Decades: Chunks of Time

Well, I got called for another interview today. This one caught me unawares. One minute I was dozing in my room, the next I was wondering if I had dreamed the phone call. I even sent a text, explaining that I was not ready for such an impromptu interview, only to be told that it didn't matter if I was informally dressed or that I would appear late. I was to just come 'as I am'. I went. And for a few minutes, was almost regretting it. The interrogator com begin dey ask me textbook questions. I no even believe am. I graduated last year - over a year now, for Heaven's sakes. How I go dey remember everything dem teach me, when I cram to pass the finals in the first place? I just dey laugh. The man was surprised that I was not squirming, Then he began to check out my CV. and eventually was so surprised at what I had done that he began to ask how far away I lived from their office and other stuff. Then I mentioned NYSC. Yesterday's interviewer's reaction was small com...

Well, I got a buzz on my gmail by a classmate of mine that there was a vacancy I could fill. He wanted to know if I was interested. So I spread the word among all the other classmates we had, in case anyone else fitted the bill (the guy said there was a vacancy for 5 people). On Thursday I edited my CV, suited up, and went to Ikoyi for the interview. It turned out to be more fun than I thought. I ended up chatting with my interrogator, instead of being in the hot seat. It was fun. The rain held me back and we talked for like 2 hours. It seems I always end up having informal interviews every time. The man was so into my credentials and was assuring me that I should be expecting him, until I told him that I had not served. NYSC, I do not like the way the man's countenance changed at the mention of your name. He was not happy at all, but said he would talk to the employer, and get back to me if it was favourable. I just nodded my head. What was I to do? I wonder who ever made NYSC com...

Can you believe it? Vicky found my blog! I did a publicity stunt for my blog some time back, because I wanted my friends to assess the template I had chosen. Turns out I also sent him the mail. Now I don't know what to do. Should I stay honest? And really express myself? Or should I just smile and continue? Hmmmm....Food for thought.

In a bid to cheer myself up, I sat in front of the TV for the first time since I got home last week. Now its not that I am allergic to watching TV, its just that I do not go out of my way to sit in front of it, when I have my darling Ruben (my Gateway laptop) ALL the time. But I had just lost a friend, and it was Friday night, I had to do something different. Even as I speak, my Mum is scolding me for it. I put on the TV, and switched it to Nigerian TV for a change. Life is funny, the presenter of Sound City's MTN Top Ten is actually an old friend of mine, Deji Falope , who shot to fame despite the open disdain he was receiving from everyone for his woven hair, and his chosen hobby (modelling and TV presenting) - except me of course. I guess its why he still goes out of his way to greet me anytime he sees me. Anyway, back to MTN Top Ten, I actually fell for some of the songs on the chart. Generally I must say that our video quality has really improved in Naija, and I think the expo...

When I think about how today started off - with the mosquito concert overnight, I wonder how things might have been different if I had known. One of my friends killed himself on Thursday. If you lived in Naija a bit, you would know the University of Lagos. And if you know the University of Lagos well, you would know all about the terrible hard-hearted, greedy 'Mr. Lecturer's that the school is mainly composed of. Well, if you know the faculty of Science very very well like I do, you would know that the departments of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science have Hell as better options to them if you had to choose. And you would also know that the reason Computer Science is separated from other departments is because its the worst of them all. Now some people just go through the system and do not feel it. By this I mean that they never waited a whole year to get their matriculation numbers, they never had missing results, they were never spotted by lecturers and manipulated f...

God save us from the inaptness in our system o! Imagine spending almost an hour in traffic, on your way home from work, praying that you Meet electricity at home. Imagine getting to your street and smiling, if tiredly, when you see the security lights of all your neighbors on, indicating that your prayers have been answered only to get to your own house and meet darkness. Your connection to the electric pole has been cut off (sorry for all the foneh, abeg. Na NEPA come our area o! Won wa jana!). Apparently they assumed that we were owing. But we had complaind about the N10, 000 bill they brought to us. Considering that we were the only occupants in our compound, it is a stupendous amount! Even occupants of Face-me-I-Face-you do't pay that much. Well, the NEPA official refused to see the bill we pasted at the gate (for occassions like this o, imagine!), and they cut off our supply. Needless to say that I couldn't sleep well all through the night, because of the noise of the gene...

On the side, I was just thinking, if we were to look back on our lives, if we were to rewind the tape of life to, let's say, last month, would it have unravelled how we planned it? If we really looked at the plans we made, did everything happen the way we planned? Did the garbage truck really show up at eight p.m.? Did we really submit that proposal at the appointed time? Did we meet the deadline for that project? Did church service finish at exactly noon last Sabbath? Abstract questions they are but you could come up with yours. Didn't you spend more than you intended on your last shopping spree? Did you wait till the last minute before paying you tithe? (Maybe that's why). There are so many days when you plan to carry out some duties and even create some free time, only to see so many things you planned to do fall under the 'I shall get back to these later' category, when certain things happen. Things like... Your boss shifting another person's work to your t...

Imagine entering a danfo bus, after your car refused to work, around ten p.m. on a Monday, to go home. Imagine receiving a call from your wife, asking where you were and how come you were out so late. Imagine getting down from the bus, to find out that your phone had disappeared. And not just any phone. The type that costs about six digits or more. A Nokia Communicator. What would run though your mind? What would you do? Well, our pastor just strolled home, and told his wife. She suggested getting the same phone immediately, the next day, but the Pastor had the conviction that it would be returned to him. They went to bed. The next morning, as he was strolling to the bus stop, some youth in the area asked him about his car, then he narrated his story. They told him they would trace it for him, that by nightfall, he would have it back. If you were the one, wouldn't you have sneered at them? How can a phone be stolen from you and you would get it back? In Nigeria? Lailai! No be for t...

Prison Break Imagine my shock when I heard about the prison break in Ibadan.I felt trepidation that somewhere someone had copied all those silly american films - or someone who has been seeing Prison Break decided to try it out. And no wonder at his success - our prisons are so old, i bet its the threat of jazz that keeps those criminals in there. Now the jazz is broken. But it is a wake up call to the Prison Service in Nigeria. A loud one. But the deaths are pitiful. Forty people dead. Just because their walls were not strong enough. Just because Nigeria could not maintain its prison system. God have mercy on us all. And be sure to find innocent people who might have been 'detained' over flimsy reasons like expired licenses, and wandering in the night, and who couldn't pay the 'free' bail fee. God have mercy.... Check it out at Newsreel1 , Newsreel2 , and Newsreel3

I know it has been 6 years but it still has left a painful memory for the whole world. I cannot imagine the hurting families that would have tears in their eyes on that day. I hope we all went out of our way to be nice to people on that fateful day - you can tell me all about it! I was in my mum's office on that day, and a young girl came to check her results with my Mum. I looked up from my PC when I heard three consecutive zeros. My mum added another one, and I had to look back down. If she failed, what was my business. Eventually Mum went out, and the same girl came back into the office, asking to talk to me. ME? I wondered. WHY ME? She said her name was Bunmi, and she needed advice. She had transferred from one department to her present department about two weeks before the last exam (FAULT ONE: How could the department have allowed that? Surely they should have told her that it was not feasible, just two weeks before the exam!). And it turns out most of her courses, because th...

At one point in my trip, the bus was told to slow down for workers ahead. We got close and it turned out to be NYSC people, clearing the road and packing sand into ditches (NYSC means National Youth Service Corps. It is a year long program that every graduate has to partake in, in Nigeria. Without the certificate that it has been completed, 99% of companies and 100% of the governmental ministries will NOT employ you). Some of them were a bit excited but I was not thrilled, honestly. These ones were the lucky ones, the ones that didn't get posted to danger zones like Port Harcourt (which, from the last I knew, was declared (or about to be declared) a state of emergency), Zamfara (a truly Islamic state), or the Eastern remotest villages where the rudimentary comforts of life that we have taken for granted are not available (like pipe - born water, and electricity). Come to think of it, every state has far - to - reach obscure villages that lack these things, and the danger of being p...

Today was a funny day. I will start from the night before, when I had to sweettalk Vicky into going home, and when I hugged him goobye he didn't want to let go. For a fw minutes after he drove off, several things kept running through my mind. Then I shook myself mentally - of course I was coming back. Of course there couldn't possibly be any accident on the way. God would protect me to and fro in Jesus name. Amen. Then I worked on the net all night. It's amazing how little you really earn from all this free - to - join paid - to - read eamil schemes. But if I could do it everyday, I know it might be a trickle but the little drops would amount to something later. So I waited for Vicky to come and drop me off at the bus terminal. He came, and even stayed awhile with me there. Cross Country is supposedly one of the best transport services but I was thoroughly dissappointed that day. The second bus to Lagos was supposed to leave by 8 a.m., but didn't leave until twenty min...

Well, I decided to be obedient to my Dad this time, and travel to Lagos by road. He is so scared of the airplanes in Nigeria, and CNN does not make it any better with their overblowing up of stories. But I had to go and see at least two of my clients first, to notify them that I would not be in town for a while. I agree with my Mum, why not stay in Lagos and finish everything they want me to sign, whenever it comes up? Why not wait for the call - up letter before going back to Abuja? It made sense to stay for as long as it would take. But I had a major problem. I just got this internet connection for myself, twenty-four hours, from Reliance Telecommunications a.k.a RelTel. I paid ten thousand naira for a month as an Abuja resident, and since I was going to Lagos, it just might not work there. I was worried about that. Anyway, I spent the whole of Wednesday seeing my clients, and submitting another proposal somewhere else. Then I told Vicky, who wasnt too happy to hear that I had to tra...

Well, since no one answered me, I chose option C. It seems the best option anyway, since it would cost me the least - about N200. I tried the one friend in science that I knew would help me out of any trouble - Angel. Angel has been my friend for five years, and she is a true friend to the core. She would cut her hair for me if it was what I needed to go forward. I have been there for her as well, and some people even think we are sisters. Angel went to the Head of Department Secretary's office and met a brick wall. She was told that she could not take the form out of the office, that she had to sign it right there. She now confessed that she was not the one, and was told to tell me to send an authorization email to the department, allowing her to act in my stead. Needless to say that by the time all the protocols are fulfilled, the Secretary would have submitted the forms to the Dean of Student Affairs office and it would be too late. So I just have to travel down. But I still hav...

Well, I got a call from a classmate on Monday that I needed to come back to Lagos to sign yet another form for my NYSC (I signed the fifth one the last time I went to Lagos). I am getting tired of the NYSC even before it has begun. But you know that with out the passing out certificate that shows that you participated in the program to serve your mother land, nobody will employ you here in Nigeria (and I think even the UK is asking for it now. People is it true?). So I have to travel back to Lagos asap, as the boy who told me said the forms will be submitted to the Dean of Student Affairs Office on Friday. So people, I had to choose one of these three options: A. Take a N15,000 flight down to Lagos and get there in time to fill the form, and take road transport back to Abuja. B. Take road transport to Lagos on Wednesday (I need a day at least to get permission, see my current website clients and notify them of my trip). Keep in mind that Road transport takes at least nine (9) hours to ...