Remembering Iseyin With Sound: Ohikhuare Isuku

Between sound and smell, which preserves memories better?

For me, I would choose sound over smell because the former is firmer, and there is likelihood to come across it even in a thousand years. But smell could be distinct and unique, appearing once in every generation.

I spent three weeks at Iseyin (a beautiful town where three hills rest against the eastern sky), and it was again sound and not smell that preserved the thrilling memories I had of that camp. Perhaps, it was because Iseyin had no smell or rather it had different arrays of smells which superimposed, resulting to a destructive interference.

I have preserved Iseyin memories with complex sounds from Yanni's soundtrack like: At First Sight, Tribute, Nice to Meet You and Rite of Passage. These memories were stuffed into these beautiful music, so that when I listen to them now, it's as though an invisible force is leading me around Iseyin Camp: the open and closed pavilions, the halls of residence, mami market, man o war ground, the early morning parade in which smokes of cloud perched on the crests of the three hills.

I miss Iseyin, especially the scenery and the few friends I made there even in my silent state. I have preserved these in eternal sounds; they will live forever now.

Ohikhuare Emmanuel Isuku,
(Remembering Iseyin Camp With

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The Truth: Poem by Ohikhuare Isuku

Your eyes are not just mere eyes,
They are tiny sparks of love
Which burn deep to engrave
Your image in my heart.

Your hands are not just hands,
They have this ecstatic sensation,
Which vibrates my whole being
And keep me still in your arms.

Your lips are not all they seem to be;
They must be stalk of cotton wool,
Dipped in spirit,
Because of their softness,
Because of this chillness I feel,
When you pressed them against mine.

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Failure: Poem by Ohikhuare Isuku

How frequently failure
had nestled in my loft,
breathing dust which
suffocates my eyes.

How its fiery-darting flames
dance against the secret walls
of my hearts, leading me
gently into the vale of anguish,
but do I dare refrain from dreaming?

I fail more than I succeed,
but these failures
are concealed inward
as huge waste of depression.

They burn the heart,
they consume the soul,
suck off the joy which moists
our countenances,
but still, we forswear not
the cradle of our dreams.

I'll fail again;
I'll fail a million times
before my evening comes,
because for just a success,
there have to be many failures:
many attempts at dreaming.

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Why History Books Forgot Oshiomhole

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hen Oshiomhole was declared winner of the 2007 gubernatorial poll by The Court of Appeal on November 11^th, 2008, Edo state went wild in jubilation. The excitement was thorough and it cut across individuals – from a two-year-old toddler to a wobbling old man sitting on a wonky chair. Bikes throttled to the highest while smokes billowed from their exhausts as they plied through streets and roads of Benin-city, Ekpoma, Auchi, Uromi, Afuze and many small towns across the state. On November 12^th, 2008 when he was sworn in as the new governor, he christened himself as “The People’s Governor” which was widely accepted in the state and beyond.

For the four years he spent as governor in his first tenure, Oshiomhole laid a sturdy foundation which could have written his name on moving clouds and extolled him as one of the greatest leaders who ever came out from our continent, being on the same history pages with Nelson Mandela. In these years in review – his best years in office – roads were constructed, the public transport system had a ray of hope, pensioners’ funds weren’t delayed, public schools were refurbished, major roads and streets of Benin City wore a new identity of sanity and above all, Edo state GDP more than doubled the result obtained from the addition of nine years before his tenure began.

Of course, these achievements in his first tenure were stellar in our eyes when we compared them with the wasteful administrations which came before him; but in retrospect, we would find out they were  valueless, and it was just another trick of his to be re-elected for a second term.  In mid-2012, Oshiomhole was brought back to Osadebe House for a second term. It became one of the greatest mistakes Edo people ever made. He won with a landslide victory. And this victory went across the eighteen Local Government Areas of the states, even in Opposition’s strongholds. And again, the people thronged out to celebrate with their “hero”, oblivious to them that it was like their sentence to the gallows. But today, we are consoled by the fact that Oshiomhole became governor of Edo state; if not, we would have thought we missed a rare gem who never had the opportunity to lead Edo people from Osadebe House.

Oshiomhole first started to erase his name from history books few months after he was re-elected in 2012, when his administration rigged the Local Government Elections with impunity, and threatened those who rose against the results with fire. This, coming from a man who prior to his election came up with a campaign of “One Man One Vote”, was disappointing and hypocritical. This one error went on to pull off feathers from the hat of honour he wore at that time. Then, there came this inactiveness in his second term: the down-tools, the uncompleted projects, blamed on the fact that the economy was poor and national allocation was dwindling due to falling oil prices.

In 2016, Oshiomhole’s sins were forgiven; his outstanding first tenure had perhaps shone light upon the darkness his second tenure cast upon Edo state, or maybe it was because of the bags of money the administration used to intimidate the poor electorates that made his anointed candidate win the gubernatorial poll to succeed him as the new governor of the state.

When we thought Oshiomhole’s shadows of mismanagement and acrid hypocrisy had passed us by for good, he secretly facilitated a devilish law that almost shrank Edo state’s purse. In the days which followed his exit from Osadebe House, Edo people were shocked to learn that some controlled denizens who prided themselves as members of our State House of Assembly had unanimously passed a bill which spelt out that past governors and deputy governors of the state would henceforth be entitled to pay-off grants, amounting to two billion naira when combined. These grants included: beautiful mansions in choicest locations in Nigeria, a number of cars to be changed every five years, cooks, secretaries and drivers (starting as Level 12) whose salaries would be paid by the Edo state government. This bill was ready to be signed by the new governor when the press learnt of it. We thought Oshiomhole would speak against this bill, considering the personality he always pretended to showcase, but our “saint” has been silent since then, which lent credence to the very fact that he facilitated that bill underground for his selfish gains, despite the glaring poverty lurking in the state.   

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"Restructuring" - The Next Unfortunate Word in the English Dictionary

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rior to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria –  during those uncivilized political campaigns which degenerated to verbal attacks that almost tore up the polity – a word from the English Dictionary became synonymous with hopefulness and development. This word was “Change” – the slogan of the progressive party (APC) that prided the “infallible” General as its presidential flag bearer.  “Change” became the song of hope in the morning and the chant of fairness at night. Today, that word has been raped. Although there was change obviously – like the fall in the purchasing power of our currency, and the consequential hike in the prices of commodities, more than 200% – it happened to be in direct consonance to the expectations of the people. In Nigeria at present, the word “change” bears the same absurdity and offensiveness as “fuck you”. If you want to make a gathering of people laugh or angry (depending on their default state) you can just mention the word “change” to achieve your set goal. “Change” is definitely fading away like the word “power” (1999-2015). But “power” lived longer than “change”; it spanned over a decade.

As the 2019 general elections come closer, politicians – in their craftiness – have searched through the English Dictionary to bring out yet a new word for their political campaigns. This innocent word is “restructuring”; it will be offered for sacrifice on the altar of 2019 general elections. After 2019, “restructuring” will lose its romance, and if it’s possible then to cast a poll of the most unpopular word in Nigeria, it will top the list, as the word “change” is currently doing.

Contenders for 2019 general elections have turned their eyes to “restructuring” because it is the new yearning of a sizable portion of the population. They had yearned for “change” before 2015; not the kind of change currently in place in which a minimum wage, earned by a sizable portion of the population, is not even enough to purchase a bag of rice. They yearned for positive change – like the stabilization of the economy. But now they have been disappointed; now they are frustrated. This frustration is propelling them to clamour for “restructuring” in the form of True Federalism, and again politicians have seen this as a bait to pull votes in 2019. They might succeed as they did with “change” in 2015, but “restructuring” will be condemned in the gallows thereafter.

With a repetitive vilification of words in the English Dictionary by Nigerian politicians once in every four years, I am hopeful that one day the god of vocabularies would rise up in fury to smite them, in order to save his works from being ridiculed by these denizens of hell.

Ohikhuare Isuku,
sIbadan, Nigeria.
Twitter: @ohikhuare_isuku

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Dreams, Dreamers and Vanity: Ohikhuare Isuku

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reamers are achievers: they are the famous artists, the physicians, great engineers, influential writers and scientists, who above all things continue to transform the world on daily basis. They are the ones people want to emulate; those we so much long to live their lives. But sadly, dreamers’ lives echo with hollowness – a constant restlessness governs them from the inside: a bugging restlessness to achieve more; to cap their achievements which very often need capping; to prevent falling off the radar.

Dreams have a bad habit of becoming less important once a dreamer has achieved them. Thus, the dreamer – having a desire to surmount higher dreams – delves into a realm where he seldom finds rescue, in order to achieve these dreams which sooner become useless in his sight. For instance, a man may dream of owning an expensive car, but as soon as he buys this car of his dream, it becomes useless in his sight after a period of time, and he dares to acquire a more expensive car which will also become valueless in his sight as soon as he acquires it.

With these continuous likes for fancier dreams and dislikes for them once the dreamers achieve them, combined with this intoxicating quest to achieve higher and more tasking dreams, the dreamer – no doubt – rises to an astronomical height in his dream pathway. But it must be noted that while those below him idolize and admire his stellar achievements, he loathes what he has become, because his achievements have become meaningless in his sight.

So while we aspire to live the lives of the dreamers, we must be forewarned that it’s suicidal in a skeletal way. Dreamers have a crazy insatiability; they are workaholics, because they must work with either their physical strength or mental capability or both to achieve their set goals; their dazzling facades mask these accumulated layers of fear which make them heavy with guilt of not achieving enough and a consequential fall from the stellar height they presently stand.

Because of this constant desire to achieve a fit; because of this internal quest which drives them like demons, coupled with the heartbreaks which come with failures to achieve some certain dreams, dreamers are generally unhappy; they are generally unfulfilled. Sometimes, this curse cast upon them to dream and achieve, drives them to commit suicide or become demented with drugs or become depressed. When people who only view their beautiful outsides see them this way, they ask themselves: “Why did they commit suicide when they have achieved everything?”

Ohikhuare Isuku,
Ibadan, Nigeria.
Twitter: @ohikhuare_isuku

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Life

If you desire true happiness,
Then you must quit life,
For life offers little of this treasure,
Nor dine with you with fairness.

If you desire perfectness,
Then turn not your gaze
From the embrace of demise:
He offers equality.

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