Introduction The word viaticum carries a double resonance: one literary, one theological. In Birago Diop’s poem Viaticum , a mother prepares her child for the journey into life. She marks the child with ritual gestures, invokes the breath of the ancestors, and sends them forth with the assurance that they are not alone. It is a poetic initiation, a covenant of protection. … With her three fingers red with blood, with dog’s blood, with bull’s blood, with goat’s blood, Mother touched me three times…. Then Mother said, ‘Go into the world, go! They will follow your steps in life.’… In Catholic tradition, viaticum refers to the final sacrament given to the dying, “food for the journey.” It is the Church’s way of saying: You will not walk this last road alone. We will accompany you with prayers, Holy Communion, tenderness and dignity. Both meanings converge on a profound truth: A community that cares prepares its people for the journey: whether into life or out of it. ...
Diana Ross's lyric phrases in her album Upside Down : “Upside ‑ down, … inside ‑ out … round and round ” , reflects Nigeria's national mood shaped by years of corruption and misgovernance. It captures a condition. A lived experience. It mirrors the dizzying spin that Nigerians have been forced into by decades of corruption, misgovernance, and institutional decay. Nigeria’s leaders have not merely failed; they have inverted the very logic of governance. What should lift the people up has instead turned them upside‑down. What should stabilize their lives has twisted them inside‑out. And what should move the nation forward has left citizens running “round and round” in circles: exhausted, disoriented, and unsure of where the next step leads. A Nation in Perpetual Spin Corruption in Nigeria is not an occasional misstep; it is a system, a culture, a rhythm that plays on loop. According to Transparency International, Nigeria ranks among the top quarter of the most corrupt coun...