Destroyed

It emerged from twilight 

Nothing seemed to matter at that time 

Numbness was no longer a stranger 

And debauchery was a welcome friend 

No expectations, no disappointments 

Heart was guarded 

Heart was safe

Heart felt no emotions 

It emerged at dawn 

No one saw it coming 

No one expected it to be that big

And the aftermath 

A story unfolding 

It was a joy ride

Belief was restored 

She was a gift 

But she kept giving 

And he couldn't understand 

He had his fill

His heart was caving in

He had to survive 

It emerged after dusk 

Ashes 

Memories 

Friends turned foes 

Heroes turned villains 

Motives seen in all actions 

Even those innocent acts 

All questioned

What did it all mean?

The answers were simple 

It was all destroyed 

No rise of the Phoenix 

No come back

No redemption 

Murder by Retrospection

I have lived just once
The outcomes sombre
The choices made with zeal
Couldn't have asked for a better start
Maybe that's where the problems lie
The truth is fleeting
Intentions misread
Paralysis emerges
As the mistakes of the past
Dissuade from actions of the present
Different outcome?
Hope is a deadly addiction
But the memories don't fade
The reality is a daily reminder
Looking back will kill me
Looking forward should heal me
But I'm stuck in the now
And there is no worse feeling
Than that of self pity and the realisation
That all that was hoped for
Will never be a reality
Murder by retrospection

I Am Nigerian.

I am a Nigerian
I cut corners to make ends meet.
Na so e be oh.
Living and working in a dysfunctional system
Normal.
I don't keep up appearances
Or live above my means
But all them boys dey hail me
Boss! Chairman! Your boys are loyal!!
I have to drop something for boys
Or pay the consequences later.
I no get no be excuse.
All man must chop
These guys are more entitled to your earning than you are
They call it the streets
Trying to move up and out of the hood
Then the senior agbero becomes local government councillor
And your 5 years education in the university looks like foolery
They mock you.
In the church they say pay your tithe or God won't bless you.
Your boss? He is a slave driver calling you to work on weekends
He does not care about you.
Work life balance? Only in few and very few multinationals
Others want to kill you on the job
The babes that will love you for who you are want to get married but you can't afford the wedding.
The reception is your one year salary but you want her to smile . It's her day remember?
Your savings? It's not enough to last the Rainy day.
The generator just spoilt. The transformer was stolen. The street vigilante want their pay? What were they doing when they stole the transformer?
NEPA? Let's not even go there.

I am a Nigerian .
Talking trash and loud on social media
The reality is , na garri I drink last night , na garri I go drink this night.
But who go buy me beer this night na him get mouth pass.
We wait for the IJGB to wake the economy for the holiday and forget we have a long January ahead.
Thank God I don't have school fees to pay in January but the rent go soon due.
We go make am last las.
Let me just use that your suit go that interview, maybe I fit earn like 50k extra.
That's if I get the job, but I don't know anyone inside .
Transport money wasted
Man no man , that's how doors are opened
My consolation is that Anthony Joshua is Nigerian, Nigerian Jollof is better than Ghana Jollof and Davido is working with Chris Brown.
Which other country can boast of all these.

I am Nigerian and these are not the stories we want to hear but these are some realities
We hide them and troll Reno Omokri for saying his mind from the comfort of the diaspora
While we keep looking for what's trending to make sense of the current situation, our leaders dig a deeper debt well that our children won't be able to come out of
Suffering and smiling since 1960 and nothing has changed
Not the leaders and not the lessons learnt either
We die here
Or for the bold and brave
We go to Canada
I am Nigerian

The hearts we broke

The things that broke us.

Words  spoken,

Actions that hurt, 

The hearts we broke

The things that mould us 

Words unspoken 

Friction and unease  

Tension in-between. 

Reactions will be questioned 

Motives, revealed 

Whethert true or not 

The mind will believe what it will 

In the presence of all evidence 

The actions of man still decieve 

Tears will fall 

As pieces are shattered 

Of what was once love 

Of what was once trust 

Questions unanswered 

As two lovers go there separate ways

One filling lost 

The other wonders on.

The hearts we broke 

Known and unknown

Cry out at night 

And keep us from sleep.

Who are YOU 🤔

Who are you without the filters
Who are you behind the cameras
Who do people say you are
What makes you YOU
Is it the likes , the retweets, the comments?
Is it the number of followers?
Is it the Calibre of celebrities who follow you ?
Who are you without the internet
Who are you outside of social media
Who are you really?
Lost in the crown while still trying to stand out?
What will you do to get noticed
In real life and on the gram.
Who are you when you are alone by yourself
Do you cry or smile when you are about to sleep
Does it matter to you?
What people say or think about you?
What they do to you and what you allow to be done to you
Do you react naturally or is it induced by what you think is expected of you
Are you the same to yourself are you are to others .
Will you recognize yourself or have you all gone numb
Is this the YOU you will be proud of in the future or do you think that consequences are obsolete and extinct
You can't escape yourself
You can't escape this life
You can't escape reality.
You can only recreate .
How is that coming.

AGAIN AND AGAIN

I saw her again and I knew this was another opportunity lost
I saw her like I had seen her many times before
I saw her and it was not the ideal time.
I had seen her when I had nothing to lose
I had seen her when I had it all to lose
And seeing her was a loss in itself
Knowing I could not get the chance to pour out my soul at her feet like I wanted to
I saw her and wished I didn't see her.
And From the first time I saw her I knew I wanted her.
each time the opportunity came, the opportunity went as quickly
With me kicking myself for not been brave enough.
I saw her today and felt the same way I felt the first time I saw her .
And 4 years later I had changed , she had changed too
But seeing her was not about what the eyes saw
Was more about what the heart felt
And even if I'm too old for my heart to melt
It felt as real as it could be .
I saw her again today and like all the other times I had seen her before,
I said nothing
I just watched her pass me by.
I said to myself " the next time"
I hope that the next time would be better for me
Till then .
If you see her just tell her this .
I'd like to get to know you better

The sun set

I watched the sun set today, from the great third .
With the ocean to my left and the jungle to my right.
The glorious sun said her farewell for the day as she bathed the waters with golden rays of dying embers
It was a beauty.
My body , though weary from a long hard and tumultuous day gazed on for hours
Moving ever so slowly towards the mainland
An exodus to the mainland.
I asked myself "am I the only one to see this beauty"
Many were already asleep in this human train while many more hustled for the position on the front of the line .
To leave the island in such a hurry as dusk approached
Some running back to the arms of beloved while others away from slave masters
The sun set on all while still on the bridge.
It was a sight to behold , if only I wasn't compelled to do so in such a state .
The sun set nonetheless

He only saw her Beauty

She came back home that evening tired and exhausted. Her feet were sore from the angles of her stiletto shoes, her stomach ached with hunger pains and her eyes were sore from starring at the computer all day. 

Her phone rang, it was Benjamin , ‘what did he want?’ She thought as she picked up the call 

‘Where are you?’ The voice on the other end said, with no hint of sympathy for the already weary soul. 

She replied ‘I just got home’ she replied. Then there was silence, she didn't know if he was not talking or if it was a network problem 

She said ‘hello!, ‘ no reply 

‘Hellooooo!’ And still no response. 

She hung up the phone and proceeded to take of her office blazer and came down from her shoes. She sat on her bed, the only piece of furniture without any wrinkle in her room as her bed was properly laid. She felt like sleeping. She took off her clothes and went in to have a quick shower, her phone backlight caught her eye as she walked back into the room. She looked through her phone, ‘Benjamin’ she thought with a wry smile on her face. She got dressed in her house  tees opened her note pad and wore her nerdy frames as she intended to get a little more work done before she slept. 

She was totally engrossed in her report when her doorbell rang, she yelled out from inside her bedroom, ‘who is it?’ As she dropped the notepad and got up from the bed making her way through the lightly furnished sitting room to open the door, ‘I am coming, who is it ?’ She asked again.

‘Benjamin’ , 

Her heart skipped a beat, she hurriedly opened the door.

He walked in and went straight to the fridge, opened a can on beer and looked at her slowly.

‘ you smell fresh’ he said, 

She smiled 

She knew Benjamin was not one to flatter or pay compliments on random.

He walked towards her, took her by the hand and led her out of the apartment. 

She wanted to resist but the smell of his sweat mixed with alcohol was too much to resist.

She eventually came to her senses when she saw his car engine was still running and he intended taking her out. 

‘Can I  go get my purse and lock the door?’

He stopped in his track, walked towards her and kissed her on the head, 

‘OK’ he replied , ‘be quick’ 

She loved the way he loomed over her whenever they were close. She stood there for a few seconds and quickly sprinted towards her apartment .

He looked on and saw she had only  a t shirt on, he smiled to himself. 

Benjamin was all she looked forward to everyday, he only called when he was around, he said very few words on the phone and even to her, what she loved however was how much he loved to show her off to his friends and his colleagues. 

She got into her room panting, her eyes darting back and forth as she located her keys, purse and a short in the corner of her open wardrobe. She quickly put it on and dashed back out of the room, leaving her notepad on and ran out of the apartment. As she  approached the hallway, she could see him reclining on the hood of his Mercedes E 250. She stopped running and tried to catch her breathe, she just realized she still had her hair net on, Benjamin was never going to complain. He had taken her out once in her pyjamas, she was a little,embarrassed at first but he was totally comfortable with the idea. He told her ‘you should not make an effort to look good for me cos I only see beauty’. Those were the words that made her the most comfortable with him.

She walked out of the hallway into the streets to meet her Benjamin, he spoke so few words but meant every single one of them. When he said to her ‘ I love you’ , she knew he meant it. 

Her feet no longer hurt, her stomach no longer ached, her eyes were no longer sore

HOW TO GET MOTIVATION FOR WORK

Mondays are the buzz kill of the week. No one I know of presently loves Mondays except me. I love Mondays and I know it may sound strange but it is true. It could be assumed that this love for Mondays Is simply because ii love my job or I love what I am doing  now and that assumption won’t be entirely wrong but the catch to it is that everyone can love their work and love Mondays too. It is actually an art to love Monday and still look forward to Friday and enjoy Saturday and Sunday enough to not despise Monday.
For all who technically don’t like Mondays, these are a few tips to make you enjoy and look forward to Mondays.
NB: clinically depressed persons will not get the same results as healthy persons. Also results will vary from individual to individual depending on the nature of work, boss and zodiac sign
1. Plan actively. This is the first step in every successful endeavor. Plan your Monday and if possible your entire week. A written plan is usually more effective, so write it down and discuss with colleagues who could impact on your work
2. Do Not over indulge on Sunday. This is essential to keeping you ready on Monday. The worst way to start the week is with a hangover, especially if you are not the boss
3. Do not get too comfortable over the weekend. In preparation for work on Monday  do not deny yourself a well-deserved rest but also do not bask or dwell too long on the comfy period, planning your weekends would go a long way also in getting you ready for work on Monday
4. Reward yourself. For every achievement reward yourself, this is the best way to enjoy your life and work. Be realistic with your rewards and make sure you do it sparingly to keep the reward process fresh
5. Stay positive: remove all negative energy from your space and look for the bright spots in your week or weekend. Be expectant and cling on to those who give you motivation.
6. Choose your poison! Movie or music or even both but keep it close to you so and make it a happy one too as these can lift your spirit
7. Smile: it cures a lot. The more you smile the more your world changes to make you smile more
These 7 tips are known to work for people who either love their work or love the pay that comes with their work, if you do not love your work or the pay that comes with it then you are probably going to be better off looking for something else cos your weekdays and not just Mondays now, would be a long drab episodes.

HOW TO MAKE IT WORK WITH ANY WOMAN

Understanding women is a mystery. Men don’t understand women and women don’t understand women. It is simple like that and for the simple minded (like me) who love to have things in black and white and very few grey areas, women are a touchy subject. I have been around a lot of women but not enough to understand them fully and that is when it hit me (for the 100th time) , “women cannot be completely understood”. That is a sad fact and that may seem like a brick wall, but we love women, men and women love women and it is as simple and complicated as that, “we can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
Living with them however is the easier of the 2 options when you consider the following points, understand and applying them and appreciating the outcome, it no longer seems like a task.
So if you are a lady and want to get along with other ladies or a particular lady, or you are a guy with similar interest in ladies, please take note.

1. Women love to talk, so just listen. Listen to everything, what she says, what she means, what she implies, what she didn’t say and what she hasn’t said,. If you listen well enough you will hear her every time

2. Space is important. She will push you away sometimes and the next minute cries cos you are distant. Men can tolerate the space infringement, most women cannot. Give her her own version of space.

3. The swings are the beauty of her. Her mood will swing and thus the lord God made it so and it was beautiful. If the swings are not there, then the lady you seek is not there. She should not be always angry with you or always happy with you, it’s the way coffee is, the best of both.

4. Her sexuality is as important as her personality. Do not undermine any, understand that for a woman, her personality is swiftly tied to her sexuality and that is the making of “society” .understand that and you should be able to sleep easy

5. When in doubt, do the right thing and ASK. She would rather you asked than you assume. A surprise would be tempting and pleasant when pulled off but in other cases just man up and ask.

6. That sweetness can turn to gall. Women are 2 sides, the extremely sweet and the extremely bitter and if you assume that the sweet doesn’t have a bitter side, you do so at your own risk. Do not break a fragile ornament cos it can quickly be turned into a dangerous weapon.

7. Consistency. Be a complete douche bag and she could love you, be a complete gentleman and she could still love you but never portray a gentleman when in truth you are just a douche bag, a woman likes to know what she is buying even before she starts bargaining, otherwise she would quickly dispose of it like it never really existed.

8. Do not snoop, you won’t find anything, worse if you do find anything you definitely will, not like it. Do not snoop, remember “never  look into a woman’s purse” I have no idea who said that though but it is true. Do not


Making it work is hardwork and it should be, but when you really want to make it work , you can!

Resolve - Recovery

My soul, the ruins of Pompeii.
Once beautiful, now an island of graves
No eulogy, no gravestones.
Once blooming with flowers
With beautiful sunlight streaming in.
And the silent moon radiating the streams at night time .
The robins and swallows on the tree top chipping away like the world needed to hear their voice.
Yes that was my soul once.
Then the rumblings started and I knew they were fatal.
Flee? I couldn’t flee, I couldn’t leave myself behind.
Could I avert this impending danger?
Did I have the courage to suppress this tragedy?
I had to know how strong I was. How strong my good was
Now the smoke rises and the ashes settle on dead ground.
The eruption is over but in its wake lies the destruction I could not phantom
Words elude me. I stare into the bleakness of the dark that now surrounds me.
Streams of water now streams of fire.
Everything is not as it should be.
I am left with this task .
To rebuild my souls civilization.
From these ashes must come hope and the birth of a stronger soul.
This is the sole purpose of my survival.
This shall not go to waste .


Happy New Year .

How to make money in the new year without leaving the comfort of your home.

Have you seen this pop up ad when you are online?
I've seen this advertisement pop up many a time while online "make 50000 dollars daily from the comfort of your home" or "i just made 3000 by logging on to this site". Well , I have not taken the liberty to visit any such sites because in the words of Eminem, "if something seems too good to be true, that's because it is ".
Here , however is a very legitimate and authentic way to make a load of cash without moving a muscle and if all these tips are followed strictly, in no long time you would have so much money (mainly naira)
Here are the easy to do steps
1. Stay indoors
2. Do not do anything at all
3. Do not eat.
4. When you feel sick do nothing about it.
5. When anyone offers to help with food , money or a job blatantly refuse it.
6. Do not bath or shower or brush your mouth .(ever)

These tips have not been tried by anyone I know but the odds are if followed aggressively and thoroughly, whoever is involved will fall really ill and most probably die, if not from starvation then from the other depressing and sickening causes. This will give way to a flurry of spending on your behalf and thus generate a lot of cash (and well wishes) for you. The down side to this is that, you won't be around to see the cash generated but you can be guaranteed that it was gotten by you.

The kid in You

Have you ever noticed how little children fight for some level of independence from their parents even if it's just to play ? Have you observed how they run around and often glance around in search of their parents while they play? Have you seen their reaction when they fall and are about to cry? They still look around for their parents. They actually expect their parents to be watching and ready to offer some help or consolation, or sometimes with fear for the spanking to come.
This actually reminds you of you, right? Not when you were a child but right now, as an adult. You have won the battle of independence from your parents and you are enjoying your life. And for those whose parents are still alive and in good terms with them, they would tell you that they talk to their parents once in a while. Of course they won't always run to mama or papa when the chips are down, they have grown to the point where they deal with whatever comes their way. That is adulthood right? But you would agree that from time to time, you find yourself longing for the responsibility to be taken from.you, or for the approval they gave you that showed and reassured you that you were on the right path.
You still long for that parent figure from time to time, sometimes from people who are not your parents or in any way or right, positioned to be your care giver or guardian.
That's just the kid in you, the kid in us. And no matter how old we are, how strong we think we are, at some point you will have that longing, the difference is, will you act on it?

Away for far too long

Apologies my dearest people and no excuses for my long absence . I'm still committed, however to bringing to your screens the truths that would be my version of events . Thanks for your support and encouragement. Would say "I'm back" but I never really left.

THE GOOD OLD NOLLYWOOD DAYS

I am not a movie critic or at least I don’t make my bread from it but I have seen my fair share of Nollywood movies recent and not so recent and I must applaud the industry for coming this far. Many 80’s babies would always argue that the movies of the 90’s and early  2000’s were and still are the pure breed classic movies of all time in Nollywood and with the micro infiltration by the Ghanaian movie industry would say has the industry is worse off than it was. I have seen quite a few movies of late and so I base my assessment on not solely on what i have seen but also onhearsay and well professional movie critics. and the assessment of the new movies hitting the market is far from impressive.
Going back to the good days of “living in bondage” , “igodo”, “blood money” , “the oracle”, “raging storm”, "rattle snake", "Nneka the pretty serpent" and many other classic movies of the 90s, where the special effects were not so special, the industry flooded the movies produced with content;  Loads of moral content and fewer sequels. Now we have more movies with little or no content, no special effects, profanity and lewd behavior bordering on soft porn and horrible acting.
What is to blame for this decline? Is it the marketers? I’m sure you would say piracy, but the ‘alaba boys' have helped the industry but have actually done more harm to the art itself. New producers like Desmond Elliot, Stephanie Okereke, Geneviève Nnaji and the likes have found a way of shunting alaba out of the picture at least up until they have made their through cinema views before they release on DVDs. You will agree that the movies worthy of cinema in Nollywood are not as many as the daily release in alaba but the difference in quality is massive and that is enough evidence that alaba is not really interested in quality but in making millions off the same movie by branding it different names and giving it numerous sequels that overlap each other in content and duration.
However, I must acknowledge the efforts of the private corporate bodies and some state governments who have identified the importance of this sector and supported it in various ways. The Nollywood studio in calabar is a very vivid example. Hopefully in the near future, we would have our cinemas flooded with Nollywood movies of international standard and the writers and movie makers can reap the fruit of their creativity.

Aliens among US.

Consider this for a minute. What if, we humans are the alien race on earth? What if the asteroid that condemned the dinosaurs to extinction was our mighty space ship crash landing on earth and the beginning of what we now know as the human race? What if our search for alien life, alien intelligence outside of this planet is our way of finding our way back home. What if mother earth has been trying to eliminate this alien race by disease, scarcity and oxygen?
Where did we come from? Where did all the inspiration and revelations that have shaped civilization originate from?

Diary of an involuntary celibate: PART 1

It's been 2 years since I last had sex. Yes it has been that long. Not because I lost interest or because of one health reason or the other, truth is I just lost it. I wonder if I ever had it in the first place. I have doubted myself more and more with each passing day. I figured out my problem a few months ago. I couldn't seem to seal the deal, I was always stuck in the unwanted zone of friendship, the initial flair that attracted the ladies seemed to die out after a few dates, actually after the second date. I just became boring and what promised to be a blooming romance died even before it could smolder.
I couldn't seem to trace the origin of my problem though the last lady I dated was not really the origin, I however noted the events that led up to my dating her. Her name was Esther, and before I dated her, I was on a mini draught. I just broke up with my high school love Oyin. We had dated for about 3 years before she found out she was too good for me. She got a job at one of the biggest audit firms in the country and moved to the high brow areas in the city. We both lived in the same town but seeing each other became a burden. So she dumped me for no reason and my friends Victor and Hassan scouted Esther after 3 months as a suitable replacement. Esther was sweet and lovely and the sex was good but I found out I had forgotten how to woo a lady or seduce her. I never had to seduce Oyin, she loved sex and was very open about what she wanted and when she wanted it. I and Oyin had sex on the 2nd date of our official dating and it had been very frequent after that. With Esther I faced the rude shock of how unskilled I was at seducing the opposite sex . Most of the flings I had while I was with Oyin were either her friends or girls who saw Oyin and wanted to steal me away from her. Oyin had a way of making me look more desirable. No, I wasn't a saint with Oyin but I was discreet in my affairs. Truth is I really missed Oyin and wanted Esther to be her or at least the sex should be like Oyins but it wasn't and I didn't know how to ask, never had to ask with Oyin and I guess I never really learnt the tricks.
So its been 2 years since my last sexual relationship with Esther, the one and only sexual relationship I had with Esther before she left town and I never heard from her again and now I am at girlfriend potential number 13 and I think I'm beginning to genuinely like her and now I am getting myself prepped for the disappointment of failing to seal the deal yet again. What is a man to do?

GENDER EQUALITY AND THE REGULAR BRUHAHA!!!

EQUALITY: from a mathematical or scientific point could be argued to be more than a mere substitution, so the ‘equal to’ sign or the ‘=’ was invented to indicate that whatever is on one side of the ‘=’ is exactly the same as what is on the other side. In theory, this is easy to appreciate when 3 is equal to 2+1 and stuff like that. In reality and more often in human beings, it seems to be just a non-pragmatic view. ‘all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others’, that is from the Animal Farm by George Orwell, but this isn’t about animals or humanity, it is the battle of the sexes that has been going on for ages. Some say men are superior and are branded chauvinist while those who think otherwise are simply branded feminist or plain ignorant.

I was asked a while ago if I believe in gender equality and I replied with a resounding NO! Does that make me a non-feminist or a chauvinist? May be but what equality are we talking about? Equality as humans? Of course, I do not think any human is superior simply based on their sex; I however think and believe that all females are equal and all males are equal. To begin to ask for equality between the male and female gender would simply be to start asking who is a better footballer. A keeper who saves 50% of the penalties shot at him or a striker who scores 50% of his penalties.

Are men the same as women? Are they both wired in the same way? You may argue that both can do similar things and all that, but the fact is that men are predominantly dominant, and women are not. Men are more aggressive; they had no choice in the hormones that flow in their blood as the females too will argue. Menstruation, PMS, pregnancy, labour and child birth, menarche, menopause, men have no idea how it feels to go through all these in one life time, some, more than once in a life time, but they have their own cross one of which is not physical but mental, EGO.

Men are not equal to women, never have and never will and it isn’t because of the men are up there but simply because they are not in the same field. If a woman wants equality with a man, she should ask why she has to ask for equality from a man. Women are not below men either they are just not equal. In science we have the equality signs. (=) equal to; (>) greater than (<) less than, (≤) less than or equal to;(≥) greater than or equal to(≠)not equal to. There is only one relationship in terms of equality between the sexes and that is simply NOT EQUAL which means that they should not be equated ever.

If you can argue that they should be equated then you should prove to me that they are the same. Asides from the singularity and unity of humanity, men are from mars and women are from venus. That is 2 planetary bodies revolving around the sun at different orbits.

3 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JULY (ALREADY)

The month of July ushered in the 2^nd half of the year and a lot of promise. Many would argue that this year has been tumultuous and unpredictable with many trends disappearing and our girls still missing. The unrest in some parts of the country and the world indeed doesn’t seem to abate but it may seem that the worst has past. However, 3 things have already occurred in the month of July to indicate a trend that would seem to persist till the near future.

1.       The world cup. Predictable or unpredictable? No one can comfortably bet that they have foresight into the outcome of any of the remaining matches, both in terms of score line or in terms of overall outcome. With the Netherlands thrashing of the defending champions to the surprise inclusion of Costa Rica and Colombia in the elimination stages, few would bet that the host, brazil would be getting a football tutelage at the hands of the Germans but that is why this world cup has in its right being coined the best one yet.

2.       The embers are approaching (ember month). And with them the high crime rate, already stealing and robbery have been on the increase and that can only be checkmated by the security forces who we have concluded in our minds are ineffective. The missing girls may yet return and the bomb blast may halt or reduce but the general security within our borders still is a bother. Community policing however is a sign of hope. If it is successful in Lagos hopefully it would be implemented nationwide and maybe we can start feeling at home in our country.

3.       Hope is high. And why shouldn’t it. The 2^nd half gives a seemingly new start to everyone and the outlook is like the first of January albeit without fun fare and parties or holidays. Most people would like to look back and correct the mistakes of the first half or improve on it if no mistakes were discovered, but the general consensus is one of optimism. That seems to be the way to go even in the face of stiff opposition and harsh criticism, optimism smolders the flame of hope and second or new chances as the case may be.

So the second half is still in its infancy and a lot can still happen. We are going to see a new world champion come the 12^th of July and it wont be brazil or spain or Nigeria, but it will be a glorious final.

SUPER EAGLES, TWITTER AND THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE: NO GOOD RESULT

Living is generally difficult, but living in Nigeria is another reality. Everyone is angry at one thing or the other. I am not just talking about those on the streets but every single Nigerian living within the shores of this country who has a good idea of how this country works. The fundamental cause of all the problems we have is bad leadership and of course NEPA or whatever it is called these days. These problems in any other country of similar status would be embroiled in a major war or invasion from Europe or The USA but we are Naija and “we don see tings”. Lagos is just a mad house on its own and we Lagosians are so accustomed to the constant madness that its absence is never craved. We long for the fight between the conductor and the “agberos” at the bustop, or the police vs Army fight, or the Lastma vs Other Government officers fight. We long for the opportunity to cross the express when the pedestrian bridge is not far off just because the bridges are too steep or shaky. We rely on what we have and expect it to be enough. We expect the Super Eagles to fight for wages and still go on to win the world cup simply because we are Nigerians. We would love the first Lady to come on air and lament the display of the super eagles so we can have something else to laugh at, like she hasn't done enough already. Our missing girls are still missing and we are waiting for Jack Bauer and co to go capture the Militants threatening our country’s sovereignty. Nigerians are just proudly frustrated and all these episodes are ways to channel these frustrations. We do not expect the government to proffer any long term solution or any solution at all for that matter. We have given the government plenty of occasions to prove that they are a government and not a cabal of cake hungry politicians, they have failed miserably and so we know we can’t do anything to them. They are like military men in civilian uniforms and we see it as a "no alternative" government because the military in military uniform will Jail you for hash tagging an officers name. At least we have freedom of speech in this government. So if Jonathan doesn't bring back our girls or the super eagles disappoint in the world cup, whether it is their fault or the fault of unseen circumstances, we take out our collective frustration on whichever scapegoat comes our way. This is our means of escape from the ever increasing sources of anger, twitter, BBM, Facebook. We rant and rant until whoever we have marked has committed suicide then we collectively blame social media and the devil.

So to my fellow countrymen, be careful of the numerous frustrated people out there. They prey on your weaknesses and failure and exploit your silence. They hide behind hash tags on social media to vent their national disappointment. We know it is the fault of the government and we know the government is not a person so we look for the most recent “F-UP” and label them. This won’t solve the problem in anyway, just like the National Conference wont, but we do it anyways and delight in the activity devoid of results. This is the Naija way. For now we try to change it as we live with it. I am rather sure we won’t always need a committee to seat before a solution is proffered to the why we are not a world power or No. 1 in FIFA ranking. The Blame game however is not the way to go but as the saying goes "na u get ur mouth"