This month was the anniversary of my first novel. My plan was to publish the second part of it on its anniversary, but Cent proposes and Covid opposes, innit? It has been a tough year for me in every aspect of my life, but most especially mentally. All the uncertainty that Covid brings to our daily lives takes its toll. Part of that toll is that it is extremely difficult to plan anything these days. It is, perhaps, even more difficult to stick to any plans.
Another part of Covid’s
toll, for me, is the inability to focus on anything for reasonable periods of
time. News always seems to seep through one’s consciousness and interrupt things.
Most of the times its not good news. Of course, 21st century connectivity
levels make any effort to shut it all out futile. I suppose we would all have
to adapt.
There is also the small
matter of keeping up with our loved ones. Every call or text from your loved
ones, who live far from you, reassures you that they are safe, but not before
giving you a mini-heart attack. Especially if you have anxiety.
On a more personal
level, Nigeria keeps getting worse with no end in sight. To think that a few days
after I published my book, the #EndSars movement started. It was a movement
which gave me so much hope. Hope that was crushed on the 20th of October
2020, barely 3 weeks later. The things that died within me in the aftermath of
that day may never be reborn. It may yet turn out to be that the brutal way the
#Endsars protests were halted, will do more damage to me, and a lot of Nigerian
youth all over the world, than Covid-19.
Anyway, I say all of
that to try to explain and apologise to the people who were expecting me to
keep to my word and publish the 2nd part of my novel this past
month. I hope you understand, all three of you. Its kinda difficult to recount
and write about past trauma, while experiencing more traumatic events.
Hopefully, my
experiences over the past year have made me a better writer, and when I do
eventually publish this second book, it will be so much better than the first
one. Thank you.
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