Category: Personal

Read Adedeji’s thoughts on more personal issues with the mix of humour and truth.

Dara is one year old!

It was just like yesterday that Dara (my daughter) literarily popped out into this mad mad world; and she’s been a bundle of joy ever since.

And today marks her first year on planet earth. It’s been fun all the way. I remember when I was so impatient that she wasn’t walking on time, now I practically beg and bribe her to sit down and stay still. But children ain’t corrupt like the rest of us, so she’s not playing ball.

And tomorrow, I too will be a year older. Since from my own estimate I am now a member of the Elder’s forum, I will get myself a decent walking stick and dab some white talc on my brow: Here comes Grandpa Deji!

The shorter the better

Can you imagine? I haven’t written a single technical article in months. The folks at CFDJ (I promised them heaven and earth) must be thinking of spilling my blood by now. And to make matters worse, I’m adding a short story section to my blog.

What will you find there: true life stories, half truths and plain fiction. But all they have in common is just to entertain you & me of course.

The Greatest Disappointment

A Yoruba adage made popular by the legendary singer, King Sunny Ade, says “Akinkaju t’o mo’ja ti’o mo’sa iru won ma’n b’ogun ibo mi lo ni”. Meaning a good warrior knows when to advance and when to retreat. And a better warrior even knows whether to go to war or not.

Now I’m talking about Donald Duke. I am so pissed off with him that if he was Dara (my baby) I would have whipped his bum silly. Can you imagine this guy raising up everyone’s hope then throwing in the towel so cheaply without a fight? I know politics is about strategy and it is about give and take.

Well, we all remember that when the issue of presidency came up, Duke was playing hide and seek and he wouldn’t come out on time. But when he decided to, everyone was happy. There wasn’t any doubt that I was going to march every member of my family (at gun point!) to go and vote for him. His credentials are impeccable. He’s up to the task. At last, we all felt Nigeria was set to graduate from the remedial classes.

How wrong we were. Baba just called him last Thursday night (two days to the December 16 PDD Presidential primaries) to shakara the guy and he just collapsed like that. What a shame! Didn’t he know all these before? Didn’t he know there would be an anointed from the north? We all thought he had all it takes to fight it to the end.

No wahala. We must move on, but Duke better not bother come and disturb me again because I only stake my votes with people who know what they want to do. And em, with Yar’ Adua, I don’t know what to say because I don’t know him. I didn’t ‘en know there was a governor called a Yar’ Adua before this presidential primaries. However, the few I have heard people say about him are pretty ok. Not fireworks in terms of, em, say reforms and ideas, but at least, I heard he’s honest and not corrupt and no matter what, we need a massive dosage of that in Nigeria, especially after the last 8 years of garrison politics.

What else can I ask for?

Sincerely, what else can one ask for except for a good wife? Unless you are related to the Dalai Lama, you have got to get married one of these days. For me, I have always seen marriage as an inevitable life sentence in which a jail break is not favorably viewed. So back in the wild wild days, my plan was if I couldn’t dodge going to jail, I could at least postpone the evil day. Until I met my wife. Then my game plan changed. I knew if I lost her, I wouldn’t meet anyone like her again. Moral of the story, I married the best woman in the world.

Tongue in cheek: I know a lot of good wife materials but I haven’t even seen a better wife material.