The Liebster Award

I was nominated by Lizi, (see her blog here) for the Liebster Award. l looked to see the origin of the award but I have seen numerous blogs so I'll stick to Lizi's introduction which is pretty much the same as many others.

The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
What is a Liebster? The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome

Pollution or Not?

Crackling sounds pierce through the quiet moments of dawn,

those microphones come to life in the bid to call on believers to pray, the day has just begun. . .

Cars on the roads move with little or no respect for traffic rules, impatient drivers cause unnecessary traffic jams and in between all of that, some hurl insults at each other while horns blare so loudly, almost deafening.

Some cars are road unworthy but how they stay on the roads is a story for another day! From emissions of silencers from such cars to the wobbly movements that scare the drivers right behind, driving is sometimes a pain. PHCN powercuts may excuse the intermittent street or traffic lights, but those cars driving without lights at night can't blame the faulty grid. And if our visibility wasn't bad enough already, you can normally count on someone having a bonfire of black plastic bags on the side of the road, spewing noxious fumes into oncoming traffic just as you'd put your window down to cool off. 

The road dividers sometimes serve as trash outlets for moving cars, street hawkers and not to mention the sides of the roads where heaps of trash stand unattended and this seems to bother no one. As a matter of fact, stalls are erected and business is carried out beside the trash without a care. Does the smell not almost choke these sellers? Man must survive abi?

Roadside sellers vs trash

Drainages are not spared; they are filled with trash and do not serve the purpose for which they were created. When the real need for these drainages is required to be met, it proves impossible. And we wonder why there are floods?!

Customer Service

It is almost common place to hear 'anything for the boys?' from guards to drivers, filling station attendants and worse, Policemen! I don't mean to sound . . . (can't find the appropriate word) but I always stop to wonder if they aren't paid a salary. It may not be decent but begging shamelessly, I simply can't come to terms with that and it puts me off.

Once I was travelling and thanks to a certain group of people, there are numerous military and police check points on the roads in Nigeria. I was flagged down and we greeted each other then the elderly man who happened to be a policeman standing by my car door asked, 'won't you give your father anything?' I looked him in the face, my response was 'will a father not be the one to give to his children? Besides I am travelling so I'll prefer that this father says a prayer for journey mercies for me'. It worked like magic, he said a few words then bid me farewell, I was on my way again.

Confrontation or Inclusion

There is nothing as good as going for a meeting not knowing what to expect but coming back feeling like it was extremely productive. I had one of such on Tuesday, and a serendipity moment that I’ll hold onto for a while. I met with some great minds and I smiled all the way through my drive home.

How do you tackle issues? Do you go the confrontational way or the inclusive way? I discovered that in many cases, we react to situations and decide to take the confrontational approach which may not always be the best way. The person or people we may be confronting could feel attacked and may also take the knee jerk reaction approach to attack back. We all have the tendency to categorize ourselves into ingroups/us against outgroups/them.

'How much do you charge?'

All of a sudden I look around and notice that inter racial marriages are just about normal. How did that happen I ask myself knowing fully well that not so long ago, parents could go mad if their children ever mentioned they were coming home with an ‘oyibo’. Well, this undefined thing we have going might just become reality…I beam as I rush on out to meet my girls.

He looks me right in the face, 'you are beautiful' and my insides quiver, my feet give way and I have to sit so I do not embarrass myself. Silly me! When did I become jelly?!

We take a long walk and then go on to that spot where only we can connect. We chat endlessly, that’s what we do best anyway…for now. I like to believe that this feeling that is growing in me is not just in me but is a mutual one. I stare in his blue eyes and wonder if I can ever get used to that colour.

iBLOG - Meeting Japheth Omojuwa and Ahmed Isah

I had the choice of attending Iyanya’s album launch or iBlog on Saturday, 24^th February, 2013. However, I had committed myself to iBlog long before so I decided to stick with it. I ran into Iyanya the day before who turned out to be so cool but yeah, there’ll be many other shows :-)

I attended the first iBlog meeting where I met an extraordinary man who had convictions and would stand by them, a man who is using social media to bring awareness and wake Nigerians up to see the bigger picture. I admire his zeal and the passion with which he drives his message. He has been told enough to discourage him but Japheth Omojuwa is unrelenting to put it mildly.

The Art of the Game

Have you ever felt like you have been played? No need to ask right? We sure all have!

You know when you feel like you’ve simply been used as an end to a means in whatever respect...most popular on the list is when two people like each other and the guy gets his hands on the cookie, takes it and runs or the lady gets her hands on the cash or the thing she needs from the guy and she dumps him without looking back? 

I have a friend who loved this guy silly, she could almost lay down her life for him and he was a total waste of time! I’m sorry to say but yeah at the time he meant everything to her but never treated her right. He was living off her and she was too blind to see. You know when people are ‘in love’, it’s always smarter to stand afar off and be the onlooker because once you get tangled in it, you become the enemy when it’s all sorted out....sound familiar?lol We called her ‘Miss mumu international’, she certainly will read this post (Pardon me my dear friend but remembering this all is cracking me up so bad). She is happily married today by the way and of course not to that guy. Phew!