R.I.P. MAYA, YOU WERE A LITERARY PHENOMENON: 11 INSPIRING MAYA ANGELOU QOUTES

American author and poet, Maya Angelou has passed away at the age of 86.

The acclaimed writer was born Marguerite Annie Johnson April 4, 1928, in St. Louis. Angelou had a number of achievements during her lifetime, including reciting her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at former President Bill Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. She was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for her 1971 volume of poetry, “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘fore I Diiie,” a Tony Award nomination for her role in the 1973 play "Look Away," and three Grammy awards for her spoken-word albums. 

In 2011, she was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. Angelou has been honored by universities and organizations around the world, and has more than 30 honorary degrees due to her exceptional legacy.

Here are some of Maya Angelou’s most memorable quotes:

A PANORAMIC LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT CONSPIRACY THEORIES OF THE BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY

Nigeria is at a climacteric stage in her fifty-four years of tumultuous post-colonial existence and the whole world has tuned in to watch how she will survive the scourge that is currently plaguing her. The menacing presence of Boko Haram in the country, especially in the North Eastern part, has planted the seeds of fear and paranoia in the minds of Nigerians. More worrisome is the unfelt presence of a clueless government, whose impotence only compounds the country’s woes.

It’s almost a month since these Islamic terrorists abducted 276 teenage girls from a school in Chibok, Borno State, and the hope of rescuing them from their abductors keeps fading with time. To the chagrin of many Nigerians at home and in diaspora, the Nigerian government failed to act and react swiftly to the incident and its ineptitude made it a worthy recipient of the barrage of criticisms the public meted out.

STILL ON BOKO HARAM AND THE ABDUCTED CHIBOK GIRLS: THE EMERGING FACTS

The girls are still missing and Boko Haram is still at large. Several protests have been staged, both on social media and on the streets of Lagos, London and New York, to call the Nigerian government and the international community into action so as to rescue these girls from their abductors. However, former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, recently wrote an article about the issue and he revealed some emerging facts...

MAN VS SOCIETY (PART 1)

We were born free into the world but the society shackled us with culture and religion. 

We are now constantly scared of what others think and remain burdened by how we are perceived by the society. 

So we put a mask on our personality and keep aloof from our inner self. 

We have become slaves in our own minds and we ignore the fact that life should be a subjective interpretation of reality that is directed by our choices and governed by a plethora of self-defined ideals: 

How you view it, how you live it, what you do with it and what you believe in should be entirely up to you...not the society!

Adedapo Adebajo

MY MUSINGS ABOUT THE BOKO HARAM DEBACLE AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

Before I left Nigeria in August 2013, I went to Kano to complete an official assignment and I remember being accompanied by trepidation all through my flight from Lagos to the largest city in the North. My heart was in my mouth as I journeyed through and owing to my state of nerves, I firmly held on to a small bible that was in my pocket. Family and friends kept calling every minute just to check on my safety. Even though Boko Haram strikes had been subdued at that time, the previous attacks left an indelible scar on the city's bod.