Asiri Media

Asiri Media's Chaline [C]  had an interesting chat with one of Nigeria's most talented Visual Artists, Solopencil [S], who also serves as curator of Unchained Gallery here. Enjoy.                          CHALINE : Hi. My name is Chaline Anarado. And I am here with one of the most talented Visual Artists in Nigeria. Of course, you know I am talking about Solopencil. Welcome, Solopencil. Can I call you Solo?                   SOLOPENCIL : Thanks, Chaline. But I'll prefer Solopencil; it makes me feel alive as a creative.                             C: Wow, interesting. Solopencil is a rather unusual name. If you don't mind my asking, how did you come about the name, and what does it represent for you?                    ...

Health, Faith and Human Dignity .  In the 1300s, the bacterium Yersinia   pestis , almost decimated the population of Euro-Asia. Lost for hope and for direction, all that most people could do was go on processions and vigils –praying for God to rescue them from the hands of “the black death” who was pictured going around harvesting souls – no one was safe; no refuge was in sight. In the 1500s, when small pox hit Mexico and South America, “the Mayas in the Yutucan Peninsula” for instance, “believed that three evil gods, Ekpetz, Unnankak and Sojakak, were flying from village to village at night, infecting people.” In parts of pre-colonial West Africa, growing infant mortality either from sickle cell or other related illness forced people to conclude that some children were inflicted with an evil spirit – the Yorubas called them “Abiku,” the Igbos called them “Ogbanje” – which marked them as “born to die.” When HIV hit the world around the 1900s, many believed that it wa...

Welcome to our Literature corner. We serve you up with the best of literary works from around the world.                                   *                               TEAM . My name is Carissa Richetti, and I am a writer. I studied Creative Writing at the University of South Florida. I write about feminism, entertainment and personal finance. My works have appeared on New People News, Luna Luna, The Women Inc., The Malvern Daily Record, and The Penny Hoarder. I live in Pennsylvania. CONTACTS. Email : crichetti@mail.usf.edu Twitter : @richetticarissa. I am Prospero Anuforo, writer and a poet —both page and stage. I serve as editor at Asiri Media, and also provide content on Pigin Paarol as Pipiro. I live in Lagos, Nigeria. CONTACTS . Email : pipiro44@gmail.com Twitter : @pipiro44. To find all th...

                                             1. You see, I was so smart as a kid. And this made me learn to read later than I should have. Yes, I had to throw away my smartness and conform to the often illogical axioms of the English language. I had gone to stay with granny. And a cousin was there, too.  She was attending a good private school where they even thought phonetics. It was a Saturday, and she was in the hallway, reading aloud. I spelt out every word in my head after her. Coz: Mister. Me: M. I. S. T. A. Coz: John. Me: J. O. N. Coz: Said. Me: S. E. D. Coz: Our. Me: A. W. A. I picked  up the reader later, and tried to  confirm that my spellings were just perfect. Well, slight differences which my smart-ass self thought was just a matter of choice: Mister is almost the same as Mista. The one I couldn't take was their spelling of a...

Walk into any gym, and you will most likely find a large, burly guy with tiny legs who is still hell bent on building the superior parts of his body while completely neglecting the inferior parts. This kind of structure is called the Johnny Bravo Physique, or simply The Chicken Leg Syndrome , in body building circles. And it has been a major scare for aspiring body builders and fitness models, because people would rather look their skinny or fat selves than work themselves out into such deformity. The ideal male physique should be well developed arms, legs, calves, chest, shoulders, abdominal area. All parts should be developed to equal extent. No neglected areas. But it turns out most people get it all wrong; and the most neglected parts of the body during workouts are the legs. What's the reason for this imbalance, and why people tend to get carried away with the upper parts of their bodies? Partly due to lack of knowledge on proportioning and balance in body building...

I was in JSS3 around the time. And we had moved from Surulere, a place fast becoming completely industrial,  to the crowded, residential area of Igando. I was schooling at Sanya Grammar School in Surulere, and had to finish my  JSS3 there before applying for a transfer at the Lagos State Ministry of Education to a school closer to our house in Igando. So, for one full year, I had to wake up really early to beat what I still think is the father of all Go-Slows in the whole of Lagos: the Iyana Ejigbo to Jakande Estate jam. Faada Lawd . It's not exactly a jam, if you looked at it another way. Rather, it was a daily conference of frustrated Lagosians, sardined in rickety buses, hiding the dogging poverty of the various slums they were coming from in fancy clothes and sophisticated perfumes, fanning themselves, speaking English, hoping the buses they were on would gain even an  inch every 20 minutes. These were the ones who worked in the Industrial areas on the mainlan...

Awa politishans dem don caash dis deezeez, com turnn fuurog. Ona wecom to Pigin Paarol. Mai name na Pipiro. Aand, tohday, we go chook maut insaaid de teribu elekshun deezeez wey don show face aagain laidis forr Naija. De name na Jumpikokus aureus : dis na deezeez wey dey kos pesin tto dey jumpi-jumpi upandan. E fit be furom wan maan tto anoda maan; or furom wan woomaan tto anoda woomaan; or furom wan paati tto anoda paati. Ehen. Awa politishans dem don caash dis deezeez, com turnn fuurog. Na so dem dey jumpi-jumpi furom wan paati tto anoda paati. De wan wey bursss mai dada na de tori say awa oga pkatapkata forr senate haus, senetorr Bukola Saraki, sef don caash de deezeez, com jump—fiam!—furom APC tto PDP. We neva knoww wai awa oga port o. Buht som pipu say na APC sweepu sweepu naim taya de man, im com desaid tto ggo res smol unda PDP umburella. Buht no be tohday dis Jumpikokus deezeez show o. Jumpi don dey Naija since 1999. Wetin we kol Civilian Ruul na wen awa sojas w...

Welcome to my corner. My name is Okeuhie Solomon Chukwuemeka , a.k.a Solopencil . I am a Visual Artist. And I am currently pursuing a degree in Polymer and Textile Engineering at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO). Entirely self-taught, my art career started fully in the University after embracing art at a very young age out of sheer passion. I realized my intense passion for hyperrealism in 2014, but decided to be unorthodox with my works by fusing a blend of mixed media to my realistic references. I use conventional materials and methods as metaphors, and visceral symbolism as a conduit for personal and universal narratives. Identity, gender-based violence  and societal issues have been key aspects of my current artistic practice. I also render  portraits commissions for clients far and wide. I have done commissions for celebrities like DJ Xclusive, Adekunle Gold and others. I live and work in Lagos, Nigeria. CONTACTS . Email: okeuhie.solomon...