Excellence Domain Media

31/05/2024

CHARLES GOES TO SCHOOL.
L. A. Oyagaba Abah.

EPISODE 1: The Early Days of Charles

Charles Onyejonchi entered the world with bright eyes and a gentle cry. His mother, Onyeche, cradled him tenderly, oblivious to the challenges ahead, anyway.

To Charles' mother, he's not just a blessing to her, but a lifter of reproach of 15 years of what people around her described as barrenness.

The husband, Onyejonchi, got married to another woman after five years without a child with Onyeche.

The birth of Charles wiped her tears away.

As months passed, Charles rarely smiled and avoided eye contact. His mother noticed his delayed speech and repetitive behaviours.

She took Charles to different hospitals, just to be sure all was well with Charles.

Every well-meaning but vague reassurance from doctors added to her worry.

Deep in her heart, the mother knew her precious baby was different.

"Autism Spectrum Disorder," a specialist hospital finally diagnosed.

The weight of those words crushed the mother's spirit.
Alone and overwhelmed, she cried herself to sleep, clutching Charles to her chest.

Charles' meltdowns became more frequent and intense. His mother felt utterly helpless, watching him struggle.

Determined to get help, she took him to various hospitals, but each specialist offered only brief guidance.

"Follow this routine," they advised, but the mother found the practical application daunting and elusive.

Her hope dwindled further.

One day, driven to despair, his mother made a desperate decision.

She took Charles to an orphanage because the weight was only on her, hoping they’d provide the care he needed. The husband, Onyejonchi, cared less about the worries and the burden his wife carried. "This is not the kind of son I waited for for many years", he would say. "This is obviously not my son", he would add.

"We don't have the resources for children with special needs," the director of Precious Kids Orphanage Home said gently.

Charles' mother felt a new depth and pang of despair. Where else could she turn?

That Sunday, the mother found solace in her church.

She sobbed quietly in a corner, feeling utterly lost after the Sunday service.
A soft voice interrupted her thoughts from a corner. "Are you alright?" It was Mr. Ojema, a child development psychologist.

Ojema listened patiently as the woman poured out her troubles, tears streaming down her face.

Ojema's eyes softened with understanding. "You're not alone," he assured her. "I know a place that can help."

He told her about Adorable Children Special Education School, a beacon of hope for children like Charles.
The woman's heart lifted slightly, daring to hope once more.

The next morning, she reached out to Adorable Children Special Education School on phone. The warm voice on the phone reassured her.

"Bring Charles in for an evaluation," they said. That night, Charles' mother barely slept, her mind racing with possibilities. Could this finally be the answer she was seeking?

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Is an autistic child a blessing or a curse to his or her family? Follow L. A. Oyagaba Abah through the life of little Charles in school.

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L. A. Oyagaba Abah is a teacher and a writer. He currently teaches in a school where inclusive education is practised.

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15/05/2024

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01/05/2024

What do you think?

08/04/2024

THE NIGHT WAS SHORT by L. A. Oyagaba Abah
~Enugu, 2021.

The night began with determination. First, it appeared like a pastor on the altar –the message was clear or the warning. It was a message full of warning against distractions and temptations. I entered the night with determination as well –to stay awake and make the expected day ahead worth living through writing.
I arranged myself and my writing arsenals. “Nights are for writings”, I said with broad smiles on my face. I fixed my mind on just one thing –the plot of the narrative I was about to write. “This night, I must write myself into real world”, I told myself as I sipped my hot tea that left burnt sensations on my tongue. I didn’t bother; it’s normal for one's tongue to get burnt while taking hot tea. I began to write myself with joy and with speed and with traces of anxiety which I try so hard to push out but kept popping up.

I continued writing myself until my plot became complex; that was already midnight –maybe 12:16 am. That was when Devil sent his agents. Yes! Witches and wizards came to me. They showed me my bed and how well-dressed it was. My eyes became heavy and peppery and watery. I yawned a thousand times in sixty seconds. I didn’t bother. They told me my story was difficult and I should better quit it than to waste my time trying to write what won't be written ever. I didn’t bother. My determination was quite high and I liked it. They said there were movies in my laptop that I could watch at that point in time. I didn’t bother. After all, the movies could wait till the following day, but my story may leave me if I didn't write it down.

A witch lady tiptoed into me
She demanded I kiss her; she begged even. I looked at her; I didn’t see her as much as I saw her beauty. Now I bothered. I slowly put off my fingers from the keyboard of my laptop, and I contemplated. I looked away from her lips as fast as I could but my mind was there,not my heart anyway. My heart was racing fast; faster than cheetah. I had only kissed once; it was a bad experience. I feared another bad experience.
The Bible says, “flee from every appearance of evil”, I heard the voice of my pastor reecho. “Kissing is bad”, I said. “Kissing is evil”, I said. “Let me flee as Joseph fleed”, I admonished myself. I stood to go but the witch lady was still staring at me, adamant. I was moving away but my legs could not move; it was as if they were fettered. “The Spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak”, I heard my pastor telling me again. “Lord, I need a miracle”, I mumbled out a wish or prayer. I heard my pastor's voice: OYA, RECEIVE! Immediately, I moved, leaving the witch lady and others (my roommates who were sleeping) in the corner of my room.
I went out. I looked up; the sky was clear and calm. The stars were all busy in the sky. I wished I could see Angel Michael or Angel Gabriel in the sky. I also wished I didn’t see any angel. My mother said the day I see angel, my brain will scatter or one of my brain chambers will melt and I will start smiling only all through my life and be drooling. I didn’t want to see any angel again when I remembered my mother’s caution against seeing angels.

Somehow, I felt I was free. My heart was no longer racing. “Witch lady should have gone”, I said and left for the corner of my room to resume the writing of myself.
It’s already 4:45 am. The night…? It’s short. My fingers have climbed the keyboard of my laptop and I hope to write myself into the reality of my dreams, but my story is staring afar off looking like gravels that must be gathered before building will commence..

05/04/2024

Please, listen and send to any school platform or your children teachers and various platform. Things are happening.

01/10/2023

May the labour of our past Heroes not be in vain.

01/07/2023

You can't explain the relationship between a teacher and his student. Teacher Oyagaba has written a letter to his high school student.

01/07/2023

Happy New Month.

29/06/2023

OYALE CHAPTER TWO

1. The eve of the day Oyale and the other children of her category and group were to be taken to Ehicho in exchange for food products and livestocks fully came.
2. The sun had started going down to set and rest to rise very early in the morning the following day, probably to accompany Oyale, her colleagues and her to-be master’s messengers to Ehicho.
3. “Oyale, my daughter, I miss you already”, Oyale’s mother said with tears set on her eyes and any attempt or mistake to blink the eyes would cause flood around her face region and beyond.
4. Oyale looked natural ---smile is not always far from face. Her face looked indifferent, somehow. She only looked at the mother and still looked.
5. “Oyale, your father would be proud of you and would be happy for me for this sacrifice”, Oyale’s mother said, this time around, mopping her face with the ear of her ankara rapper that one’s eyes could see the fog of smell on it.
6. Oyale kept looking, probably wondering why her mother quickly assumed her father would be proud of her to have been given in exchange for food products and livestock. Her father would have preferred an alternative to this her mother’s choice, Oyale knew that.
7. “My father was my world and god’, Oyale said with smile and energy. That is how she reacted whenever she remembered her father since he died two years ago.
8. “Your master or his messengers are coming in less than two hours”, her mother said fixing her eyes on Oyale’s , probably to hear or see her protest against going, the way other children in neighbourhood have been crying all day; some ran away to nearby forests.
9. Oyale smiled at her mother and counted her footsteps backward one after the other like a mother trying to escape from her child who is trying to follow the mother to wherever she is going. Oyale’s mother kept looking at her because she knew she was not a perfect match for her daughter in running.
10. Oyale did not run like the other children did, after all. Her mother saw her gazing at the sky singing.
11. Her mother stood and kept looking with her arms folded round her chest.
12. “This is my dearest daughter”, she mother mourned shaking her head in obvious anguish. “I can’t even spend a day without her”, she continued. “How can I live without this girl for days or weeks or months or years or forever? No, I can’t do this!” She screamed.
13. Oyale looked back and smiled, but without a trace of what she meant. Her mother knew her for her smile at every situation and it was not then that she should fall for her smile.
14. Her mother looked at the other two children, Onyeche, who was three years old and Adakole, who was five years old, and resumed another cry.
15. “How will these children survive?” She cried.
16. Whoever brought this calamity upon our land, whether dead or alive, shall eat from the bowl of sorrow forever”, Oyale’s mother cursed and somehow hoped to hear something from Oyale.
17. Oyale smiled and looked away, still gazing at the sky as if she was waiting for an approval from there before she could talk.
18. Pam pam pam, para para ra..m! The community trumpet sounded. It has announced the arrival of the people of Ehicho who had come with food products and livestock in exchange for eligible children and young boys and girls whose parents or guardians signed the agreement.
19. Everyone would gather at the palace for the ceremony and farewell and wishes of good luck.
20. Oyale cast a mild gaze at her mother and smiled still, and opened her mouth gradually to talk, as though her tongue was clipped to her alveolar ridge…

24/06/2023

We should give ourselves the basic truth and words of encouragement: there should be no room for excuses for it has crippled many supposed STARS 🌟 in time past and it's still doing that.

21/06/2023

In the garden of life, keep planting. As you plant, water it with hope and expectations of bumper harvest.

20/06/2023

In all you do, make sure you keep growing. The speed of your growth may be immaterial; just keep growing in all you do.

19/06/2023

THE SECRET OF OYALE

Oyale Chapter One.

1. It came to pass in the reign of King Adikwu that famine visited the people of Ehaje, the kingdom of Adikwu.
2. The people of Ehaje could hardly have bread to eat and to feed their children.
3. They lived their lives in perpetual cry for help as no hope for the people for what to eat could be imagined.
4. It came to pass in the fifteenth year of the reign of Adikwu that things became terribly worse for the people of Ehaje. The king inquired about their ordeal from different prophets but their prophecies varied. That made the king and his people sore perplexed.
5. King Adikwu could no longer help the situation after days, weeks and months of prayers with sackclothes and expectations but to no avail. He declared to them that whatever anyone deemed profitable to do to keep him or herself living, he or she should go ahead and do so.
6. The people of Ehaje started making alliance with Ehicho, the neighbouring kingdom where there was surplus corn, cassava, beans, wheat and other food products and livestocks.
7. The people of Ehicho went into agreement with the people of Ehaje to trade.
8. However, the people of Ehaje had neither silver nor gold to buy food products from the people of Ehicho.
9. It came to pass that King Ojema of Ehicho kingdom agreed to accept the children of Ehaje kingdom as exchange for food products and livestocks.
10. Male and female children between the ages of seven and thirteen were given in exchange for five bags of corn plus one hundred and three score and five tubers of yam plus seven bags of beans. That was all for this category.
11. Male children between 15 and twenty nine years were profitable because they would work in the farms of their masters. Each of them could cost up to hundreds of tubers of yam, different bags of grains and at least three herds of cattle and many fowls.
12. Children below seven years of age, married men and women and people above twenty nine years of age were not being accepted.
13. Men and women were giving out their sons and daughters in exchange for food products and livestocks for survival.
14. It was during this perilous time that Oyale was given out to Chief Onoja of Ipole-Ehicho when she was ten years old.

13/06/2023

Smart move 😂😂

11/06/2023

One factor that kills friendship/relationship slowly but steadily is the feeling of entitlement.

11/06/2023

What do you perceive of yourself? What taste do you get from yourself? How do you rate yourself? What image of yourself do you see before your own mirror?
One thing you should do to yourself and for yourself is to give the best definition of yourself first for that's mostly how people would define you.


L.A. Oyagaba Abah

10/06/2023

The Best And Quickest Way To Start A Journey To Greatness Is To Simply Start.
L. A. Oyagaba Abah

10/06/2023

There's peace of mind, joy and happiness in whatever we do in love. Do you love that which you do right now?