The birth of a child brings unexplained joy not just to the baby who gets everything he or she wants, but to family members too. Everyone is ecstatic...parents and siblings are happy to the point of tears...extended families are thrown into a frenzy of baby names, gifts and opportunity to look upon the new creature. but this excitement only lasts for a while, that does not mean that family stops being joyous at the birth of the child, no, joy of the birth of the child is joined by other joys...the joy of watching the child grow..take his first steps, use his first words and ultimately when you see your child grow up to be something parents, siblings and extended family can be proud of. This same principle applies spiritually.

When you're born again, the joy of your salvation is not experienced by you alone, heaven rejoices with you ("luke 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.") but you are not to remain there...i don't think a 9yrs old child still feeding on breast milk will be as cute as a 3months old baby doing the exact same thing because at some point you have to grow past certain things or you'll be classified as abnormal...or even retarded. Most importantly, Joy is a fruit of the spirit, it must grow...and it only grows when you grow.

It is wonderful to see a newborn Christian who wants to share his faith with everybody because he is so excited about what God has done in his life, but that joy and excitement he feels may become stale if he remains where he is, if he continues to try to feed off the excitement of that joy. At that point he starts to struggle and that rush of emotion he had on the day of is rebirth is now a faint wisp. he is feeding off the wrong joy at that time. This is simply because the excitement at the birth of a child will only continue when the child brings other joys. Parents will remember and thank God for the day a child is born if the child as he grows continues to do them proud, this way they effectively re-experience the joy of birthing such a child. So spiritually, when you don't grow and find more joys in Christ, you'll begin to loose faith in your salvation joy because it hasn't borne any fruit...nothing is happening. Put simple, the joy of your salvation will fade if you don't find other joys that will remind you of it and make you glad that you're saved thus effectively giving you back the joy of salvation.

There is the joy of winning souls (1 Thessalonians 3:9), there is the joy of seeing the power of God grow in you.. there is the joy of being responsible for people and seeing how your mentoring has helped them grow too...there is the joy of seeing your fellowship or relationship with God blossom, there is the joy of seeing God reveal secrets to you... (Psalm 126:2-3) there are numerous joys and they're all connected. when the joy of your salvation has pushed you to evangelize, you should derive joy from seeing a sinner get saved, next you should derive joy from seeing new born grow in grace, you should derive joy from being in God's presence and get excited at the things He shares with you through the Holy spirit. As a new born, all your battles are fought for you, you ask God and God see it done, but as you grow in spirit, God starts to show you that His power is in you to command and see things happen, at this point you derive joy from fighting and winning spiritual battles..from praying by yourself for yourself or others and seeing miracles happen.

Bottom line is, the joy of your salvation cannot continue to be the only thing that drives you to get close to God and do God's work. As Christians we have to grow into other joys therefore creating a strong joy-foundation. it'll be easier for a person who only has the 'joy of salvation' to backslide than someone who has in his arsenal the joy of his salvation, the joy of fellowship with God and the joy of saving a soul. We've read accounts of how Paul rejoiced with the churches as they grew, how their growth made his joy full.(Romans 15:32, 2Corinthians 7:4&16)

Don't get me wrong, the joy of salvation is as important as any joy, but if you don't grow, you'll have only the joy of salvation to rely on and the joy of your salvation can only hold for so long when not bolstered by other joys. So, no, as an old christian, you don't 'need' the joy of your salvation to preach the gospel, cos that would mean you aren't growing. As a Christian you'll overcome by the word of your testimony...your testimony can either be one testimony about your salvation which is good enough if you have the excitement and passion of a new born to carry it or it can be several testimonies about your salvation, the workings of the holy spirit, how you've experienced fellowship with God and His power. It's safe to say that the more testimonies you have, the more likely you are to overcome the devil.
You won't need to look for joy and excitement to preach if you're growing spiritually, because you'll have had enough experience with God to be passionate about Him, haven seen all He has done through and to you.

There are several joys God gives us through Christ and as you grow these joys connect giving your faith the much needed boost. Not only will your growth strengthen your faith, it will strengthen God's faith in you. Besides you'll never really know and come to experience the true joy of salvation until you begin to experience the things that salvation comes with, and you wont experience most of these things if you don't grow

( John 15:10-11,  Psalm 119:110-112, Luke 10:17-24, 2Corinthians 1:24)

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"Things may come to those who wait but only the things left by those who hustle." - Abraham Lincoln

I stumbled upon this quote and began to think on it and how it relates to allowing God have His way and i've come to realise the quote is valid even in God's system.

God does not encourage laziness that's why no matter what plans He has for you, there has to be an effort on your part. Jacob had to wrestle an angel and he also had to work 14yrs for the woman he wanted. Yes, God was with him but, but He had a part to play in everything and not just sit down. Abraham had to leave haran to nowhere, he became a nomad just because of Gods promise, isreal had to fight all of canaan, paul had to travel through unstable weather. God could have had his way anywhere, anytime but He wasn't going to give something valuable with you doing nothing. Everyone in the bible had to do something. So yes, if you don't do something about Gods will for you, you'll end up with someone's  left over.
Note also that anything you do, for it to be a valid effort must be done in Gods will, in spirit and in truth and with all the selflessness you can muster.

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In 2015 God will increase the longing for Him in the heart of men. People will suddenly just start feeling that urge to wanna get serious with God. Some will be successful, but most will fail. They will start and not have the will to finish and some won't start at all for fear of leaving their comfort zone. The original order of things which should be 'all things are invented for man's use' will be further upset, and it will appear man was created for those invention. Don't be distracted by the noise, noise of technology, fashion, peer pressure, social media, money, school, church e.t.c. learn to control these things, you don't have to reply every ping, you don't have to visit every place, you don't have to wear everything, you don't do everything in church, Jesus will always value a Mary to a Martha. Practice cutting yourself from all these noise daily, turn your networks or even your off and go Learn at God's feet in personal retreats of Godly resolve and sobriety and gradually you'll understand the truth of allowing God be your all. There's more, but there's not very much I can type, maybe some other time, but y'all should gist with God on your own and He'll open your eyes.

Merry Christmas and remember, God is not an idea, He is a person, He can be touched, smelled, seen, felt and tasted... All with your spiritual senses...and he can be hurt, we can make Him sad or unhappy too... All by our actions and thoughts. So please don't go partying for the sake of it, logically, I believe if you're celebrating someone's birthday, you do it with the person, doing only things that'll make the birthday person happy, atleast you guys spent almost the whole day with me and Beverly on our birthdays... Lol.. Christ has a lot of good stuff He wants to give too , don't be oblivious, don't get distracted. Be not deceived, God is not mocked.
.. Adios persons and enjoooooooooy!!!!

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The children of Israel rejected the rulership of God and desired a king, it was only logical that they should have one too, that's how it's done on earth. God through Samuel warned them several times about how bad the move was, but they had made up their and in their disobedience, fell short. Saul was either not supposed to be king or wasn't supposed to be king yet, either way, Saul becoming king wasn't, at that point in time, God's plan. God gave the children of isreal Saul because he matched the description of the kind of King they had in their hearts. but then what was God's original plan for Saul, because if God is only giving the Israelites Saul because they demanded for a king, which wasn't God's plan for them, it means there was something else Saul would have been doing had the Israelites not rejected God's rulership. Thus did God subject the Saul, who appeared good to the desires of the Israelites, thereby thwarting His own will for him ? Saul could have sought God's face again as regards him rulings Israel, but he didn't , he accepted the offer without considering God's opinion as regards the whole process.

Saul appeared to be good physically but had a heart that wasn't too right with God. God had to change his heart in 1sam 10:9 before he could rule, a thing that didn't happen with David because God himself raised David for Israel, meaning David was in God's plan and thus in raising him, God worked on his heart.
Saul's kingship seemed good in the beginning, but everything fell apart no matter how hard he tried. even though God tried to help, he would have still failed because he wasn't in God's will... God's will for himself and for the Israelites.

God will allow you to be used to fulfill other people's desires not His, if you don't stay in His will. and no matter how rosy, beautiful or successful it might seem in the beginning, it will all crumble. it will be difficult for you to follow God when you're not in His will, you will struggle physically and spiritually because the resources and the people He has raised to help you are not on that path you have chosen, they're elsewhere.

keep the channel of sonship between you and God open and He'll bring you to an expected end. always ask His opinion on everything before you make any move and keep Him in the loop, that way you're certain you're in His will. you might not get early career changing moves like Saul, not that you can't do the job, but because God has other plans for you and He won't let you be used to meet an employers desires. He might be training you like David for something bigger, you might be in the wilderness hustling while your mates are taking quantum leaps on the social ladder, this shouldn't bother you if you're in God's will, because when He brings you it where He wants you to be, Everything will be perfect, in you and for your. just stay in His will and let Him guide so you don't become the answers to the desires of another not approved by God.

You definitely reach an end, would it be somebody else's end or God's expected end?.. Your choice.

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"if God answered all your prayers will the world look different? or just your life? "
The above is a quotation a friend of mine used as her DP on bbm and it's a question I think we all need to think about.
The nature of man tends towards selfishness, we wanna satisfy then save up for ourselves before we think of any other person. As christians we ought to know better, if your brother has a dire need that you can meet and you choose not to because you budgeted your money for something else, you have shown how much you don't trust God to meet your needs. The one you've consumed He gave, the one you're saving He also gave, the birds don't sow or reap yet they feed because God takes care of them. God wants to look out for you but you keep getting In the way with your worldly knowledge of accounting, economics, logic and what not and in doing this you belittle the power of God to save you. The Bible abounds with stories of people who gave their all yet they ended with all, a classic is the shunamite woman.
Let us therefore not worry about tomorrow, it's not for you to if you've committed it to God's hands. Keep at doing God's will, ministering to one another in prayers and resources even when it's not convenient and God will see to it that your trust in Him won't fail. Start today and be of assistance to atleast one person everyday.( Matthew 6:25-27, 1Peter 4:10, Galatians 5:13)

#prayer: Father, thank you cos I woke up sound this morning. Father give me the grace and strength to minister to those around me. Thank you father.

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In litigation, when the court asks you to say your prayers they're asking you to tell them what you'd like them to do as regards the instant case. As Christians we are taught to pray, but how many of us do more than just pray? more than just make requests? this might seem absurd but how many of us have ever asked God how running of the universe was coming through? how many have asked God how his day went? or if mankind didn't give him too much trouble? how many?  You might be like 'how can I ask God this questions, it's not in my place to', If it's not in your place to, you who claims to be His child, then who should ask him?
God wants a father/son and friend relationship with you, but he can't do this if all you talk about when you're with him is about yourself. He wants to have your opinion on matters like He did with Abraham when He wanted to burn Sodom and Gomorrah , and like He did with Moses when He wanted to destroy the Israelites in the wilderness. ofcourse He can do it himself, but He still wants to run it by you so you'll understand that He enjoys those little selfless chats you have with Him, so you'll understand that you're grown enough to handle His business. Besides what father will not feel great when he has a son that cares about the father enough to ask how he is doing, a son professes his love and concern? God knows you feel this things, but like all fathers, it feels good to hear you say it. (Leveticus 26:12, John 17:21-23, 1John 1:3, Revelations 21:3-4)

#prayer : Father forgive me for being selfish, forgive me for making our communion about me. Henceforth I amend my ways. Father today is another day at the business of saving souls, may it be a great harvesting that when we commune again you'll have lots of awesome stories from all over the world to tell me. in Jesus name, amen.

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A couple of days back I was reading the book of Leveticus, and the spirit of God drew my attention to Lev 10:1. That verse talks about how Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron offered strange fire before the Lord and God struck them down for it. I didn't get it until the Holy Spirit made it plain.
Previously God had told them how they were to fire up the temple so as not offer strange fire but Aaron's sons did exactly what they weren't told to, they offered strange fire.
Thinking of it, we can see that the fire they offered was in the service of God but God still killed them, couldn't God have overlooked their offence seeing as it was His work they were trying to do? Apparently not.
God is spirit and worshiping Him must be done in truth and in spirit (john 4:24) and doing it in truth and spirit means your heart is right with God and you have the spirit of God in you. Any service to God when your heart's not right with him is strange fire. Nadab and Abihu knew the law but chose to disobey, their heart was set on disobedience already before they offered the strange fire.
You might be on 'fire' for God, preaching powerful messages, singing in the choir, a prayer warrior or maybe it's just chairs you clean, As long as you've chosen to do any service in God's house it must be done with a right heart. God might not strike you down like he did Aaron's sons because of the grace we have through Christ, but he's sure going to punish you because whether directly or indirectly your strange fire will affect how other people's sacrifice will be accepted.
It is the heart God tries, physical approval by your friends or even your pastor means nothing to God but His approval means everything to you.
There are times in each our lives that we tried to do God's work without the spirit of God or a heart that's right with God, these are times we've offered strange fire but thank God for the grace of God through Christ his son, because that's the only reason we're not consumed. So then do we now continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! (1samuel 15:22, luke 16:15, psalm 95:8-11)

#Prayer Heavenly father I'm very sorry for what I have done and what I am doing. I know I have offered strange fire and I ask that you forgive me, I threw myself at your mercy and plead that you do not hide your face from me. henceforth I'm gonna make certain I'm standing right with you before doing service in your house. Thank you father. in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

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During one of my classes yesterday, the lecturer went out to look up those that he closed the door against because they were late to the class, the moment he stepped out they ran helter skelter. then the spirit of God spoke to me, He said, the default reaction of man when he has done something wrong is to run and hide, Adam is an example. this is how God's children run and hide when they've done wrong, they reject His love and forgiveness just because they want to cover their shame. They then make Jesus chase them  like chicks when all He wants is to take away that shame they have so protected like He did Mary Magdalene .
God's love for us can't be explained, only a God can love a people like us when we've done nothing but hurt him. He sent his son to die for us (Romans 5:8), not because He enjoyed the sight of torture, but because of His love for us, the same love He's had for mankind through generations.
He's calling out to you today, He loves you and wants to show how much He does, He wants to take away that shame and give you the oil of gladness, a garment of praise instead of mourning, a shining crown instead of ashes and glory in a place of despair. But He can only do this if we stop running. Come back home and give all to Him and He'll give all to you. He won't allow you drown when you've given him the reins of your life holding nothing back. Stop running and come home and Christ will fix you. (john 3:16, 2Timothy 1:9)

#Prayer: Lord Jesus I'm tired of running, please lead me back home. Forgive all my indiscretions and take all this guilt and pain away. I give my all to you today, because there will be no more running for I have found love, mercy, forgiveness and grace in your sight. Thank you Jesus. Amen

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The mob waited outside for him, blocking all possible escape routes, their intentions were clear, the young man was going down, he was gonna get soaked in red.

They spread out the bottles amongst themselves and waited patiently...patiently as the moment of truth drew near. Soon it was time.

The moment they saw him step out, they grabbed him and dragged outside, forced him to his knees while at the same time tearing his white shirt to shreds. He struggled to stand but the tug and the pull, the weight of several arms and the passion he saw in their eyes made his legs give way. He knew there was no turning back, he had to heed to the motioned out request.

It was the last paper and as a ritual final year students are poured water and any other liquid the perpetrators choose to use, as long as it's not dangerous. This time, the object of the whole fiasco was our LAWSA president and he was getting it real hard.

They tore his shirt, poured water and zobo on him then tore part of his trousers. All this he took with a smile on his face.

After they had thrown several sachets of water at him and emptied their bottles of zobo, they let him go while they went to join the sachet water shooting and zobo bottles emptying frenzy at the car park...lest i forget, there was lots of champagne too, so much the whole car park stank of alcohol.

You won't really understand until you've being in a federal university in Nigeria for atleast three years, then you'll know to have spent five years is no small task. The stress, the trauma, the drama...everything's finally ends. I don't think anybody would mind having water, champagne and zobo emptied on them, i for one hope they do it to me, cos to read book is not a small something.

Congratulations to all final year law students, UNIBEN, wish you success in your endeavors outside the 'Berlin wall' .

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I guess I looked really fresh cos I was feeling really good with myself, this time I had original denims on...hehehe. It was time for CLASFON service. I got to school and went straight to the venue which is our faculty.

The audience was kinda small at first then it grew larger, no thanks to the African timers. I was given a tablet with a pink casing to cover the event so I was the official makeshift cameraman...but pink? Seriously? Comon… i did myself the favor of removing the pink casing before lifting the tab up, I won't be caught dead with or in anything pink.

And so I began coverage, not moving an inch from my seat, if you weren’t within my view… your funeral, I couldn't be bordered about getting up.

Programs went by, the dance group came and they were super cool, one of my friends who was dancing was just twisting and whining her waist like a Calabar girl, I was held spellbound. if you date a girl like her, i dont think you guys will ever have issues, how do i mean? all she needs to do is start dancing, throwing little twist and whines around during the dance while you're in full view and the quarreling will be gone with the wind, because you would have apologized on your kneels without you even knowing...you have being h(i)pnotized. The drama presentation was off the hinges, it was off the hook, in fact its T.V worthy, it was unexpectedly beautiful...short, concise and full of meaning. I could have described the piece presented in more dramatic detail but I can't, sorry, maybe later in another article, but not now, too lazy to. Moving on.

While I was busy enjoying the event, I heard the M.C say:

'Time for special numbers, from Mark and Samuel'

I ignored cos I didn’t believe they just called my name out for special numbers, what! Well pardon me, I was brought up in a local church where special number means a solo or a duet, I never knew special number meant any presentation that wasn’t the regular or expected one. So when they called me out for special number, I stayed back till I heard my name thrice, then I got up and sauntered to the podium, and from the look on the faces of the guest especially the ones who knew me, I could see they were very surprised and patiently waiting to hear me sing or humiliate myself. I held the mic and began:

'good morning everyone, I’m sure y'all are thinking I’m gonna sing, but no I’m not, and I’m not gonna dance or preach either, so what I’m I here for? Why I’m I holding this mic?

Somebody in crowd said comedy and I said no and from thence I began. It was a talk and my talk was simply about diversity and human relation. The ability to build social skills while in school because you have the opportunity of meeting different people here which is similar to what you’ll encounter in the real world. I'm not giving a speech so I’ll stop here, I’ll put up the video as soon as I’m able to help it shed some fat.

The service went well, especially the 100L choir, they were awesome, the 'awesome' emphasized. And for those that don't know, CLASFON means Christian Law Students Fellowship Of Nigeria.

So I hung around with a few friends after service, helped one really pretty one get rid of the egg white in her pastry…damn sheee fineeee, and y’all better belee that. I hope she’s crushes on me though; it’ll make things easier cos I kinda…ermmm…never mind…scratch that…lol , Moving on. I kept getting compliments about my really cool shirt so I decided to stroll in and out to show it off a little more. I can swear some girls in a corner were gossiping about me because they kept whispering and stealing glances at me...Hmmm, well I don’t care what they were talking about. Did what I had to do and bounced out with my home boy who happened to be the preacher for that day.

I got home, chilled and guess who showed up? ‘The girl’ (For the sake of secrecy I’ll call her ‘the girl’). Ok a brief history of ‘the girl’. ‘The girl’ is a very beautiful girl, distinctively crazy just the way I like with a sense of humor that’s way off top. We met sometime last semester, and that was it, we became friends. We are similar in so many ways; her sense of humor, smart and above all her choice of music, she loves Regina Spektor too and it means a lot to me that she does, maybe it’s because Regina is crazy too, get any of her songs and you’ll understand.
The crush I have on her, ‘the girl’ is so huge sometimes I walk with a limp cos of its weight (punch line). Ok, so ‘the girl’ came over and we had so much fun, innocent fun since we’re just friends so get your minds outta the gutter, grazie.

I walked her home, came back and treated myself to a bowl of pounded yam and ogbono soup (yummy). Took a quick shower, jumped into bed and pressed my phone till fade. I guess I had a wonderful day. HAPPY NEW MONTH.

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After very long hours of watching bleach, I decided to head for school around 3:30pm, took a quick shower and threw on an original Burberry long sleeve shirt (showoff) and a pair of Aba made denims that I inherited from my flat mate who cut it too short for him to wear, unfortunate for him but fortunate for me...the Lord really does work in mysterious ways.

I walked to the bus-stop and realized I had very little cash in my wallet, I needed to use the ATM at the Skye bank beside me, but there was a queue, I decided to wait cos there was this pretty young lady on the queue too right in front of me, then she picked a call and I saw ‘the ring’…that was my cue, I had to ditch using that ATM and continue on my journey with the resolve that I’ll use any of the ATMs' in school, couldn't bare the thought of such a pretty girl in another's arms. :D

I don't know how it happened, can't really explain, all I saw was a car door  open and a bike man fall into…no no, inappropriate... I meant fly into a gutter that's more than six feet deep. I stopped abruptly, stared with eyes wide open and replayed the scene again in my head. A car had parked by the road and an old man was coming from behind on his bike. Just about the time the bike was beside the door of the front passenger seat, the occupant of that seat opened the door to get off and like one of Kobe Bryant’s long throws, the old man and his bike... swooooop!! Into the gutter they went.

The gods the guy who opened the door served were not sleeping at that time, for the odds were in his favor...the driver was a soja man, so nobody could harass him.

Eventually a relatively tall dude goes into the gutter and pulls the man out, I felt pity for gramps. He couldn’t stand straight anymore, fright written all over him like the mundane tattoos on wiz khalifa, he had to be lifted into the car so he could be taken to the hospital.

At first I thought he was dead, because great was his dive into that crater called a gutter, then he was brought out alive but from the way he moved, one could see gramps had broken a few bones. I felt pity for him and the pretty girl who just got off a bike for money fell out her wallet and it had being picked by somebody who needed it more.

I moved on, got on a bus and landed in school. There weren’t classes in my faculty today because of the LAWSA elections so I was just going to see somebody and probably hear the results of the election.

I saw a small crowd outside the faculty when I got there, all of them patiently waiting for the results to be announced. I took the opportunity to look at the faces of the persons that were there. They were scattered everywhere in small groups like it was a refugee situation, but one thing they had in common was that most of them looked starved; this begs the question, where they promised food? There was only one way to find out...ask them? Naa...I chose the more profitable way, sit down somewhere close to where the largest crowd was and wait for what was gonna happen, just in case there was any refreshment, it won’t pass me by.

The results were announced and the whole car park erupted. Suddenly everybody voted for the winner, nobody voted the looser. So if that be the case, where did eleco get their figures from? Hmph… figures nobody wants to associate with the losing side, just so you aren’t excluded from the after which was to hold at club car park, drinks on the winners and when we say drinks we mean coke and fanta.

The dude who won the post of the president was pretty short; I still couldn't spot him even though his supporter had carried him on their shoulders, he prolly got mixed up with some hair or fell into somebody’s pocket, I wonder where he’ll stand to swear his oath. When eventually he was found he kept grinning and shaking hands with people excitedly, he didn't realize he was shaking me the fourth time. Then I soiled my hands with sand in evil anticipation of his return for another hand shake, but he never came back, I was hurt, somebody had to take this handshake and my victim was the outgoing sec gen…(hehehe *evil laugh*) I never really liked him, he had the looks of someone who’s never had enough sleep. Alas! his hands were soiled too, so I had to abandon my evil quest.

The dude who won the post of sec gen was also short, but his height wasn’t the issue, his skin color was…penumbra. He's so black I felt tempted to ask if he took his bath with coal-tar, the dude must use an awful lot of Hypo, poor white shirt. He seemed a little calm though, but for the fact that every time he stood beside a black car he blends in like a bad dent, I wouldn't have said anything.

Then the bottles began to roll in, it was time to pop something in celebration of various victories one of which is victory over hunger... whoop! Whoop! whoop!! All the faces I saw earlier looking hunger stricken suddenly lit up and their bodies sprang into action; the action of answering nature's call for survival. It’s amazing what the site of ready food can do to a shriveled mind and a body hunger was giving a full on hug, now I know how those mosquitoes feel when they see  bare butt after days of starvation...ahhhh!! Nirvana.

They closed in on the bottles like the zombies in resident evil and began scrambling to grab theirs and in less than 2mins the crate was empty, in less than 10mins the bottles were empty. Enters another crate, and the same people scrambled for it like the Europeans scrambled for Africa, some people making away with more than 2 bottles. And another crate and another crate then they realized the winners of the election had no plans to feed their supporter, but to freely give each and every one of them the gift of diabetes and pile. But this didn't stop them from grabbing more; they had plans to get high on coke… fanta and sprite.

The ritual of coke, fanta, handshakes and mechanical smiles continued while I moved on, chatted with a few people then made for home. It looked like it was gonna rain, I had to get a home quick, I had a speech to prepare and a diary excerpt to write. happy new month every one

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The day went by in a dull shade of grey, I was so bored I kept drawing and making paper planes from the CLASFON handbills that were shared the previous day, while at the same time staring at those flirting, those frolicking and those who I still can't believe are in the same class as me.

When that couldn't alleviate my boredom, I decided to take a walk and probably converse with two of my friends.

I eventually took up the herculean task of getting off my chair and going to seek my friends out. I walked down, and turned left, heading to the corner they told me over the phone they were. In my really lazy trudge, eyes slant, my shoes shuffling and my shoulders dropped, I swung my head to the right just in time to catch a glimpse of what was happening down stair.

At that precise moment I saw a little child tumble into the drainage beside his mom's shop and lie flat in it. The whole scene felt like something from “the matrix”, my current condition of laziness made me see the occurrence in slow motion. I saw the child's head go in head first, which transforms into a roll and then a thud; his butt slamming the concrete of the drainage, he lay down flat on his back in there, paused for about three seconds probably to anticipate the decibels he was gonna get to, then he let it out, a long shrieking sound that sent shock-waves through my already shaken body, the hair on my skin stood and I looked on while playing the accident that just happened in my head. It felt like a movie; the boy's fall in slow motion while the shrieking sound he made was the sound track (too much Quentin Tarantino movies). Then I realized I had stopped to stare, eyes dilated and mouth open, I decided to shut my mandibles and continue on my quest because at this point the boy's mom had swiftly pulled him out, with the kind of agility only Flash could have, checked him for bruises while women around tried to appease the child who was determined to stretch his vocal cavity till taut.

'Osenobua' 'dooh' 'sorry' where the sounds that tried to create a symphony with the cry of the child, it was a terrible symphony.

I moved on and joined my friends, shoulders square and eyes now open, but deep within me I enjoyed the little reality show I just watched. We chatted and resorted to taking pictures when it was the turn of one of my friends to take the picture of the other one his countenance changed, he lightened up and I’m sure he fumbled with the snap button of the iphone he was holding, we weren’t sure what the cause of his current unstable condition was so we decided to look at the direction he was staring at and there she was, in her immaculate white shirt and black skirt, walking towards us. 

It was like an angel had decided to bless us with her presence; I almost thought I could see a halo above her head while she floated instead of walk towards us. Its felt like the sun was trapped in her head for it was bright and her eyes glistened then she smiled and turned left into a lecturer office and our hearts sunk, not cos of the hypnotic air she carried but because she went into a lecturers office instead of coming to us, damn! She was my friend's crush, he was clearly spellbound, a crush that'll crush him to death if the girl keeps appearing like that, a crush he has never spoken to and has  no intentions to, I couldn't make out what he said because I was caught up in the rapture too. When she went into the office, I took up the responsibility of taunting my friend about his ‘undying dead’ crush for a girl he'll never have, at least not right now.

He knew I wasn’t gonna stop so he pushed me downstairs to grab lunch because hunger happened to be atop my list at that point in time. I ate something I’d rather not disclose due to the base nature of it and we left. Went back and forth and then eventually left for home. On our way home we saw my crush, or rightly put, my ex-crush, cos i think I’ve gotten over her. I hollerd and walked past. 

When we got close to the halls of residence we were accosted by a terrible stench, stench so strong I thought were gonna mutate, maybe become FARTastic 3 and one of us preferably the fair one would be able to turn into gas, fart to be precise and poison the enemies air… stinkingly cool right ? . This led us into a discussion I would also rather not disclose, because the details of it are too sordid for me to think of let alone type, but for the sake of ending this excerpt properly I’d say we were talking about 'shot-put' and the female halls of residence, the rest is for me to know and for you to find out so go figure...disgusting...hehehe

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...and the young man who just got off an okada, strolls leisurely towards our building, a simple good afternoon to me and he went about getting started with whatever he came to do, a quest i wasn't sure of until much later. He changed into a pair of soiled denims he had cut into shorts, went, picked up some firewood from that which my landlady sold and made a fire.

His looked plain and professional at the same time, he went about with such fluidity only professionals could have. Dark skinned with lips spread but shut, there were no furrows on his forehead but on his stoned face you could see resolve and a determination to get whatever he came to do here done quickly...then he spoke

   'how far where d goat?'

   'naim be dat, i dey cum' replied the landlady's son.

At this point i closed my book curious to know what was about to happen. The landlady's son mustered a group of children and after a light chase the goat was apprehended and handed over to the young man whose expression had not changed since he got here. He took out a cutlass and a knife and pinned the goat to the ground with his legs. The goat bleated terrifyingly as if she knew what was about to befall her, she bleated with all the energy she could muster, head raised and pitiful eyes set on the young man as if trying to say something or plead with him, but he kept on with the hole he was digging beside the goat's head. The goat realized there was no turning back she laid still let short whimpering sounds and resigned to fate and at that very moment the young man and the goat were kin, the prey and the predator, the hunter and the game.

Then it dawned on me...the young man was 'the butcher'.

He then took the knife and in two strokes all the main veins in the goat’s neck were spurting out blood profusely into the hole he had dug. The goat jerked a little then was still and the butcher went about other stages of butchering; burning d goat's hair, scrubbing it thoroughly and cutting up the meat into different chunks. And when he was done, he cleaned his tools, himself, changed back and left the compound without his expression changing once, his emotions couldn't be read, his thoughts too...indifferent.

The butcher... He was masterful for he had the poise of a professional assassin.

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What you see above is not from a book, it’s what I made out of an event that occurred yesterday. So instead of just saying it, I thought I write it out like an excerpt from a book. My opener to blogging to again. J

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