This is the stuff of fiction and I am tempted to start it with ‘once upon a time, there was this powerful king in a village….’ as most story books went in my time as a youngster. However, it is a true account of what went on in one of the biggest and oldest estates in the country. The name of the estate shall not be mentioned because of the several cases in court and because emotions are still very raw.

The Commissioner for Health in Rivers, Dr Theophilus Odagme, has confirmed that three persons have died, while more than 200 others are currently under observation, following the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the state.

“My girlfriend and I have been an item for nine months now and everything was going on well except for one thing—she’s a chronic flirt and she always flirts with one of my best friends who is more good-looking than I am. Her flirting really gets to me that when I met one of her friends at a party where I was very drunk, I flirted with her to get even. The girl ended up following me into an empty bedroom, came onto me and we ended up having sex. I mean, what a man wouldn’t if it was offered to him on such a platter? I didn’t really intend taking things that far but I was drunk, like I said earlier, and just went along with it.

The Commissioner for Health in Rivers, Dr Theophilus Odagme, has confirmed that three persons have died, while more than 200 others are currently under observation, following the outbreak of Lassa Fever in the state.

I was jolted a few days ago when I stumbled on a letter written by my nine-year-old son. I was the subject matter. The letter was addressed to no one, but he did ask God a few questions, so I assume he wrote it to God. My initial reaction was anger, then outrage. “What came over you, this boy?” I asked him. He later apologized. As my anger subsided, my mind went back to a little over 40 years ago, when I was his age. I did tackle my father, but not that hard. In fact, the only tackle I could remember, at nine, was when I had malaria. My father felt I was too weak to give myself my bath. After they had run the water, he took me into the bathroom and wanted to remove my clothes, but I resisted. He was stunned: “what do you have there that you are hiding, “he asked sarcastically, and stormed out.