<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>TRAE days &#187; Socials</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.traedays.com/blog/category/socials/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog</link>
	<description>A diary of the days (thoughts and opinions) of hip hop, soccer and fun loving intellectual: TRAE. Self advisory...explicit content</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:24:53 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>People power</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/12/people-power/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/12/people-power/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:57:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Soccer (Football)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=171</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yester night’s win by Kevin Chuwang Pam in the Big Brother Africa 4: The Revolution TV reality show just goes to show the importance of being a people person…people power. There’s no big secret to winning the show or doing well in life. A thousand self improvement books, years of reading the bible or hours [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yester night’s win by Kevin Chuwang Pam in the Big Brother Africa 4: The Revolution TV reality show just goes to show the importance of being a people person…people power. There’s no big secret to winning the show or doing well in life. A thousand self improvement books, years of reading the bible or hours of washing your car and keeping it neat is not the secret of excelling in life, it’s simply being likeable. Having a good/kind spirit, being approachable and being able to get on well with everyone you meet. Keeping your cool in all situations and doing to others what you’d want be done on to you. You should be such that when your name is mentioned and the weights are measured people have but positives come to mind. You should be able to hang with the posh, feel at home amongst the poor, kick convo with the religious fanatics and always be a welcomed guest at the house of the neighbourhood whore. Obama is where he is today because we can all virtually relate with him, from Germany to Iran, Tanzania to Peru. Hardly ever booking a nomination without the help of alliances, being swapped 3 times and surviving on all occasions is no mean feat! Sitting in at La Shom Suites Jos amongst friends some of whom schooled with Kev and watching him step out the house with his “JOStified” Tee and the National flag I couldn’t but be prouder. With all due respect in the same vein I would score myself high, my main flaw being some peeps would pass comments about my love for the fairer sex. </p>
<p>Like Kevin, like the Eagles, like the end justified the means. Felt the same way on the evening of the 14th of November sitting down at Steffans amongst my then girl, my man Max and by my far right Mikel Obi’s silver spooned younger bro. as Martins popped in the third goal and we all jumped up in celebrations hugging ourselves I couldn’t but be happier to be Nigerian. The disappointment of September 6th all gone away. When I narrowly missed getting a query for turning into work late the next day; when the Eagles swept the patriotism in all of us to dangerous heights hardly ever been seen before and brought it crashing down at the same speed.  I remember how driving around Abuja that night I felt like I was in a soulless city, with a female presenter on Cool FM’s playing of Lighthouse Family’s “high” doing little to raise our spirits. But it’s all changed now, with a visa to Angola and South Africa being the most sought after thing after Yar’dua’s resignation speech.</p>
<p>Wanting a comment from me on the banking issues I’ll only say that we’ve all done dirt like a worm, and that what goes around should come around. P/S: I feel very strongly that we shot ourselves in the foot when we fought against Charles Soludo’s planned currency redenomination. That shit would have done us good on many fronts. Sticking with the flow I remain one of the most avid haters of the Nigerian Police. And having being privileged to work closely with them on that loan recovery front I’ve discovered that attempting to stop corruption in the force is as futile as stopping the next big rapper from America from doing something stupid and going to jail in the footsteps of Mystikal, TI and Lil’ Wayne. Face it, they’re paid a shitty salary, worse still you empower them with the means of force, expectedly they’d abuse it pouring out their frustrations on and trying to augment things via extortion of the good people.</p>
<p>All in all today’s blog post has being brought to you by the words: people and power. Peace!</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/Kevin-BigBroAfro4.jpg" alt="Kevin-BigBroAfro4"/></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/12/people-power/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>How far we’ve come</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/07/how-far-weve-come/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/07/how-far-weve-come/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Jul 2009 17:03:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Finally reading up blog posts which I’ve saved on my laptop for weeks and getting nostalgic made me write this, to just like Matchbox Twenty see how far I’ve come since the last time on TRAE days. Marketing as a present career niche has been both interesting and boring. Cool when you grow your contacts, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Finally reading up blog posts which I’ve saved on my laptop for weeks and getting nostalgic made me write this, to just like Matchbox Twenty see how far I’ve come since the last time on TRAE days.</p>
<p>Marketing as a present career niche has been both interesting and boring. Cool when you grow your contacts, meeting all sorts of people and their needs through your product. Boring when at times you run out of ideas and can’t get the itch of a job function change outta ya mind.</p>
<p>Family wise trying to do my bit the best way I can. Pops who’s now fully on ground has gone for another feather; law! Dude’s endless intellectual pursuit is a constant reminder to me not to slack but to get that Masters…and CIBN membership.</p>
<p>I’m still time constrained. Watching TV, leisure reading and getting proper in-house entertainment is still a 9-5 job dream (only realizable on a job that starts at 9 and actually ends at 5).</p>
<p>Loving my crib. Spot’s a real haven, save for my old timer live-in Landlord who locks up by 9. Talk about moving outta home but still living at home. With the curfew in town it&#8217;s not biting in hard yet.</p>
<p>Regrettable still saving and thinking owning my own car. The current economic downturn truly hit all and sundry. Hope to get there before EOY though.</p>
<p>Ain’t no saint and like Bill Clinton work is work, leisure’s leisure. But got me a stable girlfriend now and really interested in a long thing…“Our” World Cup/Nation’s Cup debut still on my mind.</p>
<p>Romance with the Internet been fuck poor this past year. Visafone 1x in Jos is a far cry to the brilliance of Starcomms 1x/EVDO in Abuja. Funny, reminds me of service complaints as it relates to banks. There’s always a way out though if people’ll wisen up.</p>
<p>Health wise I’m still starving like Marvin. Still ain’t nearing the kitchen on a permanent basis or lifting the irons like I’d love to. Still alive though.</p>
<p>Still aloof politically. Sniffing out the good stuff from the bad…watching from afar. </p>
<p>God bless Nigeria!</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/CharlieChaplin_MichaelJackson1979.jpg" alt="CharlieChaplin_MichaelJackson1979"/>Charlie Chaplin &#8211; Michael Jackson (in 1979). The mind, humour, knowledge/the Intellectual Property Rights College/. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2009/07/how-far-weve-come/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>trae_z: aspiration 2008</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2008/01/trae_z-aspiration-2008/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2008/01/trae_z-aspiration-2008/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2008 02:01:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/2008/01/trae_z-aspiration-2008/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The title of this blog post might read like many a Nigerian political campaign catchphrase. I guess that’s a little amusing, in actuality though it’s an outline of my aspirations and dreams for the year 2008. I’ve never being one for New Year resolutions or very clearly defined career paths or life goals but this [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/aspiration2008.jpg" alt=" aspiration2008"/></p>
<p>The title of this blog post might read like many a Nigerian political campaign catchphrase. I guess that’s a little amusing, in actuality though it’s an outline of my aspirations and dreams for the year 2008. I’ve never being one for New Year resolutions or very clearly defined career paths or life goals but this comes closest to that.   </p>
<p>One of the first decisions I’ve made this year is to make a <strong>name change</strong>. <a href="http://www.traedays.com/blog/2005/12/to-whom-it-may-concern-im-changing-my-name/" target=_blank>I’ve tinkered with something like this before</a> but this time it’s for real and as a result of more matured reasoning. I’m dropping the A from my hitherto official initials “T.R.A.E.”. I chose the A at Confirmation (a Catholic religious ceremony) to turn my initials from TRE to TRAE. But now that I consider myself a liberal Christian and have also gotten sick of owning 4 names I’m reverting back to what my parents named me: Tochukwu Raphael Ezeokafor. The fact that my middle name still starts with an R and A means that I’m still good for the name/initials TRAE. Cool!   </p>
<p><strong>Politically</strong> with regards to Nigeria I’m at a “siddon look” level this year because nothing surprises me anymore. Reuben Abati spoke my mind exactly in his <a href="http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/reuben-abati/the-presidents-missing-ears.html" target=_blank>The president’s ‘missing ears’</a> article of The Guardian of January 4th. Yar’adua’s is fucking uncharismatic and too passive! Having someone like him as our president is like being married to a wife that’s drama free but is boring in bed and in lifestyle. Pathetic!</p>
<p><strong>Employment wise</strong> I’m looking forward to getting down to the nitty gritty on my first real job (like many people my age I also wouldn’t mind getting into banking; I’m at a promising recruitment stage on two different fronts so fingers crossed) and the work related networking that’ll come with it. My experiences at two recruitment exercises last year tell me that although I’m not exactly the life of the party I’m damn good with people.</p>
<p>I’m aiming to make real <strong>money</strong> this year. It’s the only way to go if I want to play my position well. More so it’ll put an end to the quarrels I can’t seem to avoid at home. Real money-great finances should also enable me have a less sober outlook on life, give me the full confidence to look for love and get a much needed fashion boost.</p>
<p>I want to be in tune with the <strong>arts</strong> in 2008. Attend shows and musicals, make a lot more social outings, master the art of public speaking and write better and more frequent. I also want to bring myself to finally record another song, this time with rock cum ragga vibes. </p>
<p><strong>Physiologically</strong> it’s time to do away with laziness by being consistent at my weight lifting; I also look forward to having greater peace of mind by finally going for an HIV test.</p>
<p>Finally as regards to <strong>football</strong> I just want to see great games all year round. Sadly though I don’t think our making it past the group stages at the African Nation’s Cup is a given this time around. </p>
<p>All in all that’s as far as the weatherman’s guess (my aspirations) goes because no one knows tomorrow. If you can’t take it from me than take it from the French born Nigerian soulful rocker Asa. I wish you a great 2008, peace!</p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2008/01/trae_z-aspiration-2008/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Wetin Dey?’s “Da Mix” show as seen by TRAE</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/wetin-deys-da-mix-show-as-seen-by-trae/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/wetin-deys-da-mix-show-as-seen-by-trae/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:35:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Music (Hip hop)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/wetin-dey%e2%80%99s-%e2%80%9cda-mix%e2%80%9d-show-as-seen-by-trae/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I must confess that I’ve always wanted to do this (a blow by blow account of a music show) ever since I read thisday music festival october 7th &#038; 8th, 2006 and RHYTHM UNPLUGGED Lagos: THE REVIEW&#8230;a must read. I hope this rocks and if it doesn’t you’d be entitled to a refund of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/wetindey-header.jpg" alt="wetindey-header"/></p>
<p>I must confess that I’ve always wanted to do this (a blow by blow account of a music show) ever since I read <a href="http://ebrief.blogspot.com/2006/10/thisday-music-festival-october-7th-8th.html" target=_blank>thisday music festival october 7th &#038; 8th, 2006</a> and <a href="http://www.africanhiphop.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=80635" target=_blank>RHYTHM UNPLUGGED Lagos: THE REVIEW&#8230;a must read</a>. I hope this rocks and if it doesn’t you’d be entitled to a refund of the 10 minutes of your life you’re about to spend reading this.</p>
<p>The show which held on the 8th of September (2007) at the Ladi Kwali hall of the Sheraton Hotel Abuja was put together by the Wetin Dey? organizers. Wetin Dey? a 30 minutes television drama with HIV awareness and prevention as its main theme is itself sponsored by the BBC World Service Trust.</p>
<p>I took the original notes for this post with my Nokia…1100! It’s crazy the shit we learn to manage so well with. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the event to share. I didn’t have a device to make that possible and the digital camera of the chick I sat with wasn’t recharged enough.</p>
<p>On the lucky side I got a seat at the front row, which definitely is the best seat at shows from a “fan”atic perspective. With it comes the privilege of seeing the artists up, close and personal with all the energy or lack of it they bring to their act. You also get to touch them if they ever deal out handshakes. Although I didn’t bother about that second bit because I was feeling kind of reserved at the night.</p>
<p>The show which was a mixture of music, fashion, talk and drama started at about 6.25pm as against the original commencement time of 4pm, which meant arriving late because I completed watching the 3pm Super Eagles game counted for nothing. If music is my beloved son, football is its twin.</p>
<p>The MC for the show was one of the Wetin Dey? actresses. If you follow the drama you’d recognize her as the wife of the policeman. She did a nice job; humour and class combined in one. The co-sponsors of the show did theirs too by providing free HIV counseling and testing in front of the event venue; though I doubt that a lot of people took advantage of that. Talking about people the attendance was over 100% and incident free. Kind of expected though considering the fact that the audience was a representation of the crème de la crème of the posh/ajebotas Abuja youths.</p>
<p>The performance roaster for the event was almost endless with the artists scheduled to come on stage in the order of their level of success/establishment in the industry. You might disagree with the listing but I think they got it pretty right. And being that the acts were much and time wasn’t the deal was that it was to be more or less a song per act. Despite that they were expected (and they did) to throw a line or two about protection against HIV during their piece.</p>
<p>After several upcoming acts had come and gone it was <strong>Noree</strong> the non rhyming but sweet “baby no dey lie” ABJ crooner’s turn. I thought he’d perform his “baby no dey lie” song and wow the crowd but the brother had a new song premiere plan instead. The highlight of his performance was this amusing incident which I suspect was rehearsed. Midway into his act a guy ran on stage to embrace him kneeling down (I guess that’s a forgivable lapse on the part of the bouncers as they generally did a good job of protecting the artists on stage) and Nore gave the guy his copy of the show’s invitation card, after which the guy did the sign of the cross as if he’d just been blessed by a reverend father and then left the stage.</p>
<p><strong>Seun</strong> the sweet voiced gospel artist and FUTH Minna graduate was next. I don’t really know the name of his song he did but what the heck, I love all his songs! For me he killed it but judging by the relative indifference of the hall he’s got to work on his publicity.</p>
<p>Of all the upcoming (and hitherto unknown to me) artists on parade I felt this swagger heavy guy the most. I didn’t get his name but the rap song had the “she go say I be lady” part of Fela’s “lady” continuously looped as the chorus. Ingenious! His hypeman was what made his act thick though. The dude was fat as fuck but displayed dance moves from several genres much to the delight of the crowd.</p>
<p>When they were gone the DJ spinned Olu Maintain’s “yahoozee” and it got the hall crazy with everyone doing the yahoozee dance. I must say the DJ was great on the night, some others would say he’s much better than the over hyped Jimmy Jatt</p>
<p>The yahoozee frenzy didn’t last for long as <strong>Uche</strong> a gospel rock artist (rock artists in Nigeria are endangered species) was due to do her thing. Her song rocked! Pun intended; reminds me of Evanescence’s “bring me to life”. And the chorus is in…wait for it, Igbo! She’s also a dancer and a medical practitioner. Not bad but what was with all the dancing on stage, that’s not what rock is about. I could have sworn she attended UNN or UNEC; someone like her was a regular feature at school shows…that’s without the rock part though.</p>
<p>When she was done <strong>Bemsar</strong> the guitar man came on to do his “something good” gospel song. It left me feeling Godly. There was a drama sketch afterwards that featured a few of the Wetin Dey? cast. It was written by an HIV positive guy, evidence of the fact that testing positive doesn’t mean one’s career goal is done for. There were other breaks where speakers came to talk on HIV related issues, particularly of note was one cute dreads wearing chick. Damn the virus.</p>
<p><strong>Age Beeka</strong> came through after the talk. He did some new songs from his forth coming album and as usual brought the whole gyrating on stage thing to his act. </p>
<p>And things could only get better as <strong>MI</strong> came on after him. The phrase “short but mighty” aptly fits the Chocolate City rapper! He was the first act of the night to have the crowd literarily eating out of the palm of his hands. He talked to the crowd about himself, his music and the circumstances that led to the writing of the two songs he performed: a narrative love song and his conscious intelligent “crowd mentality” hit.</p>
<p>The first part of the fashion parade was then rolled out featuring male and female models.  The second part and wrap up came later on in the course of the show. It was my first catwalk live viewing. Nice moves I must say and excellent work with the wrappers, or is it ankara that it’s called? Ladies help me out; the designer was a cutie too.</p>
<p><strong>Terry Tha Rapman</strong> subsequently came on with AT as his hypeman (AT had earlier on did his own solo, an R&#038;B cover of an American rap song, thumbs down bro). Sadly Terry’s performance on the night was as poor as his dressing. His on stage carriage was weak and he made “na beans” and “only for Naija” look like dumb songs.</p>
<p><strong>Sixfootplus</strong> the Abuja based hip hop veteran was next. Though I personally feel he has passed his prime he had a great performance and the crowd loved him. AT made his 3rd appearance on stage as Six’s hypeman. If OD was there too for his “don’t hate” hit I would have puked as AT would have made it a record 4th time on stage. Six had the some Tiv dancers on for “swange” from his 1999 album and then wrapped things up with the more current “e don do me”. The sing along chorus value of both songs really enhanced his performance.</p>
<p>After him was <strong>2shotz</strong> (With MI of all people as his hypeman! I’m guessing that was an impromptu arrangement) and true to pun rules his performance was too short. He worked the whole hall into a frenzy and then left almost as soon as he came in. Sort of like getting mami wet with the foreplay thing only to slip out before the big O under the pretext of meeting up with wifey for dinner.  </p>
<p><strong>Sasha</strong> was next. By this time with each act the audience crowded around the stage cheering on, some others taking pictures with their phones and digital cameras and hustling for space with the professional photographers and video camera men. I might not really be into her but I admit she was good, the crowd showed her love particularly 3 boys who were drooling at her through out her time on stage.</p>
<p>Shit was progressively getting bigger, it was <strong>Modenine</strong>’s turn. Sage came on first to do a spoken word intro. I couldn’t appreciate his poetry, probably because the noise levels were by now high in anticipation of Modo. Poetry done with it was time for rap; Modo stepped out with Kraft tagging along. He was thoroughly mobbed as almost all the young core hip hop lovers rushed towards the stage. It was the first time that more than half of the audience was up on their feet, I had to stand up too else I see nothing. He did “cry”, “Nigerian girls”, “Lagos state of mind” and his verse on “stylee” (Modo displaying his new found Lagos love in front of his original ABJ people was…queer) with the crowd rapping along with him word for word. I admit this made me really happy; it’s what hip hop is about from a fan’s perspective and it’s good to see this happening in Nigeria and to our own artists. But what was with Modo’s cap, he was switching its position like every single minute. He should have just thrown the damn thing to the audience like top acts do. More than a handful of the crowd were half expecting him to do so.</p>
<p>One hit wonder <strong>Weird MC</strong> (she solely got rich off “ijoya” and the feature on P-Square “bizzy body remix”. I must slap myself for still harbouring hustler ambitions) wrapped up the show. She came in with the P-Square intro, you could have thought P-Square were in the house. I must give it to her though as she bettered Modenine by getting the whole hall standing. She did her “bizzy body” lines, some other nothing-extraordinary songs of hers and then the big hit: “ijoya”. She might be a small woman but she packs more than her fair share of energy as she covered all corners of the stage and even the crowd stands. The show ended well after 10pm.</p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/wetin-deys-da-mix-show-as-seen-by-trae/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Life after Youth Service</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/life-after-youth-service/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/life-after-youth-service/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Sep 2007 11:04:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soccer (Football)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/life-after-youth-service/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It’s almost been a month since I ditched my khaki and stepped into the free world, and if you asked me “nwokem ke kwanu?” I’d tell you “nna/nne…I just dey”. Listening to RayPower Abuja 100.5 FM’s “Political Platform” at 9.15am on weekdays is one of the ways that have helped me keep my sanity. It’s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It’s almost been a month since I ditched my khaki and stepped into the free world, and if you asked me “nwokem ke kwanu?” I’d tell you “nna/nne…I just dey”.</p>
<p>Listening to <strong>RayPower Abuja 100.5 FM’s “Political Platform”</strong> at 9.15am on weekdays is one of the ways that have helped me keep my sanity. It’s a program which aims to wrap up the political news of the day in just 15 minute. And the presenters: Ehiedu Aniagwu, Mustafa Mohammed, Amaechi Anakwe and Okhiria Agbonsuremi are surely doing a good job at that. Quite similar to what their colleague Gbenga Arulegba does on AIT Abuja’s “Focus Nigeria” from 9-10am on weekdays. One thing though is that in the heat of the analysis the presenters at times take things too personal and display unprofessionalism. But who can blame them, since on the other hand NTA chose to be unobjective during the famous third term craze and to some extent in this year’s general elections. Another thing I’ve realized about the show is that the same magnitude with which they hate Obasanjo is the same magnitude with which they respect Yar’dua (well that’s quite common on a lot of fronts). Anyway the popularity of the show is evidence of the fact that the respect of people’s right to free speech is to a large extent well alive in Nigeria.</p>
<p>If RayPower helps me with my sanity the FRSC makes me loose it. I just got my (renewed) <strong>driving license</strong> after over two months of stress. And that’s because I chose not to cut corners but follow due process. Damn I hate guys in uniform; inefficiency is their middle name in Nigeria! Fuck that though as I should be on to better things this evening. I just got my invitation card to the BBC world Service Trust sponsored <strong>“Wetin Dey?” Da Mix</strong> show at the Sheraton Hotel. It should be some great entertainment as Modenine, Terry Tha Rapman, Weird MC, MI (of the crowd mentality fame) amongst others are on the bill. Shamefully I haven’t attended too many shows in the FCT so I’m really looking forward to this.</p>
<p>Quick observation; is it not <strong>hypocritical that we celebrate</strong> when Nigerians are making waves abroad with their businesses <strong>but suddenly feel threatened</strong> or that there’s cause for alarm when foreigners come here and rake in huge profits with their own businesses. Anyway this seems to be true for all nations; it’s a greedy world isn’t it?</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/2007eaglets-celebrate.jpg" alt="2007eaglets-celebrate"/></p>
<p>This was the scene after one of our goals in our first match against France in the soon to end <strong>FIFA Under-17 WorldCup</strong>. They seem to be doing some traditional dance steps. <em>See as the assistant referee come dey bad eye dem. Abeg just bring home the cup jare, no do like dem Femi Opabunmi of the 2001 Under-17 and dem Mikel Obi of the 2005 under-20 who went all the way only to loose at the finals.</em></p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/09/life-after-youth-service/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>TRAE at Uche Nworah’s “The Long Harmattan Season” book presentation</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/trae-at-uche-nworahs-the-long-harmattan-season-book-presentation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/trae-at-uche-nworahs-the-long-harmattan-season-book-presentation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:41:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=138</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So I finally attended what should be my first book presentation (bookworms Oj-Uknaija and co. shift, make a little room for me to the left ). It was Uche Nworah’s “The Long Harmattan Season” Abuja book launch held on the 26th of July at Chelsea hotel. It’s basically a collection of the articles he’s written [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>So I finally attended what should be my first book presentation (bookworms Oj-Uknaija and co. shift, make a little room for me to the left <img src='http://www.traedays.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> ). It was Uche Nworah’s “The Long Harmattan Season” Abuja book launch held on the 26th of July at Chelsea hotel. It’s basically a collection of the articles he’s written over the past few years as an internet columnist. Having narrowly missed his wedding two years back I couldn’t afford to miss this one as well; the brother has been one of my blogging inspirations!</p>
<p>Being a true son of the soil I kept to Nigerian time attendance wise, thus I missed the review by Reuben Abati. But it was still enough for me to come to the conclusion that the presentation was great as a whole. I liked the caliber of guest and the event’s organization, although the attendance could have been much better. The MC for the day a bosom friend of Uche was cracking us up non stop and all others who spoke (bought a copy/copies of the book and supported the course) had nice things to say about the author. I Impressed myself by giving a nice commendation speech (I wonder if that’s enough to get me on TV) after which the good times rolled as I grabbed a copy of the book which Uche duly autographed and then graciously posed with him for the paparazzi <img src='http://www.traedays.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> . It was nice finally getting to meet the brother and physically giving him my regards and having him acknowledge such. </p>
<p>By the way I was at the event with fellow blogger Josh from “What It Is”, who was a really good friend on the day as he saved me from some potentially embarrassing situations. The sad side to the whole thing though was that Uche was attacked and robbed some days earlier. Materially he lost a lot but luckily and more importantly he came out alive and with just a cut on the head. That explains the plaster he had on at the event.</p>
<p>I guess that’s it for now so I can get back to reading the book (my my, the packaging is top notch unlike a lot of Nigerian novels, anyway it was printed abroad so I guess that’s to be expected )…although I have already read quite a number of the articles online. That reminds me since it’s a “blook” a lot of the colourful online responses (comments) to the articles will be missing…how sad. You know we who are familiar with the guy know that he’s great with the pen but does at times allow his emotions to come too much into play thus considerably reducing the substance of his writings.</p>
<p><img src=http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/Unworah-TLHS-flyer.jpg alt="Unworah-TLHS-flyer"/>The event flyer; I’m waiting for Uche to upload the pictures and give his take on the event so that I can give this post some proper footing. </p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/trae-at-uche-nworahs-the-long-harmattan-season-book-presentation/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>4 things…mentor memes</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/4-things-mentor-memes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/4-things-mentor-memes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:24:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=136</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I’ve got a lot of mentors (I’m sure we all do) but for now I just feel like talking about these four and how they’ve particularly affected my life. It’s going to be sort of like a meme thing. G.A.M. Ikekeonwu He was my computer science lecturer year 2002/2003 when I was in UNN. I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I’ve got a lot of mentors (I’m sure we all do) but for now I just feel like talking about these four and how they’ve particularly affected my life. It’s going to be sort of like a meme thing.</p>
<p><strong>G.A.M. Ikekeonwu</strong><br />
He was my computer science lecturer year 2002/2003 when I was in UNN. I loved the writing style he used in his computer appreciation text book. Nerdyness combined with a great sense of humour, sheer genius! Plus he uses four names officially and is referred to by his initials just like me! GAM is definitely the kind of person I’d like to see myself as when I’m in my late 40’s/early 50’s. And his facial features, manner of speech, countenance, carriage etc rocks! Don’t get me wrong I’m not broke back, I’m star struck!</p>
<p><strong>Modenine (Segun Babatunde)</strong><br />
Modo (one of his nicknames amongst many) does hip hop for the intelligent, not necessary social conscious stuff but wordsmith ish. I don’t know about you but for me he wins the award for the best and consistent use of punch lines or puns I’ve ever heard from a rapper (be it  American, Nigerian or whatever) in my 8 year intensive hip hop listening. I first got to know Modo in 2003…that was before he blew up. His hip hop show on radio then was always a joy to listen to because on-air presenting came naturally to him. I recorded my first demo at his crib and although the songs were below average he encouraged me and even gave me my first spin on Abuja radio. I love his prolific ness behind the mic (I guess that’s what we all wish for in our various fields of human endeavour) and his determination to keep on doing what he’s doing despite the initial set backs and little encouragement. It’s a pity that as a rapper the limelight for him came only in his early thirties; nevertheless it came all the same. In the sea of below par hip hop artists Modo stands out as one educated fellow who has paid his dues ten times over; much respect to the Ninestien!</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/nigelbennskraftwork.jpg" alt="nigelbennskraftwork"/><br />
<a href="http://www.soundclick.com/nigelbenskraftwork" target=_blank>Download</a> or better yet cop Modenine’s latest work: a mixtape done alongside Kraftmatics titled “nigelbenn&#8217;s kraftwork”.</p>
<p><strong>Obifromsouthlondon (Obiora Orjiekwe)</strong><br />
Having the same Alma Mata as me in UNN and doing the Naija to UK Taught Masters ish people my age often do for a foundation, what do you get when the house is finally built? A hip hop head that is in the IT field, had a one time powerful blog, a big time sense of humour, a laid back personality and a beautiful family&#8230; Obifromsouthlondon! Mister you better get a restraining order against me because if some of your shine doesn’t rub off on me when I’m in my thirties alarm go blow oh!</p>
<p><strong>Philip Umeadi Junior </strong><br />
This legal practitioner is the INEC Commissioner for Publicity and Information. Listening and watching his media briefings during the April general elections and his numerous press interviews after that this bag of brains easily won my heart. The brother accepts his faults; defends himself cool headedly and objectively and with utmost respect for the debate-dialogue process no matter how annoying his opponents might be. I hold the learned fellow in high esteem as he inspires me in my effort to get writing and speech professional vis-à-vis shaking off my Ebonics obsession. Admittedly on occasions (when I’m overly conscious about it) I have problems when arguing points out verbally, so I like to take my time to reason things out first, as lack of time often leads to the quality of my decision making being inferior.</p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/07/4-things-mentor-memes/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fatherhood (gone wrong/with Ibe)</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/04/fatherhood-gone-wrongwith-ibe/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/04/fatherhood-gone-wrongwith-ibe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:20:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/04/fatherhood-gone-wrongwith-ibe/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The title of this entry seems familiar? Well In “fatherhood with Ibe” was (or is, I’m not sure) the name of one of the several columns in Hints; a Nigerian romance magazine which was at its’ peak in the later half of the 1990s. With Exschoolnerd affectionately calling me Papa Ikenna and Yosh shopping for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The title of this entry seems familiar? Well In <a href="http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2001/12/11/20011211law03.html" target=_blank>“fatherhood with Ibe”</a> was (or is, I’m not sure) the name of one of the several columns in Hints; a Nigerian romance magazine which was at its’ peak in the later half of the 1990s. With Exschoolnerd affectionately calling me Papa Ikenna and Yosh shopping for names for his yet unborn daughters I was finally sufficiently inspired to throw out these “notes from the hyena’s belly” (thoughts which have been on my mind for some time. Props to the Naija blogger with a same named blog) on fatherhood gone wrong.</p>
<p>Here’s the first example of fatherhood gone wrong. An old timer who doesn’t carry his kids…sons along in his business moves and is stingy and withdrawn from his own family. He doesn’t womanise or drink neither is he the overly religious type. It’s hard to figure him out except that he’s seriously mistrustful as a result of going through a tough childhood and rise to the top. It’s really a shame that the first time I was able to step foot in his house was upon his death on a consolation visit to the family. Now the grown sons are facing the uphill task of trying to get familiar with their hitherto unknown relatives so as to give pops man a befitting burial as well as trying to put a hand on and coordinate his numerous businesses so as to ensure family survival. That’s the picture from the angle I got to know about him.</p>
<p>The second case of fatherhood gone wrong is the Baba who runs his home like a dictator. He stresses out his kids and embarrasses them in the presence of their friends. The gospel according to Baba is that he can do no wrong. When there’s trouble you’re to blame he can’t possibly ever be at fault. With a bad temper to match Baba shouts down Mama, Mama in defence shouts down the kids and the kids learn fast by shouting down their own unfortunate victims. Baba unsurprisingly can’t deal with difficult situations calmly, he must always resort to abuse, scolding and raised voices. As a result Mama and the kids are now conditioned to think that’s the rightful first step to take in contentious circumstances. The end result is a blood hound family blind to the fact that life can be lived according to the cardinal principals of peace, love and respect despite the challenges along the way.</p>
<p>My closing piece: “Fathers effing up should start to do the right thing”. Whatever man&#8230;vote Pat Utomi for president and send me a birthday cheque on April 17th. Peace!</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/cosby_fatherhood.jpg" border="0" alt="cosby_fatherhood"/>Bill Cosby and fam, fatherhood gone&#8230;right!</p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/04/fatherhood-gone-wrongwith-ibe/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Fuck the police, I’m a hustler!</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/03/fuck-the-police-im-a-hustler/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/03/fuck-the-police-im-a-hustler/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2007 17:14:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Society]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=129</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Fuck the police! Once in a while I do the night crawling thing or even sef the normal broad day light minding my own business ish only to be harassed by the Nigerian Police. Such encounters only succeed in leaving a bitter taste in my mind about our law enforcement agents and getting me blabbing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Fuck the police! </strong><br />
Once in a while I do the night crawling thing or even sef the normal broad day light minding my own business ish only to be harassed by the Nigerian Police. Such encounters only succeed in leaving a bitter taste in my mind about our law enforcement agents and getting me blabbing out verbal obscenities like “fuck the police!” (When I’m not in earshot distance sha) A phrase made popular by many an American rapper. <a href="http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-45248.0.html" target=_blank>Webbo can clearly relate with me on that</a>. A lot of police officers have so angered me that I doubt if I can ever bring myself to lend a helping hand to an enforcer of the law again. It’s a shame really…on both sides.</p>
<p>Somebody once suggested that extortion and not protection of life and property is the main business the Nigerian Police are into and I strongly agree with him. The situation is so bad that it’s virtually only in Nigeria that one hears the word police and begins to be afraid. An ideal situation is if called upon for questioning by the police you swiftly do so and then go about your normal business.</p>
<p>There’s no dignity in the Nigerian Police profession, people loathe them. In developed countries the police are really your friend. They’re respected by all and sundry starting from the common man on the street all the way to the big time celebrity and business mogul. I still fondly remember when I was a kid of about 6 years old in London, how we would have regular visits in school by Policemen who would come to speak to us about how to cross the road and not talking to strangers. They’d play with us…educate and entertain us and in the end we couldn’t help but look upon them with admiration. Such happening in Naija? Highly unlikely.</p>
<p>The way forward? A major course of the misconduct of the police is their poor salaries. As such their mind has been corruption conditioned as a way to break even. A mega pay rise taking into consideration the risk factor involved in their profession would help to set their minds straight. Also years of negative accustomization to the theory that being a member of the force is a license to be a mild terrorist/above the law should be dealt with by reorientating them to their service duty of keeping watch over society like a loving big brother. Also the low educational qualification levels of many Policemen is responsible for their brutish ways, a new policy of recruiting officers with a minimum qualification of an OND certificate would go a long way to seeing that the force becomes a respectable outfit. </p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/traez_mamalette_benefit_scheme.jpg" alt="traez_mamalette_benefit_scheme"/></p>
<p><strong>I’m a hustler!</strong><br />
You know how ingenious our 19 boys can be (energy channelled in the wrong direction…yeah I know). Well out of idleness and brokenness I created what could be a potential 19 runs marketing ad (pictured above). I like the professional way I went about relaying my message (although I used one too many slangs). You tell me, could anyone fall for that?</p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/03/fuck-the-police-im-a-hustler/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Failed love/Song of the Week, who’s to blame?</title>
		<link>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/02/failed-lovesong-of-the-week-whos-to-blame/</link>
		<comments>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/02/failed-lovesong-of-the-week-whos-to-blame/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Feb 2007 20:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>trae_z</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music (Hip hop)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Socials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.traedays.com/blog/?p=126</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Before you read this know that I’m not trying to work up a misunderstanding with my music industry family; I’m just speaking as an average music lover with his own personal opinion. I’ve not at all been happy with most of the Rhythm 94.7 Abuja Hit Song of the Week selections of the past few…months! [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Before you read this know that I’m not trying to work up a misunderstanding with my music industry family; I’m just speaking as an average music lover with his own personal opinion. </p>
<p>I’ve not at all been happy with most of the Rhythm 94.7 Abuja Hit Song of the Week selections of the past few…months! A lot of which have been ridiculous nonsensical songs…which are not even “sweet”! This is the kind of thing that makes one take Modenine’s point of view: <em>“bling bling, bubble gum rap, I don’t feel that”</em>. Having got my grown man on I’m kind of not feeling such theme of songs but I could make exceptions for tracks like Cassie’s “long way to go”. The song’s a banger so I guess it’s bumpable on my radio and gets my nod for song of the week. But sadly majority of the selections are a glorifying of C-class US acts/songs to the detriment of our own artists. I therefore consider it an insult to be put through the torture of hearing such type of songs week after week. Surely Rhythm can’t tell me that these are the songs Nigerians of all classes honestly prefer as their song of the week.</p>
<p>My research led me to realise that the choice of foreign songs over ours is because of the fear of being labelled as playing favouritism and the “why should I do this artist a big favour when I’m getting nothing in reply” feeling. I just wish the DJs and On-Air personalities knew that as far as a song’s tight no one has a problem with you shoving it down our ears for your “friend’s” sake. </p>
<p>But after all said and done if they still decide to stick with foreign songs (after all it’s their prerogative) I would be happy if they picked from the generally acceptable stock. I’m still waiting on the day we’ll see Nigerian songs of the week on a regular basis. That honour could really lift someone’s career.</p>
<p><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/trae_z/piano_rose.jpg" alt="piano_rose"/>I’m in love…with the music, are you?</p>
<p>It beats me why many of us who claim to be the perfect wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend material always have lonely Valentines or are forever wishing on love and moaning about needing a partner. So to unravel the mystery I started with myself. Over the course of conversing with this new chick that I’m really feeling I realised that I’m actually the shit but when I consider my finances I always loose confidence in my ability to cope in the relationship department. I thus bug off and go for the easy lay…how sad. So the jury’s out, we know other people (unromantic cheating guys, money hungry girls etc) and circumstances can be blamed for your loneliness but what portion of the blame are you willing to apportion to yourself for being lonely?</p>
<p>Fuck traditional roles I believe in gender equality. Rhythm Unplugged, Rhythm 94.7 Abuja’s music-comedy show comes up over the weekend. Any lady wants to take me out? <img src='http://www.traedays.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p><!--adsense--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.traedays.com/blog/2007/02/failed-lovesong-of-the-week-whos-to-blame/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>
