Nigeria is DEAD!!!

Never has the opiatic, under-developing effect of religion in Nigeria been so clear to me as it was last night, watching NTA. There will be no major change in the way aviation is run here, so long as the crash is classified as an Act of God, and our response to it conditioned to be one of prayer. Religion Nigerian-style numbs every sinew of the body, freezes the brain, and erodes any possibility of rational response, and above all, transformative action. It is, at present, a malign force – a force which does not transform, which does not heal. It is, as Soul says, the most vicious colonial effect

Why is this country so.........so.....so....stupid?!?! I mean seriously. I was reading the above blog and the thing just hit me like a bus. I am one person that didn't really bother too much about the plane crash. Not because i don't feel for the ones that lost their lives, but i'm just tired of everything going wrong with the infrastructure and nothing being done about it. I guess i've just been resigned and complacent, and i guess that's just not good enough. I mean someone, somewhere's just gotta start fighting for the right things to be done at the right time. I don't know, this bug's just been awakening itself in me lately. I went to one of these dinners that i usually go to and someone said something quite interesting to me, she said "what's scary about nigeria is not that many people (qualified or not) want to run for president but that there's NO ONE that wants to run for the local council chairman. what's happening down there?!?!" Now that's a very scary thought with sooo many repercusions. For one, does it mean that people are just "placing their friends" in these positions? Does it mean that no one cares about the ordinary people? Or does it mean our top politicians are really unqualified and unproven? ALL very grim options my people. I have a friend who's running for House of Reps. Very young guy, maybe about 27. He has inspired me really. I think many other young people should start thinking about it. Start at the bottom level.

Now on to this airplane crash. This get's me so angry now. NOTHING is going to get done about this you know. We'll all gnash our teeth, and read newspapers voraciously in pity, but outside of that. NOTHING. Which kind of country is this were people won't lift a finger to even better their own selves. And we are all guilty.

ARIYA Redux...........

Ok, first before i go into anything else. I just read Minx's blog and that babe is looking for my trouble o............YO MRS MINX or wharreva una call yourselves.......take time o, what is this obsession with Ebuka?!?! lay off partna! You don't want no cyber WHA?.........GIRLFIGHT!!

whooo........ok. i'm good now. second thing. there are very specific moments where I just love my job. I've only been working for a few months but i've gotten to meet and interact with a few peeps. Relatively cool peeps anyway. Mrs. Remi Tinubu, First Lady of Lagos for one, quite unexpectedly, inspired me, i first met her a few months ago and she threw me with how much poise she has. Job is cool people, job is cool.

Ok to da main event....(drumroll please - for me sista abeg just do it!)..............














ok, it's a bit dark but i'll try and lighten it up and repost tomorrow.....but yup, i was at the King Sunny Ade birthday dinner yesterday. I was very excited and it was beyond my dreams. I didn't realize how much I myself loved KSA until he was right there in front of me. And you start thinking, "man, this man wrote and sang all those lovely songs....man, this man is GENIUS, and he's nigerian..." it was amazing. I felt really really proud to be a Nigerian then. The event was organized by Special Events which is owned and operated by this young girl, maybe about 26/27 and she did really well for herself. It was attended by the First Lady of Lagos State Remi Tinubu (have i said how much i love this lady?!?!?), the Oba of Lagos and a few other Obas, Florence Ita Giwa, Jimoh Ibrahim, Dr. Kuku, and i'm sure a few other big girls and boys that for the life of me I wouldn't know about. When Jimoh Ibrahim came in and there was a huge rush of people, I was so clueless!!! Man..........these guys must really wonder where the hell I dropped from. For those who don't know, Jimoh Ibrahim owns Eko Hotel, Nicon Airways and some other things I can't remember right now.





















Anyhoo...........I sha felt blessed to be there, just hope none of my pics end up in City People...(that's my fervent hope and prayer these days!)

FAREWELL, LEBO......

I'm so saddened to write about the death of South African super sensation Lebo Mathosa who died in a car crash early Monday morning. She was only 29. Lebo had been performing most of her life and was part of the hugely successful South African group Boom Shaka. She released her first solo cd entitled "Dreams" in 2000, which went on to win her three South African music awards. She released her second solo album in 2004 entitled "Drama Queen". Lebo was asked to perform at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday at which she was then handpicked to be the top act at the launching of MTV Africa. She's one of the most versatile and energetic singers in the African music scene and she was also an actress, appearing on several hit TV shows such as Backstage, Muvhango, and Generations (my favorite!).



Lebo was my absolute favorite African artist. She had so much presence and so much energy you couldn't help but be mesmerized by her and her voice was sooo big. To me, she symbolized a new African woman. In charge, and unafraid. She also reminded me of Brenda Fassie, the great singer who died a few years ago. But everyone saw that familiarity and always asked her about it. In an interview when asked about how she feels on taking over Fassie's throne, Lebo said that there's no way that could happen since Fassie is a legend and no matter what she does she will always be following the footsteps of the great singer. Somehow I liked that response. It sounded quite humble for this woman who is also fastly becoming a legend herself. And then on MTV base, i also heard her speak and she sounded so soft and her love for music and Africa just shone through so brightly. Immediately I identified with this woman. One of her songs, really has been a mantra for me from the moment I heard it, "Brand New Day". Seriously, everyday I get up, that song is always playing in my head and i just get that jolt of energy to get up and appreciate another day.





I'm so so saddened by this woman's death, i don't know, maybe because in so short a while somehow, her life touched me. And then i've just been thinking about death lately. How it grips us without our consent and some so young in their lives. It's very sad. My neighbour Tola Okoya-Thomas recently passed on from breast cancer and that death affected me so much. She was only 28 and she was so beautiful. She had just given birth to twins just two weeks before she died. I mean why are all these young ones dying so............young? what time is there in 28 years?!?! Life truly is short and we've got to live every single moment. I was also reading someone's blog where they were so saddened by the loss of a dear one, another blogger and that really saddened me as well. Young lives, young lives....... I always say one thing though, people, let's always be careful about the words that come out of our mouths. My mom always used to say you never know which kinds of spirits are passing by and will take your words up. Always be positive, talk positively about life, be full of energy and hope for the next day.

I'll leave with this quote from dear Lebo Mathosa when asked to comment after Brenda Fassie's death, she said "You can't deny death, you can't fear it. I'm sure God has a better place for us, if you're a believer". If you are a believer.

The Fours

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE (the interesting ones!)
1. Lingerie Specialist - Plus Size Store (yup, proud of this one!)
2. Market Research/Focus Group Interviewer
3. Bingo Attendant (I called out the numbers of the card when someone yelled BINGO!)
4. Customer Service Rep - Insurance

FOUR FICTIONAL JOBS YOU WISH YOU HAD
1. Storm from Xmen
2. MTV VJ
3. Beyonce's job (wharreva it is!)
4. First Lady of Nigeria (yes, and i'm a feminist, u got something to say?!?!)

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN
1. The Preacher's Wife
2. Shrek 2
3. Best Man
4. Kill Bill 2

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN
1. Lagos, Nigeria
2. Toronto, Canada
3. Ottawa, Canada
4. Boston, Massachusetts

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH
1. Greys Anatomy
2. Survivor South Africa
3. Gilmore Girls - can't help it, i love Logan
4. Sopranos (i've recently fallen back in love with this show!)

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION/TRAVELED TO
1. New York, USA
2. London, England
3. Abuja, Nigeria
4. Littleton, Colorado, USA

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY
1. www.hotmail.com
2. www.naijarules.com
3. www.bellanaija.com
4. www.google.com / www.gmail.com

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS
1. Tofu Stir-fry with Wheat Pasta (i really really like it, i swear!)
2. Spicy Salmon Sushi (again, anyone loves me wants to take me to Bonzai?!?!)
3. Eggs - anyhow
4. Chilli Prawns

FOUR THINGS YOU WON'T EAT
1. Red Meat
2. Amala
3. Dogs
4. "Bush Meat" - whadda hell?!?!

FOUR THINGS YOU WISH YOU COULD EAT OR DRINK RIGHT NOW
1. Pad Thai
2. Veggie Lasagna
3. Chicken Shawarma from Mango's
4. Greek Salad from Cosi

FOUR THINGS IN YOUR BEDROOM
1. My bed
2. Mirror
3. My magazines
4. My ankaras - yay!!!!!!!!!!

FOUR THINGS YOU WISH YOU HAD IN YOUR BEDROOM
1. Walk-in closet
2. Someone to clean it
3. TV
4. Internet

FOUR THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW
1. Black pants
2. Black bead bracelet
3. Peach Blouse
4. Livestrong band - yup, it ain't about fashion for moi!

FOUR PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
1. Seychelles Island
2. London, visiting with my cousin's baby!
3. Budapest (i don't know, almost visited there once and since it's been on the list of places to go)
4. St. Tropez

FOUR FICTIONAL PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
1. On Cloud 9
2. Visit that city where Gilmore Girls live...
3. Somewhere over the rainbow
4. Tony Soprano's house

FOUR PEOPLE YOU’D REALLY LOVE TO HAVE DINNER WITH
1. John Legend
2. Beyonce
3. Kanye West
4. Bill Clinton

FOUR THINGS YOU ARE THINKING RIGHT NOW
1. Hillary Clinton would be snooty
2. I'm gonna have to work at some point today....i'm so lazy right now
3. Can the lady behind me read what i'm writing?
4. I don't know how to clear the damn items....(don't ask!)

FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE THINGS
1. My family
2. VI/Lekki Phase I (let's not say Lagos!)
3. My new ankara dress
4. "Upgrade You" - Beyonce (i'm loooooooving this song!)

FOUR PEOPLE YOU TAG
Jeez, I don't know, i don't even think i know that much people that blog!

Yeah, it really IS Jigga

Ok, so I wasn't at the ThisDay Music Festival that held over this past weekend at Polo Club in Ikoyi. Which, let's be honest really sucks. The tickets were 25k per person or 100k per person VIP. I knew i didn't want to do the 25k thing, cuz if there's one thing i'm afraid of, it's nigerian crowds. Just my one experience at The Vault for the Big Brother eviction party, was enough to make up my mind. Pushing, shoving, too much "stushness", etc. So I wasn't gonna do that. Contemplated the 100k ticket for about a minute but then again, i came to the conclusion that it probably was a bad spending idea. I mean 100k could get me return tickets to europe, dubai, or south africa, definitely to ghana with some left over! Plus this is nigeria. After you spend your 100k they'll now tell you that there's a VIP extra and you can't go past that door (did any of y'all see that frasier episode?!)

Anywho, international artists were Beyonce, Jayz, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Ciara, Missy, and En Vogue. Plus some local acts...Dare Art Alade, D'banj, Tuface, Weird MC etc. I am actually quite proud of this event as I heard that at least the first night (with the top stars) went ahead without any hitch. Everyone keeps saying it was well organized which is a very big deal for nigeria. Ciara spoke some Yoruba and Beyonce sang the national anthem, which everyone is saying is the BEST they've ever heard it, so it's ALL good! Seriously I still can't believe that they pulled it off. Y'all should have seen the pic of Snoop at Murtala, I just CRACKED UP!!!! the man just looked like he was sweating like a Christmas goat, he didn't look so sleek.............Lagos heat'll do that to ya! This is definitely another sign that Nigeria is on the up and up. I don't care what anyone says about Obasanjo, but his administration have seen a lot of development in the economy, opening up of the image of Nigeria, and confidence in the country the world over. At least those are good things. So keep it up Nigeria & Nigerians!

Sorry about the quality of the pic, but hey, it's a newspaper, whaddya want?!?!

To Date or Not to Date

Has religion ever played a role in whether you date someone or not? Like right now, i'm having an issue with this. Really, i've never really gave a second thought to it. You like a guy, he likes you, good. We'll start with that and the rest of the stuff will work itself out. Any human's fundamental right includes the right to choose one's religion i believe and to choose and practice it freely, without condemnation. But would you as a christian, date a man who asks you to cover your hair in public? can you fast together during Ramadan? can you celebrate Salar together? Can you be quiet and take a background when he and other men are talking?!?! Are these stereotypes?!?! I know there are varying degrees of this. Some take a strictly orthodox view and some are little more liberal in their interpretations, but i'm saying y'all, this guy is kinda on the strict side. It's scary. And he's here assuring me that all that matters is the relationship between the two............uhm....NOT SO SURE BUDDY! He's like "my own pops married an Ibo woman who's not muslim so my family and myself are not like that"..............right, but HELLOOO?!?!!!!! YOU ARE, which says a lot about which side of the religion coin was winning in that household. hmmm..........i don't know sha. If there are any Hausa ladies or guys reading the blog, pls drop a note! Have you dated outside the religion and how difficult or easy was it?!?!

Considering that right now i'm loving Hausa boys, I may need to delve further it all of this. Dude was telling me about some sort of a celebration involving an Emir, complete with horse riding and full turban wear and everything, and warning me that, hmm............"you can't wear all that spaghetti strap things oooo!!!!" I'm already scared! But i tell him that shebi all those oyinbo women film these things for National Geographic, that i'd be fine. He's like, "have you ever seen video footage of inside the Emir's palace?" which i really haven't so now i'm really really scared.......me, i don't want to offend anyone o!

Oh, and when someone says "May God save and keep us all"............can i say "Amen, in Jesus' name?!?!"

I need answers!