Author: Ikenga Online
By Osmund Agbo Having spent almost two decades here in the US, every now and then I run into folks who I assume are genuinely curious to know what life was like for me in Nigeria before migrating to the States. This one friend once asked if my family had a living space with all the conveniences or if we had to make a quick dash to the woods each time Mother Nature called. I responded by telling how we lived in a big Tree and that the issue of conveniences was totally out of the question. To his relief,…
America is in a new presidential election cycle and the place is buzzing. News networks are having a field day looking for salacious gaffes that keeps pundits busy and boost ratings. On the other hand, policy analysts and fortune 500 CEO’s are busy dissecting the economic policy positions of each among the motley crew. He weighs whose policy will help or hurt his company. He decides on whose policy will lead to cutting staff size and force to relocate plant to Mexico. He approaches these issues not with the fire of patriotism but more of how to preserve the entity…
Jean and I crossed path during my last year of fellowship training in an upscale hospital at the heart of Manhattan. As you would expect in such a highbrow setting, we were the only people of color in a sea of white faces. He was a freshly minted Nurse Practitioner trying to steady his feet in a challenging work environment. I was to the rescue. It came natural to strike a bond with this brother from the Caribbean. Or as I liked to call him, my African brother in the diaspora. Jean was a history buff and each little time…
I met a young Nigeria today at the gym dripping with passion about Biafra. Oh wait, let me take that back. I met a young Biafran. I had to rephrase that statement out of respect for my friend would who rather identify and likes to be addressed as such. Few months ago, Chinedu and I met at the local gym in my neighborhood of Eagle springs. As with most of us in the diaspora, you can spot a Nigerian from a distance. But Chinedu’s case was different. He was working out close by me when a call came in from…
My father was your quintessential man of wise words. Do please feel free to label me with bias though. In those few moments when he found time to spend with his children, he always made sure to leave us with memorable life lessons. Those pearls of wisdom got passed down usually in the form of Igbo folk tales shared around the fireplace after dinner. In this one instance, it was the story of a man and his wife who had some little misunderstandings that ended up with disastrous consequence. Though the man was right in his own way according to…
In March 2018 while at the American Israel Public Affairs committee (AIPAC) event held in Washington, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received what was described as a hero’s welcome. It was so inspiring hearing him speak glowingly about the progress made by the Jewish State. For a country surrounded by very belligerent neighbors and only came into existence since 1948, the progress recorded is nothing short of phenomenal. He stated and rightly so that Israel as a nation is punching way above her weight. The speech was vintage Bibi, strong in delivery, compellingly persuasive and laced with a generous…
The difference between fifty and a hundred and ninety (that’s if you believe that number to be true as Nigeria’s current population) is humongous and Nigeria certainly is no South Africa. But like Nigeria, this southernmost country on the mainland of the Eastern hemisphere is a truly multi-ethnic and pluralistic society populated by people with wide varieties of culture, religion and languages. There are also the eerie similarities between this time in our nation’s history and events leading up to the birth of a new South Africa. South Africa is a country famous for her rich deposits of gold and…