The Carnival That Is A Nigerian Funeral

Two days ago, a friend and I were talking about how funerals in Nigeria are turned into carnivals, rather than solemn ceremonies for friends and family. The excessive demands from clans people and the debts people incur in order to bury the dead. Certainly not the only country who goes overboard with burial ceremonies, ours…

If You Don’t Broaden Your Horizon, Who Will?

“Ordinarily, you should be a housemaid somewhere in Lagos. Your parents must have really worked hard to be able to send you to the university.” This was said to me by a friend’s roommate, in my second year in the university. We weren’t fighting at the time or anything; she was making what she believed…

You’ve Got To Try A Little Kindness

I was seated at the back of the taxi, behind the front passenger, musing to myself. That's when I saw her. Or rather, I saw her car. It was a fiery red, like a fully mature ata rodo pepper; it was no surprise it caught my attention. She was driving, her side window beside mine.I…

The Walk of a Thousand Men

As part of the activities to mark the sixteen days campaign on violence against women, Mercy Corps, a leading global humanitarian agency which works to save and improve lives in the world's toughest places, has organized the #walkofa1000men against violence against women and children. At a media launch held at the Mercy Corps office in…

Many Nigerian Soldiers are Basic Bullies

Last Saturday,  the 19th of March 2016,  anyone travelling along Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road early in the morning until around noon,  would have witnessed this bizarre sight gross abuse of power. At Ikot Umoh Essien,  the border-land between Akwa Ibom and Abia states,  soldiers stopped buses and ordered the all the passengers in those buses who…