October

It's a new month with so much expectations ahead of me. I have a lot of things which I hope to achieve this month and first on my list is my Thesis proposal since my topic has been approved. It's time to withdraw into my solitude mode and work extra hard. This month is also the month in which two among the closet people to my heart where born I mean my mum and my darling elder sister. I love them both to pieces. Still thinking about what to present to them as a gift no matter how small my gift is " I have a thing for small gifts" they always appreciate and that alone brings me so much joy.
                 To my mum and sis, Happy Birthday in advance my role models , would continue to make you both proud forever. Xoxo

Hadiza's tales

She walked slowly with her head down and her palm to her cheek, she still felt the sting of the slap to her face as tears continuously trickled down her eyes, she couldn't help but recall how fast her life had changed in just six months.
     It was a hot and quite afternoon in the village,the only noise that could be heard were those of babies either crying for food or for attention. Humming the song her mum taught her the previous night before, she lifted the pestle to continue pounding the beans which was to be further washed and grinded before her parents returned from the market. Her mum fried bean cake in the evenings just by the side of the house and she enjoyed the fact that she was now allowed to serve the customers and most importantly she kept the account of the sales each day. A smile came to the side of her lips because today she wanted to give her mum a surprise by having everything set for the days business before she arrived and her surprise was working according to plan. Suddenly, her thoughts were broken by the sounds of footsteps followed by the sound of someone falling to the floor. She looked up and saw her neighbour Adamu who was a diver in the river that passed through her village. Adamu hurriedly stood up and didn't even bother cleaning his shorts which had been soiled from the fall.
          He opened his mouth to talk but words couldn't form and he lowered his head, then
he took a step forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, shook his head and said in a low tone "Hadiza, your parents have passed on". Those words kept ringing in her head even as she woke up ten minutes later.

...and love came knocking

My happiness knows no bound. Feels like I have never been in love before, this feeling is so good. Am glad I was patient and most importantly prayerful all through. Where do I start from in expressing how I feel presently? Adrenaline keeps rising or rather has remained high constantly since the beginning of this year. Just can't wait for my course work to be over so that I can fully channel all this excitement and energy towards the "main" preparation. Yippee!
     Hmm! Love sometimes sweet, sometimes sour but at the end of it all, am grateful to my Creator for making me go through it all. All the trials I went through only made me a better and stronger woman.
     I don't think anyone irrespective of what he/she went through should give up on love. It isn't so bad after all. Misfortunes are not meant to break an individual rather, they make individuals.

Road trip

It was really a tiring trip back home. I really don't why but my elder sister  always and I mean always have misunderstanding with either those at the park or with passengers in the vehicle. I always look forward to it because it's always hilarious. I try as much as possible to keep a straight face whenever it's ongoing.
           Yesterday's episode was due to the driver making a call while on the wheel and a passenger trying to grab the phone from the driver. My advocate sister decided to take up the issue and one statement which she kept repeating and which always made me smile was " am a citizen of Nigeria " I don't know who said she wasn't . Funny girl. Well, that is over now and Alhamdulillah we arrived home safely. I really missed home especially my mum. So glad am back and she is fine.
             Now it's time to prepare for Sallah. Time to join the women in the kitchen.

Exam mode activated

Been so long I had time to blog I guess being back to school is taking its toll on me. It's hasn't been easy I must confess phew! I just can't wait to finish and return home . Exams are so strange to me and reading isn't fun any more unlike my undergraduate days. I feel so dull. Ya'Allah please grant me a retentive memory (Amin). Need to return back to my books . I pray I get the inspiration to blog after this exams because I have almost a room full of movies to watch "exaggeration " .

Appointment with the doctor

Going to the hospital has always been a very difficult task for me. If I have to go to the hospital then it means whatever is wrong with me is very serious. My hospital phobia started right from when I was a kid I always dreaded hospitals due to the fact that I thought all visits to the hospital would always end up with me been given an injection. As an adult now , I have gradually started moving away from that feeling, now I know I have to be more conscious of my health. So I had to make an appointment with a doctor in a Teaching Hospital. Looking around and seeing sick people made me realize that I wasn't in so much pain as I thought, that more people where going through worse than I was presently going through. One can't help but be grateful to God whenever one visits the hospital. Hardly would you see patients smile and even when they do one can see the difficulty with which they smile, just can't imagine the kind of pain they are presently going through. I also forgot to mention the stress of trying to see a doctor alone. Gosh! It's such a cumbersome process can't they make it less stressful and not forgetting the non-chalant nature of the doctors, nurses and hospital attendants respectively especially if one is visiting a Government owned hospital. Instead of attending to patients they keep discussing in loud voices matters which should not be discussed in the hospital. Some doctors were discussing about the DANA crash and a particular doctor kept lamenting on how airlines neglect the basic maintenance culture and that's why he has resorted not to ever travel by air that he'd rather go by road anytime and so the conversation went on and on , how airlines don't even treat their customers well and then I thought to myself isn't that the same thing he is doing, ignoring his basic duty to talk about frivolous issues and then I remembered I was in Nigeria and such has so sadly become a bad culture inculcated by majority of the workforce in the country. It's 10:24am and I still haven't seen a doctor. This is so sad, so so sad. We sure need a " Duex machina" in 9ja.

BLACK SUNDAY / MOURNING MOOD

Yesterday was indeed a black Sunday for Nigerians as not only did a cargo plane belonging to Allied airline crash landed in Ghana killing 10 passengers on ground but also, the suicide bombing in which 15 lives where lost and it took place in a church in Bauchi state but the most heartfelt one was that of DANA Airline which also crash landed into two buildings in a densely populated area of Lagos state killing the over 140 passengers on board and a not yet ascertained number of persons on the ground. Though I may not know anyone on board this plane but I cried when I was finally alone in the dark because I felt the sting of death and also due to the fact that I empathized with those who lost family and friends in that ill-fated flight. In Nigeria, we are not safe in our homes, places of worship, schools, offices, on land, on the sea and in the air. Where then is safe in 9ja???. There are a lot of people that should be held responsible for this mishap. Those who knew the plane was over aged and still let it go into the skies on several occasions, those who due to their negligence several persons lost their lives and thereby causing more family to be thrown into mourning. The rate at which this airlines toy with passengers lives is alarming. Revelations now reveal that, this same flight had landing gear issues some weeks back. So the question now is, who signed for this same flight to take off from the ground? Someone somewhere didn't do his or her job and such person has to be held responsible. This only brings fear to our minds the kind of flight we board not knowing how old and how safe such flights are. I shiver at the thoughts of how how humans do not value the lives of our fellow human beings because only a heartless person would allow such plane take off again after such a case was reported. May the souls of the departed rest in peace (Ameen) and may God grant the family members and friends the fortitude to bear the loss. We pray we never again witness such calamity in our land or anywhere else in the world. If but only if we practice maintainance culture and stop cutting corners. The hard truth is that, every hardship we go through today is due to corruption someone somewhere not following due process and cutting corners now here is what we have as the result. Nigerians never learn thats just the sad truth. It's high time we start making people accountable for such deeds but in Nigerian, no way no one would take responsibility . Just a matter of time and we would start hearing them throw blames to each other. Rubbish!!! Am fed up of this nation.

Time to reflect

Just heard about the demise of someone I knew though we weren't too close. I was really shocked and it then occurred to me that over and over again , death still takes us by surprise. Not that it's something we don't often think about it's just that whenever it happens, it stills moves us and makes us feel the void within. The thought of not knowing when ours would come and who is next is sure "From Allah we come and to Him we return". Aliyu a.k.a TENSION,May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace. I wasn't close to you but I sure knew you were a very protective and caring brother. You would be missed dearly by both your family and friends. Now the questions , How do we spend a typical day in our lives? what impact do we make on the lives of those we come across in our day to day means of survival? What goals do we set for ourselves before our final departure. Irrespective of how we live our lives, the most important thing I believe is living everyday like its your last and this entails been closer to your creator and having a positive impact on the lives of those we would leave behind when death comes knocking. Do ask for forgiveness from your Lord without ceasing. No one is perfect that, I know but let's try and live a life that's a bit clean because our exact date and time of departure is unknown to us. Am going to start mine with making sure someone eats breakfast this morning no matter how small what I may offer is, it's surely a good start.

Attacks on our Universities.

Woke up this morning with a terrible headache as usual all thanks to my Landlord who packs his car in a house he gave out as ''rent'' to students. He always has the habit of warming his vehicle around 6am Haba! Mallam 6am. Not fair at all.
      Back to the issue at hand, still grumbling from my Landlords bad habit as I would put it, I was called by my sis in Kano that Bayero University Kano (BUK) had been bombed got to know later that it was just a part of it which was used by Catholic students. It was such a sad news and it got me thinking again about the future of my once peaceful Nation called Nigeria. Where did we go wrong, how do we redeem our present situation? these and more questions kept coming into my head.
     Just few days ago it was Gombe State University in which its administrative building was bombed now BUK. Who is so mean and heartless as to attack innocent students? If u have a problem with someone you get your grievances across in a diplomatic manner and through the right channel. Am trying as much as possible to be objective but I know the leadership of this country has failed woefully in providing adequate security for the common man. We have bad leaders in this country and they didn't just become bad today they have been so for a while now and we Nigerians kept quiet because we are known for ''Suffering and Smiling'' according to the music legend Fela Kuti.
     Am tired of seeing the innocent lose their lives and nothing is been done about it , am tired of listening to the same statement from the President and his media spokesperson saying ''We are on top of the situation and this menace would soon come to an end''  I've had enough and am fed up. It seems our representatives don't even care about us, they have all alienated themselves from those who voted them in. I wish my fellow Nigerians can rise to their feet and help put a stop to this, everything happening today is just as a result of the decadence in the society.
     Not only does it break the heart, it has also brought about so much religious and ethnic bigotry that it brings tears to my eyes. Browsing through the social media all ones sees is religious and ethnic bigotry, we cant forge ahead with such bitterness in our hearts. My religion Islam is the worst hit in this present scenario. I don't believe they are Muslims and am not pointing fingers but I know no religion tolerates such, I believe they are mercenaries brought to create disunity in this country. I know what my religion preaches and this isn't inclusive, my religion is a religion of peace and total submission to the will of ALLAH. I won't be deterred I  would keep trying to make people see reasons. Even the educated ones that one would think can see objectively are not left out in this bigotry syndrome as i would call it.
      I pray for peace to return to my Nation and also for God to grant eternal rest to those who lost their lives. May their souls rest in perfect peace(Amin). The perpetrators and sponsors of this heinous crime to humanity shall be brought to book that, I believe in.

Late

Hmm! I can't believe am late to class. When am I ever going to stop this bad habit? Guess am the only one with an answer to that. I've tried getting rid of this habit but it's proofing too difficult. I don't wake up late I just dont know how it happens that I always end up been late to class or wherever I have somewhere to go to. It's so sad . Moments like this are when I feel like crying (sober period) but I still end up the same way again tomorrow. God please help me I have a serious problem . By the way, who is this guy just staring at me? Can't he atleast not make it so obvious? This is even pissing me off more. Undergraduates all around me preparing for their examination. Listening to tutorials on different courses from various departments all around me makes me reminisce about my undergraduate days. So long ago almost 4 years now, wow! I feel so old.

August Visitor

Am expecting an extremely important guest today someone very close to my heart *wink*. Woke up this morning with that thought and excitement in my heart.
My morning ritual which is to wake up by 5:30am to say my prayers was observed as always though this time I couldn't return to bed all thanks to the ever disappointing PHCN who did what they know how to do best. Gosh! I don't even have what to put on. So right now, am still lazing around on my bed clueless on what action to take next. The only noise I keep hearing around me are those of my neighbors preparing to go for their lectures unlike me.
The weather here on the other hand is driving me nuts one moment it's windy and the next heat waves. Really missing the cold days when I had to cuddle under my blanket and sip tea all day, sleeping was so much fun then. Gotta go now before I forget that I have an August visitor to give a red carpet reception.

Back to school

Hmm! All seems so strange to me again in my "not" new environment . I have been here 4years ago yet I still feel like a "Jambito" even over estimated how far I can trek round ABU in heels and got what I deserved. My legs still hurt from yesterday's trekking all over school courtesy of my dear Maryam Ahmed. Have promised myself never to put on heels to school again and also trekking so much. Gosh! What was I thinking or rather feeling like?
The good news is that, my lectures would be from Mondays and would round off every Wednesday so I have plenty of time to get ready for presentations and also go for weekends 'Yipee'. Am quite sure am going to have enough stories to blog about cause so far my new colleagues are already proving to be clowns. Also, did I mention that my class mates are way older than me? Am looking forward to having a Mother and Father figure like my Undergraduate days again.