Okechukwu’s Musings: Poetry, People and Places

Category: Africa

  • African Proverbs 3

    Consider this proverb for the day: What has horns must not be hid in a sack. – Zulu (South African) Proverb Explanation: Something’s are not meant to said or done in the public. This is an African version of the English saying “Don’t wash dirty linen outside”.

  • African Proverbs 2

    Here’s a Guinean Proverb: Knowledge of leadership is not plucked from the air, one is born with it. Explanation: Selflessness, honesty, compassion and every other qualities of Leadership are groomed from good home training, personal decisions to live upright and treat others right.

  • African Myths 4

    It’s a good and rainy evening. Welcome, again to another episode of African Myths. I will take you through some of the craziest things you might have read today. Have fun. As a growing kid we were told not to walk behind our elderly ones. If you do, you will see evil spirits and they…

  • African Proverbs

    Look at this proverb, what do you make of it? Not everyone who chased the Zebra caught it, but he who caught it chased it. – South African Proverb Explanation: Sometimes what we want may not come the way we want it or we may not even achieve that! But then, to attempt to achieve…

  • I Felt Roses by Okoroji Chidiebere Alexander

    It was a dream, The deepest of it, The silent have it, But this moments stole it, I whisper a little, She knew, It was love, She felt it, I never wanted it back, I gave it, A shyly shaky witty love. Oh no, What if I dent the colours, I spoilt it with odours,…

  • Self-Control: The Fox and the Crow

    How is everybody today? What are you guys reading for the weekend? I’m compiling a new reading list, anyone willing to share or suggest a book? It’s almost bedtime here, but sleep can wait. I’m trying to study my guide to scholarship application. I have this bedtime tale to drop before I retire for the…

  • Don’t Forget by Okoroji Chidiebere Alexander

    Don’t forget how we started, Don’t forget where we met, The circumstances, How it happened, Don’t forget so soon! I was just like a stranger, The other day, I was a nobody to you, A commoner, An ordinary soul, Flying and searching for love, Searching for hope, In pursuit for happiness, Until the encounter, Don’t…

  • Wait for me by Johnny Drille

    Johnny Drille gives us a touching country music. The first time I saw the video I got all emotional. Enjoy this African beat.

  • Celebrating Philanthrophy: Lisa Jo Symonds

    Today I came across an amazing person who is working to help improve the lives of rural orphans in East Africa. She supports the Hope For Rural Orphans, an orphanage based in Mbale, Uganda. Permit me to introduce Lisa Jo Symonds, the author of The Hands That Held Me. She is from Adirondack, New York,…

  • Poetale after the Days work

    Now we gather by the fireside Waiting for yams to roast Warming our hands in the heat On this evening, cool and mild The dreams we wait to dream The waiting pillow beckoning The tales in hopes of telling And a joyful evening it seems The hot day had gone up those hills Releasing a…

  • The African Palm Tree

    The palm tree is one of the strongest trees in the world. In tropical Africa, this plant grow wild, though it’s now cultivated. In Igbo land, the leaves, barks and roots is used to produce different kinds of medicine. The boiled seeds serve as food and the oil is used for cooking. The wood is…

  • Visit Africa: Masai Mara

    Video from Guardian TV

  • The Goose that laid the Golden Egg

    You may agree with me that evenings are best for story telling. In Africa, evenings are valuable family time. Dinner or sitouts allow time to reflect on the days work: achievements and disappointments, and to tell tales. Tales don’t just act as lullabies but convey moral virtues (and vices) as well. Now when a story…

  • A poem for Sailors

    See the sailors ships dance on the wave To the rising sun they prepare to sail Waiting to greet birds and smooth tides, And to dream when the evening rides See the sailors gather their sails With rum as their better companion They sing and tell tales from happy mouths, While the ready ship waltzed…

  • Nigeria

    In the morning, the sun rises Above the horizons and cliffs And on the smiling faces on the farms Hope rises with the sun, As the children roll out their bicycles To the tanned fields of the hamlet Followed by their pets, puppies and kittens A proud cloud draws a huge smile And on the…

  • Thoughts on Contentment

    Most vices become when there’s a lack of contentment. Burglary, pilfering, all manner of stealing, falsehood, and even hatred of oneself are all discontentment factors. I asked some elders about their thoughts on contentment, and they gladly led me through their wisdom. As we all know, happiness is a great virtue worth teaching our younger…

  • Happy Autumn song

    Autumn plays a game of colors Warm is her painted trees and land Sweet are the songs from her birds With the two, she gave benevolently *** Image by Yaran Qadr

  • African Myths 3

    Myths are believes that are not true. In Africa there are so many of them. Let’s have a look at some. In some parts of Africa, beating children with a broom is a curse. Flogging the girl-child with a broom may delay her marriage. 🤭 Do you know that breaking palm kernels anytime from 7PM…

  • Thoughts on Teaching Math

    Consider the first time you taught someone how to ride a bicycle or did any form of teaching. It wasn’t easy, was it? Teaching is a stressful job. Teaching math is much more stressful. Math is in everything you do! Before trying to explain this, I make the students relax. Many students fear the subject,…

  • Visit Africa: Cotonou

    Have you heard of Cotonou? Cotonou is a large port city on the south coast of Benin, in West Africa. At the eastern end of central Boulevard St. Michel is the huge Dantokpa Market, which features religious items and spices alongside everyday objects. To the southwest, the 19th-century Cotonou Cathedral has a striking red-and-white striped…

  • African Myths 2

    I biala. That’s Igbo for ‘you are welcome.’ Tonight I will be updating my post on African myths. So sit tight and read some of Africa’s do’s and don’ts! Have you heard that you shouldn’t call a 🐍 by name during night time? Well, we were told that if you do, a 🐍 will visit…

  • African Folktale: the Crows and the Cuckoo

    It is evening here and I feel like telling you a story. Bring your mat, come sit with me outside, by the fireside and let us enjoy the night breeze. Once upon a time there lived a set of Crows which plundered farms. Each day the farmers try to catch the Crows to no avail,…

  • Dreaming of Summer

    Summer is a dreamers tale, told in advance In this dream; grasses are green and squirrels dance Summer is the song of comfort in the hearts of many It refreshes, renews and brings solace to the wary Summer is the wild flower growing by the roadside An adorable fragrance from shrubs, sweet and mild Summer…

  • Leadership: Is Education Really Worth It?

    I debated the relevance of education in Africa. So I will weigh my thoughts on a pendulum. If the pendulum swings to yes, I wonder why we have educated Africans who make little or no effort to enhance the social and economic well-being of the continent. I wonder why people with academic zeal are not…

  • Excursion: Coke with Primates

    An excursion it was to the Songhai Zoological Garden, Owerri, Nigeria. The weather was mild and sunny. Our bus rode through the dusty hills leading to the garden. The dust followed the bus for miles. Now those hills stood ageless like a wallpaper surrounded by green forests. I can still picture it all. On the…

  • Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships 2020

    Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships are for candidates from low and middle income Commonwealth countries, to undertake full-time taught Master’s study at a UK university. Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Commonwealth Master’s Scholarships enable talented and motivated individuals to gain the knowledge and skills required for sustainable development, and are aimed at those…

  • Muse: Lullaby

    What is the sound of lullaby to you? Is it the touch of raindrops on rooftops Or the mild, soothing voice of love? Will it be a swift palm upon a light drum Or the Sparrow singing her heart away? To me, lullaby is a touch to the soul What the body is too heavy…

  • A Shepherd’s Song

    Evening airs are comfort to a tired soul, Which all morning was submerged in wool, Cuddled by cute lamb, fresh and beautiful. Up in the skies, glittering stars play their role Stories of the giraffe and the moon they tell, How the giraffe ate the sickly moon half! As the Shepherd lay down on the…

  • Celebrating Talent: Damilola Ajayi

    I thought about celebrating good and talented people. Here we go, the first person in the series! Permit me to introduce this pretty, humble, enterprising young lady. She is Damilola Ajayi, from Ekiti state in Nigeria. When I first met Dami in 2017, I wasn’t so sure of what to expect from her. As I…

  • Why you should visit Africa 2

    Do you find happiness and healing in natural things? Do you get inspiration from your natural environment? Do you like hanging out with the wild and getting blessed with views of a beautiful land? Maybe you love to watch the young deer gallivant through the Veldt. Then a visit to Africa will do. I, for…

  • The Lion King, with short video

    When you hear of Africa, what comes to your mind? Forests and Kingdoms, Lions and Elephants, Happy and sad people? I decided to share a live performance of the song ‘He lives in me’ from the movie Lion King, to show the artistry, talent and creativity that exists in Africa. Africans in the music and…

  • African myths

    Do you know that in Africa there are many ridiculous myths and beliefs? This is not Voodoo or any kind of mystery. Myths do exist. Most times, they are used to scare children, to refrain children and young adults from being rude, behaving wildly or disobeying their parents or elders. So let’s define a myth…

  • Why you should visit Africa

    If you are in rural Africa, you will be very lucky to witness events you may never see anywhere else in the world when the sun sets! The sunrise brings joy. Dew, heaven’s water, gathers on rooftops, tree leaves, and grasses. The sun may stay for a while, but it can rise as early as…

  • Reintroducing the Legend of Wawadomea

    1 Now I write you a piece of my heart, tonight In the growing Harmattan and her temperament I am cut in two- halved in your Providence One for your happiness, another for Your happiness 2 This piece of heart tells a tale of the sea folk a story of survival, a war of loneliness…

  • Thoughts: Look Within

    The pangs of unemployment scar Africa. Things shift from bad to worse. Essentials like good education, healthcare, clean water, and equal opportunity seem to slip out of our grasp. These things may have fallen apart. What is the remedy to reverse this trend? While African universities produce more graduates, the economy cannot absorb them all…

  • Thoughts on Africa 3: Education

    Research is a careful inquiry or examination to seek or revise facts, principles, theories, applications, etc.; a persistent search for truth. Interestingly, the definition ends with the search for truth. Besides broadening human thinking, research aims to discover the reasons and reasons not. The study offers solid recommendations and suggestions that can help solve problems.…

  • Four Nature Poems with Deborah Nnagbo, Shawny Johnson and Franklin Onuoha

    Ogbunike Cave by Deborah Nnagbo There it lies with an open mouth, Basking in the unadulterated air of tradition. Bidding me to come in unto her, Inside the sacred forest guarding the glory of a race. Slowly, I tiptoed into natures edifice. With eyes clothed with wonder. I could not but see the finger of…

  • The Wrong Way

    I sit by the cliff edge To watch the lights go out And one by one they went Nothing made sense As we live in disguise, Resting, Relaxing, Recessing, Recouping? From all our disastrous efforts But are we prisoners of earth? Do we have to let everything be? If I write alone, no one will…

  • Tradition: Iri Ji Festival

    Let us pray (ka anyi kpe ekpere)Nna anyi, we gather againTo celebrate the New Yam!The King of all cropsWhich you blessed us withThe crop whose soft tendrils crawl,Through our fine, fertile soilAnd carries with it abundance,Greatness, joy, peace and love!We celebrate the forests You tillOn our behalf,The greenery with shrubs and treesWith every fruit that…

  • Thoughts on Africa 2: Education

    The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the real goal of education. – Martin Luther King, Jr Education is vital for individual, community, and national growth. It is a key tool that can drive social, economic, and political transformation across Africa.…

  • Thoughts: Africa

    Don’t be overwhelmed by what you see. Stay calm in the raging storm Life has not been fair to many people. Sometimes, it is easy to imagine from a safe part of the world how people survive in war-torn, disaster- or disease-stricken areas of Africa. We wake up to different news each morning. Economic reports…

  • Rainmaker Tales, the first

    When the green neighborhood dance to the call of the wild one Dark are the skies; darker even are the clouds which stalk the rain The wind came swift and slow; rushing at times as petals of flowers dance To the music of the coming rain; to lullabies that made heads bounce And to the…

  • Akwa Ibom

    There is a land full of life Bubbling with greens and love Swooshing trees thro the forests To the foaming sea with its broth A land filled with hills and valleys With streams and the streams There are blue clouds And the birds surf the wind Uyo cares, loves and welcomes She is beautiful like…

  • The Lion sleeps

    The nights are strange No growls, no grunting The nights are cold Not for the icy wind But for noisy beasts That prowl the night The scent of grass The dews on it And wet mattresses But the nights are strange And all seem to be glad Oh the Lion sleeps For Mandela