TALES OF A KANO CORPER- JOURNEY TO GREATNESS

I woke up and realised that it was one year already. Wow! Everything happened so fast. I made a flash back and I remembered my first reaction when I saw my call-up letter. Thank God I didn't change my mind, thank God I was strong, thank God I came. The last few days of being a corper was more emotional to me than relieving. I thought of my friends, my daily routines and the people I knew from a distance. I never really knew I'll miss them up until the thought of possibly not seeing them again.

That morning, for the first time, I enjoyed wearing my complete uniform. My jungle boots weren't too heavy to walk with and my khaki wasn't so heat absorbing because that was my very last outing with it. I said my my last goodbyes and gave my last hugs to the people I wouldn't be seeing for a very long time and even never again. I'll miss Abike, my Kano bestie turned sister. I'll miss using her detergent whenever she's not watching and taking chewing gum from her hand bag without her permission. I'll miss bullying her and accepting her constructive criticism.  Abike took the first position in Kano for her personal community development service. I was so proud of her when she was called out in front of all corpers for recognition and an award. I'll miss Kano. "Ajuwaya sanu!!!", people usually called me while walking on the street. The warm hospitality of the people and the unending sights of undilluted culture will always remain beautiful memories.

Many see this time of their lives as the end of a major achievement but I see it as the very beginning. Theres so much to do and theres so much to conquer but most of all theres so much to win which even makes the new chapter more exciting. As a corper, I was only limited to the four walls of Kano and I tried to lived the best of every moment. I wonder how it would be like in a new phase exceeding the boundaries of time and distance. The tales of a Kano corper is a whole lot of memory for me to hold on to dearly, but now,it is me to the world and the world to me. My dreams are not so enormous and my goals are not so "thunder striking". Its simply me...Winifred...who's on her journey to Greatness.

V

TALES OF A KANO CORPER- MY SALOON EDUCATION

     

"Sister you wan make your hair?",  I turned and I saw the light skinned woman trying to take my weavon pack from me. I managed to smile at her shaking my head, "No, I get customer already". "ahh, I sabi oo, I go do am well well gaskiya!", she said while she pulled me towards her shop. After several turns we reached the shop. Her thick accent made me know she was an igbo woman.

The heat was so much I had to blow myself with my weavon pack. She had a neutral smile on her face as I stared at her through the mirror in front of me, making me wonder if a permanent smile was part of her services. I was bored and I saw nothing wrong in engaging in a conversation with a smiling lady. "you sabi hausa very well", I said, "but you be igbo". "I don dey here for long. Na my husband bring me come here", she replied. Then there was a brief silence while I thought of the next thing to say, she continued. "But you dey lucky oo,veeeery lucky", she said, "why you talk so?", I replied curiously, "you be corper,I like am when I see young girls wey go school,I like am well well gaskiya". I gave a generous grin while she continued talking "like me nau, I no go school because I no get money to pay,I finish for secondary school but you now when you finish NYSC you go get job and na una go dey chop all the money, una get luck". I then asked her several questions and we giggled and had a lengthy discussion.

I was not sure of her age because she had the built of a well grown woman, plumpy and thick yet her voice and the way she smiled often could tell that she was young. And then I looked around her shop with the corner of my eye, she managed to make a saloon out of a very little space. She looked tired but with the way she convinced me to patronize her, I knew she was a hard worker.

In the world we live in today hard work and consistency is a key to becoming successful and here I was sitting in front of a young lady who possessed the same success key but she couldn't really see the power she had. If only she developed the right mindset and channeled that same passion towards her career she would be successful beyond her wildest imagination. She was trapped with the fact that she only needed education to become very successful. She had a point, my lucky tool was education. After NYSC I could get a job somewhere and get paid. That sounded like a good plan. But the big question that kept ringing in my head was "is education really the key to success?" Is education a gate way to living your dream or a gate way to living someone else's dream? We all go to school to please our parents and fit into the society's standard and yet our reward for that is to live the rest of our lives on a rat race from one pay cheque to another. I felt sorry her... for the people out there who have let their success become a mere fantasy just because they never attended or completed their education. Education is good but it is not the sole key to success. For me, education has destroyed many dreams more than it has created, it has intimidated people to become small thinkers.

My deep thoughts were cut off by the lady's tight weave. I grumbled in pain, "sorry, ee too tight?", she asked after she saw me wince. I then shook my head trying not to think too much because the lady's hand was firmly fixed to my head. As she completed the fixing, I paid her and I promised to make her a customer.  I walked out of her shop with a lesson. Education is not only gotten from the four walls of a school building, it is simply a way of life. When I thought of how dedicated she was to making my hair come out fine, I saw that as an amazing education. It simply taught me what I needed to become a successful girl against all odds. Determination.

THE AMAZING BEAUTY OF A BLACK WOMAN

When I saw this photo, it was captioned "she's too black". But really is any girl too black or too fair? All what I see in her is perfection. 

In today's world the light skinned girl is the only queen in the block. 

I am not against light complexions but an average 

Nigerian girl would rather bleach her skin rather than

 maintaining the natural,God given complexion. I met a girl some time ago and she was light skinned and pretty. We lost contacts and when I met her again after some months she was a lot darker and pretty still. It made me wonder why she ever thought of toning in the first place. Probably her cream or soap finished. Lol

Oh well...I'm not here to preach. I only just want you 

to see the photo of a beautiful black woman in a 

world of bleaching celebrations.

IMAGINE!!! RUBBING IN ONIONS CAN MAKE YOUR EYEBROWS FULLER!

I stumbled into this good news this morning. When I saw it I knew I'd be a witch with a flying broom not to share on my blog. I have see some girls look like aliens without eyebrows. Thank God for this new onion discovery! I mean who would have thought a common cooking ingredient would be an eyebrow saver to the world?.. lol. 

Anyway, Instagram beauty vlogger Huda Kattan of Huda Beauty believes rubbing onions on your brows will make them grow faster. She said that the Onion juice has sulphur which speeds up the growth of hair and makes it thicker. 




      I know that thin brows are usually linked to over plucking but I guess there’s no harm in trying, it’s natural. Only thing is the smell and the crying but you don’t have to put a whole onion on your brows like she did in the video. Just squeeze the onion juice onto a cotton bud and apply it directly to the brows so it doesn’t get in your eyes. Leave it on for 15 minutes, and then wash it off. Just be careful not to get onion juice in your eyes!

So ladies and interested gentlemen lets get to work!

KYLIE JENNER PREGNANT AT 18 WITH TYGA'S BABY.

  

 A source says Kylie Jenner is pregnant at 18 with her boyfriend, Tyga’s baby. This will be the couple’s first child together. Though the 26-year-old has a son, King Cairo, 3, from his relationship with Blac Chyna. 

Sources say that she has gained a little weight and she says she’s been having the weirdest cravings for Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. 

All Kylie can talk about is baby names, whether she’ll have a boy or a girl, how she’s going to decorate the nursery and the child’s wardrobe.The reality star has already broken the news to her famous family, the Kardashians. 

The Kardashians are known for becoming baby mamas before marriage. Who's going to break that jinx? Kendall or Khloe?

TALES OF A KANO CORPER- HOW I MET ABIKE.

I used to judge people based on their outward appearances or my random instincts. Especially coming to a land where I knew nobody I was ready to unapologetically run down anyone that stood as a threat to me. 

I made friends here early. Infact I have met  more different personalities in one year more than I had seen in my university days. I thought I had seen it all but one true fact I have learnt is I will never stop learning. 

I  met alot of people and the ability to accept them as they were was almost torturing. I never really understood her (lets say her name is Abike). Abike never used to smile and I thought maybe she was finding it hard to adjust to the northern weather condition because she always had a bottle of water close by. It wasn't like I was stalking her but it was easy to notice her. Her glasses brought her out. "See these ajebutter special children",I would usually telling my friend with a naughty giggle whenever I saw her and her friends sitting in a cluster at the corner of the hall.

Orientation camp was over and I was glad I was being released from the four walls surrounding me. I and some other corpers moved into a house and guess who was my roomie? Abike! 

Days and weeks passed and we became casual friends. I don't even know how it happened but I began to see the girl behind the glasses. I was glad I did.

In the end,my goal was to identify and pierce through to what makes them unique. To understand the character that lied at their cores. I have learnt to restrain myself from the natural tendency to judge. 

My days as a Kano corper are numbered. The curtains are drawing closer. So far, I have  opened my heart to people and  I am amazed to discover  the wield ,greater power that lies within them.

GOOGLE'S APRIL FOOL'S DAY JOKE GETS OUT OF HAND

Google has abruptly killed off one of its April Fools' Day "jokes" after it caused outrage online, with multiple people claiming that it lost them their jobs.

The premise of the joke was simple. In Gmail, next to the standard "Reply" button, Google added a "Mic drop" button. Using it would reply to the email, archive it — and also add a GIF of a Minion dropping a mic.

Of course, considering it is April Fools' Day, it's pretty clear there's anger over the joke. And when you consider the sheer scale of Gmail, it's not hard to believe that the feature has caused serious problems for some people.

Google has pulled the plug, removing the feature from Gmail. The feature has been turned off. If you are still seeing it, please reload.

EVA ALORDIAH CLARIFIES THAT SHE ISN'T QUITTING MUSIC

Some days ago Eva Alordiah announced  on instagram that she was quitting music and it broke the hearts of many. (READ HERE)

She seemed to be misunderstood. So she posted a clarification letter on her instagram page to clear the pressure around her. She also revealed she would release her first book together with the release of her long awaited album ‘1960’.

Yay! we are happy it was all a misunderstanding and we cannot wait to see what's more on her table.

See the letter below: