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The blogging sphere has crowded up very quickly in the past decade and it even looks like YouTube is taking over. Starting a blog in 2021 se...

Tuesday 29 April 2014

An Invitation To Whispers To Menso


As I whined up a storm
His hands took a stroll defining my form
His beard was like a mowed lawn, at its pace
Sweeping my baby bottom face 

His peck sent shivers down my spine
And left me clinging to his hold
Wishing he was already mine
'Cause our 4th digits bore yet no piece of gold

As I relived the moment
My head popped
My heart stopped
My feet flopped
My mind hopped


'Menso!', yelled my ever cantankerous boss
Interrupting my beautiful moment

SNAPSHOTS IS BACK AGAIN WITH AN EXPLOSIVE LIVE MUSICAL THEATRE PERFORMANCE TITLED- WHISPERS TO MENSO
VENUE- SHELL HALL, MUSON CENTRE, ONIKAN, LAGOS
DATE- MAY 29, 2014
TIME- 12 NOON, 3PM & 6PM
DON'T MISS THIS ELECTRIFYING STELLAR ACTING, SINGING AND DANCING PERFORMANCES
ADMISSION IS FREE
POWERED BY COVENANT CHRISTIAN CENTRE




~Radiant




Friday 25 April 2014

Try By Radiant ft. NC (with lyrics)


Hi friends! I hope you had a lovely Easter celebration. I had a lovely time in my village celebrating with my family, my sister's traditional marriage. 
I want to share with you today the lyrics of my song 'Try' that was released online in October 2013. If you haven't heard it, there's a link for you below. I've had a lot of critics and praises for the song and I'm thankful for them all and open to more. Expecting your comments. Ciao


Radiant ft. NC - Try Lyrics

Intro
Grand mix music, uh huh
Mmmmmhmmmmhmmmmm

Verse 1
People wan talk dia own
Dey no know wetin dey happen
When you call, dey no go come
And mouth just dey der dey sharpen
All de suffer we dey suffer
No eye go dey see am
But when dey come gather come
Na so so talk talk go dey jam
All de hellep we don hellep
No one wan clap for we head
We go take heart, take our share
Our reward e dey for heaven

Bridge
All dis talk we dey talk
All dis noise we dey cause
Na because dem dey say
Agama go praise himself

Chorus
We dey try no be lie
No be chop we dey chop
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run
We dey try no be lie
No be chop we dey chop
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run

Verse 2
We came here just to serve
Not to pack cash in reserve
To help you get the welfare that we know you deserve
We are trying all our best
You've put us to the test
But all the words you backbite won't give us some rest
And tell me something
That people think that we do nothing
They've seen some cracking
But that don't mean the crate is rotten
Ndi oma gbara oso
Ka ha nu na egwu di njo
Ya mere i tinye isi
I ho go kwanu nwa Ekwensi

All dis talk we dey talk
All dis noise we dey cause
Na because dem dey say
Agama go praise himself 

We dey try, no be lie
No be chop we dey chop (uh)
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run

We dey try, no be lie (it's NC once again)
No be chop we dey chop (Radiant)
If dem put you for we shoe (I'm going in)
Na so so run you go run (yeah, okay now)

Verse3
Yea, It's been a long time coming
You just work everyday
My guy no performing
Realness no dulling
It's a calling
That's why I wake up early in the morning (uhuhuh)
E be like say we dey put in a lot
Abeg tell me if we dey try or not
I choro i ma
Nwanne puta iro
Na obu oga n'iru
Na oge adiro ah
I ma kwa na anu bu
Duru ka m duru
Guru ka m guru
Biko tanu ka m taru (yeah)
Everyday we dey pass through a test
It's more than a quest
Can give you more stress

Interlude
Hmmmmmmhmmmmhmmm

We dey try, no be lie (we dey try no be lie)
No be chop we dey chop (no be chop we dey chop oh)
If dem put you for we shoe (hmmmmmhmmmhmmm)
Na so so run you go run

We dey try, no be lie (we dey tryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy)
No be chop we dey chop
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run (so so run you go run)

We dey try, no be lie
No be chop we dey chop (chop we dey chop oh)
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run (so so run you go run)

We dey try no be lie (you go ruuuuuuuuun)
No be chop we dey chop
If dem put you for we shoe
Na so so run you go run

Outro
No dey talk for our back eh
Please dey pray for us eh
Mmmmmm
Hehehehehehehehe

Yea it's Radiant
Featuring NC (uh)
NC where're you at?
Men, you work hard
I expect you to work harder

Written and performed by Radiant and NC
Produced by Grandmix

Tuesday 15 April 2014

My First Kiss



           I anticipated it, went through the episode severally in my imagination and wondered who the fascinating man would be. I had just turned sixteen and thought dating was the occupation of girls my age. I think it was because of the American movies I watched. It was common practice for sixteen year olds to be hooked up with guys within their age grade. But pre-marital sex was out of the question for me because of my religious background. It was FORNICATION and the very word was condemning. Never mind that it's now being watered-down by several names such as pre-marital sex, love making and so on. 

           It was my first year in University of Nigeria, Nsukka and I had a lot of 'chykers'. Ten per day, to say the least and I'm not exaggerating. I was generous with my phone number 'cause I hadn't learnt to say no. But as usual they put me off after the first call. So to finally have fallen for one, I really must have been swept away. 

           That day was a cold night. I had just come back from night class but my hostel wasn't locked yet. So he came to see me and we had a great chat outside, under a mango tree at the back of the hostel. I laughed at everything he said. I don't know if he was really that funny or I was just head over heels in love with him. He was tall, but not too tall, light skinned, not up to me though. He had this pointed nose that always judged mine and the most alluring smile. He was a Geology student in his 3rd year and we first met at 11:45, a restaurant near my hostel. It was my favorite restaurant and he must have noticed, because I had never met him there before that day, but after our meeting he was a constant figure. He didn't collect my number on our first meeting, which was impressive. 'At least he wasn't like other guys', I thought. 

           We sat on the same table, opposite each other. He seemed to observe me a lot though we didn't say much to each other apart from asking him to pass me the toothpick or straw and him defending me when I was given a torn note for change. I remember thinking to myself 'cute guy'. We got talking on subsequent days and one of those days he got my number and that was it. I fell in love rapidly. He was a very verbal person. We talked about everything. No thought was kept to ourselves. We usually spent time together studying at NSLT or strolling from Presidential to the stadium and of course dining at 11:45. His friends were fond of me and that made me feel a lot special. I always woke up with a glow in my eyes 'cause his was the first voice I heard every morning and the last I heard before I slept. I thought about him every time, in class, in church, on my bed. It was like the whole world could see I was in love. It felt so good. 

           So as we talked under the mango tree, he cut me short of a sentence I was so eager to deliver. 'Can I kiss you?, he said'. My ears tingled as my eyeballs dilated and my heart palpitated. I don't know why, but maybe because I wasn't expecting him to ask for permission. He had been looking at my lips all through the conversation and I knew it was going to happen. I didn't say a word. I just smiled and he came close, cupped my cheeks in his palms and...
I'm sorry to burst your bubbles. 








It's a belated April fool. *wink 

Now that I have your attention,

Songs of Solomon 2:7 (VOICE) says:
7     (to the young women) You of Jerusalem heed my warning.
    By the gazelles and deer of the field,
        I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.
    Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.


©Radiant~April 2014

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Thursday 10 April 2014

5 Things To Know About Lagos (for JJC corpers)


Okay. So I get to wear my Ajuwaya uniform to jump buses and cross the streets of Lagos with eyes gawking and men calling 'corper' like I forgot who I was. Done that three times. First was on tuesday, the day we left camp. I reported to my local government 'cause they had threatened us in camp that payment from the state government was going to be on a 'first come, first serve' basis. I submitted my posting letter and was told to come back on tuesday, the next week. So I did, the second time, jumping buses, crossing streets and having the whole world know I am a corps member. All to get back to the LG and was told to come back on thursday. Today is that thursday. I dressed up again, went through all that again and Thursday was turned to Monday. This is the beginning of the story of my Lagos life.
I have learnt 5 things about Lagos in 3days. They are:
1. Bus fare from your house to your backyard is 50 Naira
2. Everything you need for a living is just downstairs
3. If you sleep with your clothes on, you're wrong
4. Always have an umbrella in your handbag
5. Hold your bus fare in your palm before you enter the bus

©Radiant~ April 2014

Wednesday 9 April 2014

My NYSC Camp Experience At Lagos Camp 2014 Batch A (LA/14A)-Mar 11 to April 1, 2014


It was a rainy day. I had woken up early 'cause I had heard of the usual Lagos traffic jam, but I couldn't get out because the sky wept bitterly. I waited till it began to drizzle, at about 6 am, and I boarded a taxi from Yaba to the NYSC camp at Iyana Ipaja. I slept through out the journey and was awoken by the yelling of the street vendors persuading new corps members to buy buckets or take passport photos. I was glad I had seen the blog on requirements for NYSC camp and had come prepared. I didn't bring a bucket from home, because I knew they were going to sell such at the Mami market. So I ignored them all. At the gate, soldiers searched us and seized a lot of iPads, laptops, extension wires, forks, e.t.c. I didn't come with any of those because I was pre-informed on what to expect.
            
Registration was tiresome and annoying. I just didn't get why we needed to shuttle between venues to fill forms that could have been handed to us in one venue. At one of those venues, I approached to see a queue as long as that seen in US embassy—young men in search of greener pastures. I knew I couldn't stand on that queue. Thank God we were allowed to drop our boxes in the hostels before  starting the registration process. It could have been hell if we had to drag our boxes along all those venues and queues as I was told to expect in the blog I read. 

One of my friends said I could go in and tell the officials I was a doctor and then they would attend to me. I went in through a side door. I couldn't even approach the officials to say I was a doctor because I had hateful pairs of eyes stalking me. I saw a shorter queue by the side of the main queue and garnered courage to join it. Nobody said a word. I was lucky. But the eyes still peered at me. It was not long before I found out that the shorter queue was for nursing mothers and pregnant women. It then made sense why nobody said a thing. I was afraid to be found out because the women before me had their babies with them. The one that didn't have her baby with her was asked where her baby was and she pointed to it. I fidgeted till it was my turn but most graciously, I wasn't asked any implicating question. They attended to me and I went free. I was so happy. I couldn't believe it. I just kept on imagining what it would have been like to have been on that queue.

That evening we were introduced by the sound of the bugle to what was going to be our most dreaded moment for the next three weeks—the parade. I was chosen to be one of the flag bearers for the swearing-in ceremony that was to come in two days; that might have been a terrible mistake. We had longer drills and as flag bearers, my colleague and I had to face the parade ground standing directly opposite the sun all through our rehearsals and the D-day. We were not allowed to move freely. Even our 'at ease' posture was not to be compromised. We usually stole brief seconds during the parade to sit on the floor of the saluting desk where we were stationed side by side. On the oath-taking day there was no such grace. Thank God we were allowed to put on sun shades. They were like a drop of water in hell. My jungle boots were my biggest foe. They were tight and the black hard part that covered the toes were like metal sheets placed beside a fire. I've never been more uncomfortable. I thought I was going to pass out.
          
The next day we had a welcome party sponsored by Golden Penny. It was fun and dance gallore. Our deejays were good and we had some free pasta and noodles to go home with. We had to get used to waking up at 4am, sometimes 2 and 3am (because of bathroom queues). Once we heard the sound of the bugle at 4:30 am, we'd appear on the parade ground in our Otondo uniforms (white T-shirt, white short, white socks and white canvas plus the customized cap). If not, we'd have the soldiers deafening us with their whistles and chanting the popular 'if you are still in the hostel, you're wrong'. Once we were gathered,  the national prayer, which I found to be the second stanza of the national anthem, would be led and a topic for meditation read by the representatives of the platoon on duty. I was in platoon 7—The platoon that seemed to always come last at all competitions until God saved our face by giving us double for our trouble. We won both Miss NYSC and Mr. Macho competitions. Boy, you need to have seen how happy we were that day. We screamed, we shouted, I cried (lol). Even other platoons that were uncomfortable with the Mr. macho result were happy that at last, we broke our loser record.

We had physical training exercises after the meditation. They were fun especially with the background music and the Man-O-War match that followed with songs like 'all these soldiers gbo gbo yin na monkey'. We had martial arts practice after this. It was always very amusing especially the funny language and gestures as our instructors called 'Yoi', 'Yesume' 'Rei'. The uninterested ones would just sit at the back and watch. Much to my surprise, a lot of people participated. I started out interested but got tired along the line.

Then came the ever boring lectures. After breakfast, we would resume for more lectures. Those were siesta sessions for we that sat in front and chat up time for them that sat behind. It was always hot and horrible and a time to spend money buying bottled water. The only interesting lectures I remember were the Pension Pal group 'cause the lady facilitator was hot- well spoken, beautiful and dressed nice and there were goodies to share too (biros, markers and key holders), the fire safety group 'cause they taught with projected pictures and videos and gave a quiz with a prize to be won. Also never to be forgotten was the anti-HIV/AIDS group 'cause nobody slept when they began to teach how to put on a condom.
            
More than that, we had the Skills Acquisition And Entrepreneurship Development, SAED lectures and practical classes. Those were the only encouragement we had to get under those canopies in the hot sweltering air after breakfast. I always looked forward to my practical classes with Dollywood Academy, Stesi Events, and school for the dumb. We were supposed to be in just one but I found a way to shuttle between the three and I learnt to write a script for a documentary, ice a cake and sign short sentences like ' I love God', 'I hate war', 'you make me happy'. My room mate joined a bead making class and before we were through with camp, she came out with a master piece that was displayed on the last day. Others learnt make-up, how to tie gele, calligraphy, cocktails and Forex trade, among many others.

The games arcade was my second room. I was always to be found there playing Scrabble. I met a lot of gurus and I made some good impression too. There were other games there like Chess, Ludo, Joker, Draught, Monopoly, Sudoku, e.t.c. Mami market was the main events centre most nights. The Guinness and Fayrouz joints were most lively, filled with what you expect of a gathering of youths—lots of alcohol, loud music and cigarettes. There were smoke-free places I loved to hang out though —noodles joints, Smoothie joint and the Wii games place. 

I was most grateful for Nigerian Corpers Christian Felowship, NCCF. Camp life was so fast that I found it difficult to make out time to pray or study the Bible. I thought it was just me, but one day my friend said he was experiencing the same thing. With NCCF having fellowship daily, I got to be around believers and heard the Word more often. I couldn't make it daily though, even though I was in the choir 'cause some days I was just tired or I was representing my platoon in a competition or just didn't want to miss out on a social activity. But I thank God they were there.
           
From the second week of camp there were social activities to look forward to every night. If it was not a drama competition between platoons, it was a cultural dance competition, or the Camp Idol, Camp Blast, Big, bold and Beautiful or Miss NYSC and Mr. Macho competitions. In the afternoons we had cooking competitions, sports including football, volleyball, athletics and Chess competitions. I participated in the drama competition for my platoon. I didn't act but I assisted the director. As usual, we didn't qualify for the 2nd stage. I did cultural dance for my platoon. I even got injured on both knees but the same was the case. I participated in the Man-O-War competition but we were kicked out after the first stage when it was found that we weren't up to 10 representing our platoon. I also represented my platoon for  the Camp Idol and was given a consolation price—a toasting machine. The best my platoon got to was 3rd position in the Honeywell wheat meal cooking competition. With this track record of failures, you can now imagine how elated we were when the results for Miss NYSC and Mr. Macho were announced. We almost suffocated them as we all reached out to give them hugs. 
          
Camp blast was the bomb. Several Nigerian artistes came including MI, Banky W, Waje, Dr. Sid, Ikechukwu, and so on. Comedians were there to tear our lungs too, likes of MC Bash. It was a fun night, though from where I was I couldn't see much of what was going on even after I stood on my chair. The crowd was something else. It was the only night Mami market was silent. MTech gave out 10 Android phones to some lucky raffle winners excluding me.
   
As a medic, I took shifts at the camp clinic. People came down with a lot of skin reactions, cough, catarrh, malaria, faint attacks during parades and a lot of fake stories to get exeat to leave the camp. I had fun climbing those ropes during Man-O-War. My favourite were the gorilla crawl, the scrabble net, the 12ft wall and the bridge. 

I made a whole lot of friends from my circles: Room 6, Scrabble, NCCF, Platoon 7, Dollywood Academy and the clinic.
   
It wasn't all fun for me, don't get me wrong. I was told by some friends before camp that at the end of the three weeks, I wouldn't want to leave. That didn't happen to me. I was itching to go 'cause I developed some skin reactions, I was terribly tanned and I was just sick of the routine. Maybe it was just Lagos camp, but I think other camps must have had as much fun. Really, NYSC camp experience is one in a million. I think every Nigerian youth should have it.

©Radiant~April 2014

PS: A shout out to the wonderful people I met at camp: Helen, Blessing, Rebecca, Faith, Kemi, AY, Zainab, Tinuke, Nurse Jegede, Omolara, Jessica, Jennifer, Ope, Dickson, Samuel, Omo, Toyin, Dapo, Ada, Sholakpe, Seyi, Segun, Bukola, Bode, Greg, Jeremiah, Samson and so many more I don't remember their names.

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Tuesday 8 April 2014

Welcome Back

Hey pals and faithful followers of my blog. I'm really sorry I've 

been silent for a while and I didn't give prior notice. My bad. I 

went for the NYSC batch A camp for 3wks and after that, NCCF

Rural Rugged (village missions outreach) for 3days. I'm still 

settling plus I'm trying to hook up on a better network for my 

browsing. But watch out for my NYSC experience coming 

soon (before the week runs out). Thanks. Xoxo