Heaven Can Wait, by Rudolf Okonkwo

I believe in heaven. And I bet you do.

Heaven is located somewhere across the bridge of life. It is a place devoid of the iniquities of this life. In heaven, tranquility abounds. It is a treasure trove where God keeps the best of everything.

All our pursuits in life can be divided into two: the pursuit of heaven and the pursuit of happiness.

Heaven is the only place where happiness is guaranteed. But for some reason, we are determined to pursue happiness here on earth when it has been proven that such is an impossible goal.

We dream of heaven when we face the travails of life on earth. We remember heaven when we lose someone we love. We embrace heaven when we face our own mortality.

Though the vision of heaven varies depending on our religious and cultural upbringing, the central ideas are the same. Heaven is a good place for good people who have a good report card from their stay on earth. We are expected to make sacrifices here on earth in order to get to heaven.

I recently lost a distant cousin. He died a heart-breaking death at a young age. He was such a nice guy that tributes came from far and wide. Everyone agreed he had gone to the bosom of the Lord to rest. One grief-sicken mourner wrote on Facebook, “Stay thee with the Lord, Tony, until we meet again – though not so soon.” 

The Day Prof. Ali Mazrui Cried

Prof. Mazrui

Kwaheri, Mazrui arap Mombasa.

You reached your destination-

A thousand miles beyond the boundary.

I was a witness.

Now, you’ve set forth

On a trip across the sacred cloud.

Sorry, I couldn’t deliver

"The Trial of Ali Mazrui"

Before the bracket closed.

But you can be sure

It has set sail,

Far beyond the bondage

Of our triple heritage.

As we mourn the passing of a great African intellectual, Prof. Ali Mazrui, I present to you a 2007 dispatch from Christopher Okigbo International Conference at Harvard University.

Before then, I had met and interviewed Professor Mazrui twice. But on that day, I saw an Ali Mazrui that I had never seen before.

For many scholars of African literature, Ali Mazrui was an outsider who crashed into the African literature party on the wings of Christopher Okigbo. His one and only novel, “The Trial of Christopher Okigbo,” made him a factor in literary discourse.

With notoriety comes despise. Mazrui is so despised that more scholars are not on talking terms with him than those who are.

Is There Life After Death?

Is There Life Beyond This One? (Part 1) by Rudolf Okonkwo

After taking off on March 2, 2004, over ten years ago, and travelling 6 billion kilometers, last month a European spacecraft called Rosetta orbited the nucleus of comet 67P otherwise called Churyumor Gerasimenko.

It was the first man-made object to essentially catch a comet, often referred to as the solar system’s most mysterious object. On November 11, 2014, a probe called Philae will self-eject from Rosetta and land on the comet. Philae will drill into the nucleus of the comet and perform tests, beaming the results to Rosetta for onward transmission to earth. In December 2015, the Rosetta, flying along with the comet will come close to the sun at a distance of 111 million miles. 

The data this Rosetta exploration will reveal will help us understand a little bit more about the history of the solar system. Scientists working on the Rosetta may even prove the theory that it was a comet that brought water and, consequently, life, on earth. They hope to answer nagging questions like: Are there other forms of life out there? If there are other forms of life could that change our beliefs and our perceptions of ourselves in this universe? If there are other forms of life in this vast and expanding universe, could that help us understand what form of life we will transform into after death?

"When God Is Not Enough," by Rudolf Okonkwo

In the middle of Lagos- Benin expressway, before the Ore junction, sits a rusty disabled car with a partially burnt-out engine. It has been there for weeks, abandoned by the owner and by the state. There is no light where the car rests, yet thieves have managed to visit at night and extract anything of value in the car. Meanwhile, at their home in FESTAC, a patriarch and his family are preparing to travel to Onitsha. They have packed their luggage and taken them into their Honda Pilot jeep. They pray for God to grant them safe trip. The parents speak in tongues and the children sing choruses. Their neighbors and friends come out and wish them journey mercies. As they drive, they play gospel music and sing more songs and praises. Near the site where the rusty car rests, the patriarch of the family swings the car to avoid a pothole. By the time he regains control of the car, he is face to face with the disabled car. The last thing that comes out of his mouth before the car slams into the abandoned car is, God.

Over two hundred years ago, the French used to attribute everything to God. They revered their leaders as people chosen by God. They worshiped their clergies as men anointed by the Almighty, even as evidence mounted that these men and women of privilege were ruining the lives of the poor French citizens. In a sporadic uprising, the French society yanked off the yoke of ignorance and subservience and kicked out the so-called men and women handpicked by God.