Welcome to Ikenna Ugwu's Blog

Nigeria continues to bleed from the piercing, cruel claws of her sentient venality. In spite of what is read on the pages of newspaper, the disgusting smell and stench of a dying, or is it dead economy hits us in the face every day. It is a pricking reality.   Did you vote in last general election? Unfortunately, your answer, whatever it is, does not vindicate you neither does it immune you from the harsh reality. We are in it together. This is why we must all be active and political; we must be part of the process. The saying that it’s always ugly before it gets beautiful has been used to justify the characteristic slow pace of governance of current administration. But beauty, I insist, does not appeal to the dead. It is the living that appreciates beauty. So, while we still breath, it is pertinent that we make conscious attempt at inspiring the kind of change we desire.

It’s Sunday. I hope you went to church. I did. You may agree, that going to church  doesn't  make us good people. However, it does help to keep us on track; to continue in the very essence of our creation: to know him, and to worship him…. I’m learning to be carefree, sort of. That’s what the Gospel, as read today, enjoins me to do – “Do not let your heart be troubled…”. But how realistic is this? Can I really, ever be worry-free? I live in a strange clime. There’s always a reason to worry. No, it is more appropriate to say ‘concerned’ not ‘worry’. After church today, I sit (and would later hunch over my laptop) to review few incidents that occurred in the past week of which I feel concerned. I will tell you about them. I choose only two. First , during the week, I read how Nigeria’s political fraternity, the ones you call elites gathered in Minna. It was a gathering of the high and mighty, of predatory characters, you know, like vultures. Former head...

When someone says you are poor, it does not necessarily mean you have a tag of indigence dangling from your neck; lacking food, water or roof over your head and other 'very' basic necessities of life. Poverty too, is the lack of power and choice, especially in a democracy. Last Saturday, Nigerians woke to the dispiriting news of Tuface yielding to pressure; and consequently cancelling the proposed (eagerly awaited by many Nigerians) "one voice protest" that was to hold across major cities in the country. The music maestro was on the verge of making incredible statement, until he burst the bubble that Saturday morning.

Hello friends, hope you've been good. Here's hoping the week brings lots of goodies. So, we have been working, thinking - so much about you. Yes you. It is a passion, and we have been enslaved therewith. Yous faithfully have got some great heads on his team, people with whom together we will bring the revolution you've been dreaming about. But you owe us your patience.

Following the ongoing Constitution amendment process, the Chairman, Senate Committee on State and Local Government Affairs, Sen. Abdullahi Abubakar, on Sunday said provision has been made to totally abolish the contentious joint account between states and local governments. Abubakar, who made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Birninkudu, Jigawa, also said the lawmakers plan to abolish States Independent Electoral Commissions.

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo ordered for made-in-Aba shoes, and the media went agog. It is not his fault. The media is just so perpetually and unrepentantly clung to the conventional news values of "prominence"; because Obasanjo is involved. It is a ridiculously crazy situation, and the media can be much more responsible and creative. Oh, another news value - "unusual-ness." Because in our clime, it is actually unusual, if not impossible for a "big man" to buy or wear locally made products. "Big men" don't wear local stuffs. No, even the very sense and impression of wearing a made-in-Nigeria clothe or shoe is demeaning. Have you heard the parlance "Aba-made" of "Igbo-made" before? When they say your shoe is Aba-made, it has a social stigma attached to it. It's something that places you a little lower than where you know you belong, makes you feel a little less human. Just because it is made-in Aba, because it...

                                                Photo credit: Candid Press It was in Nsukka, Enugu state. Saint Teresa's Catholic Cathedral saw the gathering of people, faces wreathed in overt expectancy, waiting to see Ebere and Amechi - hands tied - walk down the aisle, all the way to the altar.   It was a moment long anticipated, and today we are here attesting to God's amazing grace. It was a sea of heads in the church, people gorgeously dressed, bearing witness to the only mathematical equation that proves 1+1 is 1 not 2. Today, Ebere joins Amechi in holy matrimony. God is alright.

The day Nigeria marked her 56th Independence Anniversary; Pastor Poju Oyemade of Covenant Christian Centre gave us a real treat on The Platform. It was a good moment to reflect on the ordeals and trajectories of our nation. Pastor Oyemade assembled a coterie of highly cerebral speakers who seasoned the event. Ever since that day, an eccentric kind of feeling has filled the air, and the social media is awash with certain impetuous hash tags. 

It promises a beautiful night of literature as Thought Pyramid Arts Centre hosts the brilliant duo of Elnathan John, author of Born on a Tuesday and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim author of Season of Crimson Blossoms. Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. See you there.

The man must be dead who refuses to dream; who has stopped believing. There is no life in him. But life (and strength) comes from, and is in him who knows and believes that “the world makes way for the man who knows where he is going…” In every “casting down”, I know there is a “lifting up”. I am a firm believer. Yes. I am. It has been ages (and I miss you guys) since I said or shared anything here. I have been on a hibernate mode, grossly distracted by life issues.  My friend calls it “life grinds”. They try to knock me off the ground. The latest of all that happened was devastating, a deep shock. It still shocks.  But pain demands to be felt. I know. I have a child-like believe in what I do. I believe in it, the way people believe in fairytales. And that’s why I can’t stop. My blogger friend, Chiegboka once wrote about her ItchyFingers , “…my fingers …have been silent for so long, the joints ache to come back to life. They had big dreams when they were firmer...

The man, truly, must be dead in him who keeps silence in the face of violence. But what happens when you are continually suppressed, strangled and crushed, to the point there is no voice left in you; and the press, whose major obligation includes adequate surveillance on the society, time and again thinks your stories trivial, and scrambles for ‘juicy’ political stories? And then you are, pathetically abandoned, in your vulnerability, to the mercy of a government that sees a man with money or power before you. What happens when the police, an institution that ridicule itself as your friend turns its back to hunt you? You must be a pawn of fate. All over the world today, the protest is mounting against perceived and glaring government injustice against her people. And the people must unite to defend herself against the government she voted to protect her. “If we do not have the right to speak freely, we will turn into a society that suffers from intellectual malnutrition, a nat...

Intelligence is a unique feature in every human, the variation, however, is in the conscious, accurate or otherwise application of it. One is not just intelligent because of his physical attributes, not even the size of his brain; it is, in the most realistic sense, because of the quality which that intelligence displays. I consider Uzoamaka Doris Aniunoh intelligent for the incisiveness in her Balcony story. You may not have heard about Doris, probably you may not even think she is capable of anything. But I tell you of truth, Doris is likely another Nigerian literary topnotch on the rise. Through art man is able to imitate, supplement, and in some cases even counteract the course and works of nature. And that underscores his incontestable brilliance and wittiness. One of the benefits and beauties of literature is that through it we are able see ourselves, our world, as in a mirror, and review our lives. And “Balcony” a succinctly brilliant story by Doris - a sure literary ...

The cat enjoys both cooked and uncooked fish. But there is wisdom in the man who makes his cat endure hunger for a while in other to make a whole and nutritious meal for the cat. Senator Shehu Sani representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District last Thursday reportedly distributed twelve camels, eight cows and other food stuffs worth over N15 million. The senator who also is the president Civil Right Congress of Nigeria claimed his office was involved throughout the month of Ramadan in programme of feeding the poor in seven local governments in his zone. However, Senator Shehu ought to be ashamed of his misplaced, illogical philanthropic gestures to the people whose governor is working hard to redefine their lives through functional government policies and institutions. But he cannot be more ashamed than I am, finding that this charade actually came from a man of his repute; that this is what he thinks is expedient for his people at a time of dwindling economic fortunes of the ...

By appointing the Service Chiefs, President Mohammadu Buhari exercised his constitutional prerogative. But failure of the National Assembly to screen and consequently approve or disapprove such appointments, as the case may be, is a monumental legislative blunder. President Mohammadu Buhari earlier this week relieved the Service Chiefs of their duties and almost immediately appointed new ones. This shake-up in the nation’s security department has been anticipated since Mr. President’s assumption of office. The absence of which many claim is responsible for the dawdling in the nation’s military assault on the belligerent, infamous sect called Boko Haram. Following Mr. President’s recent actions, it was expected that the National Assembly would return from their recess to screen the candidates nominated by the president. But the senate leadership did not consider it expedient. What we got rather was a shocking claim by the senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki. Mr. Buh...

You have heard that readers are leaders. How about readers being writers? You heard that too. Now, AWF is a convergence of writers…and thinkers. And writers, for the most part, is the clan of a people you call “intellectuals”. Seen a nation without intellectuals? It must be a doomed one. Hmmm! The June edition of Abuja Writers Forums’ guest writers’ session saw the duo of Paul Sawa and Asma’u Baikie read to an enthusiastic literary audience while guitarists Tokumbo Edward and Blessing Tangban spiced the event with live soothing cadences. It was pure bliss. My only surprise, as I rejoined the literary family, was the level creativity and immense intellectual spectacles produced by the guest writers, and the artistes. This edition of AWF’s guest writer’s session is something to rave about. I do not lie. The AWF is more than just a meeting of people. By design, it is intended to encourage creative writing potential of Nigerians and of course Africans. But more interestingly, I ...

                                 (For my friends, the "privileged twenty") The 2010 Fidelity Bank Creative Writing Workshop has come and gone. Our expectations were not cut off.  “You made it to this workshop not because your stories are in themselves artistically perfect and flawless but because we find great potential in them,” Helon Habila, moderator of the event told us. I do not say we were lucky. No, we were privileged - the privileged twenty. Today, I am like a farmer; the ground is fresh and soft. I sow my seeds.  They will germinate. They will grow and blossom, because the soil is rich. Invitation to the workshop was a big surprise and indeed my first literary outing. Even after I printed the invitation, I was still like a man that dreamed, and so it was, until the cab pulled up in front of Grace Point Hotel, venue of the workshop. “Check the hall downstairs for your re...

It has been said that the only reason someone or people are voted out of power is because people found better person or persons. Have Nigerians made mistake? If the 8 th National Assembly members in the hallowed chambers receive N8.64b as wardrobe allowance, then the change we seek must be at best imaginary. Few months ago, when we (some of us, who believe that Nigerians have been victims of mercenary politicians for long) defied the odds, endured “name callings” to cause and vote for a change of government, it was because we believed that change was due, not necessarily because the All Progressives Congress came with it as a campaign slogan. It has been a long way coming, many Nigerians have hoped for it. Nigerians did not just want a change of government. Not just, as some critiques called it, a “change of baton” between political parties. No, it was something more: government with a human face; one that recorgnises and identifies with the people and their many challenges. In...

I read this article by Duke Chidi Nwafor. He wrote all the way from London. I am convinced that Mr. Duke understands the plight of Enugu people well enough. This story am about to share, I believe, is more of an admonition, particularly to the incoming governor of the state. Mr. Duke bared his mind, and I share in this wise counsel. Truly, Enugu people "deserve better romance". My understanding is that this story should serve to awaken, sharpen or even inspire the already widely acknowledged active spirit of the coming governor. Thank you Mr. Duke. I pray and hope Hon. Ugwuanyi pays attention to the issues raised and justify the faith and confidence reposed on him by the people. In few says to come, Hon. Ugwuayi will ascend the governorship throne in Enugu state. And we are watching, waiting, hopefully for better days. ENUGU: In the face of democratic renaissance -  By Duke Chidi Nwafor (Curled from Saturday Sun) In the build up to the recently concluded 201...

Prisoner of Love It took just one day to fall in love with Osarome; little moment of closeness, of eye contacts – sizing ourselves, measuring love as with a cup. We couldn’t even express ourselves, our desires. We were so shy like that, afraid, of what would happen, of what would not happen. It was difficult to hold hands or even cuddle. I was scared of many things I didn’t know; of things I needed to be certain about - Infatuation. Crush. Love. Which? It wasn’t easy. That day, she told me how Ben used to abandon her for days, weeks, even months running after other girls. “I don’t like being away from my boyfriend. But he did not understand. He never cared, yet I loved her.” Now she wonders if she could love again. I understand everything, and that is the trouble with what I feel now - time and distance would be our enemy. My affection for Osarome grew by the day. I tried to tame it, despite what I felt, to make it understand that Osa lived far from me; that she hates to b...