@ kuwena

congrats on getting the position, you deserve it after all the stress.

They aren't really begging - its just their way of saying they want you to join their program, the GTA is basic once you meet some minimum requirements. Every school needs GTA's and they can't really say if you'll be good at it or not, but they are taking a small gamble on you.

All the same, I'm sure you put together a pretty impressive application and it would be the school's pride to have you as a student.

To the others like Kenosky. . .where in the Uk is your training going on?

Debosky, thanks. It appears you have experience in these matters.

Congrats Kuwena!
May your dreams come true!
That's what I'm talking about

Opoks, thanks; and may your dreams come true as well. Amen.

And now, Godfather, can you change this topic? It seems to be haranguing me! Be creative, Kenosky; swerve the thread away from discussing America, admissions and Kuwena. Can you do this? I'm counting on you. Take care. I'm logging out right about now.

Perhaps I might have done more than a good job in portraying where I come from.
I apologise to anyone whose sensibilities I have hurt.

We also have the Bad and the Ugly
Enough evil men like most towns and/or villages in Nigeria
Enough witches & wizards to export _{(oops! to Kuwena )}
And enough decay in societal values that mark both poor leadership in the past and effects of modernisation
Though like every society, you take the good and try to better the bad, if you can and if you are in a position to.


@tommyex
Thanks for this jab below.

OPOKS
d only subject wey u fail 4 school na summary i am sure,you come allow us dey read story when u coulda done this,nice advert though about your VILLAGE

Quote
I second Kenosky by saying, 'please do not forget your brothers'.
Neither forget your roots

This is an umpteenth time though . . .

Below is the list of Godfathers:

1. Kuwena
2. Opokonwa
3. Thought
4. Opokonwa
5. Kenosky

And who says that this list is complete?

Somewhere between Opokonwa's second tenure and b/f Kenosky took full charge, there was a 'Tombri'
Though he was a very shy and reluctant leader.
Started leading b/f he realised what he was doing and when the title was formerly bestowed on him, he chickened out

Resurfaced briefly after a short stint at Bonny
And disappeared forever after lodging at Eko Hotel.
May his thread soul rest in perfect peace!
Amen!

Solemn Thoughts

Why am I writing this post?
I really can't say for sure but I can make some guesses.
First, the renewed vigour on the thread might have sparked off some interest again in me.
then I have just finished reading Kuwena's pain.doc article (to his brother chima).
but thirdly and most importantly, the last bit of info I got from NTA Network news at 9
just brought out that solemn, deeply introspective side of me.

Listening to Lara George's melancholic classic 'Ijoba Orun' in the background and being so alone
I feel some things just have to come out.

Anyway the news I heard was the sudden death of Brig. Gen. Solomon Giwa-Amu,
Obasanjo's ex-ADC and the Director of the Directorate of Army public relations.
Most of us might not know him and I don't know him much either but I had one chance encounter
with him earlier in the year.

Not to bore you with stories, I met him after a presentation we (my comp & IBPLC) made at the
army headquarters Abuja on the 4th January, 5 days away from my Bday.

He was a very amiable man,charming and unusually intelligent for a soldier (my impressions)
I remember him singling me out after the chat and asking if I had his business card (I was quite
taking aback). I told him no. So he reached out and gave me one (I still have the card in my bag right now,
and that was the first thing I went for after the news of his demise).

I was shocked to the marrows and was once again made to wonder the futility,vanity and fickleness of this
life. It makes you wonder, why are things always so uncertain?  we are here today and gone tommorow.
what could have killed a man, who survived the shells and bombs of Sarajevo and other war zones,
at such a young age.

What really matters, what endures at the end of the day? After all the running around and 'achievements',
where does everything end up. The man who got 10 Phd's, the man who became the president of his country,
the one who got richer than everybody, the one who was the best man at this and the first to do that,
does it really matter, do all these matter once we are cold and down, six feet under. Is the richest man any
better than the poorest begger at the point of death.

One enduring memory is the day I paid a condolence visit to the family of probably the greatest person
I have met closely in person - Kola Fasanya.
Kola was already a lecturer at 24/25 and at 25 he was regarded as one of the most
brilliant lecturers in the whole school and was already handling a faculty wide course.
but at 26, Kola was gone, gone to be seen no more, the only son of his parents.
He was snatched by the cruel hands of death.

We stood there as his personal effects was being burned by his junior sister in their backyard
(A yoruba tradition) and I saw his results going up in flames. 4 point this and 4 point that.
The vanity of it all dawned on me, what mattered were not his 4 points but the lives he touched.
Three years down the line we had a group project in my dept and had to present a binded written
report. At the end of the day, more than half of the groups dedicated their project works to Kola
Fasanya, not because he was the only person that had died in the school or because he was
extremely brilliant but because of the way he poured out his life into others. I wonder if he knew he had
so little time.

What really matters, to borrow the words of Oponkowa
'is about leaving a good mark, leaving a good impression, about leaving people and places better than you met them'.

What you call achievements today what makes your heart beat like crazy now, what you place so much esteem
on right now will fade away the minute this 'borrowed' life is over.

Life is a vapour, our wordly pursuits are as worthless as air, they will vanish as soon as we think we have gotten
them (that is if we ever get them in the first place). I don't have to beg but I will, Please touch a life,
reach out and hold someones hand, make a face happy,
improve someone's life, those are the only true achievements we can make in this life
and most importantly LIVE FOR GOD.

'Aiye loja, Orun ni ile' (The world is not our home, its a market place, heaven is).
The cars, the houses, the blings and what have you, make no meaning in the final
analysis.
Just remember we are pilgrims passing through this phase of our existence for a brief period.
we will all one day, whether our lives are long or short, be called to give account of what we have made of our journeys

N.B.
@Kuwena
Just went through your mail to your brother and I must confess you have a rare gift. Do you write fiction?
I mean stories not poems. I think you got talent there.
I don't know if you could send me your email.
there are some things I would like to say to you that I believe are better
passed across confidentially and not on the pages of the thread.
but I'll respect your wishes though.
mine is xxxxxxxxxxx

@Kenosky
I was shocked by the news of the earth tremor
infact I initially found it hard to believe.

thank God it was just a tremor and not a earthquake.

and also thank God you survived, I heard some people
died (at least if you no survive, u no go fit post )

this world sha, the event just underscores the message of my
previous post

Having said that much, Brother Opoks, permit me to comment on your criticism of Professor Emeagwali. To start with, I do know from documented sources that when Emeagwali was in the country, he had to pay his own way to go to school. There was no record of any town assisting him with a scholarship or with anything at all for that matter. He went abroad, and thrived. Why should he then (ordinarily speaking) spend money to endow his town's youth?

You don't get it, do you?
Dr Philip Emeagwali wouldn't need to spend a dime to uplift the plight of either his town or country people.
He wouldn't need to spend a dime of his money to grant scholarships to budding brains in Mathematics (his field b/f Computing) or any other course.
The American government would have done this much (in his name) for someone who gave them so much advancement in the areas computing, Oil drilling, Mathematics, Engineering, etc and has over 20 patents to his name.

Speaking about his getting to America, he did not just fly to get there.
He benefitted from a missionary scholarship in the days when missionary shools were running things in this country.
So it wasn't like his father's money got him there.
So why not replicate the same scholarship scheme to many other brains who needed to be challenged to excel?
And perhaps, brand it your name??

Why not get the other peeps to America the same way he was transported there?
Why not extend the bridge that got him to America? And get equally talented Nigerians out there?
Is it too much to ask? Too much of a legacy for either his town or for the entire Nigeria?
Nigerians are just damn too self-centered The jews and the caucasians you readily admire (and worship) would readily do it for their race.
But in Africa, when one man succeeds, he is so satisfied that he and his immediate nuclear family has conquered hunger that he thinks of no one else.
I guess it is worse with Ibos.

Was there any record of either Kenya, South Africa, Congo, Djibouti or Sudan ever assisting Barrack Obama in life b/f he went there to supply relief materials, aids and messages of hope for those African communities?
Must one give because he was given to??
People should please learn to think beyond their present needs

One only needs to have a large heart, a giving spirit and a selfless attitude before one can assume other people's challenges as equally important as thiers.
If one doesn't have it, no matter how great your achievement in life is, it stays inside your parlour.

But why all the fuss, anyway? I haven't even got a visa yet.

There is no fuss. You announced that you got admission and we all put it our sincere words.

pak:

Solemn Thoughts


What you call achievements today what makes your heart beat like crazy now, what you place so much esteem
on right now will fade away the minute this 'borrowed' life is over.

Thanks Pak.
We're all living a borrowed life and a borrowed time.
And we're all going to die some day.
So why don't we make the most of time here.
Bearing in mind that we're all gonna answer to the real owner of the life and time some day

pak:


Life is a vapour, our wordly pursuits are as worthless as air, they will vanish as soon as we think we have gotten
them (that is if we ever get them in the first place). I don't have to beg but I will, Please touch a life,
reach out and hold someones hand, make a face happy,
improve someone's life, those are the only true achievements we can make in this life
and most importantly LIVE FOR GOD.

[size=30pt]QED.[/size]

What's up my people.

Kenosky/Skylo,

Una try well well well yab me and My Blues.

Don worry, na me find una trouble.

But wait o! Una sabi say Una go still come Bridge. I Will make sure I Eduado (sorry braddle) you that night after giving you the stripper treatment.

Just dey sure say Tremor go catch catch only your flats that day.

We don dust ourself so te we dey use blow feedback and f**k verbal communication dey lamp and terry our coach.

nothing they happen.

UgoSmart:

What's up my people.

Kenosky/Skylo,

Una try well well well yab me and My Blues.

Don worry, na me find una trouble.

But wait o! Una sabi say Una go still come Bridge. I Will make sure I Eduado (sorry braddle) you that night after giving you the stripper treatment.

Just dey sure say Tremor go catch catch only your flats that day.

We don dust ourself so te we dey use blow feedback and f**k verbal communication dey lamp and terry our coach.

nothing they happen.

@ ugo
make i first start wit u, thank God say u know say na u first find trouble, cos na jeje we dey before u blow trumpet
anyway, u b my guy,
how u dey, i hope say u no wen ur flat
anyhow
enjoy

pak:

Solemn Thoughts

Why am I writing this post?
I really can't say for sure but I can make some guesses.
First, the renewed vigour on the thread might have sparked off some interest again in me.
then I have just finished reading Kuwena's pain.doc article (to his brother chima).
but thirdly and most importantly, the last bit of info I got from NTA Network news at 9
just brought out that solemn, deeply introspective side of me.

Listening to Lara George's melancholic classic 'Ijoba Orun' in the background and being so alone
I feel some things just have to come out.

Anyway the news I heard was the sudden death of Brig. Gen. Solomon Giwa-Amu,
Obasanjo's ex-ADC and the Director of the Directorate of Army public relations.
Most of us might not know him and I don't know him much either but I had one chance encounter
with him earlier in the year.

Not to bore you with stories, I met him after a presentation we (my comp & IBPLC) made at the
army headquarters Abuja on the 4th January, 5 days away from my Bday.

He was a very amiable man,charming and unusually intelligent for a soldier (my impressions)
I remember him singling me out after the chat and asking if I had his business card (I was quite
taking aback). I told him no. So he reached out and gave me one (I still have the card in my bag right now,
and that was the first thing I went for after the news of his demise).

I was shocked to the marrows and was once again made to wonder the futility,vanity and fickleness of this
life. It makes you wonder, why are things always so uncertain? we are here today and gone tommorow.
what could have killed a man, who survived the shells and bombs of Sarajevo and other war zones,
at such a young age.

What really matters, what endures at the end of the day? After all the running around and 'achievements',
where does everything end up. The man who got 10 Phd's, the man who became the president of his country,
the one who got richer than everybody, the one who was the best man at this and the first to do that,
does it really matter, do all these matter once we are cold and down, six feet under. Is the richest man any
better than the poorest begger at the point of death.

One enduring memory is the day I paid a condolence visit to the family of probably the greatest person
I have met closely in person - Kola Fasanya.
Kola was already a lecturer at 24/25 and at 25 he was regarded as one of the most
brilliant lecturers in the whole school and was already handling a faculty wide course.
but at 26, Kola was gone, gone to be seen no more, the only son of his parents.
He was snatched by the cruel hands of death.

We stood there as his personal effects was being burned by his junior sister in their backyard
(A yoruba tradition) and I saw his results going up in flames. 4 point this and 4 point that.
The vanity of it all dawned on me, what mattered were not his 4 points but the lives he touched.
Three years down the line we had a group project in my dept and had to present a binded written
report. At the end of the day, more than half of the groups dedicated their project works to Kola
Fasanya, not because he was the only person that had died in the school or because he was
extremely brilliant but because of the way he poured out his life into others. I wonder if he knew he had
so little time.

What really matters, to borrow the words of Oponkowa
'is about leaving a good mark, leaving a good impression, about leaving people and places better than you met them'.

What you call achievements today what makes your heart beat like crazy now, what you place so much esteem
on right now will fade away the minute this 'borrowed' life is over.

Life is a vapour, our wordly pursuits are as worthless as air, they will vanish as soon as we think we have gotten
them (that is if we ever get them in the first place). I don't have to beg but I will, Please touch a life,
reach out and hold someones hand, make a face happy,
improve someone's life, those are the only true achievements we can make in this life
and most importantly LIVE FOR GOD.

'Aiye loja, Orun ni ile' (The world is not our home, its a market place, heaven is).
The cars, the houses, the blings and what have you, make no meaning in the final
analysis.
Just remember we are pilgrims passing through this phase of our existence for a brief period.
we will all one day, whether our lives are long or short, be called to give account of what we have made of our journeys

N.B.
@Kuwena
Just went through your mail to your brother and I must confess you have a rare gift. Do you write fiction?
I mean stories not poems. I think you got talent there.
I don't know if you could send me your email.
there are some things I would like to say to you that I believe are better
passed across confidentially and not on the pages of the thread.
but I'll respect your wishes though.
mine is oluwaponlek@yahoo.com

@ pak
u try well well, i b think say na kwena and opoks sabi write, but wen i try read ur epistle about four times before i sleep. infact u r great
really feel u, i no go lie
safe man

This is an umpteenth time though .

Yee!
SEE MY UNCLE OO,so u dey count my sins abi?ok oo,I jus had 2 yab u der jare.hope u cool?

Skeelo
my man,imagine 1 of my homies dey say make we sacrifice UCL for league?i beg oo,pray 4 us.I am hoping 4 d best as my bday gift!

Pak
Hiiiiiiii

tommyex:

Yee!
SEE MY UNCLE OO,so u dey count my sins abi?ok oo,I jus had 2 yab u der jare.hope u cool?

Skeelo
my man,imagine 1 of my homies dey say make we sacrifice UCL for league?i beg oo,pray 4 us.I am hoping 4 d best as my bday gift!

Pak
Hiiiiiiii

@ tommyex,
nothing dey happen, them dem say nothing dey pam for ARSENAL where we dey, no wan
we dey ontop, and we no go fall
feel u my guy
safe

opokonwa:

You don't get it, do you?
Dr Philip Emeagwali wouldn't need to spend a dime to uplift the plight of either his town or country people.
He wouldn't need to spend a dime of his money to grant scholarships to budding brains in Mathematics (his field b/f Computing) or any other course.
The American government would have done this much (in his name) for someone who gave them so much advancement in the areas computing, Oil drilling, Mathematics, Engineering, etc and has over 20 patents to his name.

Speaking about his getting to America, he did not just fly to get there.
He benefitted from a missionary scholarship in the days when missionary shools were running things in this country.
So it wasn't like his father's money got him there.
So why not replicate the same scholarship scheme to many other brains who needed to be challenged to excel?
And perhaps, brand it your name??

Why not get the other peeps to America the same way he was transported there?
Why not extend the bridge that got him to America? And get equally talented Nigerians out there?
Is it too much to ask? Too much of a legacy for either his town or for the entire Nigeria?
Nigerians are just damn too self-centered The jews and the caucasians you readily admire (and worship) would readily do it for their race.
But in Africa, when one man succeeds, he is so satisfied that he and his immediate nuclear family has conquered hunger that he thinks of no one else.
I guess it is worse with Ibos.

Was there any record of either Kenya, South Africa, Congo, Djibouti or Sudan ever assisting Barrack Obama in life b/f he went there to supply relief materials, aids and messages of hope for those African communities?
Must one give because he was given to??
People should please learn to think beyond their present needs

One only needs to have a large heart, a giving spirit and a selfless attitude before one can assume other people's challenges as equally important as thiers.
If one doesn't have it, no matter how great your achievement in life is, it stays inside your parlour.




There is no fuss. You announced that you got admission and we all put it our sincere words.

@ Opoks
the great man, i always dey feel ur vibes. infact if u no dey paste for this trend at least once a day, i go with u
u r really great, just keep insprign people, and we'll meet at the top one day
saafe

@ bobbyan
where u for dey, wen we dey celebrate our 100 page anniversary, u com land today dey lament like d book of LAMENTATIONS.
Anyway, there wasnt much so no fear, but i assure u wen we get to 200, it will plenty sayo for here, plenty IRAWO and moon
anyhiow, hope u r fine, and it is nice to see the m back on ur profile
safe man or woman or ladman
cheers

Pak, I thank you for your concern. My email address is kuwena@yahoo.com. I would love to read something from you.

Your Excellency, Kenosky, I hope you are fine. You are covered by the Blood, so you need not fear, 'though the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea and its waters roar and seethe, the mountains tumbling as it heaves (because)Yahweh Sabaoth is with [you]; [your] citadel is Jacob's God' (cf Psalm 146 NJB).

Opoks, my hands are up; I won't argue with you. All you say is true. Tombri was once Godfather; Emeagwali should help your town; we black people can be self-centred. Each thing you say is the solemn truth. I accept. I will take correction. Thanks, sah.

Phew! May God help us all. Amen.

But permit me to ask: Where do you get your facts from? Who told you that it was missionaries that gave Emeagwali his scholarship? PLEASE, Opokonwa, where did you get your facts? Please, I repeat, where did you get your facts-o! Please. Who told you it was missionaries that gave the guy a scholarship? Give evidence that a young lad who got his a-levels by self study courier education from london and not regular school (which he dropped out from as his parents could not afford the fees and there was no one to help him after the civil war) was eventually awarded scholarship by missionaries. What missionaries were those? Ehn, Opoks; what missionaries?

kuwena:



Opoks, my hands are up; I won't argue with you. All you say is true. Tombri was once Godfather; Emeagwali should help your town; we black people can be self-centred. Each thing you say is the solemn truth. I accept. I will take correction. Thanks, sah.

@Kuwena
Why throw your hands in the air?
This argument is not about who wins It's rather about we learning from ourselves.
You learn from me, I learn from you.
We have had very few great leaders both at home and in diaspora; everyone is interested in their own pockets
Our generations can think differently and perhaps, get a chance one day to repair the damage.
This is one thing I am learning from American leaders.
Dr Philip Emeagwali is not the only great name from my town that never left any legacy at home.
Zik, yes the Great Zik of Africa is also a son of the soil but sadly, like the former, left no legacy at home _{(beyond a great name)}
It's just b/c you mentioned Emeagwali as your idol that I took you on. There are countless number of them at home, in Iboland and in Nigeria.

hi guys, hope u r all fine?just breezeed in to say hello
av a blissfl day ahead and a wonderful weekend,
as for me , i av already planned mine
takia#

tommyex:

Yee!
SEE MY UNCLE OO,so u dey count my sins abi?ok oo,I jus had 2 yab u der jare.hope u cool?

@tommy
I had to count your sins b/f they become one too many

I didn't write that I watched the Arsenal-AC Milan match at Highbury or wherever.
I must add that I was one of those who expected AC Milan to demolish Arsenal.
But ended up being impressed with Arsenal's play.

If not that the Italian club had a most impressive defence and a bit of 'Goodluck', Arsenal would have embarrased them.
Thumbs up!

But the return leg will tell

kuwena:

But permit me to ask: Where do you get your facts from? Who told you that it was missionaries that gave Emeagwali his scholarship? PLEASE, Opokonwa, where did you get your facts? Please, I repeat, where did you get your facts-o! Please. Who told you it was missionaries that gave the guy a scholarship? Give evidence that a young lad who got his a-levels by self study courier education from london and not regular school (which he dropped out from as his parents could not afford the fees and there was no one to help him after the civil war) was eventually awarded scholarship by missionaries. What missionaries were those? Ehn, Opoks; what missionaries?

I don't need to rap or argue like a rapper.
We at home all knew the schools he went to, the hype at home b/f he left and how he left.

Rather than going through an Encyclopedea to prove a point, get the moral of the story.
A Great man is as Great as the number of people his life touched (particularly the less privileged) and not by how much he achieved for himself alone.

enjoy

opokonwa:

I don't need to rap or argue like a rapper.
We at home all knew the schools he went to, the hype at home b/f he left and how he left.

Rather than going through an Encyclopedea to prove a point, get the moral of the story.
A Great man is as Great as the number of people his life touched (particularly the less privileged) and not by how much he achieved for himself alone.

@ opoks
takia, i gotta go

kenosky:

peeps, i need to understand something- what has Emeagwali got to do with our posts? I implore u all to desist from discussing the guy on this thread. I just tell una say i survive earthquake (5.3 on richter scale) and una wan start una bickerings. No allow mi o because if i do somebody go .

Oga Kenosky, you blame me?
I never experienced any tremor in my life, so I wouldn't know
Thank God you're still alive 'cause no be ghost dey post
But don't turn it into an earthquake yet, the news say na tremor

No bickerings; just a healthy argument that has a potential of raising some nerves.

kenosky:

[b]The time was 1.04am, and the place was my bedroom in hartlepool- I had just come in from a colleague's room where i went to do some assignments. I glanced at my bedside alarm clock and the display read 1.07am. Suddenly, the wardrobe door starts to shake. While i wuz still trying to fathom what was goin on, my window and bedside drawer started to shake, my bed rocked lazily from side to side (of course me with it). Surprise though, i wuznt scared, i simply tried to understand what was going on. It wuz like someone was trying to push the building as it also vibrated in response to the urgings of nature. Then suddenly, just as it had started, the tremor passed and there was calm- it had lasted about 10-15secs. It was in the news that i learnt that the UK's largest quake (measured 5.3) since 1984 (5.4) hit Lincolnshire in the wee hours of the morning and was felt across the northeast and as far as Cardiff (Wales). Meanwhile, the news say no serious injuries were reported so the fella wey say hope say i no FALL- sorry to disappoint u because i feel it wuz the aftershock that we got (i mean some of my colleagues slept right through it!).

The point of my epistle? Naija is so lucky to b free of all these natural disasters! Thank god for our great country! [/b]

But so unlucky to have had leaders who have stolen over $400bn dollars till date
And plenty upcoming leaders who don't believe in the country.
Very sad

kenosky:

[size=13pt]IF I HEAR ONE MORE BANTER OVER DIS EMEAGWALI (WHO IM B SELF? NA NAME OF CAR?) AGAIN- I GO AND IF I VEX, SOMEBODY MUST TO COS I NO GO FIND AM . UNA HEAR MI SO ? GOOD MORNING TO ALL OF UNU PEOPLE? HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND AHEAD AND TGIF (THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY! ) [/size]

Who dash you Friday?
Abi UK no be 1hour ahead of Naija again

@Kuwena
No point going back and forth.
This talk ain't about you and you alone.
Neither is it about you and I alone.

I'm as pissed off with the calibre of leaders that this country has produced up till date.
If they are not stealing from the home front, they are ignoring the country from the foreign scene.

If they are so good and become high achievers, they are thinking of themselves only
It is for themselves, pockets, bellies and nuclear families only.

And when I see the same trend from our generation, even before opportunites open to us, I get more pissed
Where are we going?

We need to start thinking beyond our present comforts. _{and personal gains.}
If we get the thoughts right, then we may get the actions right when power and opportunities open to us.
And those times are coming!

Kenosky Sorry O!,
e be like say the tremor affected you a wee bit
why are you thanking God for Friday on a Thursday?
Softly O my brother

@all
How una dey