“’A’ parallel”

Dad to Son: Listen to me boy, you must make all A’s in this Common Entrance exam, I don’t want to hear any excuse(s)!!!

That's the scene i foresee in Nigeria in the coming years.

Just last month, i was having a discussion with a friend about the unemployment rate in Nigeria and we reasoned that with the way things are going, prospective employers will soon start making some ‘crazy’ categorization of the type of applicants they need for any advertised job. Our thinking then was “forward” in the sense that we reasoned, in the long run only graduates with a First class degree and Masters degree holders will be favoured to even  write an aptitude test in the country, but alias our thinking should have been “backward” (you can’t blame us simply because we are both  Masters degree holders, so we could only feel better with the thought that we are well placed for any job opening).

So the thought should have been “backward” because companies are now including grades from WAEC as requirements for the applicants they want, this new development obviously surpasses the requirement for gaining admission into the university (which is 5 credits) because grades such as B’s and A’s are the reques6ted standards.

Can i blame the companies for the new development? My answer is NO with the astronomic population of Nigeria and the rate at which we turn out graduates every year, employers are scared of placing placing adverts of vacancies in the dailies because they are faced with hundreds and thousands of applications and the process of selection could cost a fortune.

My advise thus is that applicant should brace up for more classifications e.g. Jamb scores, Primary school results, Common entrance grades, Junior Secondary School grades etc… ok maybe it won’t get that worse but hey don’t slack.

For the newly wedded, you better warn your children yet unborn of this development so that they will be able to rake in the A’s early in life if not “dem no go get job o” a word they say is enough for the wise. I rest my case.

My “not golden” anniversary with Naija

My union with this old lady called “Naija” nee Nigeria and Niger area can not be termed as golden not for the obvious fact Naija has not lived up to the expectation placed on it by my humble self and the world at large but simply because i am yet to even celebrate a silver jubilee with her talk less of a golden one (well y’all now know i am below 25yrs of age :)… lol)
That said, in my twenty something years relationship with this great nation i have seen a lot of changes take place, the changes if plotted on a graph sheet would be similar to a combined graph of the heart beat of someone coming from a  state of coma with the little fluctuations and that of an athlete who just finished a long distance race.
Let me talk about “Then and Now”, then being in d 80’s and now being 2010.

NYSC:
It use to be a thing of pride to serve ones country back then, putting on the well ironed khaki and the jungle boots even gives some people a little more pride than putting on the convocation gown. Corp members were welcomed in every community they were assigned to and they were being treated as visitor with respect. I can’t recollect if people were adamant on influencing their posting or lobbying to work in blue chip companies back then but what i know is that if it existed, it would have been done only by a small percentage. NYSC was aimed at strengthening our nationhood and the concept of a federation.
Now we have all sort of problems with the scheme! to the extent there were calls for it to be scrapped around 2008 and the Senate presidents remark of a two years tenure was definitely not welcome early 2010 with insult flying in from all quarters. Parents lobby to have their children posted to choice states, the officials make a whole lot of money from the shady deals. The prestige is no longer there

“i never wore my khaki to my PPA for the whole one year period of the assignment.”

Employers see Corps members as cheap labour, the federal governments allowance can not afford the fresh graduates constant three square meals for one month! who is to be blamed and what is the way forward? These are definitely discussions for another day.

Higher Education
Hmmm this one makes my heart bleed… The “then” of this particular one is definitely not in the 80’s but in the 70’s because i only hear the good news from people way older than myself.  The University system in Nigeria was a landmark to the whole of Africa, the teachers (professors) were willing to pass down the knowledge not lobbying for political positions. I heard they had three square meal, cleaners in the dorm, free laundry, great accommodation, on-campus recruitment exercises, 24 hours electricity, conducive environment, great student unions etc… How i wish i was around then to enjoy all :(.
The population grew rapidly and the enrolment in both primary and secondary schools jumped up, thus the pressure was on  the higher institutions to expand so as to meet up with the demand. The “now” story is terrible unimaginably and unimaginably terrible!!! there are virtually no schools to cater for the thousand of students seeking admission, due to poor funding of the schools the admission process has been turned to a money making jamboree for the universities, teachers go on strike as often as they ought to be in class imparting knowledge, the lecturers exploit the students, the students threaten the lecturers, cultism thrives, the calendar is no longer predictable, the equation is now ({Paper Duration of program * x} = Actual duration of program) where x=nth variable which ideally should be 1.
The private universities are there to help accommodate the growing population but they are way too expensive for the average Nigerian while only a few can boast of having quality in their output part of which is my alma mater Covenant University :).

Music
Yea i love music too and I've got my favourite past and marvellous  present crop of music and musicians. Back then we had quality music from the local scene made in our local dialects, i can still remember rocking to Afro Juju by Sir Shina Peters at a birthday party in the early 90’s as well as songs from KSA, Barrister and the Abami Eda himself Fela. Stage performances were the bomb! musicians had their bands which brought creativity to the fore. while the local dialect musicians were making good music same could not be totally said of the “hip hop” musicians that were singing in English dialect, we had the likes of Remedies (Tony, Eddy and Eedris), Plantation boiz (Black face, Tu Face and Faze), Maintain (Tolu and Olu)… though they set the pace for the present crop to thrive, their music videos were not of the best quality, lyrics wise only Plantation boiz tripped me!!! Others were just singing crap. Just as Rugged man put it in his song titled “Ruggedy Baba”… “back then 3 rappers on stage was like 10 throwing a tantrum”
The “Now” Music in Nigeria has got a lot better for the musicians that sing in English dialect or pidgin, lyrical wise we have improved even though some musicians still sing crap, genre wise we have got a lot of variety that we cannot even categorise again (afro hip hop, afro pop, Yoruba pop, Afron RnB etc). The beat seems to be what makes the music when the lyrics isn't tight, Stage performance wise I'd say there is still a whole lot of room for improvement… only the likes of Asa, Dare Art Alade and Tu Face trip me with creativity on stage, others simply lip-sing/mime to their song playing in the background(not even the instrumental). The quality and concept of our videos make me go ‘WOW’ but I'm beginning to see repetition maybe due to the few numbers of music video directors it is either DJ Tee, Clarence Peter, Kemi Adetiba or Sesan.
On the overall i will say “Big Ups” to the current musicians making us proud. Especially Asa, MI, Tu Face

This write up is as a result of boredom but I’m sure you were not bored reading the piece. :)
Back to the celebration of Nigeria

“if the yam harvest is good we celebrate if its bad we still celebrate while we ask for blessing” Debaters 2010

thus i say Cheers to Nigeria, Happy Anniversary. Love you lots. x 
NB: Crucify me for any mistake in this write up and note that everything herein is my own point of view. Feel free to put your comments below or better still you can recount your own “then and now” below. Cheers

My reply to a post about the Docudrama Welcome to Lagos

<<<<<<<Here is the link to the blog post http://calabarboy.com/2010/05/03/welcome-to-lagos-telling-our-untold-stories/ by Reginald Bassey.>>>>>>>>>>

I’ve had the best n worst of argument with pals about this documentary and read a host of blogs about it as well, then a few criticism like that of Wole Soyinka (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/28/soyinka-bbc-lagos-documentaries-criticism) and I guess the majority (part of which I belong to ,) of the viewers appreciated the stories behind the visuals and felt the BBC crew did justice to it.

For the haters though i’ve some words and recommendation to give…
1. It was a documentary and not a PR stunt for Lagos so why were u expecting to see VI/Ikoyi/etc

2. Our dirty linen(slums) was washed in public(International stage)… i’d say YES!!! the fact is that we’ve got one and it must still b washed publicly!!! since Nollywood can’t wash it neither can NTA/AIT/etc which i will tag “private” in this case

3. Would you be happier or feel worse off if after a nice day at the slum Eric goes home to Scam a foreigner? or u see Esther wearing a sexy top begging to cover her nakedness looking for customers on the beach? or Papa Patience beating up his wife and refusing to celebrate her Birthday? My guy there could be worse stories!!!

Recommendation:
If u r so mad about the way u or ur beloved city was portrayed, i can lend u my Camcorder then i will give u a print out of the map of the london tube. Going from liverpool street at night to Paddington u will def. see enough hobo (a word i just learnt from Soyinka’s criticism) begging for pennies.

OR

Tell Ben TV to collaborate with Madam Rebrand Nigeria maybe NTA and co. can just come do some few days in UK to film those unfortunate ones that the policies of the UK govt. doesn’t touch.

OR

Clean ur house (Nigeria) so that another man won’t come and tell it stinks as Reggie puts it.

TO the BBC crew:
Nice documentary or Docudrama as Reggie puts it but i’m afraid to tell u to take a good look at Chimamanda Adichie’s “Danger of a single story” (http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html) simply because u just told my stories as one of resilience in hard times with integrity, i don’t want u to show me that of resilience in hard times with “fraudulent means” like the Yahoo boyz.

But then again i would ve to tell u to take that look because that title “Welcome to Lagos” is WRONG! u should ve added “slums” to the title or “part of” lol… but on the overall I’d say well done.

NB: i for write my own article sef. but i get Exam wey i gas to tackle for here lol… Holy Reggie Nice piece. ciao…

Those days when…

Life seems to go on when you say goodbye… most especially when you are looking at a brighter future… filled with hopes and promises.

You look back at that point and you smile at those you “parted ways” with on a journey to the unknown but with a clear end in mind… time lapses and distance widens, call frequency becomes shorter, chatting becomes less often… and you wonder all alone in a busy world.

Yes!!! you make new friends every now and then hoping you find a place in your heart to accommodate them all… and life goes on again…

Then it dawns on you like a sudden darkness caused by an eclipse that there will always be a longing in your heart for those that have really made you who you are today… those that you initially told “goodbye” a little while ago… then you long to be in their company once again… catching up on the good old days when you can talk about every and anything or rather not talk and even in the silence make a whole lot of sense… days when you could beckon on their shoulder to carry you through…

Those days when…

I was always glad to receive 2 sachet of Pure water from Y Moore every night

Those days when…

I could look at Ify’s eyes and feel a resounding comfort that i have a friend who will pray that GBOF

Those days when…

I couldn’t just stop cracking jokes with Dipo “Oridipe” and listen to his words of advise

Those days when…

I, Tope “Agunsuya” and Funto “Nameless” would joke about everything and share everything

Those days when…

I would yab Adenuga and he would always forgive me and call me brother

Those days when…

I would always call Ogunremi my sister

Those days when…

I cared so much about Foluke “Floxy, mama” and wouldn’t want to see anything hurt her

Those days when…

Wale Okurinboye “Oku, Smith” would always want to get his point across to me and talk about Encarta

Those days when…

Hugo was my room mate and would always disturb me with his early morning “Gymming” routine

I miss you guys deeply and always want you to know there is always a place in my heart for you till i drop my last breath. God loves you and so do I.

Cheers

 

NB: I only get emotional and write stuffs like this once every 7 years lol…

25 Random Stuffs about me

1 Making people happy is my joy

2 I love Computer Science but couldn't study it cos i had "P" in Integrated Science in my JSCE

3 I have committed so many Sins (Lied, Stolen, Cheated,.....) some i hate to remember others bring funny memories..nig navy caused most of the sins

4 If i had the chance to turn back the hands of time i would have done some things differently...but no regrets

5 Sometimes i wish i could be a little closer to my Dad

6 I use to love Cooking but its becoming too stressful!!!

7 I kinda have a double life some see me as dis gentle guy n others can't just imagine me being gentle

8 I do have Mood Swings

9 Problems and my sober moments makes me closer to God...

10 I love working out my own salvation

11 I have dis passion for designing and editing, i think i got this from my mum who studied Visual Art

12 Every person i have ever loved or cared about knows about it cos i show it n say it...

13 Funny enough ……………..

14 When am sober i perform better (Academically)

15 I love listening to music.....esp. Nigerian music

16 Sitting in front of the TV watching Movies can be annoying to me

17 I rarely attend parties or events

18 I have only attended two Wedding Ceremony in my entire life till this date though lol....pls my female friend start wedding so i can attend some before i settle down lol

19 Some times i think so deep about this world and what i really have to do to make the best use of my stay here on earth

20 I tell people am not afraid of death as far as it comes in no painful way

21 I hold my friends close to my heart...i even have this pen pal from my Sec. Days we still call one another but we have never met...

22 I am quick to forgive those that offends me

23 I was scared of being the best because of the demand that come with it, but that has change now....

24 My hobbies are working on my PC, Gisting with pals, listening to music, learning new things.......

25 Finally i am what u feel i am Good, Bad, Ugly, Fine, Kind, Wicked

Thought i was losing it… but now i know i have lost IT!!!

Now the reality seems to be looking me straight in the eyes and i am confronted with my stolen words way back “…i can see clearly now the rain is gone…” It use to be a song just like any other with its words touching deep down the soul of the listener, but to me this meant more than just words.

It use to be what i hoped for with a promise of making the best use of it and being the best amongst the rest ‘primus inter pares’ but its obvious i have lost it.

Where did i miss it? This question hurts me! though many model answers are running across my mind but i can’t seem to pin point on the particular source of my wrong step…

Yea i didn’t think it through before i made my decision…

i tried as much as possible to shy away from the/my reality…

i tried my best to keep away from knowing more than i needed to…

tried my best to make my views known…

tried my best to state my likes and dislike…

tried my best to always be the best!!!

but it seems my best wasn’t good enough… on a second thought i disagree my best was good enough but it takes more than me to make it worthwhile… what is the essence of a vision to a CEO if his lowest paid staff doesn’t agree with him? and he goes ahead to ruin a clear vision… but he is the CEO, why not sack 6he man and get someone who would share your vision!  Am i like the CEO? that sound BOSSY! and trust me its not one of the traits i have/had/or will ever have.

But it seems its clear… DON’T GO WITH PEOPLE WHO DON’T SHARE THE SAME VISION AS YOU because all they will do is drag you down and hinder the possibility of a success.

Yea i have lost it and fortunately its a piece not far from being fixed… all i need is just the grace to pull it through and i will sing once more saying “…i can see clearly now the rain is gone…” simply because we learn everyday with every moment and experience.

Tope Omoniyi

(c) 2010

Songs and the memories they bring to me...

When i hear these songs i remember some key moments in my life

Afro juju: Shina Peters… The number one party tune in the 90's, those dance steps and the atmosphere around then....

Seun Rere: Christy Essien, Oro re o: ******, look left look right b4 u cross: ****Childhood (songs played on TV) can't remember the artist names.

Deliverance: Bubba Sparks… Days i stayed home when  JAMB jammed me, the song was my favorite

Thou Art a Shield for Me: Psalm 3: BYRON CAGE… Had my best GPA in University cos of this song in Yr2, i fed on it Day, Night., Dreaming lol....

King of Kings: Cece Winans… Yr 2/3 in CU

Goodbye my lover: James Blunt… My yr3 in CU was kinda in a dilemma *No further gist* lol

Graduation: Vitamin C… Final days in CU

One step at a time: Jordin Sparks… Days NYSC was frustrating my effort for a change of PPA

Shayo: Bigiano, Le Fenu so: 9ice n Lord of Ajasa…NYSC Camp these songs were played everyday from dusk till dawn, Mami market can testify to this

No Air: Jordin Sparks n Chris Brown… My Nokia N70 Phone that was stolen *sob* that was my Ring Tone for months, i've stopped listening to the song now sef... bad memory lol…

These songs make me remember certain people
Jailer: Asa… reminds me of Dorcas of Project Fame West Africa, she was such a darling! “a cat with nine lives”

Bibanke: Asa… reminds me of Wale Okunrinboye

There is a name: Cage Byron… Reminds me of Dipo "Oridipe" Oludipe

Feel this: Rooftop Mc… Reminds me of Ugo Nwude's song in yr2

Let the Peace of God Reign: Darlene Zschech… Reminds me of Orero Ojaide, she gave me dis song as a gift n i've been loving it since then

Oh no: Mo Hits Crew… Reminds me of my crazzzzzyyy room mate George Olawumi *He love one part in that song dat is "%^@* it goes like *being with u is more than ur .......*

So guys lil bit of me… Kindly write one song down in the comment section and what or who it reminds u of...Thanks n God Bless