Age 2 Age

I met Mr Valentine Ezike on a rainy Sunday evening in his lovely home and before long we were sat down to have this brilliant conversation. If you know anything about Nigeria you might know that there are quite a number of languages, cultures, tribes, faiths, sects and so on. It's no surprise that although I lived in Nigeria, I wasn't at all aware of the experience of someone of Igbo heritage. We speak about his experience not just growing up but also living through the Nigerian Civil war and life afterwards. As if one Civil war wasn't enough he also lived in Germany during the end of the civil war that saw the fall of the Berlin wall. In Mr Ezike's house I not only see pictures from his youth in Nigeria, I also see pictures of his early adult life in Europe before marriage and fatherhood. There was a lot to condense into this episode and the countless stories were a lot of fun to listen to. I apologise now for the many "wow"'s and odd sounds you might hear from me. I was genuinely fascinated. 

Enjoy this recollection of the life of Mr Valentine Ezike. 

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One thing that's clear to me at this point is that even though my guests in each episode so far have lived through a similar era with similar patterns, the story is quite different from person to person and I never know what to expect. 

Although Mr Taiwo wasn't a stranger to me, there was still so much I didn't know about his life experiences. Some of which was quite fantastic and revelatory to me. I wish ALL of our conversation that day was recorded but that would have made for a much much longer episode. In this episode, we talk about life through the lens of a professional barrister, a father and devoted husband. 

I sat with Mr Odunuga just minutes after walking through his door and we made ourselves some tea and got chatting almost immediately. It was really natural like we'd known each other for a lot longer. His insight and interesting life was a pleasure to listen to. 

Music in this episode:

Joromi 

Gentleman

Ja Funmi - King Sunny Ade