for those interested in reaching a broader Nigerian audience within the blogosphere, this is for you...

NigeriansTalk.org serves as a one-stop site for those interested in Nigeria through the lens of its large community of bloggers. We feature regular feeds, articles, and reviews of posts written by bloggers of Nigerian extraction, bloggers living in Nigeria, and bloggers who blog about Nigeria. NigeriansTalk.org seeks to cover the wide spectrum of perspectives on various social, political, and personal issues - issues that affect Nigerians at home and abroad. We hope that through our collective voices, we will document and bring about the future we seek for our country.

Though we openly accept submissions from anyone who writes generally about Nigerian affairs, we, at NigeriansTalk.org, are actively seeking regular contributors for the following categories:

nigerians are talking....all the time. and i'm not just talking (haha) about everyday conversation or mindless chatter (like that of our esteemed parrot of the House, Patrick Obahiagbon). rather, the Nigerian blogosphere is blowing up and new bloggers are being added to our ranks daily.

in honor of Nigerian bloggers and to promote both veterans and newbies, Loomnie and I started NigeriansTalk.com

NigeriansTalk.com is basically like a blog-round up for, about and by Nigerians. Every Monday, starting next week, we will post a review of the hottest news from bloggers such as yourself (and ehemm, myself)...on occasion we'll have blogging tips, interviews with famed nigerian bloggers (cough...SSD...cough) and other really interesting things - once we think of them.

so when you are chanced, check out the website...and if you are interested in becoming a reviewer....even better...

A bit about NigeriansTalk.com (sorry could not figure out how to do that block quote thing that loomnie had on his site...but anyway...):

NigeriansTalk is a weekly review of posts written by bloggers of Nigerian extraction, bloggers living in Nigeria and bloggers who blog about Nigeria. NigeriansTalk seeks to cover the wide spectrum of perspectives on various social, political, and personal issues, issues that affect Nigerians at home and abroad. We hope that through our collective voices, we will bring about the future we seek for our country.

now back to our regularly scheduled program...

yes, i have indeed come out of hiding after some intense initial weeks at school (of which more are to come). i have heard on many occasions, "awọ anaghị agba ọsọ n'ehihie n'efu," which means that the toad doesn't come out in the afternoon for no reason (apparently, they are nocturnal creatures).
So what has prompted my coming out back to the daylight of the blogosphere....you may wonder?'nuff said. considering the gravity of the election of President Barack Hussein Obama on the psyche of both native and first generation African Americans such as myself, I am nothing but speechless, (both literally and figuratively...I woke up this morning with little much but a whisper from all the screaming from election night). I will return back to the blogosphere on a later date to process what an Obama presidency could look like.

For a photo-journal of reactions around the world to the Obama victory, please check out the HuffingtonPost...

love receiving messages....and I check my messages constantly (though it takes me some time to reply.

you can get my attention through...

Email: nnwachuku[at]gmail.com
Facebook: facebook.com/nnwachuku
Twitter: twitter.com/pyoowata

I was actually in the middle of class when I thought of a title to this blog, beyond something like "Nneoma's Blog," or some version thereof. IT had to be something that represented me and encompassed all of my interest both in the past, present, and ambitiously, the future.

So where does PyooWata fit in all this? Where do I begin?
Well "pure water" is a another word for water sold in satchets for about 10naira in Nigeria. No, I was not born in Nigeria, but like millions of others (well I would like to think that there are millions of us), I was born in the West to Nigerian immigrants. When I first traveled back to Nigeria, one thing that intrigued me was the hawking of water on the roads, corners, in front of shops everywhere.

Pure water is not nearly as "pure" as commercially bottled water. In fact, my brothers and I were warned by my mother to steer clear from this, like other dangerous activities such as eating in stranger's houses, chartering motorbike taxis (okada), playing football bare-footed - all of which we eventually did. It aims to be pure, but sometimes, depending on the vendor, the packaging could be caked in sand and it's not too difficult to find random particles floating in the water. In fact, it is probably all those different particles that gave it it's unique flavor. Hey, but it was still refreshing - just bite at the plastic and suck.

Bringing to this back to me, I think I am like this pure water, or rather "pyoo wata", in many ways. I see my one of my primary occupations right now as a becoming something pure. Right now, I am not at that state, for I am a student of many things - science, health, African affairs, art, fashion. I am also a compilation of many things - African, American, Igbo, young, old, southern, northern...and some.

True I may not be pure and maybe some of the things that I discuss may not all sync together. But just bite the plastic and suck (hey you, keep your mind out da gutter...lol), and I am sure you'll enjoy.