The World As I See It
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”
As I decided to write this piece, I went in search of a quote I could use as an opener. This quote literally jumped at me and I think it captures the essence of what I am about to address.
“Having anxiety and depression is like being scared and tired at the same time. It’s the fear of failure, but no urge to be productive. It’s wanting friends but hate socializing. It’s wanting to be alone, but not wanting to be lonely. It’s feeling everything at once then feeling paralyzingly numb.”
—Culled from healthyplace.com
My undergraduate class has a WhatsApp group where we do everything from bonding to fighting to serious debating. Yesterday, someone brought up an issue about euthanasia, which then morphed into a discourse on depression and possible reasons for a person to want to end his/her life. This discourse unlocked Pandora’s box. Continue reading “When Emotions Spill”
“We do foreign assistance for altruistic reasons, certainly for humanitarian reasons, of course. But the main reason we do foreign assistance is we do it in the American national interest”.
—Roger Wicker, American Politician
The quote above, whilst very American, could be attributed to a long array of countries across the globe. Replacing “American” with “British”, “Russian”, “Chinese”, “Iranian”, or “South African” would still maintain the spirit of the quote. I chose this quote to highlight that a country’s actions or inactions with respect to events in another country are usually powered by national interests and not some idealistic morals. Continue reading “Ruminations: A United Kingdom”
In Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Dispossessed”, a discussion between Shevek and Bedap provides a backdrop to today’s article.
“Who do you think is lying to us?” Shevek demanded.
Placid, Bedap met his gaze. “Who, brother? Who but ourselves?”
A look at Bedap’s response betrays a truism about human behaviour. More times than not, we lie to ourselves, deceiving ourselves or gleefully accepting the lies others tell us. In a case of blissful self-delusion, we seem to find it easier to face false constructs instead of reality. Continue reading “Ultra-Modern Deceptions”
For almost a month, I have stayed away from writing any articles, trying so hard to stay in the shadows. If you read my somewhat philosophical New Year’s Day article, you may have looked into the mind of a person considering the possibility of a new operating principle. However, some things have the zest to fall even the best-arranged stack of cards.
2017 just gave way to 2018 in a cacophony of jubilation, prayers, orgies, screams, joy and sorrow, depending on where one is in the globe and one’s proclivities. For me, for something like the first time in my young adult life, I neither got into the Christmas overdrive nor the new year’s festivities. I cannot really place why, but it seems somewhere in my mind, there’s something saying “2017? 2018? Kini big deal?” Maybe I would need Christopher Nolan to investigate the inception of this notion. Continue reading “2018: Another Year Begins”
The Italian poet, Cesare Pavese, is attributed to have coined this: “We do not remember days, we remember moments.” This quote is very true as most humans cannot remember a full day, only key moments on certain days. The only exceptions are the few persons like Jill Price who can remember entire days of their lives. Sadly, we do not all have this gift (or curse?) of never forgetting, so it’s best we make good memories that would stay by our side all our days. Continue reading “A Journey of Life”
“Every nation has hidden history, countless stories preserved only by those who experienced them.”
—Ruta Sepetys
I think this quote is appropriate for this article, which leans heavily on the historical. The quote went on to say we can achieve unity by learning from history. In a world where divisions seem to be growing, with more persons encapsulating themselves in camps that see others as unrelatable enemies, learning about some events in the past may spur us, if we are true to ourselves, to develop empathy, see things through others’ lenses, and build better relationships. Continue reading “Hidden Figures and Spectacular Lessons”
George Bernard Shaw’s timeless admonition: “Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance”, seems an appropriate entry point for this article. This front archway could even be extended with Thomas Sowell’s admonition that “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” Being ignorant is one thing, but coming to a point where you acknowledge your ignorance surely requires a knowledge acquisition journey. Continue reading “Where are Nigeria’s First-Class Graduates and Professors”
Benjamin Franklin once said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Uncle Ben’s quote may have been triggered by someone or some persons whose excuses really pissed him off. Now, I’m surely not pissed off enough to say that an expert excuse creator cannot gain expertise in any other useful areas, but I’m just sufficiently pissed to want to write a blog post about excuses. Continue reading “A Somewhat Subdued Rant”
Jilomes 