NERO WRITES

Hi my people! It's been quite a while, right? How are you 'coroing' things? I believe say aunty coro dey see you dey run. It will keep running as long as you stay away from it. These year has been a really trying year : most especially beginning from March. At some point during the total lockdown, I was wondering if this world was going to end. I wondered when we will get through this. It felt like wartime. Well, while those times are not over (Coro is still lying in wait and we are still at war against it), the air is kind of fresher with the smell of hope. Maybe not hope that this will all just melt away immediately, but a hope that God is still with us and Coronavirus cannot affect t his plan for his people and the earth one way or another. He's got it all in control. So yeah,there has been a lot of talk in the body of Christ about how the restriction on church gatherings is an agenda of the devil against the church. Many have even gone ahead to say that this ...

Love is in the air. Everybody loooves love and so we are all, at least most of us (especially the lovers) are anxious for February 14 to just come already. I understand that this is a period particularly for lovers. But somehow, it's making me think of love in its very many aspects. After all someone once sang that love is a many splendored thing. Currently I am thinking of the love between parent and child, and how it affects all the other loves. Someone once defined being loved as being greatly valued by another person: and I totally agree. It's because I agree with this definition that I hiss whenever I hear people debating whether they prefer to be loved or they prefer to be respected. So we can say that one great characteristic of love is that you respect and treasure the object of your love. You do not love or greatly value someone and put them down. Love and reproach don't work together. The love a parent shows his or her child will go a long way n shaping t...

Hmm.. Belated. Bhet why belated na? And why exactly are those quotation marks there? You may be wondering.. Suffry dey wonder o. Before you turn to wonderer. (Femi Kuti, you no say I be semi-fan). I will answer you soon.. But first, let me say a Happy New Year to you all. This my blog e don gather cobwebs, I know. But I am clearing the cobwebs as I write. Hope you missed me? Well, back to the subject of this post. As I believe we all know, last Saturday was Teachers Day. As it was a very busy weekend for me ,it was when I was finally free, at night, that I remembered and thought about the profession we were celebrating that day. This post is my tribute to this most noble of professions. I can picture somebody's mouth opening somewhere now. Teaching? Profession? Most noble ke? How can I mention Teacher and profession and most noble in the same sentence? Well, as a typical Nigerian, the one thing I will tell you right now is 'no be your fault'. Naturally we decide...

On Sunday, at about 5pm, Patience and Onome arrived at the Conference hall for the 'Women of Excellence' programme. The cherishes were already singing in the hall but some women were outside the hall, chatting with friends, making phone calls, while more women trooped into the conference hall. Patience stopped to greet Mama Franca who like herself, worked as a cleaner in the Government Primary School in their area. Patience's daughter, Onome, left her mother after greeting Mama Franca and walked into the conference hall to join Njideka, her friend. 'Mama Onome, I hope you have paid your dues o'. Mama Franca asked as they talked. 'Which of them? Is it the one for Pastor's wife's birthday gift or contribution for Deacon Mary's mother's burial or for the wrapper we will sew to welcome the District Pastor's wife next month, or which other one abeg? The dues plenty Jare. The one I could pay is what I have paid'. Patience replied. ...

I am lying down in my room. On my deathbed. Yes, I am waiting for the day I will be escorted out of this world to be with Christ. That day is getting nearer and nearer. I know it. It's been a long road to this point. A long and sometimes painful road. Battling with breastcancer hasn't been easy. At a point, it appeared I had won. But much later, cancer showed up again in the second breast (left breast) to remind me that it wasn't an easy enemy to just shake off like that. And then quickly spread to other parts of my body. Now I am nearing my end. It's obvious to anyone who can see me now. My doctor has informed me that I have less than two months to live. Of late, I have been having so many visitors. Almost everyday. My Pastor left not too long ago with his wife after chatting with me for a while: sometimes cracking jokes, then talking about my active days, how members of my unit (Ushering) miss my smile and hectoring ways. And then ultimately, they prayed for ...

Tolu grew up in a Christian home,and so she got exposed to the Bible early. She had learned about the creation, how our first parents sinned and it brought sin, how the world inherited the sin problem,and man's need of a Saviour. She knew about how Jesus came to repair the damage and how by believing in Him, we become God's kids and friends. She learnt about God's future plan for a new heaven and new earth populated by his kids. She knew about living a life pleasing to Father God. And so she had learnt to be a good kid. She was the kind of child parents pray for: obedient, respectful, studious, washed the plates when she should, without being told twice, etc. At the age of 9, she formally confessed her belief in Jesus Christ and what he had done for her on the cross. And she became born again. She had always been the model child even before she got born again, so being a good Christian wasn't difficult for her. If anything, she studied her Bible with increasing e...

Dear diary, It's a brand new day and I feel good. Feeling good is one of the easiest things in the world for me, being what I am. Of course, once in a while, it's not so easy, thanks to the people who think I am Mr. Casanova. Flirt. Player. Manipulator, among other names. My brethren (fellow males) for the most part are jealous of this 'girl friend thief' (as I am most certain I am called behind my back). A few of the ladies are scared of 'this notorious player and heartbreaker'. Well, I have decided to ignore this ignoramuses. I can't allow people who don't know me at all, who do not understand me rob me of my zest for life. I am a happy man and that is not going to change. My happiness is perpetual. Why won't it be when I make people (especially the ladies) happy? Even the Bible says he that watereth shall be watered. And again, that we should give and it will be given to us. I give joy and so I never lack joy. No be my fault o, my grouchy br...

So I am now a married woman. Wait a minute, not only am I a married woman, I am now a PASTOR'S wife. Wife to Pastor Matthew Adeshola. And therefore to alot of people, it means I am now a pastor of some sorts, even though 'Pastor's wife' is not part of the five-fold ministry as listed in Ephesians 5. As I am introduced again to my husband's church the Sunday after our wedding by one of the pastors thus 'and let's welcome our beautiful and adorable Senior pastor's wife, our mommy, etc etc' and I step up to the pulpit with my husband's hands in mine, amidst a standing ovation and thunderous applause and smiles, I put on a brave smile and wave my free hand. My legs are shaking. I am grateful that my husband is holding my hand at that point. And my heart is beating furiously beneath my chest, as if it wants to come out of my chest and fall to the ground. For a morbid second, I imagine what would happen to all these smiling faces welcoming me if sudd...

I love fiction. I have always loved fiction for as long as I could read. For me, a good story beats the best movie anytime. When I am reading a good story, I easily 'leave' my surroundings and travel to the land of the story. And I immerse myself in the characters' lives. I relate to them like real people. I feel their pain. I smile when they smile. I am sometimes scared for them when they are walking into danger. (That is, for my favorite characters o). One thing I have observed in reading fiction is the love the author obviously has for some of his characters. And also his or her dislike for some characters too. I can tell by the way he describes the character he loves. The lead character is often someone very beautiful or very handsome. Apart from that, the character (whom I will call 'he') is miraculously almost morally perfect. Even his flaws are made to seem endearing. This is obvious especially in Christian fiction. He is unbelievably loving, patient to ...

This week has been really hectic for me, with all the preparations we've been making for my sister's wedding. In the past three days this week, I have seen more wedding gowns than I have seen throughout my entire life, with different styles : strapless and otherwise. And even different colors. And Yetunde, my crazy older sister has 'made up her mind' so many times about which of these gowns she intends to sew for her wedding that I have often felt like biting her. Well, she made up her mind for the last time this morning. We just came back from the tailor's place. (I just hope she doesn't make up her mind again and decide to go back to her unfortunate tailor tomorrow morning). After having my bath for the second time today (thanks to the hot sun), I relax on my bed and grab my phone, and log on to Facebook. My timeline is flooded with pre-wedding photoshoots of former course mates, friends, church members and some others I do not know outside Facebook. I gu...

Some days ago I read a story on a Facebook friend's wall about a woman who under pressure from her mother married a very wealthy man, thus abandoning her boyfriend, whom she loved but was poor. In the story, the woman is portrayed as trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband's very touch makes her skin crawl. He is not like her handsome, tall and lean boyfriend. She even feels disgust at his pet name for her. Many sympathized with the 'trapped' woman as a victim of a loveless marriage. I on the other hand, hated her. No, I HATE her. Others think she is a victim. I think the real victim in that story is her husband. I saw a man who loved his wife so much he wanted to please her. He loved her enough to marry her. I saw a man trapped in a marriage with a woman who merely saw him as a tool for financial salvation, not a human being who has a right to love and be loved and thus would be unable to reciprocate his love: trapped with a woman in whose eyes he would never ...

As a student in secondary school and in the university, I remember some lazy days when my teachers would give us assignments and I wouldn't do them. I would be uncomfortable with my failure to do my assignment, but too lazy to even try. So I would go around looking for people who hadn't done theirs. 'You don do your homework sef?' 'No o. Abeg e too hard. I no get strength. I no sure say she go mark am', my classmate would sometimes respond. I would go around asking more and more students, and the more people who were in my gang, the happier I would be because 'atleast no be only me'. I would feel justified and secure somehow. The homework was really too hard to do. The teacher wouldn't bother to mark it, I would tell myself. If I got a 'yes' from a few people, I would feel a bit disturbed and guilty , but immediately brush it off my mind. They were ITKs and liars. **************************** I have noticed that we humans don't l...

' In my prosperity, I said I shall never be moved'. (Psalm 30:6) . Onyinye was born into a loving, close-knit, well-to-do family who adore her. As a student in secondary school and University, she was popular and had excellent grades. She is currently married to a successful business man who adores her. He literally kisses the ground she walks on. The marriage is blessed with three lively and lovely boys who are doing well in school. Onyinye is happy. She is thankful to God for her sunny life. She knows her life is smooth because she applies the right principles of success to her life everyday: she is nice, gives well in church, prays, evangelizes, etc. She can never be poor or sick or suffer. She is so sure of that. ************************************** The character 'Onyinye' is a fictitious one. However, some of us can identify with her: we are living the perfect life, or we know someone whose life is this sunny. Alot of us are not so lucky (eyah!). I do ...

It's 2am. Just 2 hours into the new year. I lie in bed, sleepless, which is due in part to the excitement from the awesome cross-over night service at Church. But more importantly, it's because I am happy. I feel alive and whole : a surge of new energy bursting through my being. I feel like I was just resurrected from the dead and given a second chance to live. All despite AND because of the empty feeling in me. My memory suddenly takes me back to a certain morning two months ago when I went to visit my heart throb, Kenneth. We had been together for six months. Six beautiful months. Kenneth was my dream guy. Tall, dark and handsome. And extremely charming. He knew just what TO say to me to put me at ease everytime. I was going to give my Beau a splendid surprise visit that morning of his birthday. As I moved towards his apartment, I imagined the surprise on his handsome face as I had earlier told him I was out of town on business and could not spend the day with him. His...

Christmas is here again! Compliments of the season everyone! If there was a way to get some 'shickens' from you all, aswear, I would have done it o. I am that greedy! Christmas. A season of joy and laughter and sharing and reunion. Yes, reunion. It's that time of year when alot of families gather at their family houses to celebrate with their loved ones. To reunite with relatives they haven't seen for a looong time: and even get to meet other relatives they didn't know before. Churches are not left out of the reunion spirit. Some churches organize camp meetings and other kinds of meetings where believers of that denomination can fellowship together. You will all agree with me that reunions are joyful. There is something wonderful about celebrating the yuletide in company of loved ones long missed. It's a feeling I can't adequately put into words. I am thinking of something. A day of reunions. The Reunion of all reunions, when we will celebrate the ...

I am aware that some of us believe that there is no Supreme being, no Creator who created this world and is concerned with and takes an active part in the earth's affairs : and because there is no God, all life is a cosmic accident, and truth is relative, no absolutes. I am also aware that some of us are not sure whether there is a God. No problem. I just want to share some things with you guys. I do not pretend to be super-intelligent. I do not know all those - isms and - logy(ies). I am simply going to speak straight from my heart. First of all, I would like us to consider more closely the following issues: Look at the beauty and order, especially the order in nature. The pattern of day and night, the way the human body functions almost like clockwork. Our Planet Earth which is just the right distance away from the sun, amongst other examples. How come such beauty, such order, exists if life is a cosmic accident? Man has been described as a religious being. The many ...

For those of us who are familiar with social media lingo, you already know I am not talking about killing people, even though that is what the word 'slay' originally means - to kill or murder someone. A while ago, I came online (my facebook account in particular) and saw pictures of gorgeously dressed ladies 'slaying', according to their captions. The lovely pictures were nothing new. What was new was the word 'to slay', which I understand to refer to the fact that the posters look so good they dazzle their viewers, and that's OK. I like beauty in people and things, so when I see it, I appreciate it. I know I am not alone in my love for beauty. People generally love beauty and so naturally, these lovely pictures attract alot of 'likes' and comments of admiration. And that's OK. But then I have noticed a class of people. I am going to call them 'slay-Queen haters'. They are the main reason for this post. I see statements by thes...

'Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching'. Hebrews 10:25. I love the Church. I do not refer to a denomination, but the body of Christ as a whole. I love the church because I am part of it. It's my family. We all have One Parent. We were baptized by One Spirit into One body. Like every family, we are different people, but that is the beauty of family. The body of Christ isn't perfect. And because of this fact, it has been subjected to so much ridicule, criticism, odium, and abuse by the world,and sometimes by its own members. Issues of differences in doctrine have caused alot of arguments among us. Some people have stopped going, or are deciding to stop attending our family meetings (church services) because of all the wahala. The church is imperfect,yes. But I will never stop attending family meetings. I will try hard not to neglect the assembly ...