Chronicles of Iyale ookan

Christmas Eve It's almost midnight eve of Christmas and like all the few Christmas eves I have known, I battle insomnia. Uncontained excitement tugged furiously at my insides leaving me giddy with anticipation. From my bed I could hear Akin Euba's Black Bethlehem album undulating on the phonograph in the living room. I tossed and turned ceaselessly, I wasn't sure I wanted to sleep but I knew sleep was the only thing that could make time speed by. This Christmas was extra special, I was undecided why it was so.... maybe because Christmas fell on a Sunday or perhaps it was the gorgeous blue iridescent dress I will be having the ultimate priviledge of wearing tomorrow. I hadn't seen anything as magnificent as this dress in my entire childhood. The  Christmas preparation had reached a crescendo and I was knocked up with expectations. Thankfully sleep was merciful at some point and it took me to the land of dreams filled with Christmases from faraway land.  T...

This one is for Broda Gani (also known as Mr Anifowose) at bookshop street CMS Lagos for his incessant hookups. .           Broda Gani is what you would call a novel enthusiast /aficionado/hustler who loves his craft/hustle and takes it seriously... a little too seriously. His love for books (money?) is clearly evident in his impeccable marketing skills that starts before and continues even after the actual sales. It is really refreshing to see Broda Gani who read only up to form two always give a summary that is adequately animated and entertaining on whatever novel he thinks you should buy. His narration skills are on steroids as he has the supernatural ability to turn a basic and mundane paperback to an enthralling blockbuster. Now these summaries might not be err.....exactly accurate as most of his tales are heavily embellished, well...the right amount of embellishments to arouse your interest. Customer profiling is second nature to him, his ability t...

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and the roots spring up and make new trees.  I can't remember what month it was but I remembered  how furious the sun was, probably furious at my folks who insisted I took all manners of secondary school entrance exams at primary 6. At a point I was convinced my parents were determined to make me attend two secondary schools at once. I must have written a million of those placement exams: Navy, Airforce, Command, Unity schools, Lagos State schools, Ogun state and even Gifted school in Suleja. My parents were not taking any chances and as pep talk before setting off to write those exams, my mum will remind me of my reserved opening as a tailoring apprentice in Mrs Majekodunmi 's shop at Ojuwoye junction if I dared to fail the exams. So I guess it was understandable the sun revolted on my behalf. This was in the early 90's and the sun was kinder then but on this particular day the sun vexed gan ni o. I had f...

Happy birthday daddy. I'm sure 70 would have looked great on you.We still ache because the pang your death left in our hearts is still raw.We don't know how to heal but we are trying our best to learn how to live with the pain as time and self understanding helps numb the pain. One of my fondest memories of my dad was he introducing me to astronomy and planetology. He was such a consummate story teller, one of the finest orators that ever lived. His  stories were well prepared and relayed with so much passion,crafted with so much creativity that they transported me to other planets. His voice activated my imagination and it exploded. His stories nurtured and fed  my imagination. I didn't think there was any 7 yearold alive that was obsessed about the inner workings of the earth and the other planets as I was. I literally knew how many moons each planets each had and as an introverted kid the Milky way and Asteroids were my playground.I remembered how I begged for ...

Our relief lasted for only some fleeting seconds as Adamu's disappearance loomed ominously,we were now burdened with the realization that the first 48hours in a missing person's case is very crucial.We knew we had to move at falcon's speed in order to bring Adamu home. Scores of concerned neighbours and sympathizer had besieged our compound, leading the pack was Mrs Adubi, we were beyond shocked at the speed of light with which that news had travelled considering the fact that Mrs Adubi had relocated to the Island two weeks prior to Adamu's disappearance . Initially when she (and her theatrics) arrived we were genuinely touched given that she and Adamu were quite cordial when she lived in our compound but as her wailings got louder we began to get concerned more like disturbed by her mourning which was more than the bereaved. Racing against time we instantly inaugurated an ad-hoc committee "Bring back our Adamu" dedicated to finding Adamu and it was no...

Prologue  This story happened a long time ago, It's a story about cageyness, caution, moderation, patience and perhaps prudence. Once upon a time, probably in the time of Olugbon and Aresa, there lived a great hunter named Soun Adamu in a relatively peaceful estate named Binukonu. Soun Adamu enjoyed hunting expedition and was well loved by all the citizens of Binukonu until he started listening to  the whispers of Esu laalu.  Hmm... Esu laalu the  purveyor of general disaster who carried gangan drum into town. As Esu laalu's whispers got louder, it slowly left Adamu's ears and migrated to his head, before we knew it, Soun Adamu was plagued with Okanjuwa (greed). Greed being the worst form of illness led Adamu like the folklore elephant who wanted to be king into the trap covered with mat... 🎶A mu erin joba.. ewekuewele... 🎶(we want to crown the elephant). HOLD UP!!!  Let's switch this up.  The modern adaptation.  OK!  Let's flip ...

I finally got to watch the blockbuster movie Crazy Rich Asians, I was prolly the last person in Lagos to see this movie,So I binge watched this movie over the weekend and by Monday morning, everybody I mean every dude (including Lastma officers) was starting to look like Henry Golding (the hunky leading man) in my eyes. Being a movie buff I can't really tell why I waited this long to see this movie that was released in the summer of 2018, my most likely guess will be probably because of the alternate casting as I rarely do Asian movies. Now folks, I would like to state that I saw this movie for the first time in the morning and I wasn't under any influence (not even the lagos fierce sun) meaning that since I watched this movie with "clear eyes" you might want to take my opinion about this well written and well  produced movie seriously. Well just saying.... Crazy Rich Asians is a zesty rom-com adaptation of Kevin Kwan 's bestseller book "Asians" ...