Decades: Chunks of Time

In January, a friend suggested I attend the WordPress Meetup in Lagos, since I was in the city. I thought, "What harm would it do?" and decided to go. Little did I know that just that one day would change everything for the next couple of weeks.

Social Media Week image from Eventbrite Social Media Week Lagos is an event I have always heard about. Every year I would see adverts about it online, and once again wish I was back in Lagos, so I could attend at least one day of the week-long event. That wish came true this year.

If, like me, you were reaching for goals that seemed beyond your grasp, and only to grab and discover what you got hold of was a thin strand, then listen.

The Month of November was made magical by the sermons I heard at church. It was as if the pastors used a set of binoculars to scan through the crowd in church, then focus on me, and then tuned into what I needed to hear the most.

Its that season again, when the whole world marks the birthday of Jesus Christ . While I am not too comfortable with all the symbolism and how so many things have been commercialized about the season, I love the way December seems to draw families together. It also forces everyone to slow down their pace, rest and relax. Resting and relaxing seem like luxuries, especially in a country where taking a vacation is made to look like you are not a serious human being. Most adults tend to 'work until they drop'. Its not a good situation, as the medical reports at this stage is not good. At this time of the year, most churches have Christmas Carol programs lined up. Daystar Christiam Center was not left out. The booking takes place online. This year was no different. Something struck me though: the portal was opened at 12 noon. After 3 minutes all the spots had been taken. Three minutes!!! I was amazed. I could just imagine over 2000 people poised over their keyboards, wait...

I actually did not picture that I would be adjusting back to my home city this soon. If someone had told me at the beginning of the year, that I would be in Lagos around this time, I would have asked, "What for?"

I just realized I am owing my Ironblogger clan, five good deeds, or 25 Euro! With this our economy ehn, where do I want to get that squeezed into my budget? I would rather do good deeds and help those around me. So, can anyone please think of something I could do, I am live in Lagos, but not mobile. Please share ideas!

I wrote this piece while waiting for my flight on Saturday June 2, 2012. I had to stand for about five hours, and I was too angry to even smile. Little did I know that a tragedy was due to grace our country the next day...May the victims' souls rest in peace.... I am so angry right now. My anger surpasses the physical, because it is not about my present issues, but about the whole country in general. I booked a return flight to Lagos from Abuja from a popular airline here in Nigeria, some weeks ago. A day before the flight, I got a message that the time had been postponed to about two hours later, so we set out for the airport an hour later than planned. We are one of those people that love getting to the airport and checking in exactly when the airlines say - two hours before. We spent the better part of the first hour in traffic. We got so frustrated that I came down from the car and began walking towards the toll gate. Now those who are familiar with Abuja airport road...

I just got an SMS from Vicky, about Mobile Money provided by MTN. As a typical Nigerian, the first point of call on the mobile money site for me was the Tariffs section. According to the tariff page , to deposit, register, buy airtime, check balance and pay bills is free. To withdraw by an unregistered customer is free as well as the accounts subscription, and SMS traffic generated by transactions. But after that, the charges start piling up: Mini Statement = NGN10. Registered customer's withdrawal of NGN3,000 and less will cost NGN50. Registered customer's withdrawal of between NGN3,001 and NGN6,000 will cost NGN100. Registered customer's withdrawal of between NGN6,001 and NGN9,000 will cost NGN150. Registered customer's withdrawal of above NGN9,000 will cost NGN200. To send to a Registered customer, it will cost you NGN50. To send NGN3,000 or less to an unregistered customer will cost you NGN120. To send between NGN3,001 and NGN6,000 to an unregistered cus...

Well, there are a number of competitions that each platoon must participate in (as I said before). These include Mr. Macho, Miss NYSC, Cooking Competition, Best Drill Platoon, Volley ball (female), Meditation write up, and Football (Male). I’ll have you know that I didn’t participate in any of the competitions – well, I helped out in the cooking, and cheered my platoon’s volleyball team on (we made it to the finals), but I did not march, and I couldn’t have contested for Miss NYSC (apart from the fact that I’m short, fat and ugly (lol), Lagos Corpers were not allowed to compete just in case they won, and took the crown back to Lagos with them. It didn’t make sense to have two Lagos Miss NYSC, right?) The fact that Lagos and Abuja NYSC camps was under construction, and some corpers were sent to other camps to do their orientation, put a brief mess on things. Some Lagos corpers were sent to Ede, Osun state (about 600 of us), while some were sent to Ekiti state. So the fact that we were n...

It looks like everyone that I knew ten years ago will be in Nigeria this August. It brings back the title of this blog: Chunks of time. Ten years have gone by - more likely flown by and everyone has become someone else. I wonder how we will all relate to each other. Some of us have kept the communication going all this while, but some have not. The question will always come up: "So what are you doing now? Where are you based?". Thank God I have an answer. It'll not be funny if I didn't. Ten years have gone by, what have you been doing with your life? Have you been living in the past? Or dreaming about the future? What plans have you brought to fruition? Are you what you wanted to be ten years ago? All these questions keep going through my head. Weddings are events of joy and happiness. They are avenues that God created for us to see that love does exist. And they are constant reminders that no one, absolutely nobody, stays in the same spot. Everyone [should] moves for...