BUNMILOFE'S MUSINGS

About two Wednesdays ago, it was still October, late October though, but still October.   I was on a drive to Falomo with a colleague. As we drove past the Civic center, I observed that someone had adorned the fence with Christmas lights. Surprised, I retorted "why are these people rushing, Christmas lights already?" Laughing, my colleague responded, "but its October already, how far away is Christmas?" Smiling, I let the matter drop, still somewhat convinced the lights had been placed too early. Fast forward another two days, I’m talking to a dear friend over the phone and  he says; "I can smell Christmas already". Finally I realized, it isn’t people who are rushing, it is the year that is running by. And it is not just running, it already ran. The year is over already, Christmas is here! But, wasn’t it just new year a couple of months ago? Even if Christmas and new year happened long ago, what about Valentine, Easter, all the Eid’s? When did th

I like reading car stickers. Some are downright funny, some are almost annoying, others are thought starters, and some others just simply make no sense. They come in different categories.   Religious car stickers easily take the position of most popular. At least, one of every four cars  you encounter on a Lagos road would have one. There are the general ones which are just statements of religious affiliation. For instance the car belonging to a Christian would often times carry ‘if God be for me....’   or ‘touch not my anointed’, or   ‘a life without Christ is in crisis’, ‘no Jesus, no peace; know Jesus, know peace’ , and the list goes on. The Muslim establishing his affiliation to Allah too would have ‘Allah reigns’ conspicuously displayed somewhere around his plate number. Religious stickers sometimes take it further. Beyond just establishing that the car owner is a Christian or Muslim, it can continue to tell you the denomination and doctrine he buys into. So you would see ‘So

I love Nigerians!   We are the definition of the phrase: ‘your brother’s keeper’. We watch out for others so much it is almost too much.   It could be almost annoying at times, at other times it could be the saving grace in certain situations. For instance, in my quest to get to work this morning, I had to wait a few minutes at car-wash bus-stop for the God-sent who was going to help me to work. As I waited, a young woman driving one of those extremely feminine Beetle cars parked and got out of her car.   She hurriedly opened the bonnet and discovered the car was overheating. Leaving the bonnet open, she went to her car to get a bottle of water. She was about to pour the water into the carburetor   when one of the LAWMA officials   who had already crossed the road to go wherever it is he was going hurriedly crossed back screaming: “madam, no pour the water, no pour the water!”. Shocked, she paused to look. In no time, the man was standing by her and explaining the effect of po

I have been in somewhat of a mood this week. A lot of things on my mind, not altogether serious or bad, just thought provoking occurrences and yes, good ones too. Even the good ones got me thinking. For instance, I am getting a lot of positive feedback about the blog and it is mighty encouraging. My aim is to provoke deep thinking as well as create an escape from the stress that comes with living. And so far, responses have proven that it is being achieved. Yet, with successes come bigger challenges.  My first success is that I started, finally! After much thought, consideration, procrastination and feet dragging, I finally started. That immediately brings with it the challenge of continuing, one that seems oh so simple but isn't quite elementary. Its not enough to start, I must continue. Next big success, people are reading and loving it. That is so flattering but again so challenging, it means I must ensure that the write ups do not just stay good, they must keep getting bet

I am in a fly mood today and the reason is not farfetched; holiday tomorrow! Yeah, I totally love my job but I love my house too. So last night, it felt like a Thursday and I just wanted to get home in good time.   Then I hit the road and it looked like everybody in Lagos wanted just the same thing I wanted. The traffic was not of this world. Then mercy found me and the colleague that gave me a ride decided to boycott 3rd mainland to pass Carter Bridge. That was a life changing decision. Before I knew it, we were on Ikorodu road, and whew, I was in Anthony, faster than I could have imagined. That reawakened my dream to get home early. However, at the bus-stop, there was a ton of people and too few buses. Before one could even hear what the bus conductor was saying, the bus would have filled up and zoomed off. I stood there and watched my dream to get home early fizzle away with every bus that drove off. Then it hit me, why wait for new garage bus when I can board any other bus