EDEN

Image Source: Google  So, I know the first question on your mind if you are a Nigerian is, how seamless was the process? This question is mainly because of the engraved suffering – ‘hard work’ mode in our institutions’ processes DNA!  Trust me, I get it. And that was why my friends and I got to the centre at 4:30am. Oh, let me rephrase that, one of my friends, Debo, whose house was closer to the centre got there at 4.30am.   Of course, he wasn’t attended to – they told him, no one would be attended to until 8am.  Then, I got there some minutes before 5am. I thought I could use my smile and charm to soften the heart of the man my friend had met, to at least give us tally numbers. We were the first people at the centre and had wanted to just get the tally numbers, go for our jog and come back.     Anyways, my charm did not work. We were asked to stand outside the primary health centre’s gate until 8am. Then, we thought to ourselves, we can’t leave this place ...

 Never Forget  No doubt this pandemic has changed and will change a lot of things in our world. But more importantly, I hope that we will take a moment to see beyond the threats, all   the opportunities it may have given us to fill the gaps in our homes, relationships,   families and systems.  I know this too will pass – it’s not a cliché. May we however, never forget the labor of our heroes past and present;    The health care professionals who are combatting with this disease daily, risking their lives to save the world; Our teachers and teaching volunteers who have creatively and painstakingly created multiple channels for continuous learning – especially for children living in disadvantaged and poor communities; Individuals, non-profits and organisations who have pooled their resources or single handedly supported in providing relief materials for vulnerable communities; People who have shown random act of kindness; be it a...

I wrote this article earlier this month, precisely 4th of March after seeing a movie where a man stayed away from the world, at first unintentionally. It had both positive and negative impact to his mental health and relationships. But, I chose to focus on the positive while thinking about all of the good things that could happen when one stayed away for awhile from all possible distractions .   It had nothing to do with the current pandemic at the time of writing, but still, maybe you can link it up, learn and make the best of the moment. Enjoy! Isolation Apart. Aside. Hidden. Separate. Away In this realms of being alone, which we mostly dread. We bring forth that which is unknown, embracing it so dearly that it becomes real and a part of us. This, I think is the mystery of our gifts and being. I imagine we have likened the word isolation, to being terrible, uncool, unpopular, unwanted, and rejected. In as much as some of these events may lead to the begi...

To be Human again Over the past few months for some countries and few weeks for others, one thing seems to have sort of united the entire world. A similar virus that knows no nationality, fame, social status, race or religion; literally no one is immune completely from this virus. As I think deeply about the challenges at hand and how it would (is already) affecting different nations, I thought about several areas of life, socio-economic impact   and the possible lessons we can learn from this crisis, especially in Nigeria. In as much as it is very tempting to lump together all of these lessons in one post, I think it would be more interesting to pace it, pick a perspective per time, share and take up on another. So today, I would like to touch on lesson 1 – to be human again. I know a lot of people have been thinking in this direction. Some call it a plague, memes are put up on the ‘end of the world’ with an illustration of Noah’s Ark. Many people and nations are tu...