Bellemskey's Blog

This article was first published on September 8, 2008 with Nigerians in America     “Where you dey go ooo, where you dey hurry go? You don forget say when motor jam you, you no go reach where you dey go, life no get duplicate ooo. Better make you late say you no reach you house ooo…   make you dey look road before you cross…”     This was one of my favourite teenage songs reeled out by Nigeria’s erstwhile queen of reggae music.   I remember vividly that this particular track,   Look Before You Cross , taught many teenagers the basic ethics of road safety and the principles of road-crossing when it was released.   Evi Edna Ogholi Ogosi ruled the Nigerian musical stage over the late 1980s and early 1990s with her own brand of reggae music which her fans subsequently tagged “Njoku Reggae,” because most of her tunes were usually oiled with a scintillating rhythm guitar chord which sounded something like   “njoku, njoku, njoku…” ...

One of the great benefits of being a researcher is that you get to travel around very often. Over the last 4 years I've had the rare privileged of visiting almost every state in Nigeria, working on one research fieldwork or another. Sometime in 2013, I had the opportunity of attending a funeral in Issele-Ukwu, Delta state. Interestingly, the revered elder who was being committed to mother earth was a huge fan of the Ekpechor Wonder from Ebu land also known as Ebu Wonder . As part of the funeral activities his children decided to pay him a befitting tribute by inviting his favourite Ekpechor cultural troupe to grace the occasion. It was truly a sight to behold!! See video clip below. First of, who are the people of Ebu, where is Ebu, and what is Ebu Wonder all about? The people of Ebu land are located in Oshimili North LGA of Delta State Nigeria. Curiously, the people of Ebu speak Igala as their native language, as opposed to the predom...

This article was first published on June 07, 2010 with Scribd

This article was first published on July 16, 2007 with Nigerians in America In Abuja Nigeria, the end of the month of May this year witnessed the official handover of the nation’s leadership from one civilian government to another for the first time in the history of the country.   That aside, it also marked the stepping down of several political office holders to give way for a fresh slate of leadership for the in-coming dispensation.   Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the ex-minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja was among the political officers that stepped down and passed on the mantle of office to career civil servants under the ministry he served. Beyond all reason doubt, El-Rufai has exemplified himself as one of the most admired ex-ministers of his time because of his very high sense of focus, dedication to duty, open policy, anti-corruption strides and courage in the discharge of his responsibilities while he served as minister.   Unde...

This Tribute was first published on January 8, 2008 with Nigerians in America   “Hello Dad, compliments of d season. I learnt U were a bit down n was admitted into d hospital. Please and please don’t be in a rush 2get back 2 work! But take time 2 rest and recuperate 4rm the illness.   We need U 2 remain fit n well.   I guess U n Mum need another break in the   UK     Greetings to Mum n all others. 4rm   Bell ,   Canterbury ”   These were the words of a text message I sent to Dr. Simon Oyinlola Adegoke in the early hours of Thursday the 13 th   of December 2007.   Only to receive a phone call couple of hours later and informed that my dear mentor had transcended this sinful world to the great beyond.   My God!!! What is this life all about?   One minute a man is here and the next he’s gone.   What’s the purpose of existence in the first place?   Why all these struggles and toil in life anyway?   Wha...