It's been a GREAT year thus far. I've been to new places, tried new things, made new friends, but best of all - I'm happy :)
2009 Highlights:
Survived and enjoyed NYSC Orientation camp in Iseyin, Oyo state (didn't see that post coming lol)
Visited one new country - Accra, Ghana
Survived Lagos roads with no accident or theft experience for 12 whole months!
Witnessed a miracle :)
All I can say is God has been good to me. As I enter into the new year, I give thanks to God for great family, friends (both old and new) and a sense of belonging.
For the new year, I have no 'resolutions' (stopped that a while back). I'm going in with a new and much more optimistic attitude. The only thing I'd like to improve on is getting closer to God and increasing my faith in him.
So people hope you had a good year and here's wishing u a VERY MERRY XMAS & WONDERFUL NEW YEAR!
3. The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
4. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
5. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
6. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
7. Women blink nearly twice as much as men!
8. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
9. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
10. People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you
Sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
11. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
12. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
13. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze; you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.
14. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. "Spades" - King David; "Clubs" - Alexander the Great; " Hearts" - Charlemagne; "Diamonds" - Julius Caesar.
15. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111= 12,345,678,987, 654,321
16. If a statue of a warrior on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has a all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
17. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?
Ans. - All invented by women.
18. Honey - This is the only food that doesn't spoil.
19. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
20. A snail can sleep for three years.
21. All polar bears are left handed.
22. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
23. Butterflies taste with their feet.
24. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
25. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
26. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
27. Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.
28. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
29. The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
30. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
31. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30-feet.
32. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
33. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
34. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
35. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
36. Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different
37. And finally 99% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow
...Ha! 90% of the people I sent it to said they tried licking their elbows. Please don't say you tried licking your elbows too LOL
As we approach the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, everyone from the kid next door to your hairdresser has plans for the new year. In my mind, setting targets and making plans - always a breeze, implementation and maintaining set goals - that's the difficult part.
One of my favorite sections in the Guardian is The Columnist. Various Nigerians submit their opinions on current issues in our nation. This morning while I was updating myself on world affairs, I came across this piece Why Budgets Fail in Nigeria. Also, Mr. Ovation himself (Dele Momodu) was quite hilarious and made some salient points in his article A Nation on Auto Pilot on Thisday Newspaper. Interesting articles.
In other news, what are your goals for 2010? Looking back on 2009 I believe I accomplished most of my set targets (thank God). My slogan for 2010 - Faith that moves mountains! ...be still and know that I am God. No more worrying or obsessing about the future, let Gods will be done :)
Guess it's back to work or school for everyone. It's always hard getting back to the normal routine after a long holiday. Mine was extra long....Wednesday thru Monday.
Why u ask?
Wednesday - CD day, so i'm usually not at work
Thursday & Friday - Sallah holiday (Thanksgiving for my American folks)
Monday - Couldn't get outta bed so, called in sick (boss wasn't too happy about it, but hey i'm a corper!!) LOL
Now it's back to work for me. I had a fabulous holiday though, spent the weekend at Accra, Ghana with my sis and her fam. Was nice hanging out with my sisters, as we get older and everyone gets busy it's difficult for us to spend time together. Spent time with my nephews, they are soo precious. Loads of work, but lovely kids.
Ghana was fun!! One thing I enjoyed constant- electricity and clean running water. Great feeling! We had just one black out throughout my 5 day stay and it lasted about 10mins. Incredible! That's unheard of in Africa!
...Light traffic, no huge potholes, friendly and patriotic people, sub-par night life, overall not a bad country.
I sure hope we get to their stage someday.
So, how was ur holiday? Hope you had a fab time!
Btw: Today's December 1st, yipppeee!! xmas is almost here :D
...p.s: did u know Nigeria recorded a 46.7% drop in new HIV cases? Interesting, you can read more about it here
I've been a frequent subscriber of The Word Among Us daily spiritual readings for over 4 years, and I've always felt it was a great way to start my day. Todays reading talked about hope.
Referring to Romans 8:24-25:
"...for in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."
...and it got me thinking, as humans we should always strive to maintain or hope and faith in God. Believing in things we may not see because of our faith in God. Take me for example, I live in a country I like to refer to as 'developing', as opposed to 'under developed' and you may ask why the difference- it's because I believe that someday we will become a developed nation. Some day we will overcome the plight of corrupt leaders and our governments inability to implement laws.
I say this, because when I think of all the recent developments been made, it gives me one simple thing - hope. Take a look at the following:
Lekki Free Trade Zone: An initiative which originated during Bola Tinubu (former Lagos state governors) regime. Though it may take a couple of years to reach their goal, the idea of our government coming up with such an initiative and actually working on it (yep, i've passed by the area and work is being done) gives me - hope.
Road Construction and development: We all know our naija roads are below par. With the numerous pot-holes and weak bridges i've driven on, it's amazing i'm still alive and without backaches (lol) Anyhoo, that said we have Hi-tech Construction company and our good old friends Julius Berger working on about 60% of major roads in our country, and building new roads and bridges to help ease traffic. Check out the links and the current projects in the country. This gives me - hope.
Bar beach project: Don't know if y'all have heard, but our government is currently working on reclaiming part of the sea in Bar beach, V.I. to develop Eko Atlantic City - The New Lagos. Check out the CNN Inside Africa video on this. Again, this gives me - hope!
For all my Naijas across the continent, who may feel little or no hope for our nation; hope (lol) this gives you a bit of joy/excitement knowing our government is working on such initiatives. Granted, we may not live to see and enjoy the outcome of these projects, but we know our unborn children, grandchildren and great-grand children will surely live in a developed Nigeria.
Keep the hope alive y'all!
P.S: if the links don't work or aren't correct, just google search the project listed. I'm sure you'll find something on it. Forgive me, dont mean to be lazy, didn't verify each link. The internet speed and connection here can be sooo slow and annoying atimes. lol
Hope everyone's great. How was the weekend? mine was not bad. Worked late on Friday nite (which confirms I kinda don't have a life lol). Spent Friday nite with my sis and her friend at Soul Lounge, pretty cool spot in Lekki, Lagos. Had this really tasty club sandwich and french fries, yum. Saturday - wedding, which was fun!
So Sunday evening a friend of mine came to visit and we get talking about the weekend and what we did, and he says "do you have a different outfit for every wedding you attend?" ha! and i'm like why do you say that and he goes "well you go for a wedding almost every saturday, figured you would" and then it hits me, he's right! I do go for weddings almost every saturday.
I can't help it. People are always getting married in this country. There's always a wedding somewhere in the city. I started thinking as far back to December 2008 (when I moved back to Nigeria), reflected on how I missed out certain saturday events cause when i initially moved back, it was almost like i was tied to my moms hip lol i mean she took me everywhere she went. Sheuu the lady even went as far as not hiring a driver and somehow was always able to guilt me into taking her places (*side thought* ..hmm how do mothers succeed in getting into our minds?) ...best believe, most of her saturdays were spent attending weddings, so that's where I was. Her room's filled with ashwebis and wedding invites and wedding souvenirs. I remember a friend of mine saying "your mom is really tryna get you hooked. With all the weddings you attend, she sure is focused on showcasing you to her friends" LOL she did have a point though.
So yeah, concluded - my saturdays are spent attending weddings, but I don't mind 'cause they are soo much fun! This particular wedding, damn! the food was awesome! I mean Onion Cateres (lol at the name) did a smashing job. The continental aka Chinese food was banging! at about 4:15pm when we arrived, the food was warm and tasty, the presentation was on point (quite rare to have all that at past 4pm, when the reception started at 1pm). Though I ate at home before coming, 'cause I was scared there would be no food by the time we got there, I still scraped my plate at the wedding lol Ah, yes and my meal was downed down with a cold glass of Baileys (one of my fav alcoholic beverages btw).
Oooo one more highlight, at this wedding I actually got up to catch the bouquet, maybe it was the alcohol in my system that loosened me up, maybe it was the good food, whatever it was I was a happy guest :D
...nope, didn't catch the bouquet but, it was fun participating. They had a little dance session between the single ladies and guys before the toss, loved the song they played! Can't remember the name, it's by the legendary Victor Olaiya (yeah, you youngins may not remember too, was sometime during our parents era lol)
Good times!
...o and to answer his question: no I don't have an outfit for every wedding i attend :p (wish I did though, my closest would be .....ah.....filled with variety) lol
In other news, been thinking about self-employment lately. Do you think it's easier than being a subordinate? I do. Hmmm...
Hey all! sorry, been MIA. Been busy busy busy, plus power failure and inconsistent internet connection makes it difficult to blog. Anyhoo, lots to say. Was sick throughout the weekend - had malaria. Tried taking 3 different malaria drugs over the past two weeks and none worked. So, had to make that much dreaded trip to the hospital and doctors prescription –injections for 5 days (ick!) and tons of medication that made me feel sleeeepy!
Anyhoo, on Sunday I managed to get out of the house for a bit. My friends niece turned 1 and she’s the first grandchild in the family. My o my, talk about a party! I mean her grandma took this pretty serious. She (i.e. grandma) and all her friends were in blue lace and headties. Yes! You read right, ashwebi at a 1yr old birthday party! They even shared out souvenirs for guests – vase, dishwashing liquid, party packs (for the kids. wish I got one, I’ve always loved party packs hehe, that’s the big kid in me lol) and a few other random items. It was fun though, naijas sure love to party (even if the celebrant can hardly walk lol).
On to the story of the day ….So, this morning I was having ‘one of those mornings’. Woke up thinking “gosh, don’t feel like going to work, bored at this job, blah blah blah” and it hit me February is fast approaching (February- the end of NYSC), What am I going to do after that? Nothing looks promising in the job market. I don’t want to remain in my current position, it’s getting boring, blah blah blah. Guess I was feeling this way ‘cause of the movie I saw yesterday (gist for later). Then I get to work a tad late, missed the 7:30am Thursday lecture and my boss reminds me (again) how important it is for me to attend the lectures. “The bank is downsizing, little things like this would make it easy for you to be kicked out” (and I’m thinking – whatever men!), dude prolly sensed my lack of interest and that I was having ‘one of those mornings’, so, he says a joke to lighten up the mood and walks away. I know he meant well, but I just wasn’t in the mood to hear that.
Few minutes later, I go to the main building to get a copy of a customers’ audited accounts and geez, you should hear how rude some people are to their subordinates! This lady goes off at this poor girl who was tryna help me get the financials, simply because she asked if she should include some excel spreadsheet with the audited reports. She sounded soo rude and the girl looked soo pissed and it wasn’t even 9am yet, imagine! Then, I think to myself – I’m sooo glad I don’t work in that unit. And right there, my frustrations from earlier this morning reduced considerably.
Point of the story is- we humans can be difficult to please. When I was searching for a posting for NYSC, I remember praying ‘God give me an understanding boss’ (‘cause we all know how naija bosses can be), and I got one. I’m learning from my job, my boss NEVER screams or yells at me (even when I make the silliest mistakes). He corrects me with a decent tone, and here I am complaining of boredom, while some poor girl is being yelled at and talked to rudely simply because she asked a question *sigh* forgive me Lord. Goes to show, we are never alone. When you’re feeling scared and confused, it takes one little incident to help put you ‘back in check’. We thank God for his presence in our lives.
I express my fears to one of my closest buddies and as always, she calms me down a little by telling me her new prayer. According to her, it’s no more “God find me a job”, it’s now “God use me for whatever you want after NYSC, place me where you believe I’ll make the greatest impact to your glory”. Nice prayer, don’t you think?
In other news, the funniest thing happened at the cinema last nite, while we were watching a Nigerian movie The Figurine-araromire – NEPA TOOK LIGHT! LMAO! Yes! And I’m soo not making this up. About an hour and 30mins into the movie, the place goes dark. Everything is off, little light in the room coming from peoples phones. Gosh, my friends and I were cracking up! Then the light comes on about 5minutes later and we are back to a scene that took place 20mins into the movie. Even funnier! ‘cause they had us screaming “fastforward o, it’s getting late”. Hahaha! the things I’ve seen in this country, too hilarious!
..and, yeah they recently started showing Nigerian movies on the big screen, we doing BIG THANGS!! lol
P.S.: keep in mind power failure at the cinema isn’t common, actually this is the first time i've ever experienced it.
Meanwhile, y’all should check out the site for the movie The Figurine. Pretty entertaining movie, you’d be impressed.
In conclusion, here's a short funny story I received earlier this week:
Proudly Nigerian
An American lawyer and a Nigerian from Warri are sitting next to each other on a long flight. The lawyer is thinking that Nigerians are so dumb that he could put something over on them easily...So the lawyer asks if the Nigerian would like to play a fun game.
The Nigerian is tired and just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and tries to catch a few winks.
The American lawyer persists, and says that the game is a lot of fun.
I'll ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me only $5; then you ask me one, and if I don't know the answer, I will pay you $500, he says.
This catches the Nigerian's attention and to keep the lawyer quiet, he agrees to play the game.
The lawyer asks the first question. 'What's the distance from The Earth to the Moon?'
The Nigerian doesn't say a word, reaches in his pocket pulls out a five-dollar bill, and hands it to the lawyer.
Now, it's the Nigerian's turn. He asks the lawyer, 'What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down with four?
The lawyer uses his laptop and searches all references he could find on the Net.
He sends e-mails to all the smart friends he knows, all to no avail. After one hour of searching he finally gives up.
He wakes up the Nigerian and hands him $500. The Nigerian pockets the $500 and goes right back to sleep.
The lawyer is going nuts not knowing the answer. He wakes the Nigerian up and asks, 'Well, so what goes up a hill with three legs and comes down with four?'
The Nigerian reaches in his pocket, hands the lawyer $5 and goes back to sleep, pocketing $490.
Colleague : hi Colleague [3:31 PM]: hw has ur day been? me [3:35 PM]: hey, it's been busy (as usual). urs? Colleague [3:36 PM]: same Colleague r [3:36 PM]: u obviously cant wait 4 the weekend me [3:37 PM]: yeah, i can't Colleague [3:38 PM]: so hws it goin down this wkend? me [3:40 PM]: what's going down? Colleague [3:40 PM]: the weekend naw Colleague [3:40 PM]: any better? me [3:41 PM]: lol me [3:41 PM]: at all o me [3:41 PM]: u nko? Colleague [3:42 PM]: i dey wait 4 ur control me [3:42 PM]: lol..i hear u Colleague [3:43 PM]: ok o Colleague [3:44 PM]: i dey wait me [3:44 PM]: ok... me [3:44 PM]: lol
(didn't quite get what he was trying to ask). WTH is "i dey wait ur control" ???? Naija guys...
Sorry, been MIA for a bit. Work takes most of my time these days. My weekend was good, too short (as usual).
Friday evening after work - photo showcase at the African Art Gallery, went to support a friend. She takes awesome photos. Friday nite - hung out with some of my favorite girlies. We got free tickets to the Hennessy VIP Artistry finale show. I must say, some Nigerians have great talent. Sucked my pick didn't win, but i'm sure he won't have a problem getting a recording contract in the future. Spent the rest of the evening at ember (or M-bar), not sure what exactly it's called lol. It's a lovely place though, the only lounge i've been to where you can have a full conversation without yelling. The music isn't super loud, just the right volume. The view of the city's awesome and everyone kinda hangs around the pool area, chilling like your at home.
It's funny most clubs/bars/lounge here are built like homes. Well, maybe that's because they were homes, before the property was acquired and turned into a "grooving/dance hall" lol. Just picture your bedroom 5-10yrs down the line, with disco balls hanging from the ceiling, your closet turned into a bar, your nice carpet turned into tiled ground, where drinks are constantly spilled lol That would be something!
The rest of the weekend was chill. Volunteered at church on Sunday for our Childrens Harvest Bazaar/Thanksgiving celebration. I worked with the finance department - helping out with the auction. It would have been more fun, but they weren't very organized. I must say some Naija guys have temper. They act like cave men atimes. Some dude started screaming at me, simply 'cause I asked him to clarify the auction process to a male church parishioner who was almost convinced I was trying to "duep" him for a monitor and printer he auctioned. Mshuww! Dude started screaming "I said, go sit down! I will handle it!" (the nerve, ugh!) and i'm going *calmly* "please keep your voice down, explain it to him in my presence before I leave"...i mean, two people can't be mad, abi? and I held my ground, didn't leave until he clarified the auction process. Geesh, I mean just listen to his words "go and sit down now!, I will handle it!" sheeuu, all he had to do was start beating his hand on his chest and i'd be truly convinced that he is from the stoneage. Mugu!
In other news... All i want to do these days is sleep, this work n corper life is waring me out! It's like I never get enough sleep. I wake up 5:15am everyday, leave the office by 7/8pm get home 9pm (8pm on a good day). It's almost as if there aren't enough hours in a day (especially at nite). Maybe i'm not being efficient. Hmm, I have to work on that.
Lastly, I came across this article on cnn.com. Never knew this about Jay-Z and his father. You never know the impact people have on your life, until they're absent. Thank God for my parents. They have ALWAYS been there. Enjoy.
.. so PHCN - Power Holding Company of Nigeria (formerly known as NEPA - Never Expect Power Always, i kid, i kid - Nigerian Electrical Power Authority), has been dazzling us all at home. Yep, we've had light consistently for the past couple of days. They are part of the reason I didn't mind staying home for most of the weekend. Sheuu, when my friend came over, I didn't even want to move. I was all comfy on the couch watching MTV. It was hunger that pushed me to the shawarama spot lol. On sunday, we had light all day - 2 blackout periods (for approximately 10-20mins each). We only used our gen last nite for an hour or so, and throughout the weekend it was prolly on for hmmm 5hours max. Wierd!
I have this feeling that they may suffer us next week/month. i.e. it'll be the reverse - more blackouts, more gen noise and less light and serenity in the compound. I hope not. Fingers crossed, maybe we are making progress. Hmm...i'll conclude at the end of the year, if they atually attain their goal of generating and distributing 6000Mega Watts of power by December 2009.
This electricity thing is simple, but there's soo much sabotage involved that complicates the entire process.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend. It's back to work for me :( boo! I had such a lovely wkd. Didn't do soo much, but it was nice and chill.
Tried so hard to write updates over the break, but laziness took over and i couldn't fight it.
Highlights of the weekend:- Saturday nite - went club hoppin. haven't done that in a hot minute. was loads of fun though. (I must say, think i'm getting old. Though club hoppin was fun, a part of me couldn't wait to get home to sleep or just chill and watch t.v. I kinda got tired of the loud music and random clubbers by midnite...sad) Tuesday afternoon - went on a boat cruise. music, champagne + desert while sailing = mad fun! Friday, Monday, Sunday - slept, slept, slept, felt great! Started watching season 3 of 24. Got the new seasons for DHW & Gossip Girl (yes, i said it Gossip Girl *bite me*)
In other news, boss is back. I must say Nigerian "ogas" and co-workers can be nice. They always get u gifts when they travel (aside from candy of course). It's almost like they feel obligated to buy something for their staff. Between my last boss, co-workers and current boss (i.e. within the past 7 months); i've gotten the following as "i travelled to america/london/paris here's what i got for u" gifts - 1 burberry weekend perfume (from my current boss), 3 tops and a pair of slippers (from my last department - boss and co-workers). I must say, these people know quality stuff.
Anyhoo, have to get back to work now. Will post details about the weekend later. The gifts don't come for free...
'Sup y'all! TGIF and it's a public holiday here in Nigeria :) Monday & Tuesday marks the end of Ramadan and the celebration of Edi-el-Fitri.
It gets even better - no work for me on Wednesdays - CD days, sooo it's a 5 day weekend for me - Yipppppppeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Not much planned, but who cares. No driving to work. No sitting in front of a pc for hours. No staring at excel spreadsheets. No reports to generate, analyze and send. Ahhh... that's all that matters right now.
...Side thought: During my breakfast break today, one of the cleaners and I got talking. He was curious as to how I stay fit (don't know either, 'cause Lord knows I love food). Anyhoo, apparently yday when I came in for lunch, his friend said "ah look at MJs sister". Of course, my head started swelling, as I thought he was referring to Janet but he's like "no o, u have a nice statue, very straight legs and you look very fit. You have slim statue like MJ" I mean I don't mean to tut my own horns but *beep*beep LOL So, he went on and on about how it's rare to see slim girls with stratight legs, and how sometimes there's always sthng wrong, like 'K-leg' and I was flattered, but quickly wrapped up the conversation when he started talking about my legs. Yeah, flattery is nice, but the sender's also important (no prejudice here).
Moving on, I started watching CNN while eating my breakfast -it's fashion week somewhere in NYC. I stared at all the models getting glammed up and it got me thinking... Should I have gotten into modeling? I mean here I am going on and on, jubilating about the holiday like coming to work is torture. I obviously don't love my job (i like it though), but I keep feeling I could and should be doing more with my life. Something exciting (but also financially rewarding - can't be broke). Is it too late? I mean i'm just 23 (crap! 24 in 3 months!) but where do I start??
Told my parents about modeling and they seemed cool with it. Their response "ah, when all those people kept calling you to come and model, you were saying no. ur done with school, why not". My response "Thanks mom, u didn't have to remind me about opportunities i let go *rolls eyes*" ...like they would have supported me, when all i heard was "study, study, make all A's"
Thing is, it's difficult to start stuff in this country. I mean where do I go? who do I talk to? where do I meet designers who'll take me seriously?? if i was in VA, i'd prolly take up classes. It'd be easy to find the info - online of course. But here, it's difficult. So, I keep to my 8-6.
It doesn't even have to be modeling, just something more exciting than a regular office job.
Is this just a phase? Don't think so, 'casue i've always felt this way. But, I need to act fast as they say "if your dreams determine your future, why not go to sleep now". I don't want to sleep! I want to pursue my dreams! But how??
Thoughts? Ideas?
... and I just remembered this great bible verse "..be still, and know that I am God' (Psalm 46:10)
Yes, I have found my newest obsession. Nothing compares to it right now. It's all I want for my next birthday (24th) -eeek! i'm getting older!
Ladies and ladies, please check this out:
Ahhhh, I can just picture myself holding this device :)
Don't get me wrong, I love my current phone - Nokia E71
But, it'll soon be time for an upgrade, and the Blackberry Storm is it (for me).
Features I love:
BB instant msgr - the best way to keep in touch with friends and family worldwide for free (okay, okay, maybe not absolutely free. u'll have to pay 5k/month for the data plan). Now all I have to do is get everyone i know to buy one. Shouldn't be too hard, most people I know here already have one..
Touch screen (which had always been my next choice for a phone)
Nice sleek design
FB, MSN, YAHOO, TWITTER application
Great reviews
Great price - just N75k, usually N100k (price decline's due to the low exchange rate, 'cause u know Naijas know absolutely nothing about sales..)
What more could you ask for?
I could go on and on, but i'm sure you get my point. Fingers crossed people, lets hope someone surprises me for my bday with this lovely phone. They'll be getting a huuuge hug and kiss from me :D
Hey all, so today was my CD day for NYSC. Usually it should be a day to go for pointless “community development” and come back home to rest/sleep, but NNOOO little Ms. “busy body” always ends up running errands throughout the whole day! I really need to rest a bit more. Trying to adjust to driving in crazy Awolowo road, coupled with my crazy hrs at work, it’s a lot to take in.
So, I had to go to the secretariat today to sort out some account related stuff with my alawi. Crazy government and their NYSC wahala! They should scrap the program already, but I digress. Anyhoo, ran into one of my friends/acquaintance from camp. He’s a cool dude, a lil bit of an “amebo” (but hey we all have a bit of it in us right?) we got talking and he starts telling me how he’s tryna get re-posted and I’m thinking WTF?? If u know anything about NYSC, u’ll understand how crazy it is to get anything done there. Apparently, he was also posted to a bank – hates the hours, made some enemies at work and is tryna get into the oil and gas industry (like everyone else) and I’m thinking to myself – we have about 5 months left, why trying to go through all that stress??
On my way back home I got stopped by LASMA aka “lagos state metropolitan authority”. Funny thing is, I wasn’t pissed or surprised. It’s weird how living in Naija u get accustomed to various acts of stupidity. Like the cops pulling u over for no reason, aside from seeking lunch money. Dude started asking me about my papers, checked my drivers driver license and asked to see the fire extinguisher in my car! Yeah, I know - fire extinguisher?? We showed him all we had, but we were missing our ‘Road awareness papers’ (or something silly like that) and i’m thinking what’s that??
Anyhoo, ended up settling the guy for 1k (which I was later informed was waay too much). Hmm…maybe I should’ve just left my driver when he was trying to “wet his palms” with N300, but the guy wasn’t having it. Guess he was thinking I’d give him about 5-10k. Na soo??
STALKER - I've always used that term loosely and jokingly, but have also always been aware of the implications. This now is reality. I think someone's stalking me :(
Convict: A guy who claims to be a pastor. He who works down the street from my office building.
Signs:
he sent a cleaner in his office to come ask if i'm Igbo and to introduce himself
he has sent his cleaners to watch me (himself included)
apparently he watches me almost every morning when i'm parking my car
he came into my branch yesterday to ask after me (good thing my office isn't in the main building)
he walked himself upstairs to come check for me! imagine, he left the banking hall and came upstairs (don't know how he did it, 'cause ONLY guests with appointments are to be allowed upstairs, but then again this is Naija anything is possible)
he knows the security guard that usually helps me find parking
dropped his card with the security guard when he couldn't find me
he came up to talk to me during my first week at work, asking for interest rates - and he made no sense whatsoever
I've been at my new branch for hmm..3weeks now. I like the job, the people are cool. My boss is pretty laid back and they are all male (so no female-bitchiness-wahala). The only problem is parking!
I have two options when it comes to parking - either I park in the next building (where the "stalker" works) or the space separating my building and his aka Snake island. The thing with snake island is the ground isn't paved, there are broken bricks and tiles on the floor and it can only take about ...10 cars, so you have to be super early (come in before 7:30am) to get a spot. One other sucky thing is, once u park, ur pretty much blocked till the end of the day (just picture cars parked in the shape of an S, no where to move to until everyone wants to get out).
2nd option - the "stalkers" office lot, It's a normal parking lot, with ample space. The catch - N200 daily. I mean that amounts to N1K per week and N4k per month! May not seem like a lot, but for a corper earning less than...N40k/month that's expensive!
Today I left the house at 7am got to work about 7:30am and was positive there would be no space at snake island; and of course there wasn't. So, i decided to go park at the "stalkers" building. Walking into my office compound, the friendly security guard comes to deliver a msg he forgot to pass on yday. Apparently some guy came looking for me and dropped his card when he couldn't find my me in the building. Then he goes "sister, make i tear am" of course am like "yes, tear am! and abeg no tell am where my office dey o" his response "ah, no o, no problem". (Incase you are wondering why I didn't look at his card - men this is Naija, crazy things happen here. From looking at his card, I may just fall in love with him lol. Ah. It happens. Anyhoo, I know the God I serve, i'm strong in faith and such will never happen to me. AMEN) ....Then, he tells me how he sent his cleaner to look for me and am like - no wonder she knew where my office was! He watches me so much, that he knows the security guard am friendly with WTF?!?!
So people, tell me - is he a stalker? or am I over reacting?
I'm sure you are all aware of whats been going on in the Nigerian banking industry. If you're not, here's a brief recap. The following banks have been taken over by the CBN, due to large number of non-performing loans and weak bank policy. The MD's (managing directors) have been charged to court by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission)
Oceanic bank - Mrs. Cecilia Ibru
Intercontinental bank - Mr. Erastus Aknngbola
Union bank - Mr. Bartholomew Ebong
Afribank - Mr. Sebastian Adigwe
Finbank - Mr. Okey Nwosu
After nearly a month in prison, the acting chief judge of the Federal High Court - Justice Dan Abutu, has finally set the following bail conditions for the accused:
Payment of N100 million with two sureties in like sum, who will be a Nigerian resident in Lagos or Abuja to include
A serving senator or member House of Representatives.
A chairman of a board of directors of a reputable financial institution in Nigeria with headquarters in Lagos or in Abuja, whose company must have a capital base of not less than N1 billion as at December 2008 financial report.
A chairman of a board of directors of a petroleum company or a petroleum servicing company with headquarters in Lagos or in Abuja, with a capital base of not less than N1 billion as at December 2008 financial report.
A former governor in any state of the federation with a landed property at Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki in Lagos and Maitama and Asokoro in Abuja.
A speaker or deputy speaker of any state House of Assembly in Nigeria with a landed property at Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki in Lagos and Maitama and Asokoro in Abuja.
Apart from these, the accused persons are to report at EFCC's Abuja office every first working day of every month, while the operatives of the EFCC are to verify all documents to be tendered within 48 hours to determine their admissibility or otherwise. Source: Guardian Newspaper
Okaaaay!My first thought when I read this - stop teasing them! just let them sit in jail! How is one to come up with all or some of the above?! Keep in mind that if anyone comes up claiming to meet the above, he/she would also have to show proof that they have been paying taxes and prove that their business is legit (that'll be the difficult part).
...In other news, another day at work. Traffic wasn't too bad this morning, usual crazy Naija drivers and okada riders. Almost hit a car this morning (this Falomo bridge and Awolowo road can be scary sometimes). Thank God my car's quite big. I can oppress people on the road hehe.. Ok, off to do some work - as my sis will say "let me go and earn my salary"
So i'm new at this (obviously), but i've always loved reading blogs and yes i'm one of those who have been reading blogs and making anonymous comments for the past...hmm..2 yrs I think. My baby sis recently started her own blog and I must say, I do follow it religiously. She turned out to be such a good writer. So, partly inspired by my sister and other bloggers (and prolly due to the fact that my boss is away this week and I don't feel like doing any work today), I decided to start my own blog.
I recently relocated back to Nigeria (well, technically not too recent - it's been 10 months - 1yr in December) and living in Nigeria has been a change (in a variety of ways). I'll be using this blog as an avenue to share and document random daily stories of my experience in my new life back home. Hopefully, I can look back at this blog a year from now and laugh, smile or frown at my random stories.
