The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

This article first appeared on The Raw Africa in 2017. I have not been blogging as much since but I think these nuggets are still relevant.  Be consistent with what you blog about I started my first blog in 2005 on GhanaThink’s GhanaConscious platform. I was really passionate about Ghana’s development at the time. Hiplife had also become the dominant genre in Ghana and I love it, especially Obrafour. I wanted to marry development and music so I came up with Abocco’s blog — sounds on da ground and see-ins on the scenes . From the blog name, sounds have to do with music while ground means relevance. See-ins was a play on words about what I am seeing and was related to scenes which signifies what was happening in Ghana. I always blogged about Ghanaian songs and how they related to society. An example was a post about Obrafour’s Ako which touched on politics and verbal battles. I blogged often , at least once a month so that the blog didn’t become stale. You do not want a disappoint...

I've blogged about my longtime Eyram Akofa Tawia several times. You can read some of the blogs here. Living An African Success Story . Leti Games - building computer games in Africa . Leti Games named amongst Ghana's Innovation Heroes . Leti Games unveils iWarrior (iPhone App) & Kijiji (J2Me) . I helped inspire +Eyram Tawia  to write a book! Yes, a whole book! It has been published and it is being launched on Friday. Yes, this Friday. One of these blog posts is in the book. So you have to get the book :-) You'd hear Eyram and the  +Mighty African  himself on the  +Citi97.3FM  Business Edition with  +Benkoku Avle  tomorrow on the Citi Breakfast Show. You can't miss the book launch at  +Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology  on Friday @ 6pm . Eyram has touched many people, at +Barcamp Ghana  like Barcamp Ho and  +Junior Camp Ghana  events like Junior Camp Ketasco ! You can order the book via this li...

In fact, sometimes I can't believe how ridiculous I get. Some might say I have a way with words. Actually, I am considering doing stand-up comedy. I have always been writing poems , used to write a lot of short stories (maybe I'll get into those again soon) and most recently, I have been doing spoken word. But at the time I found my love of writing in Presec through short stories, funny articles and poems, I employed 'these styles' in 'letters'. These styles included various figures of speech and what is known to Presec enthusiasts as "Chaa". In my youthful exuberance, I'd write letters to various girls and I don't know why we 'did' this, but we felt our letters had to be special, funny, witty, and 'chaaristic'. I don't have the letters I wrote in Presec with me but I was browsing through my Facebook messages and realised I never 'lost' my touch. I found a long-lost friend from those jolly old Presec times and felt ...

This is my second post this Valentine's National Chocolate Day. I was going to combine both posts but had too much to say in the first one . I have a poem to share with you all in the spirit of this weekend. It's a very special poem to me, because it is a love poem. Uuh. It's titled 'I would like'. I have debated well over a year whether to make it public and finally I have decided to let you all enjoy it. Well, I've performed it a couple times (spoken word) so it's not a huge secret and I've shared it with some friends as well. I wanted to keep the poem safe till I released it in my anthology or maybe, used it at a very very very special time. But hey, since I am unable to write poems these days for stupid reasons like "this poem better be better than the last poem", I figure I'll share the poem with y'all so I could be forced to write some new ones. It's easy to see why I chose this day, it's Valentine's Day, love is in t...

This poem was inspired by the Parable of the Sower - Matthew 13:18-23. Poem's called Know where to sow. Enjoy. Sown and grown on the wayside Well, it fell on rocks Thrown and grown along paths Trodden under by impact Shown and grown in good soil To reap the harvest of toil Rooted in filth and guilt Stemming from temptation Leaving the margin of right Nothing good for the receptacle The rains were mad last time This time, they made one sad Good fruit was borne however Through the nurturing of culture Fruit from good seeds grew Into yet another flicker of hope Favourable grounds helped to cope Into hearers and doers If oaks from little acorns should grow Then know where to sow

I remember writing this poem at a bus station somewhere in Upstate New York. I was thinking about a couple of girls and I decided to express those thoughts on paper. So it became a poem. I decided to try my hand at some Twi poetry as well though it didn't turn out too good. I just translated the English lines to Twi so if some of the translations are off, forgive and then correct me. I had titled this poem 'Who is me' but it really should be something like two women. So there, I present to y'all 'two women'. Enjoy. She is me She mirrors me But she is a mirage And she is just an image of me She is not me She shadows me But she is a window And her mirror doesn’t know me I follow the mirror My shadow follows me The mirror tells me I am fair My shadow tells me I am dark My mirror lets out my secrets My shadow is my best kept secret My mirror overshadows me My shadow mirrors my shade Sankofa sees my shadow Nkoso notices my mirror Do I want me Or do I want my shadow D...

Wanted to blog today but I don't have time so I will do what do when this happens. Put up an old poem. This poem is called Homicide. Wrote it a while ago. You can try and decipher what it means, that's the beauty of the language abi? Enjoy Like a masked murderer Radiant with love Knifing the apron strings That bound us to custom Like a patient poacher Endangering a life Leaving an ancestral stump After draining the sap Like a settling seed Seeking to rule the natives To improve its diversity Killing softly the inbred society Like a caring cutthroat To say a soothing prayer With a temporary temerity Enslaving the rich Like a pestering preacher To liberate the naïve yet Who came and taught nothing And burgled society’s education

Deborah Ahenkorah sent some info about Baobab Prize 2009 out recently and it has inspired me to write about African writers and African stories. Growing up, my favorite novels to read were the JAWS (Junior African Writers Series) books as well as those from AWS (African Writers Series). I used to be really intrigued by them and this followed into my love for books like Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe), Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) and Our Sister Killjoy (Ama Ata Aidoo). Many of the famous African novelists are still writing but a whole new generation of writers are starting to join the gang and the Baobab Prize is encouraging that. Maybe, I'll also write a novel soon, who knows. According to the website, "The Baobab Prize is an annual award designed to encourage the writing of African literature for young readers. It has been birthed from a recognition of the dearth of fictional African literature that focuses on the youth and encourages them to explore an...

Frankly, I forget why I began writing about change. I don't know if this counts as a poem, it's basically a sequence of lines about change. But even changes have an end so I had to find a way to end a bunch of change lines. You can tell me whether I did a good job. Here goes, change is....... Change is what I wear every day Change is a constant k Change is a constant c, u c Change is seeing a different customer every day Change is having your peace disturbed Change is having your piece reduced Change is having your faith renewed Change is having your new dirtied Change is having your dirt publicized Change is having your Sunday Change is what you get after you get your sundae Change is what the seasons do Change is what the beggars press for Change is what the oppressed beg for Change is what we get when we travel Change is what we catch in our hands Change is what we grab with our hearts Change is what we stand for when others sit Change is why we are sitting when others stand...

I am due for a blog post and though I have some ideas coming up, I'll leave y'all with this poem titled 'Probeverbs' I wrote a long time ago. Probeverbs is a play on probing proverbs. Chaa. Proverbs are wise sayings alright but sometimes they can be questioned. I definitely questioned some and in this poem, I probe the sanity and sense in some proverbs. Don't know if you will all agree with these sentiments but hey, I sometimes live to challenge the status quo. Rebellion is sometimes fun. Here goes. Opinions are like noses Everybody has one Yet, each has its own smell A bird in hand Will fly away to the bush Because it is safe there He who laughs best Is really enjoying the show And will always laugh last When the cat is away The mouse will play Because it is his day A cat may look at a king If it is real hungry If not, the mouse is safe Dance like a butterfly Sting like a bee And end your life like a bee Speak up, be heard Speech is silvern, silence Not golden, it ...

I wrote this poem for March 6th, 2007, on the occasion of Ghana's golden jubilee. I made a slight modification for the occasion of Ghana's 52nd. It's titled "It's about time". Happy birthday Ghana and Happy Independence day to all Ghanaians! He knew himself before they knew him He moulted into the face they wanted for him But inside he wanted to remain the same He fought as he reddened He sold as he yellowed He destroyed as he greened He shined as he blackened He paced as he faced occupation He led as he fled domination It was about time Pregnant with positive action United as one at one Completely free at three Borders were not very sexy at six Divided came to a head at ten Went to pride land at twenty Happened to be thirsty at thirty Life had already began at forty Showing he is nifty at fifty About to be about that time It's kind of funny that He shaped his movement to Jacko's steps Before he knew what made Daddy move It's kind of funny that He ...

So I've given you guys some poems to read on this blog, but how about a short story? I was going through my stuff and came across a short story I wrote shortly after I finished Presec. I was a new Odadee. It's titled - Dangerous Highway. Reading it reminded me of how we used to write when we were in secondary (high) school, using all the biggest English we could find and playing with the language to prove we had an excellent command of the Queen's language. In fact, some of the words and phrases I used had me laughing hysterically and I don't understand some of the words (anymore). Well, here it is for you to enjoy. "Dangerous Highway" - I am not going to give the story away. Just read. This piece has never been edited, it's important for us to read it at its untouched stage to appreciate the beauty of the writing. Or the horror, if you may. I wrote this piece on paper, in 2001, I wasn't used to Microsoft word so this piece doesn't have the benefit...

I am on a poetry posting spree. I wrote this poem when I was in Presec in 2000. As a matter of fact, I performed it during the Mr. Presec competition in which I was 3rd. The poetry recital was excellent but I terribly flunked the traditional highlife dancing segment, which I believe cost me the grand prize. I believe, I am adept at dancing to highlife music now, if you don't believe me, catch me at your next Ghanaian party. Up till now, I haven't received my Woodin shirt(s) prizes for grabbing bronze. They must have lied to me. But I still have the poem that confirmed to me that I had a career in spoken word and poetry performance. I still remember some of my Presec mates teasing me with "Ato, are you dreaming, are you dreaming" after the contest. Well, the poem, here it goes. Building castles in the air Cement your imaginations Build your rocky emotions Yet, don't throw your hands in the air Out of tranquility, an outburst To build a city in days the worst Make k...