September 27, 2007

For Jaja

So you like the sunset? well, it just got done raining here in Abuja and was on my way outta this plantation when I saw this pretty scene, yolk-yellow sun rays. The sun can be seen setting in the horizon. I have a crappy phone, but I guess it's the the thought that counts, eh!? It was/is prettier than this, believe me.

Set 1



Set 2

September 21, 2007

Abuja...

ABUJA...in recent times!

I've been meaning to make a post on this, but since I started out commenting in reference to Chxta's recent post, partly talking about "Abuja", I feel it'd be good finishing it.

YES: Electricity really is bad. An office in Zone 3 has been operating with generator power, 24/7, for the past 1month. Go figure! They use a prepaid PHCN meter and yet they've been disconnected 'cos d owner of the building has some 'scores' to settle with PHCN

YES: MOST of the parks (green areas) are looking more bushy now. I won't take chances having a monitor lizard creep under my denim in the name of having some fresh air.

YES: Some places are beginning to record more okada activity than others. While some are legitimate motorbike owners, who use them for commuting, it's not surprising to see some who disguisedly pick people, just to get some fuel money. When u accost them, he says he knows his passenger and he's just helping him to his destination.

Make I no lie, I don do am one of those days wey money finish for my hand for Garki. I needed to get to Berger and god send one guy like dat. I whistle, d guy pull over, I tell am wetin dey, he say no wahala...I enter, end of story

YES: Water scarce no be small. Water board keeps having some bad reservoir being treated. SEE: Electricity. Some things can't work without power.

YES: The STREET AND TRAFFIC LIGHTS on Ahmadu Bello way (from Banex Junction to Apo side, imagine the distance) ARE NOT WORKING. I was on that road Tuesday night, so this is no secondhand tale. Not to talk of countless others within Wuse II, Maitama etc. It's not odd to see "Yellow Fever" abi na MotoPol dem de call them now, manning major traffic intersections, directing traffic and attending to accident scenes, like paramedics

YES: More on the traffic situation the Motor Police (MotoPol), Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO) are everywhere molesting car owners & car users. You find them at about every nook and cranny, usually by heavy traffic junctions, lying like predators in wait of their prey. And is it only me or are all the traffic lights in Abuja suddenly gone bad? Or is it the no-power situation that has caused this to be so?

- Instead of ensuring smooth flow of traffic when the traffic lights aren't working, some times, they just sit at the corners waiting for motorists to break traffic rules, and then they jump out to flag the driver off the road. They quote some 'laws', then they fine u or impound your vehicle. You are expected to go to their office to claim your car. Unless u do an on-the-spot "settling".

- Some times, when the traffic lights are bad (which now appears to be almost every time, safe for a few places), they wouldn't control traffic. But when there's a bang from two vehicles colliding. Out they come and then you hear the 'laws' being invoked again and the next thing, yeah, your car gets impounded and you are expected to go to their office to claim your car. Unless u do an on-the-spot "settling"

- The FRSC & VIO would readily nail you as they keep an eye on safety belt use, for both front sitters (driver and frontseat passenger). Once you don't have the belts in place, you're pwnd. Other reasons to get in trouble with these two groups: broken/cracked headlamps & windshield, lack of fire extinguishers (on extreme cases, an axe) and some other 'vague' things I can't remember now. Consistent drivers would know better...

On safety belts: Just this afternoon, I was absent-minded as I stepped in to the cab and got on the way to Garki. I forgot to secure the belt and buried my face in the reading material I had on me. Just by the Hilton, the driver was doing this Simon Templar move when suddenly the car swerved twice, sharply. Before I could say "snickers bar", I had to stop myself from lounging headlong into the windshield. If I had my belt strapped over my shoulder, the jerk wouldn't have been that bad.

So see, it's good to wear your belts...never forget to do that, first things first, as you are about to move the car.

...All in all, the skies here are still blue, the sun is shining and burning brightly, the beer's still cold and the peppersoup and suya still burn sharply in the mouth.

Have a lovely weekend all.

Speak Up Nigeria

SPEAK UP NIGERIA!

From the Nigerian LightHouse team comes another progressive initiative: the Speak Up Nigeria Campaign. This campaign is an avenue for Nigerians to air their opinions, make suggestions et al, on issues bordering around Nigeria's existence and the challenges that go with nation building.

Every individual within our borders have one or more things to say about how stuff works in this country. There are a lot of voices out there, those that do not leave the four corners of a beer parlor, at the newspaper stand, in the classroom, living rooms...almost everywhere! Voices of change that go unheard.

The Speak Up Nigeria Campaign creates an opening for passionate individuals to send a message to their beloved country. Efforts are being made within the country to get proper representation for Nigerians; and in this digital age, the Nigerian Lighthouse team goes one step further in promoting the nation's interests using technology and other tools out there, such as the internet. You want to be heard? Then all you need do is:

Instructions:

Write a message to Nigeria. Whatever it is you have ever wanted to say. Your message can be long or short, funny or serious. Just send a message to your country on its day of Independence. The top 5 messages will be selected by the Nigerian Lighthouse Team and voted upon by the Nigerian blogger community. The best message will receive an IPOD NANO and the winner will be announced on October 1st.

Only one message per participant is allowed, so make it a good one! Send your message to nigerianlighthouse@gmail.com and make the subject ‘MESSAGE’.

Deadline

All messages must be submitted by midnight (US Eastern time) on Saturday, September 29th.

Restrictions

1. One entry per participant.

2. The winning post will become the property of Nigerian Lighthouse.

3. All participants must provide their email address.

4. The winner may be asked to provide their name and address to receive their prize.

The Nigerian Proclamation turned out to be a successful drive, getting some attention on the BBC during the 2007 election period. We are confident that the Speak Up Nigeria project will get similar, if not more publicity. The Speak Up Nigeria campaign coincides with Nigeria's 47th Independence Anniversary on October 1st and has been decided as the right time to also commemorate Nigerian Lighthouse’s inception. This is an attempt to encourage and foster unity amongst Nigerians.

For more information on the Speak Up Nigeria Campaign and similar futuristic projects, bookmark:

* Nigerian Lighthouse

Extras:

* Speak Up Nigeria
* Nigerian Proclamation

September 10, 2007

This and That

Weekend

Weekend was okay, especially Saturday. Practically stayed in bed till three pee-em cos it was raining all day. Had breakfast and lunch in bed. It hasn't happened in a while. The joys of having a woman in the house. Big sis took good care of me, etc etc

I've found a new love in John Saul! Dude got me gridlock'd on my bed all Saturday as I read from where I'd stopped days go to finish, the page turner "Black Creek Crossing". Just my type of bloodcurdling book! There is humor even in the place you least expect to find it.

The book starts with a gruesome murder carried out in the house at Black Creek Crossing and then the story goes on to bring in the girl whom she and her family moved into the same haunted house in another part of town. Enter the scene: a boy, about the same age as Angel. He is a photo enthusiast. He always had an élan for the kind of spookiness he felt from taking pictures of the house. Both kids are treated as outcasts in the schools they attended - the girl from where she moved from and meeting the boy in their new school. The two kids were brought together by the same "weirdness" that surrounded their lives. No one liked them in school, they were punked and bullied by the rest of the highly socialized students. Still, the other kids wouldn't stop at giving them a helluva run in school. Even when these two chose to be friends, the other kids still found something to taunt them about.

Then the part of the mystery shrouding the house the girl moved in to. The stories about the murder in the house and ghosts of the building's former inhabitants lurking about. The two lads set out to find out more about the past of those who'd lived in the house and all that went with that. In the process, they uncovered a lot of stuff, with witchcraft at the fore of their discovery. Long story short, they mastered basics of Wicca, got back at their school tormentors, killed both their parents and in the end they took their lives. Sounds simplistic but the thing is John Saul knew how to raise my furs from his storytelling. I'm eyeing four other titles:

*The Manhattan Hunt Club
* Midnight Voices
*Black Lightning
*Nightshade

Next stop, currently reading: Blind Run

The Diaspora

The other day a friend of a friend of one of a member of the "League of Boys" joined us for a drink. As the night wore on, with more bottles poured and the 'spirit' taking its toll, the arguments shifted from one banter to the other. Then the external body from the group became the butt of the jokes 'cos he just returned from Yanki. One of the boys has no qualms saying $#!+... He started yarning about how our friend from Yanki is a butt-kisser in the white man's land and says all sortsa nasty stuff about Naijas living abroad. I got incensed and our argument just gave me an idea for a post about letting the guys abroad be.

I mean, give me a break, really! Back here at home, there is no incentive for wanting to stick around. A lot of the youths are agitating to run away at the next opportunity that shows up! They'd rather stick their necks out there and kiss ass than be in Naija doing the same, they'd rather work their butts off out there, doing all the jobs no one else would take, than come here and face the mismanagement, agro, corruption and what have u! To some extent, one's gotta be kissing ass for good in terms of something to show for it in terms of living conditions. Cleaners out there, though they might living space with other people, but the system and infrastructure functions and just 'cos of this they don't mind sticking their butts out there, against the odds. Of course, a lot of them steel themselves against the harsh treatments they'd receive while trying to get past the immigration officials in their destination country. They know they'd be hunted down, but they still give up whatever peanuts they have here, just to get out.

A majority of Naijas out there aren't there out of will any more than they have a control over going-ons back home. It's just 'cos they got born in a foreign country: most of these Nigerians are born into households where their parents got job transfers and had to move with their families from way back. In a way, they established a niche there and raised families. Others are born into families of immigrants who sought for greener pastures. Of course, the kid wouldn't just grow up and look himself in the mirror while taking a dump and say, my color isn't of the majority here, I want to go back home and fix myself up. Nope! There has to be some sort of connection to their background.

Now a lot of immigrants who leave the shores of Naija after having had it bad at home before they managed to scale through immigration would want to relinquish most of what they've left behind: the bad memory, culture etc. So it'd be hard for such ones to want to talk about their homeland as often as it should've been done under ideal circumstances, not even to friends and mayhap kids, when they have them there. There's a sharp contrast between this group and those who legally immigrate and want to genuinely contribute to their new country. There are Nigerians out there who make us proud...a lot of these do come home and pitch in where they can. These are commendable acts.

Back here, at home, there's still a lot of sycophancy. Most Naijas will rather kiss an oyimbo's ass than do it to/for their fellow Naija. You know, psychologically it makes a lot of difference. It hits harder being hurt by an 'insider', someone you'd call a 'brother', than from someone on the outside. So in small office settings, project teams the 'yessirmasir' keeps reverberating off the office walls. Peeps wanna belong and get accepted by the oyimbos who don't really give a rat's ass about them, anyways. They just wanna make their monies and leave.

I'm not in anyway endorsing the mentality of "checking out". I'm not saying either that we'd be nasty to foreigners around us, either within or outside our borders. I'm just saying sticking around here doesn't make us any more patriots than those who are away for the right reasons.

I think i need to get a Coke.

September 3, 2007

AUGUST

August

I'm gonna miss August, for its statistics and in memory. Duh, it's my birth month and this year, I discovered I know more "August-babies": well basically, new friends and people from the past that I had to reconnect more with at this time.

1. My most recent niece
2. One girl like that, from a project team
3. A friend from the past (Just reconnected)
4. A new friend, from another friend.

In August, it hit 6 years since grandma was buried. That year was my first visit to the hometown and it was fun. Grandma died some three months after that visit.

In August, a lot of things I won't bother going into happened that I'd categorize as crazy-random. August 2007 will remain in my infamy.

Gripe:

I can't find a draft to my intended post, so I'll just upload some random pics taken (not the best, just from a fuzzy night). There's some stories behind each incident, but I'm too pissed now to type 'em up:

Henney:



Suya (with all the fire, one would wonder if there'd be any charred meat left. Couldn't get closer cos of d smoke)



He-Goat (I dunno how old this animal is but it stinks up the whole place, beside this office I go in to work in Maitama).



Ijekuje (Random lunch)



Horny sketch



Area 11 (Beside Grand Mirage...Port Harcourt Cresc. By the way why is Ibiza and The Grand Mirage with all that goes with it have to be on "Port Harcourt" crescent? Do I see a trend here with Port Harcourt!? :) )



Why do people type "common" instead of "c'mon" or "come on"?

Why do people type "your" instead of "you're"?

Why do people type "quiet" instead of "quite"?

And these aren't just mistypes, they are like part of every day conversation!!!

I'd brb...

*seethes away*