Skip to main content

everything is fine

in discussing the contents of my blog so far with my colleagues, and avid readers, i have been accused of crossing the line between ethical criticism and flat out cynicism. its been said that i don't seem to see anything positive about this country, or with the daily life that we live as nigerians. to set the records straight, i have hope.

so throughout yesterday, i scoured the papers looking for something positive to write about. there is all the buzz about the eyo festival happening tomorrow in lagos, nigeria. where the government is giving free transportation to everyone to come and see what indegenous lagos masquerades look like and do. i spent the whole day thinking about the tourism benefits of this carnival and of the PR importance of the festivities on the always stressed people of lagos.

but my mind couldn't help but wonder how much more economic sense it would have made, for the government to offer this free transportation to lagosians on a weekday when they need to work to generate the funds with which they pay taxes. forgive my seeming cynicism, and to be honest there's nothing as nice as a free day at the beach doing nothing, but government's action has to add value to people's lives.

what value does it add that you go to watch masquerades dance around on a weekend, when you should be sleeping? what value does it add that your stress levels are reduced for one day only to be plunged back to the incredibly strenuous levels of daily living in lagos immediately thereafter? its like closing your eyes for a few minutes and hoping that by the time you open them, all your problems would have faded away. that sort of baseless hope is the sort that I fail to comprehend.

but don't let me stop you. please join the throng tomorrow at the tafawa balewa square and watch a bit of yoruba culture at its best. don't carry any expensive items with you, and try to leave the location early. i'm sure it'll be fun.

i'll catch you again on monday when you'll take your usual dilapidated bus to work after a weekend without electricity to iron your clothes (which clothes may even remain unwashed cos you were gallivanting with eyo masquerades on saturday when you should have been doing your laundry)...but see you anyways.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of #MoreThanPlatitudes

Look at this picture. That's one of the children being rescued from a collapsed school building in Lagos, Nigeria. You don't have a be a parent and I won't pander to your better instincts. Tell me this is acceptable or should be allowed to occur again. The President sent condolence messages and the Governor visited the site then said the state emergency services will do all they can cliched response. the end. and people moved on. The heartbreaking pictures of the children pulled out half dazed with cement dust all over their little noses (Exhibit A) did not let me sleep last night. I have gone to drop a comment on the governor's pages on all social media platforms that we need #MoreThanPlatitudes 🚫❌ We need to hear what policy changes are triggered by the death of these babies. The Commissioner of Education must address Lagosians and set up a project team with the Commissioner for Works or Town Planning etc to undertake an immediate structural integrity test
Post a Comment
Read more

moved to wordpress - https://simplyoroquesview.blog/

Dear Reader, It appears blogger.com is on its way out. It will always be my first intro to blogging and holds a special place in my heart. However I cannot run two blog sites at once and have to move away from here permanently. My new site is: https://simplyoroquesview.blog/ This will stay up as long as possible but with no further blog posts or updates. See you at my new site! RQ
Post a Comment
Read more

of #BalanceForBetter

With the global movement shifting women forward, making them outspoken and addressing negative patriarchal activities that have gone on for decades...it has been a great year for moving women forward. The concept of gender equality is now universally accepted and even religious leaders have come to openly embrace the concept as not being against godly teachings. The place of the woman is now everywhere, no more is her definition of success measured by the ability to be submissive to a man or to cook and iron and clean. And although feminism is still under attack in half the world where conservative traditional way of life still holds sway, there has been immense improvement in female child education, reduction of female genital mutilation, plus girl child marriage and trafficking is being fought head on. It is a great time to be a woman. This year, companies and corporate organizations around the world are making a conscious effort to balance the pay gap in the workplace. When H
Post a Comment
Read more