Way To Go

The most recent irritation to road users is the number of tariffs they have to pay just to use the roads. It’s amazing how different groups waylay drivers and collect all kinds of amounts of money from them as payment for one thing or the other. The worst part is the mode of payment. We all know tax laws are slack in this country but that doesn’t give every union and corporative the excuse to become hoodlums and terrorists.

Take Abuja for example (I live here so I should know), road workers are made to pay for tickets everyday or they will be penalized with a higher sum than they owed. A few months ago, a taxi driver I know went to Mararaba, the first town in Nasarawa State coming from Abuja and was fined for not having a receipt that carries the Nasarawa State emblem even though he had one with the FCTs’. You have to note that the only demarcation between Mararaba and Abuja is a pillar and the same buses run through the two towns.

The Difference He Made ~ Anonymous

I don't know who wrote this piece but it touched my heart and I hope it touches something in you.



"THE DIFFERENCE HE MADE"...'Amidst the morning mist of the swift returning tide, I set out on my daily run, my walkman on my side.Lost within my private world apart from cares and woes, I ran along the moistened shore, the sand between my toes. In the distance I saw a boy, as busy as can be.He was running,stooping,picking up, and tossing in the sea. Just what he threw, I couldn't tell, I looked as I drew near.It seemed to be a rock or shell~as I approached him I could hear. 'Back you go,where u belong,your safe now hurry home.Your family's waiting for you little starfish,hurry on!It seemed the evening tide had washed the starfish on the shore, And the swift receding water left a thousand there or more. And this self-appointed savior,was trying one-by-one to toss them back into the sea, against the racing sun.I saw his plight was hopeless, that most of them would die.I called out from my private world,'Hey kid, why even try?'. 'Must be at least a thousand here, strewn along the beach, And even if you had the time, most you'll never reach.You really think it makes a difference, to waste your time this way?'And then I paused and waited,just to hear what he would say. He stooped and took another, and looked me in the eye.'It makes a difference to this one sir, this starfish will not die!' With that,he tossed the little life,back where there was hope.He stooped to take another.I could tell this was no joke. The words that he spoke to me cut like a surgeon's knife.Where I saw only numbers,he saw only life. He didn't see the multitude of starfish on the sand.He only saw the little life he held there in his hand. He didn't stop to argue,to prove that he was right.He just kept tossing starfish in the sea with all his might. So I too stooped and picked up, and I tossed into the sea, And I thought just what a difference, that this boy has made in me."

WALKING PHONES

GSM Mobile phone use came into Nigeria in 2001 with Econet. As usual, they started in Lagos as the commercial center of the country and those of us in other areas just heard about experiences of its users. We only saw it on television and heard about it on the radio. It had become one of the fantastic things that were to remain a fantasy to those of us without a lot of thousands to spend on its acquisition. Then in came MTN, then known as “your best connection”. Apart from the competition and its wider coverage, it was a little lower than Econet in cost. By 2003, a large number of Nigerians could afford mobile phones because of the flood of options from Nokia and Samsung especially. I could afford a phone too. My father bought my very first mobile phone, a Samsung R220 popularly called “blue face” and I joined the league of GSM users. However, I had to squeeze out N12,000 to get an MTN sim card.

My Condolences to Us All

A friend of mine asked me a few days ago what my take on the Dana plane crash and its resultant reactions from people was and I answered that I didn't have one. He was shocked because I'm opinionated and I often have something to say. At his expression, I said, "its a sad situation" and gingerly left the conversation. I have read posts and comments from blogs and twitter and Facebook and listened in on conversations and its sad that we don't seem to be improving in our appreciation of the situation of our country, Nigeria.
What we face from corruption, to irresponsibility and arrogance is BAD (read my post "My Nigeria"). And even though we are all educated to an extent about how our leaders decisions and inaction is depreciating to us all by ripple effect, we still blame it on others. Most of what I read was that the fault of the crash was from Indians, Indians??? How dumb are we? Can't we see that because we can not service our own industries we have to bring in expatriates and then turn around and blame them for their failures? which really is ours because we manage to go to their schools, learn to be 'world best' and then remain in their countries to work for them as we can't cope the 'backwardness' of our own. Yes we pay them the big bucks, but if we are patriotic in any sense we will double check on what they are doing and not leave our lives in their hands.

Ultimate Ramblings 1: In Relative Terms

It is said that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. The law of karma says what comes around goes around or the bad you do will come back to haunt you (thoroughly paraphrased). Medically, they say an unripe fruit may contain the necessary acids for digestion. So, an unripe orange may be a better laxative than a ripe one and an unripe mango stands a lesser chance of increasing the frequency of toilet visits while a ripe one might induce such. Also, you cannot know how much strength you have until tested, neither can you know your capacity for pain unless your endure some. Can we say there is an antonym without a word? Therefore, there is no wealth without poverty and no love without hate. Only the state of a “status” describes the alternative.