Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon's Words and Meanings . . . Funny Indeed! ! !

Patrick Obahiagbon is a Nigerian grammarian ...

Below is a compilation of the top 50 jaw-breaking wordsmith by the 'Igodomigodo' and their meanings:

1. Gargantuan – extremely large

2. Bugaboo – an object of fear

3. Pooh-pooh – Dismiss as being foolish or impractical

4.Perfidy – deceitful or untrustworthy

5. Repugnant – extremely distasteful and unacceptable

6. Insalubrious – unwholesome and unhealthy

7. Odoriferous – having an odor.

8. Sardonic – Scornfully mournful or cynical

9. Lugubrious – mournful, sad, dismal

10. Obfuscate – To make something less clear and more difficult to understand.

11. Cascading – a large amount of something hanging down

12. Malodorous – smelling very unpleasant

13. Termagant – a woman who is very strict and who tries to tell people to do things in an unpleasant

14. Paraplegic – A person who suffers from paraplegia

15. Crinkum-Crankum – Elaborate or detailed (archaic)

16. Empyrean – literary relating to Heaven

17. Conundrum – A confusing problem or question that is too difficult to solve

18. Alacrit – great willingness or enthusiasm

19. Tinge– to add a small amount of color to something

20. Braggadocio – Boost full or arrogant behavior

21. Megalomania – a mental illness or condition in which somebody has an exaggerated belief in their own importance or power.

22. Mendacious – Not telling the truth

23. Mores – the customs of a society

24. Rosicrucian – a member of a secretive society concerned in the study of metaphysical, mystical and alchemical lore.

25. Hierophants – A person especially a priest who interprets sacred or esoteric mysteries

26. Objurgates – rare and severe

27. Indubitable – impossible to doubt and unquestionable

28. Egregious – Outstandingly bad and shocking.

29. Vaudeville – a type of entertainment popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,that includes singing,dancing

30. Audacious – lacking respect, impudent

31. Ratiocination– The forming of judgment by a process of logical reason

32. Ballyhoo – extravagant publicity

33. Quagmire – a complex or difficult situations

34. Phantasmagoria – a sequence of imaginary images

35. Plummeted – to fall from a high level or position

36. Sui Generis – Unique

37. Ferocious – Fierce, cruel or violent.

38. Miasma – an unpleasant smell

39.Apotheosis – the highest point in the development of something

40. Excrescence – an unattractive or superfluous feature

41. Mobocracy – rule or domination by the masses

42. Proclivities – An inclination or predisposition

43. Kakistocracy – Government under the control of a nation’s worst or least qualified citizens

44. Lampoon – public satire or ridicule

45. Déjà vu – a feeling of having already experienced the present situation(FRENCH)

46. Recumbent – Inactive, Idle.

47. Terminus – The end of something

48. Perfidy – The act of violating a promise, faith or vow

49. Mephistophelean – wicked

50. Jiggery-pokery – Tricky

Attention to All Choral Music Lovers> > >Types of Choristers and Steps to Handle Their Excesses.

HANDLING THE TOXIC CHORISTER. 1.The 'spiricoco' choristers. Don't allow them to manipulate you. Sometimes they come with some 'prophecies that are so shocking and scary that may want you to suspend the rehearsals for a month of praying and fasting'. Take some time to weigh them prayerfully before bowing to their wishes. Have a spiritual program for the choir too. (prayer meetings, vigils, and choir retreats). Be also up in the spiritual game. If they realize your own spiritual thermometer is strong, they will not come snuffing some 'horrible prophecies' down your throat. Frankly, choir business is a serious spiritual business. So, let's also approach it once in a while 'spiritually'. 2. The 'Tatafo' chorister. Rumour mongers thrive in places that are clandestine in nature. When your plans and programs are shrouded in secrecy, then the tale bearers hold sway. Make sure the choir is adequately and sufficiently carried along on any issue, no matter how minute. Don't pat the 'Radio Kudirat' at the back. Anytime such a one is discovered, he or she should be reprimanded. If he fails to stop, then he can be suspended from the group. Develop a feedback mechanism where members can easily approach you on matters 'trending' without being witch hunted. 3.The 'Never grow old' choristers. Promote them out of relevance. You can make them 'honorary members'. Create an age group choir where they can function. Make the choir so formidable that they have no alternative than to either conform or leave. However, if they are making your stay a 'hellish' one, you need higher hands to look into the matter before they turn you into their 'napkin'. 4. The 'Money speaks' chorister. Develop other 'fundraising mechanism aside just one person in the choir. No reasonable choirmaster should take up a choir that the church leadership is not ready to fund. You end up becoming a beggar and a nuisance before people. There are facilities that the choir needs. Sometimes they do not know. That is why you are there to tell them. Do not bend the rules for the 'money speaks' chorister. The choir is not all about doling out money. If you are also an 'egunje' choirmaster, put a stop to it else you sell your authority or prestige for a plate of 'porridge from these 'moneybags! 5. The 'touch not my talented' chorister. Create avenues for training others. Don't use only one person when you have other talents. Give equal opportunities to others. Let the 'superstars' know that the role they are occupying is a privilege and not a birthright. Desist from treating them specially from others lest they become 'thin gods'. By that you will be cancelling the 'if am not there nothing will happen' theory. 6. The 'Omo Alufa' choristers. First of all, you must note that what is 'good for the goose is good for the gander'. They may be children of the leaders but that doesn't mean you bend the rules because of that. Sometimes you are afraid that this may boomerang on you. But that is a small fry when compared to the respect you would lose from your members for being so partial and 'double faced'. They may not say it to your face. But it ends up at several 'hush' talk shops in the choir. Your reputation and leadership style is compromised. They may fight it so difficult to trust you again. 7. The 'aluta' chorister. There are 'aluta choristers that are just doing it to be noticed. (I call them the 'one man Mopol') Where there is no smoke you hear them shouting 'fire, fire! But there are others that are really doing this because they feel this is the only language you understand. How do you deal with these people? Especially when what they are fighting for is legitimate?. It is better you also consider your leadership style and personality. Sometimes, the 'sleeping dog' in some people are aroused by the choirmaster's actions or inaction. When a member is the choir suddenly becomes a 'whistle blower' for the right reason, it is better to look inwards and ask yourself what you have been doing wrongly. If everyone in the choir hates you to send an aluta man after you, then you must be that bad!! Create a feedback mechanism from your members. Seek for their opinions in some issues and don't form the habit of snuffing your personal decisions down their throats weather they like it or not. You may be shocked that your members are not as dumb as you thought. This will further cripple the 'aluta One man mopol'. He suddenly looks back and finds no one following him (like the proverbial yoruba adage: won o fe e ni 'lu o nda'rin... Talo ma ba e gbe?) Translation: they don't want you in the community and suddenly you take up a solo, who will join you to sing along? 8. The 'Kindergatten' choristers. These ones just need attention. Sometimes they do it for fun. At other times, they just want to frustrate you. One way to do this is to adopt a no nonsense approach. Just break their ranks. It takes two talkative to maintain a ceaseless charter. Discover the human 'virus' and distalize them. Make sure they do not sit together for a long time. At other times you adopt this painless approach.'Pocket your lips' This is what I call "planned ignoring'. There are some choristers who delight in you calling their names at all times. At least they are known for something in the choir. The only way you may discourage such is by looking the other way. If on these do not work, then you may have to read the riot act. ' I do not appreciate the way you (mention their names) are causing distractions in this choir. If you are not very convinient with this, then I want you to please take your belongings and leave the choir right now.' That, I believe will bring them back to their senses. 9. The 'too know' Study these 'too know' people very well. If you realize they have what you do not have in terms of intellectual capacity, then strategically utilize them. There are times a choirmaster becomes one out of necessity. He may not have the musical background but has been able to keep the choir going for his ability to utilize the gifted hands in the choir for good. But if you find any chorister incorrigible because of his level of training, it is best the person is relieved from the choir. Don't forget, a real choir member must be FAT. F - faithful A- available T- Teachable 10. The 'PHD' chorister. These people should not be allowed an inch of space in your choir. They are the 'termites' that will destroy everything you have labored for. The only alternative is to identify them and show them the way out! 11. The 'panda' (counterfeit) chorister. It is no fault of theirs. They do not have the singing voice and there is little we can do about it. The major step to success is to identity them. If they are young children, then there is still some glimmer of hope. Work out some training programs for them ( which I doubt may not work for some). You can also give them other jobs to do in the choir order than singing. If they can play on the instruments or any administrative works, fine. There are some you just have to tell the hard truth that the choir may not work for them. Its best they do not continue to leave in fool's paradise. 12. The 'Mungo Park' choristers. Stop the 'canteen choir' mentality. The choir business demands a lot of time. It is only the people that have the time that can profit thereby. Regular attendance is key. It gives you the opportunity for you to bond as a group. If we find people who are constantly of the choir radar and you still allow them to sing, you are setting the tone for an eventual collapse. Singing is not about the numbers but the finesse in presentation and performance. I'd rather a choir of 12 people that are very consistent and available than a bunch of 'Mungo Park' singers that remember the 'choir canteen' only when they are hungry. 13. The 'paddy paddy' choristers. Initiate a 'business before pleasure' policy. Let your close associates understand that when you are in the choir, you put of the garbs of 'intimacy'. You are now their choirmaster hence, the need to obey all rules. This should also show in your disposition towards them in the choir (though I do not subscribe to being too tough on them. That could also give you a bad name). They should be ready to follow all the choir tenets without being cohearsed to do it. 14. The 'boot-licking' chorister. As much as possible, limit the 'sycophancy syndrome' amongst the choir members. Some people like singing your praises. But you must know when those 'praises are made for other reasons. If a member comes telling you only what you want to hear, he is a sycophant. If they do not see any wrong in what you are doing (when it is obvious that you have goofed, and you know it) he is a sycophant. When he is applying the 'divide and rule' method on the leadership, manipulating you all to the picture that best suits him, he is a sycophant. When it is always 'sir, do not tell them I came to tell you. I am doing this for the love of the choir', he is a sycophant. Make him continuously less relevant in the scheme of things by using the 'planned ignoring method'. And most importantly, don't believe everything you hear from a boot licker. He may just be telling you tales from the reverse! 15.The 'BBC' Choristers. Every church or organization has a musical heritage. The task of the choirmaster is to key into the heritage and improve on it, not destroy it completely. There are two styles in any worship: the essentials and the variables. The essentials are the constant practice of the church (hymn singing, praise worship, chants etc). These ones are already set by the organisation. The variables are the special ministrations from the choir. This is where you adopt the 'total art approach'. Make your church happy by satisfying the music taste of everyone. Remember they are from various backgrounds. If you feed them with one style every time, the BBC choristers will kick and grumble. Hence, once in a while, give them what they want. Sing some of the soulful tunes and arrange them to meet the present realities. Even if it will take you to sing it the way of yore, please do it once in a while. Let there be a synergy between the old and the new, and don't give the old folks the impression that they are no longer relevant in the choir scheme.

How well do you know of Anini's Robbery Terrorising Act in 1986?

Lawrence Nomanyagbon Anini, Nigeria’s most notorious armed robber, was born sometime in 1960. He terrorised the old Bendel State, especially its capital, Benin City in the 1980s. By 1986, his robbery exploits had reached such a terrible level that it became a national issue. He operated along with his lieutenant, Monday Osunbor, and others. However, one striking feature in the Anini reign of terror was police complicity. It was soon discovered that the Anini gang had insiders within the Police hierarchy. George Iyamu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was their arrowhead. Anini, dreadfully called ‘The Law’ or ‘Ovbigbo’, was born in a village about 20 miles from Benin City. He migrated to Benin at an early age, learned to drive and became a skilled taxi driver within a few years. He became known in Benin motor parks as a man who could control the varied competing interests among motor park touts and operators. He later took to criminal acts in the city and soon became a driver and transporter for gangs, criminal godfathers and thieves. Soon after, he decided to create his own gang. They started out as car hijackers, bus robbers and bank thieves. Gradually, he extended his criminal acts to other towns and cities far north and east of Benin. The complicity of the police is believed to have enhanced Anini’s reign of terror in 1986. Early that year, two members of his gang were prosecuted over an earlier under-the-table ‘agreement’ with the Police to destroy evidence against the gang members. The incident, and Anini’s view of Police betrayal, is believed to have spurred retaliatory actions by Anini. In August, 1986, a bank robbery linked to Anini was reported in which a police officer and others were killed. That same month, two officers on duty were shot at a barricade while trying to stop Anini’s car. During a span of three months, he was known to have killed nine police officers. In an operation in August of 1986, the Anini team struck at First Bank, Sabongida-Ora, where they carted away N2, 000. But although the amount stolen was seen as chicken feed, they left the scene with a trail of blood. Many persons were killed. On September 6, same year, the Anini gang snatched a Peugeot 504 car from Albert Otoe, the driver of an Assistant Inspector General of Police, Christopher Omeben. In snatching the car, they killed the driver and went to hide his corpse somewhere. It was not until three months later that the skeleton of the driver was spotted 16 kilometers away from Benin, along the Benin-Agbor highway. A day after this attack, Anini, operating in a Passat car believed to have been stolen, also effected the snatching of another Peugeot 504 car near the former FEDECO office, in Benin. Two days after, Anini’s men killed two policemen in Orhiowon Local Government of the state. Still in that month, three different robbery attacks, all pointing to Anini’s involvement, took place. They include the murder of Frank Unoarumi, a former employee of the Nigerian Observer newspapers; the killing of Mrs. Remi Sobanjo, a chartered accountant, and the stealing of the Mercedes Benz car in Benin, of the Ughelli monarch, the Ovie. Before September 1986 drew to a close, Anini, now an elusive dread, struck at a gas station along Wire Road, Benin, where he stole a substantial part of the day’s sales. He shot the Station’s attendant and gleefully started spraying his booty along the road for people to pick. The height of Anini’s exploits, however, took place on October 1, 1986, the Independence Day when the state’s Commissioner of Police, Casmir Igbokwe was ambushed by the gang in Benin, followed by a hail of bullets. The police boss survived the attack with serious injuries. Earlier that day also, the Anini men had gunned down a police man within the city Also, on October 21 of same year, the Anini gang terminated the life of a Benin-based medical doctor, A.O Emojeve. They gunned him down along Textile Mill Road, in Benin. Not done, Anini and his gang went and robbed the Agbor branch of the African Continental Bank and carted away about N46, 000. A day after the operation, Anini, The Law, turned to a ‘Father Christmas’ as he threw wads of naira on the ground for market men and women to pick at a village near Benin. Anini’s image thus loomed larger than life, dwarfing those of Ishola Oyenusi, the king of robbers in the 1970s and Youpelle Dakuro, the army deserter who masterminded the most vicious daylight robbery in Lagos in 1978, in which two policemen were killed. Anini spear-headed a four-month reign of terror between August and December 1986. He also reportedly wrote numerous letters to media houses using political tones of Robin Hood to describe his criminal acts. Worried by the seeming elusiveness of Anini and his gang members, the military President, General Ibrahim Babangida then ordered a massive manhunt for the kingpin and his fellow robbers. The whole nation was gripped with fear of the robbers and their daredevil exploits. However, Police manhunt failed to stop their activities; the more they were hunted, the more intensified their activities became. Some of the locals in the area even began to tell stories of their invincibility and for a while, it felt like they were never going to be caught. However, at the conclusion of a meeting of the Armed Forces Ruling Council in October 1986, General Babangida turned to the Inspector- General of Police, Etim Inyang, and asked, ‘My friend, where is Anini?’. At about this time, Nigerian newspapers and journals were also publishing various reports and editorials on the ‘Anini Challenge’, the ‘Anini Saga’, the ‘Anini Factor’, ‘Lawrence Anini – the Man, the Myth’, ‘Anini, Jack the Ripper’, and ‘Lawrence Anini: A Robin Hood in Bendel’. The Guardian asked, emphatically, in one of its reports: ‘Will they ever find Anini, “The Law”?’ His arrest Finally, it took the courage of Superintendent of Police, Kayode Uanreroro to bring the Anini reign of terror to an end. On December 3, 1986, Uanreroro caught Anini at No 26, Oyem­wosa Street, opposite Iguodala Primary School, Benin City, in company with six women. Acting on a tip-off from the locals, the policeman went straight to the house where Anini was hiding and apprehended him with very little resistance. Uanreroro led a crack 10-man team to the house, knocked on the door of the room, and Anini himself, clad in underpants, opened the door. “Where is Anini,” the police officer quickly enquired. Dazed as he was caught off guard and having no escape route, Anini all the same tried to be smart. “Oh, Anini is under the bed in the inner room”. As he said it, he made some moves to walk past Uanreroro and his team. In the process, he shoved and head-butted the police officer but it was an exercise in futility. Uanreroro promptly reached for his gun, stepped hard on Anini’s right toes and shot at his left ankle. Anini surged forward but the policemen took hold of him and put him in a sitting position. They then pumped more bullets into his shot leg and almost severed the ankle from his entire leg. Already, anguished by the ex­cruciating pains, the policemen asked him, “Are you Anini?” And he replied, “My brother, I won’t deceive you; I won’t tell you lie, I’m Anini.” He was from there taken to the police command headquarters where the state’s Police Commissioner, ParryOsayande, was waiting. While in the police net, Anini who had poor command of English and could only communicate in pidgin, made a whole lot of revelations. He disclosed, for instance that Osunbor, who had been ar­rested earlier, was his deputy, saying that Osunbor actually shot and wounded the former police boss of the state, Akagbosu Anini was shot in the leg, transferred to a military hospital, and had one of his legs amputated. When Anini’s hideout was searched, police recovered assorted charms, including the one he usually wore around his waist during “operations”. It was instructive that after Anini was captured and dispossessed of his charms, the man who terrorized a whole state and who was supposed to be fearless suddenly became remorseful, making confessions. This was against public expectation of a daredevil hoodlum who would remain defiant to the very end. Shortly after the arrest of Anini and co, the dare-devil robbers began to revealthe roles played by key police officers and men, in the aiding and abetting of criminals in Bendel State and the entire country. Anini particularly revealed that Iyamu, who was the most senior police officer shielding the robbers, would reveal police secrets to them and then, give them logistical supports such as arms, to carry out robbery operations. He further revealed that Iyamu, after each operation, would join them in sharing the loot. It was further exposed how Iyamu planned to kill Christopher Omeben, an Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Intelligence and Investigation. But Iyamu was later to be disappointed as the assailants dispatched to eliminate Omeben were only able to kill his driver, Otue, a sergeant. Iyamu, whom the robbers fondly referred to as ‘Baba’, reportedly had choice buildings in Benin City; proof of how he invested the loot he obtained from men of the underworld. Due to the amputation of his leg, Anini was confined to a wheelchair throughout his trial. Iyamu, on his part, denied ever knowing and collaborating with Anini, but Anini The Law furiously retorted, “You are a shameless liar!” Anini had accused him before Justice James Omo-Agege in the High Court of Justice in Benin City. Of the 10 police officers Anini implicated, five were convicted. The robbery suspects, including Iyamu, were sentenced to death. But in passing his judgement, Justice Omo-Agege remarked, “Anini will forever be remembered in the history of crime in this country, but it would be of unblessed memories. Their execution took place on March 29, 1987.