Friday, September 30

A Blogger's Award...

People! I got a ‘Versatile Blogger’s Award from Myne Whitman! Isn’t that cute and amazing?? Me, versatile. And from Myne, who has more than 700 followers…talk about ‘open doors!’ Lol. Wow.

Well, some of the rules of the award is to talk about yourself and recommend other blogs…which blended perfectly with my thoughts for today since I was going to recommend one or two bloggers, and I had been toying with writing about me and what makes me tick…kind of food, music..movies…my moments...me as a person…you know.

May I say a big thank you for the 3 new followers who just came on board?? I hope this blog does it for you…as it does for me. Keep smiling and laughing…

So, thank you, Myne for this honour. It’s a first…and the euphoria isn’t going to go away, mi promise. J

7 things about me:

1.     Anti-norm (as you all already know)
2.    I am 2nd of 6 children, hence the mother of the other 5 including their father
3.    I love reading and movies…the former rather than the latter if it comes to choice
4.    I love tea. Omg…I love tea. I don’t care for it to be exotic; give me the good old lipton anytime and am in heaven…
5.    I am a true romantic at heart…doesn’t show, but believe me, I am the real softie
6.    I love home-making and organizing… when am in the mood
7.    I  love music. Depending on my mood and special moments..I could stick with one CD for weeks on end…I am jazzy…and beats really gets me going, doesnt matter who from. Howeever, I can categorically tell you that the rap of today aint my thing..the noise! whew.

Now to tagging blogs…this will be a bit tricky because, believe me, I am yet to explore 15 bloggers oh.…but the few I have ‘stumbled’ on, I love for their uniquely amazing thoughts/outlook.

So I recommend, in no particular order;


Be free oh.

Myne Whitman Writes: Blog awards still make my heart smile

Myne Whitman Writes: Blog awards still make my heart smile: Yes, they do. In 2 years of blogging, I've gotten my fair share of awards. Still, each time someone thinks me worthy, it's new all over agai...

Tuesday, September 27

My Wedding!

Y’ello People!
I said that on a text I sent out recently, and a friend responded that she refuses to acknowledge anything that starts with a ‘Y’ello’…that’s because she works with Zain, so I sent her another one saying ‘Zaino, abi na Airtello!’ I guess I made her day because she Lol-ed so loud I fancied I could hear all the way from my house.
So, just in case you also work with Glo, I say ‘Glo-oo!!!’. Have I left you in stitches??

Lets go there....
Now, why haven’t I said anything all this while? Not slacking jare, neither do I have writers’ block (am I a writer?? Guffawing at me!!!!!).

I had my thoughts on wedding/engagement rings….hmmm, yes. Hey!! I have not ‘come again!’  I was just sitting my thing jeje in Church, normal service ongoing and for some weird reason, my mind went to rings. I wondered why. You may say it’s because I am thinking a lot about marriage. I say no, not a lot, I am thinking, but not a lot. You probably won’t believe me, but its fine. I have decided not to argue with you all anymore; it’s a waste of time, you believe you know me too well.

I recently decided to write out thoughts of what I would like my wedding to be…and yes, you are so right, it’s nothing like you imagine. Friends and family would say I have ‘threatened’ them so much and for so long they are no longer moved. I only pray to have my way. ..I pray! *hands clasped in fervent prayer*

Do you know, girls dream of their wedding day: the dress, the colour of the day, the food, the decoration, the cake, the aso-ebi for friends/family/colleagues/school mates (whew)…in fact, they have their ‘dream’ rings….it all really, really confounds me. But of course, by now you would have deduced that ‘normal’ does not cut it for Zouzou. However, just to throw people off guard, I recently decided to go ‘search’ for my own ‘dream ring’…it was an exercise in futility because, mehn! I gave up almost immediately! Ha!!! That is just not me.

So, about this ‘book’ in which I penned my thoughts of The Day, you would be surprised to learn that it ran into pages. I now know the kind of dress I want, and have in fact, compromised on the colour (you got it in one, it certainly isn’t going to be white. White ke?? But at least, it changed from green, blue, red etc. It still is not white tho). And the shoes!! Omg! The shoes!…my childhood friend, who is nothing like me,  who, compared to me, is quite demure, wore fuchsia pink shoes at her wedding…I therefore leave the colour of my shoes to your imagination. J. Oh, for those who are wondering about the head…who am I to say anything contrary to what you have in mind?? (Please, does anyone know where I can find emoticons for this blog?????)

I give up on the ring discussion. I wasn’t going to say I will not wear a ring. I will. Only not for the reasons you think! (I just had to go and spoil it shey??).

Lest this blog become too long….(Allow me to) be free oh!

Monday, September 19

Friday, September 16

Friday

Friends. It is Friday. But what difference does it make sef? For me, it only seem that the days  roll into one another with the speed of lightening, no sooner are my eyes open than its dark again, time to sleep...

Well, I was happy to open my eyes to the dawn today. I am sincerely grateful for the gift of life. 

The highlight of my day is the prayer we shall be hosting for Jos, specifically, this evening, 7-9pm at This Present House. This is hosted by The Bliss Group.
I once said to a friend, this revelation I had, that we have no other solution to proffer - other than prayer and God oh. And no matter how hurt we feel about God, no matter how badly we think He has treated/is treating us, it is to Him we run. My perfect analogy is this: imagine a little child being beaten by his mother,  instead of running away, the child clutches the mother's skirt/wrapper harder, trying to disappear between her legs while still wailing. Didn't Job say' 'though He slay me, I will yet trust in Him?' Didn't David say 'why have you hidden Your face??'
We dont understand but we must trust. So off to pray and cry and wail for Jos and for Nigeria in general. And I am spotting white and green (solidarity) ensemble on jeans. In case you dont know it yet, I am proudly Nigerian; no matter how bad it gets, I dont see myself  anywhere else. We pray it gets better...the Lord is on the throne. Dont get so disillusioned and cynical...it shall be well!

I hope you enjoy and meditate on Zouzou's Pic of the Mo...

Be (o yeah!) free oh.

PS/Yes yes and yes!!! I didnt forget the interesting blog I promised! I know people who are waiting with bated breath...wait for it.

Thursday, September 15

Stuff

My very own people!
I am excited! Why, I am taking time off the world crisis (no cry, no deep stuff, no sense of urgency right this minute, please) to do ...stuff here. Dont judge me, I refuse to cry daily.
Today, I was going to talk about things like 'Wants, Needs and Desire" because in a space of a few hours (between last night and this morning), I heard/read many things on them and how they can be a deadly disadvantage if not properly balanced...but hey...it sits as 'draft' until one day!

First thing; I have a 16th follower!!! Yay! I am sure it is not easy to get peopel to read your blogs or 'gather' followers so I am grateful to all 16 of you who think I am worthy to be read! merci finitement.

Secondly, you would notice the blog is wearing a new look o! Ha, I just thought that I am not really a boring person so why should Zouzous Musing be boring! So a few new stuff; you would see I have a slot for Zouzou's picture of the moment, also the Leaning Tower, (which I was chanced to see recently) amongst other things. Enjoy.

Thirdly, I understand from very many people that they try to post comments on my blogs but are unable to do so. Its interesting because I just experienced the same thing. I  tried to comment on a friend's blog (www.secretlilies.blogspot.com, check it out) and couldnt even though I used to be able to. I now completely understand your frustration, my people. While I am trying (struggling, really) to sort that out, you could always email me your responses/comments and I will post them. Je vous remercie encore...do you see my email address anywhere?? Its zouzousplace@gmail.com.

Fourthly (is that a correct word??), I want to thank you all for celebrating my mother with me. God bless you all, and I pray yo are all celebrated while you are all still here. Always try to Show Up for Life.

Now, let me bow outta here to go solve some technical blog issues! If you have the solution, please holler at me oh! Abi.

Next blog is going to be interesting, well from my own point of view sha, my friends never really agree with my (boring and weird) points of view.

Be free oh (I am trying to be!)

Tuesday, September 13

Tribute to My Mother...Who Sleeps.

Exactly 12 years today, Mrs. Mary Musa, ‘mama’ to us children and ‘aunty’ to husband, Mr. Musa finally ‘slept’. I say finally because this woman never slept an entire night for as long as I can remember.
Mr. Musa, who is usually up about at 5am to pray didn’t hear you stir and found it strange. When he got off his praying mat about 6am and went to check up on you, you were lying prostrate in bed…he almost went crazy when he discovered you had gone.
You had been given the clean bill of health from that stroke, you were walking to church on your own, and your hand was fine. You were fine, but you just slept and never woke up. I say it was a ‘good’ sleep. You didn’t go in pain.
All these years, I have never really done an ‘in memoriam’ for my mother, because I never really remember, although the first year was bad and difficult; my oldest brother died exactly 6 months after her.
I am not remembering her today because there is something special either, but because I now understand why she did a lot of the things that she did; things we despised her for even then. For example, I just would never listen when she told me to please change my trousers for a skirt in order to accompany her to visit her Apostolic Church pastor! Also, she always used to pray all night and read aloud from her Hausa bible (I am really sad to say we lost this well-thumbed Bible to some Adamawa tradition, really sad to say) and because we used to sleep in her room back then whenever we visited, we would complain and bitch about how she was disturbing and wouldn’t let us sleep. We also resented the fact that she was a simple and peace-loving woman; no matter the cost, she always would let things go ‘for peace’s sake’ Duh.
As I remember her this 12th year, I recall some of the things about her life that I now admire and hope to inculcate as a woman who would one day be a wife and a mother.
She was so gentle-spirited. She was quiet, to a fault but oh, a woman of steel! Its in her quietness that you know exactly what you should do. You cant be slack around my mother.
She was a too-generous giver, I say ‘too generous’ because she gave and gave (to my father’s disgust) even when (especially when) it was not convenient! With her I learnt that it is not possible that you have nothing to give, there is always something you have that someone else needs. Throughout the over 30 years of marriage to my father, who, I must say, was not the easiest of men to live with then, I have seen her pack her bags times without number to leave, but I never saw her take a foot out the door with those bags! Also, my mother would never eat before any of her children had eaten. Never. And at those times when there was nothing, literally nothing, she stood in faith and believed for us all. She was an incredible woman. I say that now.
My mother was a woman of intense prayer who also lived a fasted life. Gosh, I can still hear my father complaining about how she would hurt herself fasting so endlessly! Even we joined him in that rebuke!
So today, in her memory, I would like to appreciate all mothers, and I pray to be a good mother, an ‘enduring’ wife, a woman of prayer who is totally dependent on God. One thing I learnt from my parents (not perfect marriage) is that, no matter what, you can make it work. A marriage can work.
Mama, I know you are at peace, finally. You don’t have to worry anymore; we are doing well. You would be proud of the girls especially, although I try to imagine what you would think of me still single - you would probably say I should stop wearing sokoto, and to stop ‘perming’ my hair, but what would you say if you knew that I have cut off the entire hair sef??’ Lol!.I remember the last time I saw you, 2 weeks before you died, you had brought out all those old pictures because you wanted to show me a particular one in which I had such a great shock of hair! You claimed all the ‘perming’ is responsible for me going bald!
‘Ba Baba’ misses you still oh! He has refused to marry again, though he tried it briefly, six whole years after you had gone! He gave up after one year saying it’s not the same. We are now asking God to intervene because he can’t be left to live alone.
You also have a 3 year old granddaughter Karimat Maryam, very smart but oh, she has such a temper. What do you expect from a child of Bala, alias 'kura mai chin nama? Another grand’someone’ is also on the way this September!! Yay.
Having said that, in your absence, I am blessed with 3 mothers; indefatigable women in their own right. I salute them all because I got 3 in place of 1.
Readers, celebrate your mother (and indeed fathers oh), in fact celebrate the people around you as much as you can today, for ‘if tomorrow never comes…’
Be free oh.


The School Fees Cry! (2)

Friends, followers and readers! I felt  the need to send in a Part 2 of this 'controversial' issue of school fees o! I received lot of very passionate responses/comments, both on the blog and by email. Thank you. Oh such passion! :-)

However, my focus is not on the rich, do they even groan? And even if they do, a change in lifestyle, as recommended by most of you,  is their remedy.
The focus is on unaffordable fees, at least by the poor parents, and those who really, genuinely cannot afford to send their children to school. Those who are thrown into a panic when a new term approaches, who do cry and go hungry,  because they have to put in so much for their children to have a bright future. Do we deserve this from the government? Has education taken the back seat (obviously) in the agenda of the State?

The consequence of this huge fees is that the children get on the streets! In fact, right now one of our gateman in our house is so young  that I feel a great pain each time I see him. He is getting money together to write JAMB! I cant bear the fact that he has to take such a dangerous job just to survive.
Should we talk about the 'affordable' schools? Those are run down, there are no books, no science equipment, the teachers are not trained, they are poorly paid (and/or are owed months in salaries) hence, have no motivation to teach, please, what do you imagine children under such conditions are learning? 

School today is not what school was for those of us who are parents/older...Should we wait on the government? To do what? If not, what can we do? It is evident that some of the future of Nigeria is wasting and deteriorating in the streets, and from what we see, I doubt things will get better. Yet children must be educated. The issue here is exorbitant school fees.
What shall we do...

..(to be) free oh??

Monday, September 12

The School Fees Cry!

It is (the dreaded) September. Children have returned to school today. Parents are broke again, and oh how they groan!
It’s incredible how fast things have changed; more, how drastic the change!
How has the cost of learning increased this much? Have you seen the huge amount of money being paid as fees?? In Nursery and Primary schools!The beginning of each term have become a dreaded and horrific time for some parents.  I remembered paying N25 per term in Secondary school. N25. Now it’s all tears and gnashing of teeth when September approaches. Parents are under such pressure it is incredible. I identify because I only have to close my eyes imagine its one of those times in my life when many things are happening at the same time and there seem to be no solution. So I imagine parents with 2, 3 or 4 children in primary school struggling to pay fees! How ever do they cope? I am finding this really painful fa. It’s sad and depressing. Is it a bad thing to desire good education for children?
Is it impossible to have free education, at least in Primary school in this country? Is that too much to ask? Primary education in France is compulsory and free; up to age 11, I believe. Cant our government do this one thing, make primary education free?? Cant someone do something?? Do you notice that the so-called big people who own schools only build them for other rich children? No one else can afford their fees. Cant someone build a school and run it at some cheaper fee? Just to help those who need good education but who are unable to afford it?
What I see today is parents limiting number of children because of ever-increasing challenges. Shouldn’t we ponder on this and do something?? How many families are going hungry for the rest of this September (or longer) just because  the children are on the path of a greater future?? I am so pained. How did it get so bad?? I feel like just building a school right now!
Should we consider home-schooling our children? I am scrambling for solution here! I doubt it would work though; the children will hate it because it means they are different from their friends, and may develop a complex as a result, the economic situation in the country will not even allow it;  both parents must go out to work early, and return really late; all for daily bread.
Abeg, help me. What is the solution? What is the simplest thing we can do (other than cry to the Government) to help this (education) matter? We are only talking fees o; I didn’t mention books, or uniforms. I didn’t say anything about Secondary or University oh. Do you see how ‘hopeless’ this ‘seem?’.
Dear parents out there, those of you who are groaning under the weight of providing  good and relevant education for your child(ren), God help you. May He see you through one step at a time. I feel you oh. I pray for my own children too oh! OMG.
Kai.
(How to) be free oh!

Tuesday, September 6

Red Alert!


Ehen! I come bouncing back but I wish I had good news. Wishing so seriously that I could talk about something cheerful! That I could be chirpy. That I could discuss my day and my personal moments. But I cannot! There isn’t anything to be chirpy about. The world is under siege. Can I say this enough? Are we feeling it or are we still so far removed?? Suddenly I do not want to read the papers or look into my twitter account anymore…they are all full of horrible news. But how can we fight the very cunning one if we do not know what he is doing??
I don’t know why I can’t get away from this, probably because it is not possible to get away from something that stares you in the face, that surrounds your being, that dogs your every step!

I believe our issues should pale in comparison to fires grazing 500 homes in Texas! To 14 (or more, never less) massacred in Jos! To Over 100 drowned in Ibadan, in Ibadan for heaven’s sake! Death toll in Japan storm rising to 47! Personalised hurricanes and storms are having a field day in America. I am sorry to bring evil reports to your doorsteps especially if you are unaware but, why would you imagine you are free??

I tried to escape into the Word yesterday, and even there, I found that battle and war abound. But I found that what we need, the strategy to employ in order to fight this siege is right there in the camp of the enemy….we have only to find the guts, the courage to up…and go there.
So, into the book of Judges I tumbled. And encountered the man Gideon.
He was going to go to war. God had trimmed his army down to 300 men (‘can’t let this thick- headed proud people think they won the war on their own strength,’ thinks God to Himself), and then told Gideon to go into the camp of the enemy and attack. However, He told Gideon, who by the way is afraid to fight because his army had just been trimmed  that:

‘if you are afraid to attack, go into the camp of the enemy with your servant Purah .and listen to what they are saying, then you will be encouraged to attack….’ Judges 7:9-14

Kai, God eh. There are no pretences with Him. I wonder why we think we should pretend with Him. I mean, it is ok to fear and be afraid, but what you do with that emotion is what matters…someone once tweeted…’it is ok to be afraid, just do it afraid’.
And so Gideon goes into the enemy’s lair and heard a friend recounting his dream to another friend who was the interpreter of their doom! Looool. Priceless, God is surely the greatest orchestrator! Gideon had to enter into the enemy’s stronghold to understand their end.
So I am escalating. This is a red alert, red flag. The tools we need surround us, because the enemy is everywhere…in music, on TV, movies, books, magazines, in fashion, everywhere…these are the self-same tools we need. This is no time to sit around wondering what to do! Employ the weapons at your disposal. They are right there. Deut 30:11-14.
So, #DOSOMETHING. This minute, right now: reach out to someone, get into your closet and gather clothes for victims, organize to feed people, find shelter for the homeless, make a call, join a group organizing for the less-privilege, send a text, write a blog or an article of those ideas exploding in your head, tweet peace, direction, solution, share thoughts on Face book, join a prayer group that calls on God for judgment and solution, get out of selfishness, NOW. Social media is one (if not the greatest in this 'e-age')  tools through which the enemy is having a field day….I say; that is the exact place to create a counter culture. DO IT NOW. Show up for Life.
If you think it big, you would never do it…start it the normal way…small.

It is not in error that this blog is in bright RED font oh!!!!!!! Tick Tock!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are you free? (*eyebrow raised*)

Friday, September 2

What Do You Have?

I don come again. I am just going to pour out this muse, not caring about grammar o. Just catch the message all the scatter scatter.
Recently I started to ponder on this: please correct me if I am wrong, or let me know if I am the only one who feels this way; abeg, when you are facing great challenges, when it seem the issues are about to bury you, when you feel like you are sliding deeper and deeper into the dark, bottomless abyss of despair, is that when your strength to pray is at its maximum?? I do not agree with people who say that you pray more when they have issues. No way! That’s when the strength to pray departs, in fact, why did Paul say to strengthen the week knees and lift up feeble hands?? Why did God Himself encourage us to not lose hope but to have faith in Him?? Over and over He kept saying that. But we are all wired differently, so I may be wrong.
Moving on...I find that  when my issues are great  I lack the power to pray, however, I find that my entire being is praying! I am praying when I am driving, I am praying when am working, I am praying in my sleep, in short, I am praying without ceasing, howbeit, silently and in my heart! That’s why I read a very refreshing and very apt tweet recently about ‘soul being on its knees praying’…when the mouth cant speak...something to that effect sha. who said that again oh….?!  Shey the bible also says '...and the meditations of my heart be acceptable ....' and 'hear my cry O Lord.....when my heart is overwhelmed....lead me....'  Even David knew that there are times when strength fails.
Isa 41:3: this is my conclusion of the verse: that while it is dark, while the night is long, while the mountains seem so high you would never imagine getting through or over it, God says you have to give Him something to work with! Make straight in the desert a highway for the Lord. We all know what a desert is; barren, dry, with absolutely nothing. But now we are being told to make a highway…in a place where there is nothing? how??  A highway is a public road that connects towns and cities. In a barren and dry land, God is asking that you create something for Him, a connection with which He would in turn do vs 4…every valley, mountain etc will be made exactly what they should be and not what they have exalted themselves to be. I could quote many other supporting scriptures (rolling eyes) but I believe you get my drift! As if this is not enough, I read Victor Adeyemi’s status where he said ‘God only needs something to work with…’  a staff, a pot of oil…something.  We all have something to give. Is faith without works not dead?
So the ‘night’ is not the time to 'sleep' in weary despair, difficult though it definitely is, but to ‘push’ to give...something. If all you have is your prayer and praise, then give it. But you cannot be silent and expect ‘miracles’…even David cried in Psalm, ‘when I kept silent, my bones waxed old!’ Ps. 32:3.
Moses had a staff, the widow of Zarepath had oil, Peter had a voice, David had his catapault and stones, Paul…wetin Paul get again o?? E intelligent, ah, Abel had his sacrifice, even Samson had his strength; I say we all have something. Use it to make a highway for the Lord in that desert that you are in, before you die. Abi!
Sha o, your mouth cannot be shut!
(Better) be free oh!

Thursday, September 1

Man in the Mirror

Title of a song by Michael Jackson.
‘I am starting with the man in the mirror. I am asking him to change his ways….if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change!’
Have you noticed that the world is exploding? Are you concerned? Abi its none of your business? Afterall, you go out and come back in everyday, your family is cool, what more?
It seem like there have been one crisis after the other for as long as I can remember, all over the world. I am not even going to dwell on Nigeria and talk about Boko Haram, or the bombing of the UN building, or the kidnapping (oh yes, that persists, howbeit quietly, but it persists!). And Jos! When did Jos become a place where people eat other humans? Jos?!
And America; hurricanes (New Jersey, abi?), flooding, earthquake (in Virginia) and fires (in Texas) are having a field day. Libya is undergoing Something Terrible by the hand of Gadaffi, you cannot imagine how many innocent people have died. And the London riot (London o! Who would ever have thought?). The whole world is under siege.
But the one thing that I want to talk about today is how we sit and imagine that these things are far from us. You may not live in America, you may be far from Libya, in fact, you do not live in Maiduguri or Bauchi! But somehow somewhere, we have a connection to these places..and errr...the UN Building is not in Maiduguri oh. There are such things as ripple effects. If we deceive ourselves that these chaos is relegated to a place, cant we see how they are marching with determination to those places we think are ‘secure?’ Did we all not want to run to America to live? Be truthful, have we not at one time imagined that if we lived abroad our lives would be better?? Who doesnt want to live in the beautiful and quiet city of Abuja?? Who foresaw riot in London?? Who would imagine that hurricanes with different names (I can’t even get over the fact that they have names! Jeez) would take over cities in America…eruption of evil, crises, death all over the world. I would like to know just what it is we have our sights on to make us think we are far removed and immune from alll of this?
So it got me thinking (again! sigh) about my preoccupation. What is my preoccupation?? Me, myself and I?  Food, clothes, shelter. This does not make me a bad person o. But has the quest for them kept me away from The Real Thing? What is the real thing?? That there is more to life than the things I seek?  But what can small me do??  What impact would small me make? I guess I have look into my priorities and ‘re-prioritize’ them!! That’s what I must do! The things that come to terrorize the world today did not start big, they began in small and innocent ways. So should our (positive) response to changing them. It’s incredible how we pass over messages of war, of kidnapping, of death, of sick people without thinking, moving on to other things.
Shall we look inwards and find out just what our part in this global crisis is, please? I doubt things would get better. It is possible that it would get progressively worse. however, the mistake that we shall make is to imagine that we are have nothing to do with it. In fact, we are it. And we must do something. Starting with the Man in the Mirror.
Be free oh…as you stare, pondering, in that mirror...

Zouzou is Back!

It is unforgiveable that the last blog I wrote (or published) was in July!!! A whole month of no blog?? What does that say of me?? Oya oya, ok, dont judge me, I have valid (or so I believe) reasons!

I was away, and I purposely didnt want to have to do anything with the internet per se...I realise that you love reading from me, but we must learn to 'fast' some things.

Well, this first blog is to tender my apologies. Please forgive an errant blogger :-).

It is good to be back, but while I put myself together to start publishing, are you guys pondering on the happenings around the globe? Do you still imagine that things are getting better?? (I say that because we have prayed and prayed and hoped that things would change for the better). Are we concerned or are we still about what to eat drink and put on?? Hmmmm, cause for concern oh! Never forget, the world is no longer large and big and wide and far! It really is very tiny, imagine spiral effects...no one is completely immuned from these happenings. I suggest you tighten your 'seat belt' whichever way you know how. My own is in prayer. Abi.

Be free......oh