The short story is titled Shattered Shadows of Youths. The three key words here dictate the tone of the story. Shattered here symbolises dashed hope, uncertainty, disappointment and frustration while shadows also strengthen the word, ‘shattered’. Shadows show something unreal, something that is ephemeral, something that is transient, something that is not concrete, something that can fade away once there is nothing to project the image. Youth stands for strength, rejuvenation, vibrancy, being energetic and active.
Shattered Shadows of Youths is a short story of five unconnected chapters, according to the author, ‘touching five issues that affect youths of nowadays which are revealed in hypocrisy, misuse of technology, poor parenthood, impatience and negative environment. These cut across the Secondary and Tertiary institutions, conversation among youths, lecturers in higher institutions accusing a student of misusing technology while she was writing her note with her handset.
Chapter One described a typical environment in which a youth, a university undergraduate finds himself/herself rushing for lectures and trying to meet up with assignments. It showed the usual conversation among students and gossips about their colleagues and lecturers. The conversation between the Security man and the middle-aged lady on no job after graduation is a reflection of the shattered shadows of the youths and the woman advised students to learn hand skills if they would be relevant in the society after graduation. The chapter ended with a poem urging the youths to stop blaming the society but rather find a way of weathering the storm and not allow the twisting and turning of the society dictate `their pace in life.
Chapter Two hinged on impatience. It is a time of various activities involving the students’ union, various faculty associations and clubs. It is a week full of activities. It is a period of celebration where students display fashions with so many styles from the Ankara bought for the events. A lot cut their coats according to their cloths. It is also a period of showcasing dexterity in songs, poetry and graphics. The author showed Sekinat who was exceptional in her poetic rendition which caught the attention of the audience, especially the Professors and Mr. Macaroni who gave her a sum of =N=15,000.00. The author also painted a picture of a Lecturer trying to take advantage of Sekinat’s naivety by harassing her sexually.
Chapter Three revealed an obsessed lady, who was addicted to and engrossed in her phone, unknowingly typed a message on Tik Tok which elicited various messages pouring into her phone. The lady was drafted into the air of fantasy recalling some amorous encounters with her ex-boyfriend pleading that God should erase the feeling from her memory. The ensuing poem plunged her into the realm of poets. She was engrossed in her cell-phone and she took solace in technology to express her feelings on Facebook and WhatsApp, which normally she could not discuss with her parents. The author displayed her expertise in the description of a class scene where one Lecturer met another one getting out of the class and the normal pleasantries couple with some Lecturers proving to be tough and not tolerating nonsense in their classes. The class ended with the Lecturer scolding a student typing his note in her cell-phone and termed it an abuse of technology. He advised the student not to depend so much on technology that technology is more of an enemy than a friend. This is another confusion for the youths.
Chapter Four expatiates on hypocrisy which the author called a war in the heart. This is what ravaged the lives of a lot of youths. The author gave account of Ibrahim, fondly called Olawale by his mother, who collected a sum of six thousand naira from his mother under the pretext that he was going for an interview but ‘camped’ a lady in his room. The mother’s phone call exposed his hypocrisy and antics and the lady was able to discover that the money lavished on her was the six thousand naira collected for an interview. This is a stock-in-trade of youths. The event that unfolded at Sheriff Club is the height of hypocrisy among friends. It showed how trusted friends could dish one another. It is one of the captivating episodes of the short story.
Chapter Five showed parental neglect not because such parents were not rich but because they did not set their priorities right. They prefer having harem of wives to bringing up their children in proper and sound manners. It becomes survival of the fittest. This is what youths experience day in day out. Some people tried to help but took advantage of the naivety of the youths. The author reflected the deep feeling of being caught in the web of seeing a woman performing the functions of a man in a home and the conflict between a daughter and a mother whose mother felt was ungrateful to her by showing ‘subtle’ love for the father. The daughter took solace in poetry which served as a comic relief.
On the whole, this is a must-read story. It is hinged on the factors that affect they youth. The author vividly captures the pool of uncertainty in which the youths swim. The language is simple and captivating. The message is thought-provoking. In the word of the author, “Everything that has ever happened still look too hard to imagine, even too hard to remember all. Loneliness has always been a friend of my thoughts.” Grab a copy today and read!
Professor Silas Egbowon,
Department of Science and Technology Education,
Faculty of Education,
Lagos State University, Ojo.
MISS RASHIDAT OLAMIDAYO AJAKAYE is the First-Class graduate of Education and English Language who broke the barrier of First-Class in English Education after over forty years, Lagos State University, Ojo. She letters all genres of literature with academic works. She is the First Golden Star of CINAC Royal College, Iba, Ojo. Miss Ajakaye also merited an award at the YABA connect centre of Poets In Nigeria (PIN), where she became an administrator on her first stance, on the 21st of September, 2019. She won the poet of the year (2019/2020) in her Department, Language, Arts and Social Science Department (LASSED) and the Faculty of Education (2019/2020) at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos State. She has written over 1000 poems, producing several artistic collaborations and earning certifications from Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Asia, India, Ghana, Uganda, Liberia, Cameroon, Pakistan and some other countries. Some of her anthologies her Midnight Chronicles, STRIDA's Thunder, Asian Literary Society, Water: Source of Life, A Poetry Anthology of Adulation Dedication to the Literary Legacy of Professor Wole Soyinka, Scriptural Foundations, Rhapsody: Lines Like Lamentations, God's Favourite tracks, To The Tired Flames with many more works which she abundantly champions or contributes to. She also prides herself with not only academic but also humanitarian functions in various international conferences like: Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN), Michgray Consults, Dawood Research Centre: Contemporary Practice of Zakat in Africa, English Scholars' Association of Nigeria (ESAN) and many more.
Importantly, she is the president and founder of STRIDA CLUB, with the primary aim of "guiding you to striking confidence in academic and creative writing". She received three awards in the month of May, 2023; Blogger of the year, Bold and Beautiful of the year from the Department, Language, Arts and Social Science Department (LASSED), Writer of the Year from Education Students Association of Nigeria (ESAN), Faculty of Education Lagos State University, Ojo. She has also received the award of Sterling Educator of the Year, Karim Poetics Platform, Ghana (2024). Ajakaye also features unique and enviable attributes, to have earned the award of Most Endowed of the Year from the Faculty of Education(2023/2024). Miss Ajakaye has also initiated the accommodation of poetry, to the verifiability found in academic writing. Thus, having her poetic composition presented with in-text citation. Eventually, this poem was published in a journal managed by the Faculty of Education, Lagos State University. Here, Faculty of Education 8th Annual Conference: Understanding and Tackling Rampaging Global Poverty Through Education Volume 3 by (2034/2024). She has also appeared on Jordan FM: 105.5, Abule Egba Lagos for: creative writing exploration, inspiration of minds and news broadcasting.
Most necessarily, Rashidat Olamidayo Ajakaye is a genuine Lagosian from Ajakaye Royal family, Ijagemo of Iba, Ojo. Miss Ajakaye provides a website where published and up and coming writers, various artistic gifts can establish and make themselves known to the public as an upcoming scholar.
The name... http://Ajakayereaderscorner.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment