THE UNTOLD STORY.
I ordered pizza, the menu blinked red and the order was declined. Aaaaarg! Our health records and genomic data are now merged and synchronized with all digital devices. Choosing food is crazy, they dictate what and when you eat. The menu gave an option of broccoli with cheese soup or sauteed spinach. I begrudgingly settled […]
Tomorrow
My name is Jaha from Gambia. It happened on a sunny afternoon I sat down on the floor with the other girls shaking out of fear and confusion, I could hear Yaam I tried pressing my palms against my ears but I could still hear her blood-curdling scream, that painful scream that pierces the soul, […]
THE FUTURE IS FEMALE
The silence in the air was deafening as pairs of eyes focused on me. The hall was filled with prominent people from the town. My mind wandered to five weeks ago when a woman had stumbled into my house in Owerri during my service year as a corps member, clutching her child, her hair dishevelled […]
FUTURE AFRICA WITHOUT FGM(YOU ARE SAFE NOW)
The Summer break was fast approaching and my mother asked me how I will like to spend the holiday, I enthusiastically told my mum that I will very much love to visit my maternal grandmother who resides in a small town in Southwestern Nigeria called Atakumosa. It was so nice to see my Grandma she […]
The Dreadful Knife
The Dreadful Knife “Nala! Wake up, it is today!” I still remember the joyous voice of my bubbly cousin Adia waking me up that morning. It was the day we would become women as echoed several times by my grandmother, mother and aunties. I never quite understood the process of circumcision, all I knew is […]
If evil had a face
If evil had a face, it wasn’t hers. I examined her closely through the cell bars as the guards brought her in. Her hair was cropped short, and besides an overly skinny frame, she looked like any normal 30-year-old. And that was what was terrifying about her. “Have they been treating you well?” I flashed […]
Lame sanglante
Lame sanglante Encore cette lame géante. Je me réveillai en sursaut , de la sueur plein le visage et les yeux larmoyants . Cette fois ci je la sentais me déchirer la chair , pénétrer mon antre sans jamais s’arrêter. Étais-je maudite ? C’est la question que je me posais à chaque fois que je […]
Broken
There are thousands of broken vessels caked over with clay and they say “Look, it walks the same.” As if that is enough, they say “Look, it speaks the same, but it should speak less.” And nod at their hubris. They cake clay over the cracks they engraved in it and say “This is who […]
STORYTELLING COMPETITION FOR AFRICANS
Meera was a little girl who had just attained the age of twelve years. She came from a small remote village which was located in the deepest part of the Kankara forest. Her parents insisted on a daily basis that she should get herself ready for Uklaudi; a sacred cultural ceremony which every girl in […]
Eyes of the plagued
As I stood in the queue waiting for it to get to my turn, others called it tradition, to my mom protection, but deep within a day I dreaded the most. For Just like a lamb to the slaughter, the agony, anguish and fear, as It drew closer to my turn. Still, Granny’s words echoed […]