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JUST THIS MORNING...

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  Just this morning, I was walking my children to school, and I saw this young, handsome, African man dutifully putting waste bins into the truck. It is sometime before 8 and it is still dark. We exchanged greetings, he smiled warmly, and we acknowledged that African hood in silence, sealed with a smile and a nod of the head. Then I passed, but my thoughts did not. It dwelt with this young man and wondering whom his relatives are – some fools back in Africa who would be complaining that he is sending little money or nothing at all. Some of these entitled brethren range from blood siblings to schoolmates, and people who saw him pass to school on foot everyday. The African way: the child belongs to the community and anyone you do not send money to becomes a sworn enemy in whose eyes you instantly become stingy and selfish. Some of these claimants will not come down their high horses to do the kind of job this brother is doing here. My mind went back to Nigeria, to how we naturally look
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"Call me if you need anything..."

People are very nice generally. You know this when you see someone hurt in an accident or someone collapses in the middle of the street. Every one becomes concerned. The reasons for may differ, bit there's hardly any one that looks away from an individual or persons that are involved in an accident. But when you need help yourself. I mean when you actually ask for help by yourself. It's shocking how, in the main, we draw excuses of why the help wouldn't come other than the help you actually need.   Why? Why do we get more help when we are helpless and visibly can do little for ourselves that when we actually ask for it? Like an aged person trying to get somewhere or do something. Or even a pregnant woman. Which reminds me quite humorously about this friend of mine who received unsolicited helping in crossing an open sewer, with an unsolicited admonition to take it easy on herself as a young mother-to-be, because this helper thought she was pregnant. She didn't bothe
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"My Husband washes my Undies"

My country is indeed an interesting place! I read with consternation as a couple of women reportedly emerged on social media to announce to the world what their spouses do and whatnots. I believe the whole noise came off one of the events on the ongoing BBNaija show where one of the contestants reportedly washed the pants of his love interest. And the dying-to-be-distracted throng of Nigerian youths started another session of tantrum throwing on the internet over whether Neo (so is his name) should have or have not washed Vee's (I hope am correct) panties. And the stuff even made it to  Premium Times  and BBC .  So much noise about nothing, if you ask me! This is not the first time this is happening. In a previous season of BBNaija, another housemate sparked controversies for washing the undies of his love interest. A lot of internet perfectionists came out with condemnations or adulations. Others came with nothing. I call it the dying-to-be-distracted throng. The mass of Nero'
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Breaking Silence

I have been hibernating for a while now; observing rather than speaking, meditating instead of rationalizing. So many things going bad around the globe: from mass shootings to going on a killing spree with a truck. Sometimes I wonder whether humanity hasn't somehow degenerated into some primeval mode. On the other side of the spectrum is the mass killings from the sky, with drones and fighter jets. The same humanity that is being ravaged by myriad diseases and natural disasters still finds itself honing the skills for the production of weapons of mass destruction rather than collectively working towards finding a way to solve their other more salient challenges. I have always believed that much of the world's conflicts stem from the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. Let's look at the balance of power amongst countries. The West against the rest of the world. The "West" also includes Europe and Australia which are not in anyway in the West, and
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That is the Nature of the Grotesque: You can't Look Away

I was watching Pete Buttigieg on Fox TownHall the other day, and he made this interesting comment when asked about President Trump. He said that it is the nature of the grotesque that you just can't look away. That statement had multiple meanings for me. For instance, I could identify how it captures the entire gamut of all I've been saying about stand-up comedy and jokes because I am yet to know a joke that does not stir up the abnormal, the incongruous, denigration, in fact, in general, the grotesque. In spite of the negativities that they elicit, jokes still make us laugh, smile or even have a sense of wellness when they do not offend us. What is the grotesque? A few examples will suffice. I was at CDG Airport in Paris. I just finished using the toilet - I always do. Airport toilets always call to me whenever am passing through. Perhaps, I should even do an article on airport toilets I've visited. Maybe next time. So, I came out with all my hand luggage after doin
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Learning Deutsch

The first time we arrived purposely to learn German, we were so enthusiastic. For me, I haven't really sat down to learn a new language, perhaps because there are no formalised institutions for learning Nigerian languages as in Germany. And that strikes me as odd! No one seems to have discovered that we could actually create formalised outlets for learning some, if not all, of our 250 languages. If that had existed, I could have spent time learning good Hausa formally in the six years that I spent teaching in Gombe.  But again, there is yet another snag: why would one pay, sometimes heavily, to learn a language that perhaps has little or no global presence? People have been learning German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and they are now learning Chinese even in Europe. Why? The people who own those languages have some value or so they think, that those who are learning their language want. Take a look at English language. Even with Brexit, a lot of European nations are still sc
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A World Wallowing in So Much Hatred?

I wouldn't have written about this if it wasn't for the manner my mind keeps returning to it. My wife and I went for "Wohnung Anziehen" in a little, prosperous-looking town called Heidesheim. Just off the train, we took a long walk because we weren't sure of how the only bus that operates in the town works. We also somehow wasn't sure of our way and the world's most trusted "Navi" wasn't much of a help since our internet connection chose that moment to go visit its ancestors. But that's not what am concerned about. We just finished our business with this beautiful family, and were standing at the bus stop - a 40+ minutes wait for the next ride into the city for our other appointment. There were no seats there. It's actually one of those bus stops on a narrow highway out of town which is usually marked out by just a signpost and nothing else. So our position was on the sidewalk, with a shrubby incline behind us and then the fenc
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