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A JONI THAT SINGS

Anyone could tell he didn’t belong once he opened his mouth to sing the first line of the song “Kumbaya.” Apart from the unconscious cracks and the battle of staying on the key of C major, Joni was shaking with each breath exhaled. His legs wobbled, his hands waggled, and his eyes spoke the language of fear mixed with doubt. How shocking! He was introduced to the choir as a tenor singer from a sister church called Oasis. Unfortunately, this oasis had its lungs and throat all dried up.   Joni stopped singing from the looks on every face. By a corner, he saw the man playing the drums lift his eyebrows - not in wonder but a mechanism most people adopt to hold back laughter. The woman playing the bass guitar was looking down at nothing. As Joni’s eyes roved around the church, he saw an invisible congregation, all rising from their seats, eyes tight with laughter! The white walls were bloody-looking. Ah! Even the brown wooden cross on the altar resembled a negation. Joni felt the wo...
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The Normalcy Talk


Image result for normalcy picturesIt could pop up as breaking news, a social media post, a gossip from a neighbour, an observation by a pastor or a rumour from a beer parlor. Then it develops wings and flies through every section of the country and then it becomes a broken news.
"Have you heard what is going on in town now?"
"Oh that one na old news sef...na so we see am o my brother. Wetin we fit do? Na only God fit help us..."
And then there might be committees set up to combat the negative views of the given news; a way of looking into the issue by the government. In no time there will be new news to take its place and the ball just won't stop rolling.
Unemployment has not always been, but it is now the Normalcy Talk like "no water, light, food, housing, etc. When it becomes normal it becomes accepted comfortably like a prodigal son returning home. It becomes celebrated via speeches, conferences, songs, films and the like, still it never goes away...Stalemate. Are you a Normalcy Talker? Aren't we all?

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