The World As I See It
The only person who would not understand the title above is a person who neither speaks not understand Pidgin English (definitely not a Nigerian Nigerian!) For the benefit of anyone wondering whether there is a typo in the title, let’s rephrase it: “Who has finding X helped?” Anyone still confused may have never sat in a maths class where algebraic questions ask students to “find X”. So I ask again: Who finding X don epp? Continue reading “Who Finding X Don Epp?”
Last night, after resting from the day’s church activities, I decided to write something—anything. Alas, my filled stomach conspired with the cool weather from the evening’s light rain to ensure that I drifted to sleep. This morning, I’ve once again picked my pen to write, but my brain is throwing so much information at me. Maybe I’ll just scribble anything and turn this into a mosaic of thoughts. Continue reading “Just One of Those Days”
There are enough events celebrated each year to get someone’s head spinning, with everyday looking like it’s been adopted by one global event or the other. If it’s not “Malaria Day”, it would be “Asthma Day”, or “Environment Day”, or even one’s birthday. Many persons being conformists, simply fall in line, and commit discussions on a given day to that day’s official patron. Non-conformists don’t care about what day it is, while anti-conformists are not content with simply not following “official rules”; they go as far as arguing on better causes to be celebrated on a given day. It is because of these ones that we are talking about male heroines on Fathers’ Day. Continue reading “Male Heroines and Fathers’ Day”
When a mosquito falls in love with you, you reciprocate the love by doing your best to kill it. While this approach works sometimes, some other times, trying to kill it only results in near-misses and self-inflicted slaps. Imagine that mosquito becoming genetically modified to have an armoured exoskeleton, and showing its love by biting and chewing (not piercing!). You now have an exaggerated view of the violent relationship between Fadan Karshi and the notorious Fulani herdsmen, a marriage made in hell. Continue reading “Fadan Karshi and Friendly Fulanis”
In “The Zombie Survival Guide”, Max Brooks wrote, “Often a school is your best bet—perhaps not for education but certainly for protection from an undead attack”. Whereas some readers would interpret this as meaning schools are sanctuaries, safe from zombies, I see a different picture. Brook’s assertion is very true, especially with regards to Nigerian tertiary schools. In case of a zombie attack in Nigeria, as a student, you would be very safe, being a zombie among zombies. Continue reading “The Education of Zombies”
The role of justice is to not only ensure that the guilty pay for their crimes, but to also ensure that the innocent is not wrongly punished. The scales are supposedly perfectly balanced, and manned by impartiality personified. In Nigeria, however, the judicial scales are obviously crooked, and manned by doyens of crookery. An American, Jack McCullough is presently celebrating his freedom, while many Nigerian McCulloughs continue to languish in decrepit jails for crimes they did not commit. Continue reading “Nigeria’s Many McCulloughs”
It’s another Easter Day, a day primarily recognized by Christians, but like Christmas, now kind of widespread. For some, Easter is synonymous with eggs and the Easter Bunny (quite a link!) For some others, it is a celebration of the cornerstone of Christianity. On this Easter Day, I want to talk about something not necessarily linked to Easter, but affecting a good number of professed Christians. Continue reading “Easter Reflections”
Malcolm Gladwell in his book, “Outliers”, examined the effects of culture and environment on individuals’ actions, responses, thoughts and mannerisms. He showed that even seemingly mundane matters are influenced by these two factors. In the little time spent in different parts of Nigeria, I have seen that the way mistakes are viewed and handled leans heavily on a cultural support. Continue reading “Culture-Veiled Mistakes”
At the end of every academic session, primary and secondary school students look forward to moving a step upwards—to the next class. Except for those whose performance recommends that they stay put for another year, most students move one step up the academic ladder. However, for some, the increase is double, as they move from Class M to Class O. Continue reading “Rushing to Nowhere”
Nigeria is troubled on every side, and very distressed. Events have severely perplexed Africa’s Giant, yet it tries not to despair. The numerous troubles and the troublers behind them continue to hold back Nigeria’s potential. When we hear “troublers of Nigeria”, our minds usually head towards the usual suspects, a “cabal”, or towards some violent groups. Unfortunately, the Association of Nigerian Troublers has many “unusual” members in its fold. Continue reading “Troublers of Nigeria”
Jilomes 