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

awards my big black...er...foot!

i'm hard pressed not to write about the nigerin blog awards but (i) it wont be fair to all my readers and people who took the time to vote for this blog (ii) i still don't understand my mental state when i decided to participate in it and (iii) i'm as bitter as a older wives meeting a new wife for the first time. to cut a morbid story short: i did not win a damn acknowledgement (much less an award). after all my toiling, having to degrade myself to the point of begging for votes from people who i really never wanted to know about my blog or read the contents thereof, after making people i hold in extreme high regard leave their daily activities and set out to vote for something so trivial, and aafter i waited ages for the darn result to be announced, i still didn't win a matchstick. i know there is something called graciously accepting the results of a competition when it doesn't go your way, but please. i'll probably never have a reason to spew out the diat...
17 comments
Read more

of 31 things i've learned...

its my birthday on saturday, and its impossible for my dad to forget it now, cos everyone goes "oh, 9/11", "osama" etc...well thanks mr.bin-laden. like they say, any publicity is good publicity (just ask paris hilton if you doubt me). so i'll be 31 this year. nothing has changed so don't even ask. truth is, if i wasn't african, i'd be having a blast and be super excited. but as a nigerian, the only benchmark of success is being married, and so far, so not happening yet. but hey, like they say, never say never! i always baffle at people hiding their ages. growing up, even kids as young as 18 would rather be hanged on a stake upside down than tell you how old they are. i thought that maybe when i grow up, i'll appreciate why i shouldn't be so open about how old i am, but till now, no luck. i'm the first to tell people exactly how old i am, because like i always say, you'll find out when i die anyway so what da heck. i've heard peo...
10 comments
Read more