya Asake, Namse Udosen, Ifeanyi Eze and Richard Dambo. Pushed by a burning desire to promote a reading culture in Northern Nigeria, they rallied friends and residents of the Maigeiro community to march the streets with voices of change.
To set the tone, books were sought from the public including culturally relevant reading books from the Tanar Kaduna Bookathon catalogue for children. In the end, over a thousand books were made available.
The first steps of the walk hit the ground around 11 am on that sunny Wednesday. We had printed banners, placards and flyers bold with messages of the importance of literacy. As our shoes crunched on the tar, our voices rang out with cries of literacy is life; buy a child a book today; we stand for a literate society; etc. The faces of the women and men greeted us with mixed emotions. Perplexing stares were the order of the day. This was something unusual on these streets. The children were more beacons of smiles and joy. The sight of our beautiful books and the melody of our songs were a catch. There was a six-year-old girl who picked up and told her mom she wanted to join the walk. She was the first contact on the walk and became an adrenaline shot for us.
Cynicism was rife for a good part of the walk. There were questions about our motivation. Some people came out in garments of doubts. We were thrown glances of suspicion and disdain. We were doing this for a superior cause; so we marched on. We trudged past a shop and a woman well past her youth beckoned on us. She had been thirsting for any form of education for a long time. She told us of how marriage severed her education over 40 years ago. She wanted to restore the lost ties. Our little carnival of advocacy was a motivation for her. Another victory song. She was connected to the Kaduna state agency for non-formal and adult education, reunited with an abandoned dream. Little drops soon create a flood.
The voices of the little children who were brave enough to read aloud in public were a melody to the ears. The street reading session was eye-opening. Children whose parents vested time in reading with them were better readers than children from parents who didn’t. The poor reading habits by a large swath of the population is cause for concern. The nonchalance by the generality of the population is even more worrisome. The walk for literacy allowed us to engage and remind people of the correlation between literacy and educational achievement.
According to UNESCO Nigeria has between 65 and 75 million illiterates. This is one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world. In addition to illiteracy caused by no school attendance; there is the problem of school children who can’t read after spending six years in Primary school. The World Development Report 2018 of the World Bank also shows that only about twenty (20) per cent of pupils who have finished primary school can read. Nigeria ought to feel endangered that half of its population is illiterate in a fast-moving technological global space and time.
Literacy development is the fulcrum of educational development in any society. Schooling without literacy development is a wasted opportunity and a great injustice to children.
Literacy development is the stages passed through by pupils in building their reading and spelling skills. In the last decade theories relating to building literacy in children have evolved globally. Educators and scholars have proven that literacy development is a scientific process. Studies have shown a positive correlation between the availability of quality reading materials and literacy development. Infants who are read aloud have better vocabulary by the time they start school than those whose parents don’t.
Part of the advocacy message we projected, is that at all levels of government there is a need for a literacy development plan. A plan that would guide practice in the classroom and society. The plan should encompass mass literacy and non-formal education spaces. It must be a strategic partnership that involves all members of society.
We look forward to more walks for literacy across Nigeria.

New Sex Positions

Tell me one Nigerian leader that was not heavily criticized during his tenure? We compare present sufferings and say the previous one was better, only to repeat same subsequently – while things keep getting worst.This goes to show that despite the fact that mere criticism, the result of freedom of expression, is an important ingredient of democracy, it does not change much.

Frankly speaking, our nonchalant attitude towards participation is what is perpetuating bad governance.The most important role in making democracy work is participation. Your criticism should not be armchair or out of ‘pull him down syndrome’ but a product of active and meaningful participation – which enables informed analysis of what is working, what is not and what should be done differently. We resort to arguing on the lines of religion, ethnicity, region or political affiliation – to shy away from taking responsibility for lack of active participation or because our criticism is not base on facts/figures but narrow/primordial sentiments. For how long will we be victims of the politics of divide and rule? When unemployment, poverty and hunger has no religion, ethnicity, region or political affiliation.Lets engage, ask the right questions and hold the government accountable.

Y.I.Goje

Ms Joana’s Rules Flip the Script

Ms Joana’s Rules

In this children’s book Maryam Awaisu addresses issues of contemporary family life in Nigeria.Marwan’s teacher, Ms Joana breaks convention by giving homework to his parents. This makes the parents more involved in the psycho-social development of their children. The homework addresses sex education. Maryam makes a brave move considering the attitude of highly religious Nigerians to sex education. Marwan and his parents discuss their private body parts freely with their parents. The myth of body secrets is broken. It is interesting how Marwan and his sister are taught to call their private parts by their proper names by their parents.In summary the book points a bright light on what a healthy family life should be. Maryam Awaisu has written a story ahead of her times, no wonder it was shortlisted for the African Writers Awards in 2018. The open conversation between parents and children without guilt tripping, the dad putting on apron and going to the kitchen were delightful to read. One conversation that struck a chord with me was the one that ends with Marwan telling his mom: “it’s not good to be shouting at me.” Many Nigerians will frown as this because they feel shouting makes you to be taken more seriously. This, however, is a big fallacy. You don’t need to shout or be abusive to make your point clear. Ms Joana’s Rules is a fantastic, futuristic family book.

Writer’s Bio

Namse is an underemployed scholar trying to make it big. He is the author of Fundamental Etiquette for Young Nigerians and Silly Sally an Ebook for children. He hopes to hammer soon, so he can make books available for children in underserved public schools and rural communities. He is the curator of Tanar Kaduna Bookathon.

namse.udosen@gmail.com

You can support The Bookathon project be donating here

Acc Name: Namse Peter Udosen

Number: 0140306797 GTB

Silly Sally English

silly _sally By Namse UdosenDownload

Silly Sally. By Namse Udosen. Illustration by Christie Lwendo

Speculations Galore As Hadiza Seeks Female Emir of Zazau

Speculations Galore: Hadiza Seeks Another Amina in Zauzau As Nasiru Consults European Historians By Namse Udosen

The Emir of Zaria HRH Shehu Idris passed on September 21, 2020. This threw the Emirate and Kaduna state into mourning. The vacant throne has thrown up lots of speculation about who will fill it. Shehu Idris, who had been emir since 1975, died at the age of 84. Idris was the longest reigning monarch in the history of the Zazzau emirate, having reigned for 45 years from 1975 to 2020.

As usual in issues such as this, the speculators have brought out their bags of prospective successors. In pre-colonial times the council of Kingmakers was burdened with the task of selecting a successor to the throne. The Zaria Emirate consists of four ruling houses with a unique composition. The four houses are not related by blood. These days, the weight lies on the shoulders of the Executive Governor of Kaduna state.

Now comes the drama! After burial rites had been concluded, Kaduna Governor Mallam Nasiru Elrufai announced a three day mourning period which was observed state wide or maybe not. Okay, that’s not the drama. On his social media handles, Elrufai affirmed that the final decision lies with him. To make his job easier he is consulting some historical materials written by European scholars. Neat isn’t it? An intellectual approach is always nice. However many scholars in Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University would posit that there are relevant materials by Nigerian scholars on the issue. I guess we cannot trust these local eggheads on very sensitive issues such as this. This notwithstanding, the speculations still continue. Sahara Reporters seem to have eyes in the mind of the governor as they reported that ” the kingmakers have picked Iyan Zazzau, Bashir Aminu, as successor to the late Emir, Shehu Idris.”

Other online speculators have taken it a step further with brazen details with even score cards. Alhaji Bashir Aminu, Iyan Zazzau scored 89 marks; Alhaji Muhammed Munnir Jafaru, Yariman Zazzau, who was said to have scored 87 marks; and Alhaji Aminu Shehu Idris, the Turakin Karamin Zazzau, is said to have scored scored 53 marks. I wonder who set the exams and who was the invigilator? I will need to see the marking scheme. An interesting speculation is that el-Rufa’i’s ally, Ambassador Ahmad Nuhu Bammali, the Magajin Garin Zazzau, did not make the list. Maybe he came late for the exams. Or maybe he has not been paying his Emirates dues. Could it be that he wrote and scored below 30%.

Hadiza Elrufai, wife of the governor and women’s rights advocate was not left out as she threw a banger into the ring of speculation. Hers pushed the boundaries of speculation into advocacy. She suggested, The governor should consider a woman to sit as Queen of Zaria like Amina of old. Queen Amina ruled Zaria from 1576-1610 and na she be di most popular among pipo wey rule Zazzau Emirates. Even BBC carried that (the pidgin part). Hadiza’s tweet has also become fuel for debate between conservatives and liberals especially on Arewa Twitter. Feminists and anti feminists have used it as an inspiration for mudslinging and abuse. In fact all sorts of human beings and maybe robots have jumped on it.

@hadizelhttps://twitter.com/hadizel/status/1309467244683030529?s=19

Another speculation is that Mallam Elrufai fancies an underdog for the throne. This has sparked an amazing conspiracy theory in my mind. I have gone into my inner chambers and have solved the puzzle of speculations.

Do we remember Maryam Babangida? Do we remember the creation of Delta state from the old Bendel state? Did anyone believe that Asaba would be made capital of Delta state? The speculation mill suggested that five towns were nominated, namely: Warri, Sapele, Ughelli, Abraka and Kwale. There was no nomination from the Anioma town of Asaba. They were minorities. Sapele was the favourite to clinch it. Warri and Ughelli were also top on the cards. Enter the wife of the head of the Armed Forces Ruling Council, Maryam Babangida. If Twitter had existed then, she would have twitted “Asaba for Delta State Capital!” She didn’t . But she whispered it into IBB’s ears during oza room time. The rest is history. Pardon the cliché. Never underestimate the power of za oza room. Hadiza Elrufai may be the one to smile at the end of the speculation war. We keep our fingers crossed.

The Poet is A Vagabond

This poem is the winning entry for my poetry challenge. Poets are like the philosophers of old, often maligned by society.

John masterfully catches the theme in his words. He paints his verses with beautiful imagery and analogy. The flow is sweet and the mood is reflective. Enjoy it

“The Poet is a Vagabond”

Who is a poet? 

Did you say a prophet or something? 

No, I asked who a poet was; 

Do you know? 

I guess I do.

Go ahead and tell me then

Alright, I’ll be glad to do so

A poet is a prophet 

He wanders like John the Baptist,

Eating words and wild thoughts 

that appear on many pages 

of what attempts to contain them.

He has no home to call his own

and even when he does,

the spot where he is laid will be borrowed.

The world doesn’t entertain his prophecies

And so, they destroy him even before he speaks

A poet is like a lamb

On the altars of injustice he is sacrificed 

He dies as a saviour for a course;

His words appear as crimson 

On the pages he leaves behind

The stage where he has played his part,

he leaves for another to take and play on.

The poet is restless

At birth, the words in his insides

begin to torment him like an evil spirit 

He yearns for the yearning streams 

just to stop the words from which he bleeds 

A sharp sword to his trembling fingers 

This fire burns him more than brimstone 

He finds a way to quench it and can’t

He gives up the fight; 

He knows he can’t continue to fight it

He reaches for his ink and his tablet;

on it he writes these words:

‘I am a vagabond!’

Ojonugwa John Attah is the Prose Editor at African Crayons. He writes poetry and short stories and also teaches English and Literature. 

He has been published on a number of journals and online platforms including: The Muse (Nsukka), Babishai Niwe Poetry Competition, Kikwetu Journal, African Crayons, Tush Stories and Best New African Poets anthology etc. He has won a few awards for his works and for his behaviour too. 

He currently partners with people on educational projects and also writes as a freelancer. He can be reached via Twitter @OJohnAttah and John Attah on LinkedIn. 

The Lost Art of Nok

Any chance I got, I would visit Baba’s workshop. It wasn’t really a workshop, more like a shack but I loved it all the same. I love watching him mould clay into beautiful and elegant forms. He was an old man with little or no company most of the time, so he didn’t mind.

But when I snuck out to his store this morning, I saw one sculpture that stood out and cringed, I looked to Baba who smiled at me, wondering how a seasoned artisan could shoot and miss or mess this one up horribly.

It was the ugliest of all his creations and I was sure no one would look at it let alone buy it. So I asked.

“Baba is your hand injured? Why did you make something like this?” I picked it up from the shelf. Baba smiled as he watched my sour expression.

“That’s your history in your hands, 500 years before Christ, a culture that made works like that, existed”

“This?? Where are they now?” I asked wondering why I hadn’t seen more of this.

“No one knows, this relic is all we have left of them” Baba said, sighing and taking the sculpture from my hand.

“What was their name?” I looked at him frowning, hadn’t I heard of this before? My parents never told me anything about this.

“They are the Nok, a part of our heritage and you must never forget that” Baba said sternly and I nodded as I sat down and watched him work.

This was done in Collaboration with Tamar Bookathon, an organization with a mission to give the privilege of reading to every Child in Nigeria. To read more on the Nok culture, the net has a ton of information on them, so enjoy!😁😁

Tanar Bookathon is a project aimed at creating culturally friendly books for children as a means to boosting literacy among poor communities.

Read more: http://tannaredu.com.ng/bookathon

Story and Artwork by Paula Ukwenya

World Literacy Foundation Ambassadors 2020

The WLF Ambassador Program aims to bring together individuals from all over the world to be a local voice and fundraise for literacy in their schools, universities, communities or social groups.

Throughout the 4-month program, Ambassadors will be trained to develop their leadership and advocacy skills. Participants will also learn about literacy as a human right and support our literacy project in Colombia.

2023 ambassadors have been selected from across the globe including Nigeria’s Namse Udosen.

Meet all the WLF ambassadors here https://learning.worldliteracyfoundation.org/members/?search_369e0=Namse

Message from the Founder

In 2018-2019, Literacy deeply and persistently impacted millions across the globe to access further education, economic development, and life outcomes.

When a person struggles with reading, social impact is profound. A person who is unable to read may have low self-esteem or feel emotions such as shame, fear, and powerlessness. Students who struggle with literacy feel ostracized from academia, avoid situations where they may be discovered or find themselves unable to fully participate in society or government.

As l reflect on our programs, our achievements and outcomes in 2018-2019,  I acknowledge so much more needs to be done! I wanted to thank you to the board, staff, volunteers, ambassadors, supporters, and funders for their amazing contribution over the past 12 months.

We are here as a community of people to serve the illiterate and those who struggle to write a sentence. Today’s Readers will be tomorrow’s leaders and it can happen with one book at a time with one child at a time.

Thank you for your support in 2018-2019

Andrew G. Kay

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Namse Udosen