Category: Randoms

Randoms

Once Upon a Time in Ife

Jilomes

“When I found you, I found somebody who cares”

Bebe Winans (I Found Love)

Where do we start from to tell the story of two persons who would have never imagined they’ll end up together? The story begins with a certain Jonah delivered from the fishes of the Atlantic Ocean and sent five hundred kilometres away to a land warmly called Great Ife. Two years later, a certain Anuoluwapo made a similar journey howbeit from a bubbling convergence point north of the Niger. These two persons would go on existing in the land of Oduduwa blissfully unaware of each other.

Continue reading “Once Upon a Time in Ife” →
Change, Randoms

One Emergency Away from Doom

Jilomes

On Friday, 23 November 2018, a seven-storey building under construction in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, collapsed. With conflicting figures being bandied about, one sure point is that there were a lot of persons in that building when it collapsed because that day was a payday for workers and suppliers. As at the time of writing this article, ten days later, many persons, dead or alive are still trapped underneath the rubble.  Continue reading “One Emergency Away from Doom” →

Politics, Randoms

Metele: A Fork in History?

Jilomes

It is no longer news that Nigeria got screwed in the week of 18 November 2018. This article was triggered by a grievous tweet. My country just lost over 100 trained soldiers in one week. That’s enough to upset me.

Continue reading “Metele: A Fork in History?” →

Inspiration, Randoms

The Societal Imperative

Jilomes

While reading The Real Warren Buffet by James O’Loughlin, I encountered the concept of the “institutional imperative” as espoused by Warren Buffet. Contained in one of Buffet’s shareholders’ letter, he defined the concept as “the tendency of executives to mindlessly imitate the behaviour of their peers, no matter how foolish it may be to do so”. Months after reading that particular section, I encountered a scene that made me recall Buffet’s words.  Continue reading “The Societal Imperative” →

Randoms

Something to Think About

Jilomes

“There is so much that people take for granted”

— Vivienne Westwood

What does it mean to take something for granted? Does it mean to decide something is not worth being bothered about or not even remembering to think about something? A recent chat with a friend made me think about something few persons even bother about—online security.  Continue reading “Something to Think About” →

Randoms

Three Weddings and a Town

Jilomes

What do you do when three friends send you invitations to attend their wedding ceremonies holding on the same day? Decide on one to attend, right? What if the three ceremonies are holding in the same town? Would you still play favourites? What if one person was a leader at your undergraduate fellowship (marrying another former fellowship executive), one was your undergraduate classmate (marrying a “classmate” from civil engineering), and the other was a work colleague that served at the same organisation during your national service year? You now see my conundrum when three friends invited me to Ile-Ife, home of my undergraduate alma mater.  Continue reading “Three Weddings and a Town” →

Change, Randoms, Travelling

Much Ado About Seat Belts

Jilomes

I have had this article on my mind for a while but I just never came around to composing my thoughts until now. In checking for a quote to launch this article, I came across one attributed to Plato, which I think captures my aim for this article.

“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding”

— Plato Continue reading “Much Ado About Seat Belts” →

Politics, Randoms

S for Sarcasm Unscripted

Jilomes

Prologue: The following is a redacted chat between some members of a certain WhatsApp group. The banter is around President Buhari’s candidacy in the 2019 election. I decided to turn the transcript into a blog post. Only members of that group can identify the participants. If the “S” in “Sarcasm” has not already informed you, please be aware the following conversation is intended for humour.

Continue reading “S for Sarcasm Unscripted” →

Randoms

Effort Sans Celebration

Jilomes

“The noir hero is a knight in blood caked armour. He’s dirty and he does his best to deny the fact that he’s a hero the whole time”

— Frank Miller

This morning I woke up seeing the day like any other day. On my way to church, I felt the morning was a bit chilly, so I checked the weather on my phone. Surprisingly, a weather report declared today as “Fathers’ Day”. Seriously? It seems unlike its vastly less popular sister, Fathers’ Day manages to creep on us unnoticed.  Continue reading “Effort Sans Celebration” →

Randoms

In Defence of Crooks

Jilomes

Last week, news filtered into social media networks about the arrests of some alleged “Yahoo Boys”—the Naija euphemism for a set of persons known to outsiders as internet fraudsters. I observed the hubbub and could not come to terms with a society where some citizens see Yahoo Boys as the 21st reincarnation of the English Robin Hood. Anyway, I tried to mind my business.  Continue reading “In Defence of Crooks” →