Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest
Onwuegbute’s recent title, Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest gathers momentum as it creeps towards it 5,000th copy to be sold.
The African folklore, drawn from stories by moonlit episodes in Nigeria, tells the story about greed, selfishness and a general apathy one is oft to find in youths of the day.
Onwuegbute is the Creative Director (more…)
Leicester’s daily newspaper, Leicester Mercury, covers the highlights of Nduka Onwuegbute’s writing plans. The newspaper, established since 1874 writes an update on Nduka Onwuegbute‘s new novel, “Masters of the Confluence”. Since then, however, Onwuegbute has gone on to write another African story. This time…the story has changed format. Trying out his penmanship on children, Onwuegbute has written what can be tagged his “first children’s story”, titled Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest. Always one for tradition and culture, Onwuegbute draws from his oral folklore that is common to a lot of African ways of life.A girl is lost in the woods, finds a way home in the mysterious jungle and is rewarded for her bravery, resilience to resist temptations and general candour and demeanour. Her step sister sees the opportunities and lounges head first into the world of the unknown.Only 52 pages, Fortunes of the Forgotten Forest is a comment on teenage life in general.
Buy Now Masters of the Confluenceby Nduka OnwuegbuteRRP: £9.95Buy: £6.02Savings: £3.93Offer Ends: Friday, 30th April, 2010.
It is approaching the anniversary of Nigeria’s one time outspoken hero, Late Kenule Saro-Wiwa.
He was executed on November 11th, 1995 for fighting for something to be done for the Ogoni people to be able to return to their life styles, fishing and farming. Since then, the situation in Ogoni land and the rest of the Delta seems ever unchanged. Kidnappings, which are not a novelty in this area has suddenly become “good business” and those not in for a buck are only buckling over and dying like flies.
Investigating for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), actor/writer, Ross Kemp, went looking for some supposed “Pirates”, in the Niger Delta. For those who saw his programme, “In search of Pirates”, it is hard not to notice the futility of his efforts.
Ross Kemp spent maybe a month in Nigeria looking for answers. He sat down in hotel rooms, waiting for phone calls that never came, he felt like a prisoner in some well guarded rooms. He waited in lobbies for hours on end waiting to be admitted to meet with dignitaries with whom he had prior appointments. One could see how staggered he was at the lavish display of Breakfast in a country where poverty is the name of the game. All said though, he was pretty miffed. Surprise surprise!
Righteous anger or crude indignation, Mr Kemp had a feel of what a lot of Nigerians have to go through just to be heard. People in the Niger Delta have been looking for answers since Crude Oil became the craze. And every time they seem to make progress, everything seems to fall apart at the seams. One interesting fact about the Ross Kemp interview with “Pirates” and the “Death Sentence” Governor who finally granted him the interview is obvious. The root cause of the discord over the environment is the discovery of crude which has caused their livelihoods to be threatened. However, no one addressed that problem. Both parties agree on one fundamental issue; the oil pipe lines have ruined them for good. It is not too hard to know why. The installation, maintenance and security leave much to be desired. And the answer?
Well the “Pirates” want the lines taken out. One can understand the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) philosophy at play. If compensation is anything to go by, ten Million is paltry sum for the life of mankind, considering how much the oil magnates are churning out daily.
November Eleven was a response to all unanswered questions about the obvious questions very few are really willing to tackle. This is hoping you enjoy it.
People in this scenario
Orie - a councillor in the village of Nun
Ngozi - The tyrant of Nun
Egurugwu - Ngozi’s unwilling husband
Uzo’ma - another councilor and and secret lover of Egurugwu
Eso - Ngozi’s mother
Eso’s companion
Twenty-Two
‘It’s breeched!’ Orie exclaimed. ‘It’s coming legs first.’
Those were words Uzo’ma did not want to hear. ‘No! Take it out! Take it out!’
‘Shut up and be quiet.’ Ngozi shouted at her. ‘A child is born every day. And you are going to deliver this baby!’
‘You are enjoying this, aren’t you? You are so happy this is happening to me.’ Uzo’ma told Ngozi; ‘You are a callous little girl! A maggot has more sympathy on its tiniest of hairs than you will ever have in your lifetime!’
‘All that doesn’t matter now; just stop pushing!’ retorted Ngozi.
‘Yes. You would like that, won’t you? Well, it’s not going to happen! I will have my baby and there is nothing you can do about it!’
Egurugwu, who had been sitting outside the room hearing his two lovers batter each other with such cruel words, could not take it anymore. Reluctantly, he got up and made to dash in. But he stopped as he heard Ngozi’s hash, yet reassuring words. Uzo’ma’s response did not help his indecision so he went in any way.
‘Egurugwu, save me; save our child. Don’t let this witch from Idu ruin what we have, what we have dreamt of. Save me, Egurugwu!’
Egurugwu knelt beside Uzo’ma, holding her flailing hand in a soft but firm attempt to pacify her. His words were equally high pitched yet, his resonance calmed her. ‘Listen, Uzo’ma. Orie is going to help you through this. I am here. Just calm down while we figure out how to bring our child into the world.’
Uzo’ma, still paranoid from the news of the breech focused on her lover and gradually slowed her breathing. ‘But it hurts (more…)
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A man, his son and their donkey were going on a journey. The donkey carried their luggage and the man and his son walked on foot. Walking through a village, the residents accused the man of child abuse, letting the son walk for so long. Some mocked him; others pelted him with food and rubble.
The man resolved to carry the donkey’s load (more…)
I go the email on a Friday. I had finished work early and my urge o sleep he evening away spurred me home. But force of habit had taken due toll on me and I went straight for my computer. A minute later, the connected monitor came alight and I eagerly logged on to my Yahoo email account. And there is was. An email was asking me to clarify the condition of my blackberry listed on Amazon. The mail was from Amazon, so I went on to reply.This is the actual email sent through Amazon by the potential buyer:
Dear Seller,
i’ll like to know more about the item condition before i check-out for the payments transaction through Amazon web page b’coz i won’t like to check-out for the payments now and later discover some problem on it.Waiting for your swift response to Proceed or Not asap
With regardAnna
But there were two; the one from Maggie went:
Hello,
i’ll like to check-out for your item now but am feel concern about the item quality or condition, b’coz i won’t like to check-out for the item later discover some problem on it again. let me know before i check-out for the payments through Amazon reputable with my Credit Card Account. Hope to read from you soon.
With regardsMaggie
The link with Maggie went cold so I will not bore you with the reply to her. It was however, similar to the one I sent to Ann. And it went:
Hello Anna,Thank you for your enquiry about this phone.I have only recently received the phone directly from virgin mobile. I have neither inserted any sim-card, nor charged the phone. The seal is still intact.
I cannot guarantee that the phone does work because I have not tested it. It was received in compensation from the mobile phone provider for poor service; however, I have no need for another new phone.
The colour is red, not brown as stated on the listing.There is no sim card for the phone but it’s safe to imagine it may be locked to one network.
Have a nice day & good luck.Jo
I had managed to squeeze in a little daytime TV and woke up just in time before complete nightfall. It was only six o’clock, and with the wintery cold was pounding on the window with hopeful vengeance. But I was unscathed, and went back online to see which of the two potential buyers managed to beat the post.
Anna did, Anna Diana Solero. At least that is what the email I thought to be from Amazon said.
But there was another email, a third and very worrying email. The sender wanted to know the condition of the mobile, but seeing as the mobile had been sold, I opted not to reply. But I was not sate. Something was niggling my insides. It was the language. There were probably five sentences, but two of them were almost an identical copy of one of the previous emails. So I closed the message and opened one of the earlier ones. After reading it carefully for about three minutes, leaving it and returning to re-read it again, my suspicion took the better of me. Fraud!
I wanted confirmation of the mail and so went back to log on to my Amazon sellers account and wrote directly to Amazon, telling them of my suspicion. It was getting rather late, so I went up to bed. Curiosity got the better of me and after being unable to sleep much that night, the first thing that Saturday morning, I found myself logging onto my Yahoo email account. Another email had arrived telling me that the transaction was indeed a genuine one and I should dispatch the said blackberry within two business days.
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