Ode to a tortuous beauty

Ode to a tortuous beauty

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

I look at the sweetness of thine eyes

Savouring the elegant beauty that is yours

Drinking in your flawless and disarming smile...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

Take me on a journey so loving

A journey that only the road of the heart can tell

One that speaks not but the voice is heard so loud...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

Your glittering eyes like the dew on the morning leaves

Your lips pursed in a smile which is resident thereof

Your gait so straight it rules all books...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

I look at the steps as you walked

They remind me of nothing lest Cinderella

Your figure, shaped by the creator Himself...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

Cupid's arrow pierced my heart, dripping hot blood

My hot blood cools not but at your sight

Come beauty, be mine lest tension be my food...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

Take me as your to ride to fantasy

Release me not from your grip of loving iron

Let me not out of your fragrant gaze...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

None I seek except you

None I want apart from you

None is for me except you...

Pray you tortuous beauty

Be mine and let the world

Around me come alive...

Idle minds in search of witches

Experts worry at rising cases of old women being labelled witches and getting dehumanised in the process, FOLASHADE ADEBAYO writes

The middle-aged woman sat subdued in the midst of her attackers. Burnt and beaten, she cradled her right cheek in one blood-soaked hand, mumbling incoherent words meaningful only to her ears.

But she was not a sight to pity by the mob who had just been prevented by police officers from going the extra mile. By the time she died a few days later from her burns, no one knew her name. But eye witnesses swore she was a witch flying at half mast and roasted by a high tension wire at Cappa, Oshodi, Lagos State.Cont'd at The Punch...

As poverty deepens, private hospitals also cry

Mass poverty and defaulting patients pose threat to the survival of private hospitals in Nigeria, BUKOLA ADEBAYO reports

The Chief Medical Director, Good Cradle Hospitals, Benin, Edo State, Dr. Silas Orabor, is not given to talking too much. Those, who know the medic say he hardly engages in long discussions. In fact, they note that socio-economic issues, particularly political ones, are no go areas for him.Cont'd at The Punch...

Young girls lose all in baby factories (1)

GEOFF IYATSE has an encounter with some young ladies just rescued from baby factories and traffickers’ den

When Nigeria (on the strength of the Gross Domestic Product rebasing) officially overtook South Africa to emerge the biggest economy earlier in the year, the bloated GDP became a publicity stunt in government circles.

The six per cent growth of the country’s GDP in the past few years has been etched in public consciousness as a sign of progress, whereas poverty indices are still high, as shown in reports by the World Bank and other competent authorities.Cont'd at The Punch...

Bonus row: Unending problem of Nigerian football

Battle over allowances and bonuses between Super Eagles players and officials have become the hallmark of Nigeria at major tournaments. Idris Adesina takes a look at the issue

While it is no longer news that Nigeria exited the 2014 World Cup in Brazil in the second round, it would be worthwhile to look into the reasons for the country’s failure to progress beyond the round, which has almost become the Super Eagles’ final bus stop at the quadrennial event.

...Cont'd at The Punch...

Disquiet over varsities’ unapproved courses

Some universities in Nigeria run unaccredited courses to the detriment of their students and dismay of the National Universities Commission, writes GBENGA ADENIJI

In 2012, many stakeholders in the education sector expressed worry when academic activities were disrupted in one of the federal universities in the country by protesting students. The protest was however not against increase in tuition or inadequate welfare as commonplace in most Nigerian tertiary institutions.Cont'd at The Punch