Category: Change

Change, Randoms

P&ID Fiasco: Eleven Billion Lessons for Nigeria

Jilomes

It is all in the news. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is not liable to pay an obscure firm a total of ~US$11 billion arising from a bizarre contract concerning non-existent gas facilities. Considering allegations that the Central Bank of Nigeria either lied or executed “strategic miscommunication”, Nigeria surely had no way of forking out that many benjamins right now. Our closest options would have been either to give international law the middle finger (and outrightly destroy our economy) or negotiate some longer-term payment plan that would effectively turbocharge our debt burden (and further degrade our economy). Fortunately, neither option is currently required. But before we get drowned in the euphoria of a little respite for the naira, here are a few lessons to avoid the next gang of swindlers.

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Change

For Nigerian Lives Lost at Ologbo

Jilomes

How many lives is too much? One? Two? Hundred? If some random “racist White person” had ended the life of a Black Nigerian, we would likely be up in arms highlighting the low value placed on a black life. However, back home, we suffer worse from persons with the same skin colour whose words and actions demonstrate what Michael Jackson articulated as “they don’t really care about us”. This flagrant unimportance is the reason many Nigerians lost dependence on their lives while Nigeria marked its 63rd Independence Day.

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Change

A Nation of Dumb People Becoming Dumber

Jilomes

I love my country. It has taken a lot from me, but like a wicked but rich spouse, it has given me a proverbial Maybach to sit in while I wipe my eyes with a face towel self-delivered by the legendary Paul Smith himself. So, I weep in the other room wondering what it would take to change its fortunes. Why would a nation seem committed to self-destruction? Every day, we see Nigerians arguing that other nations are responsible for our underdevelopment. This makes me wonder how we have become so blind to our unforced contributions. Do walk with me as I lament my countrypeople.

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Change, Randoms

As We Are Pushed to Become Less Humane

Jilomes

Today is Father’s Day, which, bless the Lord, we are happy not to share with the other day that commemorates toilets. Here I am on Father’s Day, in a hotel far from home, but rather than reflecting on the blessedness of fatherhood, I am scribbling words on another issue that has been on my mind for a bit. I have written in the past on Father’s Day, but today, let me lament on the society’s gradual slide away from the humaneness of humanity.

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Change

Parenting and the Changing Face of Society

Jilomes

There is this common saying that “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” While I would agree that patterns, like multiples or parallel lines on a cartesian graph may repeat, effectively remaining the same, I wonder if there is truly a reality where things get worse, or the perception is just recency bias at work in our minds. But while my thinking may seem inconclusive, I still find a way to convince myself that with regards to raising children, things are not merely remaining the same.

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Change

Till Death Do Us Part, Or Not

Jilomes

“Make sure you don’t do court marriage. Girls of nowadays are terrible.”

This advice was given to me by an “aunty” in her early forties when I came home in 2018 to present my intended bride to my people. Here was a young guy seeking to start a new life with his bride and being advised to start the marriage on a foundation of distrust. More worrisome is the fact that the adviser was not some aged “misogynistic male defender of the patriarchy”, but a “young woman”, which would make some persons say “if a woman is telling you to distrust women, then, she must have a good reason”.

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Change

Of Christmas and Battlesome Reflections

Jilomes

The Christmas Season is upon us. Whether you celebrate it or not, the season is one that surely makes a mark on the greatest number of persons on earth, cutting across all countries. Some might see it as just another overblown, commercialised holiday, or argue that it was appropriated from a pagan festival, hence, should be ignored or re-appropriated. But for us, it is a season to reflect on life, the gift of sacrifice, and gratitude for our lives’ journeys and the privileges bestowed on us. So, let me start by wishing you a truly Merry Christmas!

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Change, Politics

Underachievement Has A Face Draped In Green

Jilomes

Achievements are an extremely subjective sphere of discussion; so nebulous that any attempt to discuss them should first try to define an acceptable framework, yet whatever framework is crafted could still be argued as unfair by some. This applies to almost everything, including countries, though for sovereign confines, we may borrow from businesses to define “national imperative” as the requirement for nations to perpetually seek the betterment of their people to match or exceed other nations with similar endowments and constrictions. It is on this basis that we will judge Nigeria at 62.

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Change, Politics

Who Made It Anathema to Move On?

Jilomes

The only time a competitive swimmer can benefit from having a weight attached is during training when strength is being enhanced. Beyond that time, any swimmer who chooses to compete with a weight attached, except where the competitors are neonates, would have to be content with negotiating the terms for the last place, or if the weight were weighty enough, risk injury or even drowning. As physicists would say, such person would have a lot of displaced water from flapping arms but hardly any directional displacement. This seems to be the condition of the African community.

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Change, Politics

Nigeria and a Season of Tough Decisions

Jilomes

We start today with three strong assertions. First, “Nigeria is in a mess”. Secondly, “There is no Messiah to fix Nigeria”. Thirdly, “Nigeria can be fixed”. We would go further to amend the third to say, “Nigeria can be fixed with good leadership that can make politically-ruinous choices and citizens willing to allow the necessary compromises”. If you understand the import of those twenty words, we can continue the rest of this article.

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