There is this story - a parable - of the Good Samaritan told by Jesus in the Bible. A traveler was robbed, beaten, striped off his clothes and left to die on the road. A religious priest traveling saw the beaten man and walked away and so did a Levi. It was a man from... Continue Reading →

Cold, he cuddles up on the sofa, blue laptop in hand, and fumbles through the blog, doing some updates. Shivering, he sits up and sets the computer on the thighs, field-notes to code, ethnographic analysis to write ahead of Monday. It is bitingly cold, and the hands of time shall be stretched forward tonight. The... Continue Reading →

So, a brother says to me, we hear you, be good to our wives, be romantic and all that, but how can we do these when they're not doing this and that. And more specifically, how am I going to want to come home early and spend time with her when I don't feel appreciated... Continue Reading →

At the end of this story, there's an opportunity for you to do something great. Please read the instructions for the opportunity. "Thank you for the book. I like it.” “You too thank you for all the books you have been giving me.” “So, do you like Texture of Air?” “That guy tried. Alabi, he... Continue Reading →

A week later, the power outage proved to be the catalyst that led Umm Rumaysah to the balcony that Sunday evening. She had slept off after asr prayer on the rug in her room. Immediately the standing fan gave up, her overall hijab became damp of sweat as if on cue. She jumped to her... Continue Reading →

One time a brother and I were discussing, and as I began deriding his fetish about 'ọmọ pupa', he turns to Islam and said a man should marry women that attract him. No doubt, I said. But what would you do when you already have four wives, and still have an unsatisfied fetish? He smiled... Continue Reading →

The closest encounter I've had with my own mortality happened a day after the birth of my son. Yes, in the hospital bathroom, I fell, blacked out. I had been gripped with extreme dizziness and malaria. It was my wife's voice that brought me back to life. Her eyes was on me, the door half... Continue Reading →

On Friday night, as my wife wrote a message on a card alongside the gift we were preparing to give to my friend and her husband who got married yesterday, it came upon me that my wife and I did not receive wedding gift on our wedding day. Not even one.  Yesterday, we drove up... Continue Reading →

Growing up in Nigeria at the ending years of the 20th century, my understanding of modernity (a modern life) was informed mainly by the Nigerian movie industry, Nollywood. Modernity was represented by modern films which typically took place in cities and urban areas, and antiquity (premodern era) was represented by ancient movies set in villages,... Continue Reading →