Mojisola Alaso Ofi

A piece dedicated to
Ibukun ‘Mojisola’ Olawoye

Whose name inspired the story.

Just like another beautiful day in the land of a thousand people where mojisola alaso ofi lives in a palace.

The talking drum beats the call to bid her rise from her bed of a thousand peacock’s feathers

“ Mojisola alaso ofi o.. nle o…Ojire bi….omo eleni ateika… omo ajifojogbogbo dara bi egbin..gberanle odideo…. Okan to wuyi larin arewa obirin…o dara bi egbin….o sewa bi okin… dide nle o… a o rojo muso lokun o…dide.”

So Mojisola’s day begins in the land of a thousand people.

The call from the talking drum is usually the sound that breaks the silence of the approaching dawn even before the sun parts open the thick curtain of darkness that drew down on the faded beauty of the day before.

The chants of Mojisola Alaso Ofi’s praises from the talking drum would fill the air that even the cocks would often forget their duty of proclaiming the wake of the day with their usual crowing as Mojisola Alao Ofi’s praises drown all, and this would often rouse the people of the land of a thousand people out of their slumber.

Mojisola rises from her bed of a thousand peacock’s feather and steps into the courtyard of her beautiful palace where her subjects would wait on her..

“Ma rora Ibadi aran…ma rora gbese ni ikookan…Omo Ajilala Osho…Omo Ajifojogbogbodara “

The praises of Mojisola Alaso Ofi rings through the palace while the land of a thousand people prepares for the big day ahead…

The day of the big market fair has arrived, where the best of which the land could yield avail in plenty for all to purchase and admire. The land of a thousand people receives many on this day as people would come from even as far as the far away lands beyond the hills and from lands across the great river.

Often you would wonder, why so many would choose to come into the land of a thousand people on this big market fair day, perhaps to make more from their goods or perhaps to see the famous night dance at the village square? Or to be more precise, to catch a glimpse of the famous “MOJISOLA ALASO OFI” for such has become of her fame that no one would deny the fact of not having heard of the name.

The big market fair is usually a day to look forward to, a day when all beings meet at the market square that lies behind the palace of the great king of the land of a thousand people. 

The market has come alive with the air filled with sounds that could only be heard from the market only and if you had visited on such a day, I am sure you would have been confused at what to buy as all on display would attract the deepest senses of appreciation.

Now let’s retrace our steps back to the palace of Mojisola Alaso Ofi, the princess of the land of a thousand people.

Mojisola now is dressed and decked as the royalty she is, magnificent and alluring in the sight of those that could catch a glimpse of her majesty.

“Mojisola Alaso Ofi, Omo Oba setan ati geshin woja”

Mojisola is set to ride her horse into the market square, and yes, the big fair day has just begun

Her subjects walk ahead leading the horse on which she rides while the talking drum trails behind rendering the most beautiful lyrics to proclaim her entry.

“Mojisola Alaso ofi nbo o

Mojisola alaso ofi, omo oba nbo o

Ero ona a yago lona….Ero oja e fona le..kolona le koja 

Atabga atomode ewa wo omo oba

Mojisola Alaso Ofi , Omo Oba tin geshin woja mbo o”

Mojisola’s entry into the market square is being proclaimed loudly, those who have heard had to call on those who might not have heard for no one would miss catching a glimpse of the passing princess, as such was the magnificence of Mojsola Alaso Ofi.

There she comes, on her decked horse, trotting gracefully into the market, beaming with smiles so full like the full moon and her eyes so hypnotizing such that an innocent bystander wouldn’t know when he would follow the procession and become like her subjects only to come back to his senses when he reaches mojisola’s palace. Mojisola Alaso Ofi’s entry transfixed all in the market square, once, a woman gave all she had on her stock to a stranger while mojisola passed by, only for her to realize she had lost all when mojisola left. One could say mojisola Alaso Ofi is the reason for the big market fair.

Mojisola Alaso Ofi leaves the market as gracefully as she‘d made her entry. Retiring for the day as she awaits her many suitors who would usually bring gifts to her at the end of the market day.

While so many seeks her hand in marriage Mojisola Alaso Ofi only awaits the fair faced young man she sees often in her dreams. Often the fair faced one would call to her like he was so far away and too many times she had reached out to touch the fair faced one but often she usually awoke from such dreams.

The dreams, so real that she knew the fair faced one would come some day

While so many may come bearing gifts of extraordinary values , mojisola would never giver her heart out as she awaits till she sets her eyes on the fair faced one whom she alone knows

The strong, the mighty, the bravest and even the fairest had come and yet many would still come, mojisola Alaso ofi would rather choose to wait till the day her prince would arrive.

Mojisola Alaso Ofi is humble and her kindness surpasses even her famed beauty.

Mojisola Alaso Ofi, the glowing flame of the land of a thousand people. She loves her people and you could see how much they have come to love their princess and would only wish the fair faced hero of her dreams comes in earnest.

Mojisola Alaso Ofi retires to her bed of a thousand peacock’s feathers even as she goes into the land where all is made real and in time to behold yet the face of the fair one she awaits.

The talking drum chants her praises till it all grew still in the land of a thousand people.

“Mojisola Alaso Ofi, orekelewa….afinju omo oba tin fi jo gbogbgo dara…Asunji o

To be continued …..

Mojisola Olawoye

INNER CHANGES

The quality of your life depends to a large extent on the quality of your emotional and mental state. If you are lazy, worry too much and afraid to try new things, you will stick to the same spot and remain on the same level your whole life.

If you are not afraid to change your thinking patterns, your life will soon change accordingly. Your thoughts and the contents of your subconscious mind will determine your behaviour and the way you act and react.

When you change the way you feel and think about things from a different perspective and the way you react to people and situations, your actions and behaviour changes accordingly. These changes birth other changes in your external/outer life.

If you are the worrying type, you are probably afraid of changes, and prefer to stick to the same kind of life that you know so well. You see other people improving their lives and achieving success, but you do not follow in their strides, though you may wish to and this might cause your stagnation in life.

If you do not change your thought patterns, and cannot visualize your life differently from how it is at present, you will go on living the same kind of life day in, day out, without occurring to you that your life can actually be better than how you visualize it. In this kind of situation, your thinking pattern, your mindset and mentality limits you. You constantly see yourself in the same kind of life you are living without any room for improvement. 

If you keep thinking and seeing a different and better life for yourself, soon these thoughts will sink into your subconscious mind and would motivate, inspire and lead you to take action in this direction.These new thoughts will bring new expectations and hopes, and would change the way you view your outer world. You will have more energy, ambition and inner strength to get a better life.All these requires some internal work and effort, and the use of a few techniques and exercises like visualization, affirmations, willpower, self-discipline and faith.

BE THE CHANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD.

REMEMBER, INNER CHANGES BIRTH OUTER CHANGES.

BEING NEEDY= SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT

Nothing sounds safe being in excess and such fact abounds greatly in the matter of love. It could be quite suffocating at times, making you gasp for the bits of your personal life that seems to be snuffed out of you.  Often when we get involved in relationships or with new people we are emotionally attached to, we tend to seek for more of their attention, which is purely a natural human inclination but which becomes overly bothersome when done in excess.

The affinity that occurs between two emotionally attached individuals naturally makes them depend on each other for happiness, validation and other needs. In some cases, one of the partners suffers from a love sickness which is ingrained in their personality and makes them overly seek for attention, affection and validation, which in modern terms could be classified as being needy or clingy. Being needy doesn’t necessarily only occur between lovers, it could be between friends and family as well. These individuals subconsciously and consciously demand for more help and attention than the other counterpart is willing to give. They find themselves usually scared and helpless and in need of someone to hold on to. They feel easily betrayed, hold grudges and effortlessly misinterpret words said to them or said about them.

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Being needy demonstrates low value and self esteem, high sense of insecurity and inferiority; it doesn’t justify your love or care for your partner. It only chokes them. An individual with high value ought to be occupied with at least things that are personal to him/her or even work. The person ought to have hobbies, things to do or think about in their free time and a social circle comprising of cool friends with the right attitude, who he/she can always have fun with. Neediness carries baggage of negative feelings, such as: depression, inadequacy, malice, jealousy, low self esteem and other insecurities.

If you are the needy type and fortunately you’re reading this, you have to realize that situations won’t always happen the way you want it, people won’t always be committed to you, people will love you and still not communicate with you, people will decide not to return your calls or texts, people are busy and occupied with some things at times and that in friendship and other relationships there could be lack communication yet it still doesn’t mean it’s over or it’s not valued. You have to learn that people will always disappoint, flake out on you and that no one is too willing to give more than what they’re capable of. As much as I love to spend quality time with my sweetheart, I won’t be able to tolerate one that is needy. Someone that demands my attention and affection 24/7, interferes with my “me time”, my time with my video games and my time with my family and friends. Women and Men of high value don’t go for needy people; they don’t want people with little or no self worth. They want positive individuals that have a fun life and love themselves because when you’re needy you’re most likely a loner and your life will obviously be boring.

The reality is that when you’re clingy to a person, the person tends to feel obligated to you. You make the person feel bad and guilty when he/she can’t meet your needs or tolerate you. The person then ends up resenting you and becomes distant to you. Being needy will blow up your relationships right in front of your eyes. To overcome the urge of being needy, you have to find a balance in your relationships i.e. you shouldn’t over do things, contact people moderately and don’t visit them or call them up for a hangout often. To overcome neediness, you need to get a life! Get preoccupied with work, find a way to keep yourself busy, get involved with activities, go out often, visit places, develop new hobbies, visit friends, love yourself and most importantly don’t let your happiness be determined by one person. Be responsible for your happiness and take control of your life. When you have a full schedule you won’t even have the time to be needy. Independent people are more attractive than clingy ones, so get busy and be occupied with fun activities

Self confidence and self esteem are also key weapons in overcoming neediness. So by being independent and having self love, you boost your confidence and self esteem, you become someone that no longer always look to people for attention and validation and also disappointments then becomes a thing that no longer hurts you greatly. One thing needy people have to learn is that not all people take relationships seriously, some people are just naturally emotionally distant and some people don’t just like you at all and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. So you just have to learn to overcome rejection, respect their wishes, realize that persistence is not always helpful and be comfortable in your own skin and with being single. Relationships for you should be a want not a necessity; you should not make it food for your soul and what your life solely depends on.

Disclaimer: If you are in a relationship in which you know you’re not exceedingly needy and that your demands are considerably fair yet you’re getting nothing but peanuts in return, it will be best you think of how to induce a change or ending such relationships. Relationships ought to be 100-100 not 50-50 and never 20-80. Although there comes a time when a particular partner is busy that you have to do more of the texting and calling but when it becomes a routine, the relationship is not healthy, it will only make you nag, feel needy and reduce your self esteem, making you feel like you’re not good enough. 

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BROKEN

As I write, my heart is bleeding. The words may not come out right, but right now, I write, not because there's anything to write about, but my heart is bleeding. I used to have a best friend, way back in secondary school. Every morning, his tiny fingers caressed my right cheek as we waited patiently for the day's classes. He didn't last long enough to realise his best friend began wearing glasses. He died. Oh! How my heart bleeds. My new best friend suffers a regular ailment, she begs for her life almost all the time. I cry! Oh yes, I cry, not because I'm not sure when we'll say our goodbyes, but because it's inevitable. Death is inevitable.





What are we fighting for? What are we aiming to get out of life? A lecturer I saw before last year ended, died before I could say Jack. I wasn't so close to him, but I felt the loss. The more I write this, the scarier it is. Someday, I'll disappear from this world. I'll take my craziness,my friendliness, my emotions, my guilt,and everything else with me.... I hope it happens when I'm old.





Sometimes, I find it difficult to close my eyes and sleep for a while. Sometimes, I wish I could protect everyone I love.
Sometimes, I wonder how many of my primary school classmates are still breathing. Sometimes, I just wonder... Someone asked me sometime ago if I could die for anyone, someone that means a lot to me. I looked at him and said 'I don't know'. Weeks later, I began to think of a world without my mum, my dad, my brother, and my two sisters. It then dawned on me. If there's a world like that, I don't want to be in it. So, yes! If I have to die for any of them, it would be worth it. That way, I won't have to pass through the torture of living without them. If you love someone, let them know. Life's too short. R.I.P to all lost souls, both people we've met and people we weren't opportuned to meet. How terrible it is to love something or someone that death can touch. I'm sad right now, still I gotta eat. Why should my stomach pay for my aching heart? Cheers!

AFFLICTIONS

He bent over and rolled the crispy mint of a thousand naira and inhaled the powdery substance spread on the furnished wooden table. It made eyes roll backwards with a sigh of ecstatic amusement. He stared at the blank wall and thought this was exactly where he belonged, here and now with the family.

He lost everything he ever had and ever wanted to the greed of the world which was unfair yet he had dreams to regain what so ever that was lost to the world by taking it back one at a time.

‘Guy, we get operation tonight oo…you dey hear me so?’

Dele was deep in his self-centered thoughts that he didn’t even hear Frank’s and the family’s footsteps as they got into the room to inform him of their plan. As he nodded in agreement, he had this crooked smile of mockery on his hardened handsome face. Last night he felt justified that he had easily gunned down the man who proved difficult to tackle. 

‘Silencing him forever wasn’t a big deal besides he would even thank me for the peace I offered him, wretched fool’. He thought with a smear of grimace across the portrait of his face.

He would not forget the look on the face of his victim before he pulled the trigger to his head. What made him pull the trigger without mercy was the statement made before he dropped stone dead.

‘You will never have peace until you are dead’... the victim cursed and spat on his feet.

Now they have another operation tonight and he doesn’t intend hurting anyone. 

‘It was an intention any way and probably an option’. he thought as he felt a shiver run down his spine.

He only felt this when his instincts warned him something unusual was going to happen. He tried convincing the family to cancel the plan for the night but they will not conform. He later consented to go with them.

The family was prepared for the operation, armed with ammunition enough to carry out a genocide. They got to the house that was scouted and marked. They were all enthralled at its beauty and magnificence. Dele’s mind was a little distracted. His spirit wasn’t in conformity with his action. His body twitched when he got down from the car. His mind told him to turn back but his head urged him to go on. 

‘Open the door!’ The thugs banged on the door and fired shots at the locks. It was enough they scaled through the secured fence. So getting an unwelcome entry shouldn’t be a challenge.

Lekan had already put an emergency call through the police and secured his family in the inner safe room. This room was specially structured for an occasion like this. He knew that his famed success was going to attract the wrong visitors at odd hours of the night. But any intrusion that posed a threat to his home and family was an insult to his personality.

Temi was with their only son who in every way resembled Lekan. She was scared but strong enough not to show it. She held on tight to him exchanging interlocked looks of hope and despair.

The sound of the downfall thud only meant two things. Lekan defeated them with bare hands or he was beaten down. She had earlier warned him about confronting criminals, rather to opt for total surrender to the thugs. Lekan was only strong headed, proving to be the man but now he laid humbly flat on his belly. 

The door to the safe room opened and the two were swept out and pushed down flat to the ground. The operation did not even begin before it ended for the police arrived although few minutes later than intended. The gang was upturned and disappointed.

‘boss make we scatter oo’

Dele wanted to take away something away at least to compensate for the time and effort wasted even if it was…

‘Please don’t kill daddy’ Junior innocently pleaded as he watched the thug drag Lekan’s head behind the pistol.

A shrill cry escaped Temi’s lips. Looking tattered, she sat up to beg for mercy. Frank wanted to force himself into Temi when time slowly froze as Dele took is sight off Lekan. The sound of the police siren was in slow motion now. 

Dele was looking at Temi and didn’t pull the trigger. He stared at how she was being dragged then his mind brought back similar images of such incident he couldn’t recall. That voice of pain and helplessness. He dropped Lekan and violently dragged Frank away from Temi, barking for the family to scamper. As the family took to their heels, Dele stayed back to help Temi up. She was scared, stiff and puzzled. With fear and sobbing she tried to make out this man’s face. She cringed at the thought that he wanted to get down forcefully on her in their son’s presence.

The mistake Dele ever made during his last days of his life was to unmask his face once more to his lover. If only he left at once probably he would have told you his part of the story he never told anyone, not even Temi.

 Their worlds froze for a split second. Temi fainted.

She was awakened later by the police to find out her husband sustained injuries and Junior was alright. 

‘Thank God’ she thought. It could have been worse. Now that her head was a bit clear her mind was acting fast on the horrible and yet disappointing event. She recognized that familiar face. She wept and was sobbing loudly in her wrapper.

‘mommy don’t cry, we will be fine’ Junior tugged at his mother

If only he could understand why she wept he wouldn’t need consoling her. She wept for the past, the present and for the future but most especially for Dele.

                                        ………………………………..

Back at their place alone in the room, Dele laid on his back shirtless and sweating crossed feet, smoking quietly in the gloomy darkness, squinting his eyes into the distant past. 

TO BE CONTINUED…