Handel's MESSIAH

"Handel is the greatest composer

who ever lived.

I would bare my head

and kneel at his grave"

-- L.v. Beethoven (1824)

In some Christian theology that I have read... Satan (the Devil) was an Arch-angel in heaven, and not just any old Arch-angel but THE Arch-angel! He was known as Lucifer Morningstar and was in charge of music in heaven. As the angel in charge of praise to the Almighty God, he commanded the Cherubs and Seraphs and all the other hosts of heaven in daily praise and worship to God Almighty.

His rank was above that of Michael, Arch-angel of war; Gabriel, Seraphiel and all the other angels. He was the top dog! Which is probably why according to these texts, he let it all get to his head and was cast out for the sin of Pride.

My point is that music was/is recognized as a powerful...very powerful tool and medium for spiritual experiences. Up to the degree that the choir master in heaven was considered the most powerful being after the Supreme Deity Himself. When I used to attend church regularly in Nigeria, the praise and worship session was always the best part for me.

I was caught up in the magic of music in a really special way when I attended the Auckland Choral performance of Handel's MESSIAH on Monday December 18.

What an experience.

4 lead singers (Soprano; Soprano-Mezzo; Bass and; Tenor)

24-member orchestra playing 2 types of violin, viola, cello, bass, oboe, Basson, Trumpet, and a Timpani

1 Piano organ concernist

130 strong choir (46 Sopranos; 20 Tenors; 48 Altos and; 26 bass)

And of course proceedings were directed by the slightly balding rake-thin conductor!

One thing that struck me is that performing and producing such music as those singers and orchestra did requires intense concentration and they are under a lot of pressure to deliver.

The Auckland town hall where the performance took place looks like a majestic old church with a huge stage that sloped up and was set with seats where the 130-strong choir sat. The orchestra sat in a sort of 'pit' right below the choir seats, still on the stage while the conductor had his piano nearest the edge of the stage. The orchestra were arrayed in a loose semi-circle round him.

All four lead singers sat on chairs on stage and took turns to sing different parts of the composition. And when they were not singing, sat down in their chairs. The Soprano was this beautiful young lady and when she was not singing... had this intense look of concentration on her face, listening to the other lead singers or the choir. Ditto for the other leads as well.

But when they got up and started to sing... a startling change came over their faces as they sang. Most members of the audience had rapturous looks on their faces all through but the look of... ecstasy on the Sopranos face as she sang... My God!

If you havent heard Handel's MESSIAH in its entirety... I suggest you do. It captures the essence of what Christmas (and Christianity) is. The birth of a saviour for the redemption of the world. It doesnt matter what your particular beliefs are. Soak your soul into the music and let it take you on paths hirtherto unknown.

Golden Jubilee of True Love...

Prof and Mrs JF Ade Ajayi



















"...and may you meet the bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh"

So said my Aunt, Mrs Christie Ade Ajayi when I called her up in October to wish her hearty congratulations on staying with the same man for 50 years!

Yep! You read right! Prof. and Mrs Jacob Festus & Christie Ade Ajayi celebrated FIVE DECADES of marriage in October 2006. That is more time on this earth than MOST PEOPLE who have ever visited my blog (or generally visit blogs) have lived.

But who exactly is this couple? And what do they mean to me?

My Dad has nine brothers and one sister (officially). My late Grandfather had two wives (very normal back in those days... and still a common practice in Nigeria even till this day) and between both wives they managed to have more than 15 children. Of which maybe 4 or 5 did not make it to adulthood. (High infant mortality in those days)

Prof JF Ade Ajayi is the first son and 'heir' if you will, to my late Granpappy who was the King's secretary and a very important man in the town back then. Being the first son of such a huge and respected family meant a lot of responsibility and high expectations. Expectations he has met many many times over and responsibility he has shouldered with grace and magnanimous humility.

Big words I know. But the man himself would expect no less from me. A Professor Emeritus of History, former Vice-Chancellor of a University and world renowned academic and leading scholar. But I am guessing... that he would count his more successful roles as a husband and father of five. Married to the formidable "Mummy 1" as we all call her, my aunt who is a leading early childhood psychology and learning expert in her own right; and writer of children's books, this couple is one of the prime reasons (together with my own parents) I belive in true love.

I mean... it cant be easy to stay married to the same person for half a century right? You have to be in love, true unconditional love to do it. Strong enough to weather the inevitable rough patches, worries, highs and lows wedded life must bring. Especially in these present times of increased divorce rates and selfish individuals who dont know the meaning of sacrifice anymore.

My earliest memories of Prof and his wife are going to their nice quarters in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria where my aunt had (and still has) some of the coolest literature for a 6 year old boy who absolutely loved to read. And there always seemed to be an endless supply of cookies and soda. And lunch there was always such a stately affair, with my mum always telling me to stop slouching and sit straight and my aunt more concerned with if I had enough meat on my plate!




With their offspring from Left: Bisi-Interior Designer; Yetunde-Lawyer; Niyi-Pediatric Surgeon; Titi-Architect; Funmi-Investment Banker. 5 of their very many successful collaborations together

My uncle retired (but being an Emeritus still retained his office in the university) and they moved in the late 80's i think, to this stately white house where I was to spend a lot of my formative years as an undergraduate at the University of Ibadan.

Nigeria being a collective society, moving away from home to University doesnt actually qualify as 'flying the coop'. If you have relatives in the same city you are expected to go there every Sunday at the very least and eat lunch . I took it to the extreme at a point and abandoned 'my digs' in the University halls of residence and just went from Prof's house to my lectures. I ate better at any rate and could always borrow my aunt's old car from time to time for the odd date or party in town. And with her permission most of the time too (cheeky grin!)

This was the funny thing. My aunt is generally considered to be a "tough old cookie" who didnt brook nonsense from anybody but I somehow ALWAYS found it eaiser to ask those outreageous favors (like borrowing the car for the whole night) from her than from my uncle. Prof. spent (and still spends I guess) a huge amount of time in his study which consisted of a 2-floor library and some 2-3 staff to run it. The University History department used to ask permission to do research in the library for crying out loud! Walking to the study door and knocking to disturb my uncle was always a second choice thats for sure. Never the most expressive of men, my uncle would peer out at me from over the top of his reading glasses and I could never be sure what he was thinking exactly. He never wasted words either. I definitely prefered 'bothering' my aunt. At least with her, you knew EXACTLY where you stood!

But at the same time, I pride myself on being able to chat quite extensively with my Uncle. I especially remember one conversation about slavery and how hollywood movies seemed to make out that all slave owners had this really harmonious relationship with their slaves back then. This when we watched the Mel Gibson movie, "The Patriot" together.

As you celebrate this huge huge milestone, I would like this to be my own tribute to a couple who have meant many things to very many people but most especially to me, for being the kindly 'grandparents' who tolerated my excesses and remain an inspiration to me and a shining example of how I want to live my life.

Happy 50th wedding anniversary "Daddy and Mummy UI"!

I take on board my aunt's prayer for me that may I find "...bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" and spend at least a half century with her as well. (I actually might already have!)
Simone on the NZ MC made a post on her blog recently about her parent's 25th wedding anniversary (i think) and I remember thinking at the time, "very impressive Simone, (which it is) let me introduce you to my uncle and aunt one of these days, or even to my parents who also celebrate 40 years next year in 2007."



The "Tribe of Jacob"! (Surrounded by kids, in-laws and grandkids)

My Native Guy... Is Getting Hitched

Oghenejiro Izreal Otiotio just got married!

Everyone calls him Ejiro. And his close friends call him "Tiny". Dont ask me why!

I first met Ejiro in Feb 1999 at an AIESEC conference. I had this really great joke on paper and was passing it round the whole conference. People were doubling up in laughter every single time. I approached Ejiro who was an LCP (and I was a fresh faced newie) gave him the paper with the joke on it, he read it without the slightest expression on his face, handed it back to me and said, "yeah... so?"

I hated him instantly.

I discovered I would have to get in line to kill him as he sort of brought out that kind of emotion in people. He typifies the statement, "Love him or hate him, you cant ignore him". And I do believe a lot of girls 'loved' him quite frequently.

He came to my University shortly afterwards for a President's meeting and I was supposed to be his official chaperone. I confirmed my initial assessment of him as one of the most arrogant people to walk the face the earth but he also showed why his friends were fiercely loyal to him.

He was and still is one of the most brilliant and intelligent persons i know, he was almost always right and was never afraid to push forward his ideas. Even at the risk of alienating the whole country. He showed almost no grace in conceding when he was proved wrong on a point but most choleric individuals never do. That was back then. In the intervening years, it has been amazing to see how Ejiro has become a bit more mellowed and tolerant of other people's views.

I spent a period of 3 months on the road with Ejiro in the summer of 2000 when he was an MC member and I was a support member of the MC. Funny, exasperating, loyal, downright born for leadership and I came to be one of his loyal 'acolytes' in this period. Although he did admit once (not to me) that I was one of the very few people who could stand up to him.

Now Ejiro is getting married.

I have spoken to Obehi his bride, although i havent met her and I have a sneaking suspicion he might just have found his soul mate. They do make a lovely couple on the wedding invitation do they not?

In Nigeria, a term used instead of 'buddy' is 'my guy'. This indicates a closer level of friendship more than ordinary. And I was very honored when Ejiro said I wasnt just his 'guy' but I was his "native guy".

As you take this all important step my native guy, may you have more kids than your dad did, and may the strength of your arm be sufficiently strong enough to be a loving father and perfect husband. AMEN

You can visit Ejiro's wedding website here
Ejiro's happy day of joy has made me nostalgic about when I will be able to have mine. Tope and I have to start making some concrete plans on taking that next step. God Help me... why am I so far away from her?

Patient in the ER

Some really ghastly pictures of me in the hospital. I looked like a patient in ER... well actually I WAS a patient in Auckland City Hospital ER. But I meant "ER" the series. Hehehehe...

Two things I learnt/confirmed while in hospital

- I am an incurable optimist
- On certain issues, I accept my father's views/decisions without question!

Gosh! I look really terrible in these pictures. Why the hell am I posting them for the whole world to see??!!

A Life-Changing Experience

Its amazing how much your life can change in 7 days

And no... I did not attend an AIESEC conference. On Wednesday November 29, at about 1300 NZT, I had what is in medical terms known as a Pulmonary Embolism.

You and I would call it a minor heart attack.

And before you break out in a sweat or start crying, I am stable and even back home, which is where I am obviously blogging about this. I have spent the last 7 days in the Auckland City Hospital being prodded, poked, run through scans and listening to the infernal midnight snoring of the nice gentleman in the same room as I was.

It all started last Monday, when I developed a pain in my leg. My left leg to be exact in the calf region. It felt like I had strained the muscle there and the pain was sufficiently severe enough that I was walking with a very pronounced limp. "This is the damndest thing" I thought to myself and when nobody seemed to have a clue what was wrong, I decided I would go and see the doctor on Tuesday.
However, waking up on Tuesday the pain was very reduced and I rubbed my left calf down with some Chinese balm and postponed my trip to the doctor's. Wednesday, I woke up to clean my apartment and found that I was having to stop every 5 minutes to catch my breath. "What the hell is wrong with me" I thought to myself as I leaned on the dining table gasping for breath and with the vacuum cleaner annoying the hell out of me with its loud noise.

I took a shower and felt slightly better, got dressed and made my way into town to meet with a friend for coffee at 11am. I start work at 1pm NZT and so had 2 hours to kill with my friend. I eventually spent an hour and a half with her and made my way to the library to return some books before walking to the Fonterra building.

Auckland happens to be a very hilly kind of city with a lot of really steep roads and the Fonterra building sits on the top of what must be one of the steepest roads in Auckland. I got to the bottom of this steep road and decided to take the elevator in a public car park on the road which would place me halfway up the steep road and at least on the same level as the basement of Fonterra. (pretty hard to explain if i dont show you some pics. Maybe later)

I was really gasping for breath by the time I got into the elevator and when the elevator started moving, while it wasnt quite all the pain in the world it came very close, it collected in my heart and squeezed! I felt light headed like I had gotten up too fast after sitting down for a long while and although I have never fainted in my life, I knew this was exactly what was about to happen to me. "Not in the elevator, Ladi! Not in the frigging elevator" I thought furiously to myself. "Get out to where somewhere can see you". I managed to stumble out into the carpark and lean against a car. I was sweaty and gasping for air and it felt like my chest was about to explode. My heart was beating that fast! And I couldnt stop thinking about how much I wanted to pee.

After about 10mins, my breathing seemed to come under control and I whipped out my phone to call into work and tell them I was on my way to the hospital. I should have tried to call an ambulance instead! My plan was to walk up the rest of the steep hill - taking it very slowly - and take a taxi from the Hyatt Hotel which was right opposite the Fonterra building.

I never made it.

I started to make my way up and knew immediately it was a mistake. My heart started to beat really fast again and I started gasping for air. These 2 chinese boys passed by me and looked at me as if to say, "...a bit early to be drinking matey". Halfway up the road, I came over all light headed again and the pain squeezed really harder this time in my chest. I looked around me and saw this one gentleman coming up way behind me, smiled, sat myself down on the road, put my head back and passed out!

You know how hollywood movies have people who are unconscious hearing voices as if from a VERY long way away? And how the voices slowly come into focus? Well... hollywood was spot on!!! When the voices came into focus, I was still on the ground and was surrounded by lots of people.

"Is he breathing"
"He's got a swipe card that looks like one of ours"
"What do you mean he just sat down and passed out"
"He's very cold"
"Roll him onto his side so he can breathe"
"Can you hear me buddy?"
"Hey, I know him! His name is Ladi and he works on my team"

This last was from Daniel, a colleague of mine who was also making his way to work. He called out my name and I was able to grunt out... something. By this time the ambulance had come and I was able to get up with some help and get into the back.

To cut this story short, blood clots were discovered in my left leg, some of which had broken off made their way to my lungs and blocked some vital valve and put my poor heart under pressure. So my vital organs are fine. The blood clots just blocked vital passageways and put everything on high alert! And now this the damndest thing...! They know what is wrong with me and they know how to fix it. But no one seems to have the faintest idea WHY I have blood clots in the first place.

According to the doctors (and the internet) the following are the most likely causes for Deep Vein Thrombosis (or clots in the blood)

- Preganant Women in their third trimester (I dont think I am preganant)
- Women on contraceptive pills (female over-35s' who smoke are more suspectible)
- If you have recently had surgery and been holed up in bed for an extended period
- If you take a Long haul flight (older people 65+ are more suspectible)

Or generally if you are immobile and your blood does not circulate properly.

People who have been hospitalized for long periods are suspectible to it Considering that I have been very active in the last 5 months (I joined a gym for Christ's sake!!!) the doctors were very very puzzled. My Long Haul Flight to New Zealand five months ago does not count as the clots generally make their move a day or two or at most a week after the flight.
It could also be genetic but I have been speaking to my parents and no one of my grandparents or uncles or aunties or anyone in the immediate extended (oxymoron?) family have died from a heart attack. My dad is pushing 70 and is healthy and my grandparents died from natural causes at well over 90. Its the damndest thing!

Now I am on blood thinning tablets and will be for 3-6 months. The tablets stop any more clots from forming while my body deals with the ones already there. I had a filter inserted into the major vein leading to my heart and lungs to stop any more clots reaching there. Dont worry, its not as gross as it sounds. It was a 'minor procedure' and I cant feel there is anything there, thank God!

No more alcohol while I am on the tablets, no rough and tumble games or extreme sports as I dont want to start bleeding and not have my blood able to clot and stop the bleeding. No long haul flight in the immediate future and oh yeah... there might be something wrong with my blood but existing clots have to disappear first as any blood test taken now will obviously be negative. If they do find anything wrong, i Might have to be on the tablets for a very extended period! Like the rest of my life!!!!!!

Amazing how much your life can change in the space of a week!

At my age (25) you think you are bullet-proof and particularly for AIESEC members we put our bodies through so much punishment and deprivation at conferences, traveling and living out of a suitcase and so on... and you think you can go on forever!

I would like to acknowledge the love, support and concern I have received in the last one week. I have only been here for five months but I had a steady stream of visitors from AIESEC, work and friends I had made outside work and AIESEC.

My two flatmates have been ABSOLUTELY fantastic! Mialy and Cristiane have been my surrogate family here. Worrying on my behalf and making sure I had an easier time of it. Thanks guys, you are starting to mean a whole lot to me.

Vicki, my darling 'boss' at work. I have to marry her. As I have fallen in love with her. And dont blame me. I was pretty vulnerable and she was and has been very supportive! Haha

Xing Hua, my new friend. This incident has brought us closer together and I am very happy that all my instincts about you were correct.

Ying, you were the one of the first on the 'scene' and those muffins and cupcakes you sneaked in couldnt have tasted better!
Auckland EB; all my colleagues from work and every single text message I have received from around the world (I will probably receive more after this post) Thank you all for the concern and love and support.

And if you have a funny pain in your leg, better check it out!!!