NASELS Editorial

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BEST GRADUATING STUDENT OF THE 2023/24 ACADEMIC SESSION

 - Good day, Soore. It's nice to have you here. Can you please introduce yourself? Tell us what you'd like people to know about you. 

Hi. My name is Oluwasoore Akinfe. I’m a graduate from the Department of English, Lagos State University. I enjoy learning, traveling, and binge-watching comedy & crime fighting series. People say I’m creative, I agree, and in the future, my ideas will change the world. 

- You graduated from the Department of English. Was English your first choice or you wanted something else?

English was my first choice. 

- How was the journey through this course? Any challenges?

There were a few challenges along the way but there’s nothing God cannot handle. He made the journey easy for me. 

- Did you ever envisage yourself as the Best Graduating Student of this department?

No, I didn’t. At least not until final year. I always knew I was good and I would be among the best, but I didn’t think about graduating top of my class till final year. 

- Was there a time your results fell below your expectations, and you felt discouraged?

I had a minor setback in 200 level second semester, but I wasn’t discouraged. Why? Because I knew it was my cue to work smarter. That semester and 300 level brought out the strategist in me. 

- Did you partake in any extracurricular activities? How did they affect your studies?

I was involved in so many things during my time on campus. I joined LASU PR in 100 level. First and second year were the busiest for me. I was everywhere, volunteering for one event or the other to improve my skills and network with brilliant minds. From this I made friends with a lot of amazing people. 

- How do you feel about being the Best Graduating Student? A dream come true?

My heart is filled with joy. It is so satisfying to see that hard work pays off. 

- What's your advice for whosoever wishes to be the Best Graduating Student of this department?

My advice would be to study smart and avoid procrastination. That’s often the enemy. Fight it! Graduating well comes with a lot of sacrifices, so be prepared to make sacrifices. Last, but not least, would be to pray to God to help you maximize your potential.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NASELSITES

Happy birthday to all our amazing friends and colleagues celebrating this week!

May your special day be as bright and remarkable as your achievements. Your dedication, passion, and talents inspire us all. May this new year of life bring new opportunities and may your individual and collective impact continue to make a positive difference. You all deserve to be celebrated and acknowledged for your unique contributions. Here's to another year of success, growth, and making your dreams a reality! Well done, and happy birthday once again! May your future be filled with joy, success, and fulfillment!

SHORT STORY

One of my Last Conversations with Baba

Aww! The animals are far gone now. Some dead, some migrated. The forest used to be their home you know. It used to be ours too.

Don't look at me that way. Yes, I'm not a monkey or a lion or an elephant, but the forest was our home too. Sit down, drop the shakabula. Let me tell you more.

It was home to the eyes— the forest. The beautiful scenery it gave us in the day and the eerie ones at night. That lush greenery that embodied life.

Do you know the trees dance? They dance to the music of the wind, waving their branches as they sing with the whistling of their leaves, rendering panegyrics to the Orishas for the good life they had got on earth. You probably don't know that, do you? You're a small child. A child who still calls herbs vegetables.

Should I tell you how Olodumare sent the gods along with Osun, the only female deity among them as at the time, to fill the earth with their imagination of creation? Do you even know the tale? It doesn't matter whether one is Igbo or Hausa. It's a popular one.

Why are you now pursing your lips? Oh, I understand. You're now all Christians and Muslims. You don't believe in the gods, goddesses, spirits, fairies, and monsters. What about Mami Wata?

Oh! You believe only the Almighty made the trees. That's also true. But you must also know that the trees came before us. They existed on this earth before we were even considered for creation. We were only created after to watch over and take care of the Almighty's creations. Not that he couldn't watch or take care of them by Himself. He watches them every day; he watches us every day too. But we humans have the brains of beans; hence we don't know what the dominion the Almighty gave to us entails.

Ah! I was talking about why the forest was home to us. Allow me to continue. I said drop the shakabula.

It was home to the nostrils. The smell of leaves mixed with the delicious morning dew. The bittersweet scent of barks that promises you a healthy life when dissolved in a bottle. Did you even know that trees breathe just like we do? That we exchanged air with them like buyers and sellers? What do they call those gases again?

Yes, oxygen and carbon dioxide. We give them carbon dioxide, and they give us oxygen to breathe. You're really a smart child. You do pay attention in class. No wonder your grades are always up.

Of course, I went to school too— even though they taught us what the white men taught in their schools. The ones that told us they found River Niger in which my fathers bathed in.

The air they gave us was so clean you soared like a bird. Not that nonsense smoke you inhale in Lagos nowadays. What's the difference between the air you breathe and the ganja people smoke, eh? Well, ganja makes you high at least, then it kills you slowly. Smoke, on the other hand, suffocates the life out of you, kills you, and takes you high.

Wait a minute. You cannot possibly go high for taking something bad. It'll take you low, down into the earth. It might even take you lower than the six feet or take you high to the arms of your Creator. You sha understand what I'm driving at.

We caused this upon ourselves in the name of industrialization. Just like what happened yesterday, and is still going to happen today.

Everything in this world is now polluted. The mind, the soul, the belly, and even the ears. You listen to nonsense from those silly musicians of today, and you call it music. Music is defined as a series of sounds organized in time, employing melody and harmony, blah blah blah and good lyrics— emphasis on the good lyrics, and not just a pleasant sound you can dance to. Who knew you will all dance to noise one day. Even your politicians sing lies to you like lullabies to put your plights to sleep. That was just how they lied to us that they have brought development to our town. Development? In the form of bulldozers and caterpillars? In the shape of axes and chainsaws? With men paid with cash and charged with destruction? Even the white man was here. He was spearheading the entire process.

You know I always tell you that what goes comes around (just like the blades of their chainsaw as they murdered the trees). What they have done to the forest is coming back to do the same to us. It's not a curse, Modupeoluwa. Like your name, you should be thankful you know about this now from my very own lips so that you will be prepared for the consequences. You see how the water comes back to lay claim to its home back in Lekki? That's how it's going to be. Maybe even worse.

And when that happens, I won't be here too long to open my arms and protect you. Your parents might not be here either. Perhaps, you might not also be here. But your children will, and their children too.

Why am I saying these things, you ask? Why am I telling you all these instead of just taking you hunting for deer or grass cutters like we normally do? I'm telling you to wake up. A child, who says his mother will not sleep, will also not sleep. My child, the forest is your mother. Our mother. If we don't let her sleep, there'll be dire consequences.

                                                                                    Modupeoluwa Shelle

                                                                                     300 level 

            08076922337

POETRY

Trapped in my world

In this lonely world, the sky appears dark to me, Even on days when the sun shines bright and free. Friends turned strangers in a fleeting moment's time, Love, a double-edged sword, can be a deadly crime

I'm trapped in the past, unable to break free, The present feels hollow, a mere memory. People perceive me as cold, a heart of stone, But little do they know, I'm fighting battles unknown.

Voices in my head, a constant, nagging din, I struggle to ignore them, but they wear me thin No one ever offered a helping hand, So I've grown accustomed to suffering in silence, alone in the dark.

The past haunts me still, a constant source of fear, I run from my demons, unable to face them, year after year. I push away those I love, fearing loss and pain, Yet, I yearn to overcome this, to love and love again.

I hope to find solace, to heal and move ahead, to leave the past behind and find a brighter dawn instead.

                                                                                    Showermimo Kanyinsola Alimot

                                                                                    100 level

                                                                                     07042750459

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