How To Die On A Tuesday: Akìgbógun Olúwatúnmiṣe wins 2021 “Beauty in the Broken” creative writing contest
The Contest From the 15th to 30th of July, 2021, writers were required to submit a short story (fiction or creative nonfiction) of 200 words or less on the theme “Beauty in the Broken”. The contest had no strict age limit but anyone 16 or under was required to seek the consent of at least […]
It Drives Us Crazy
I don’t know why boys love cars or anything with wheels. Almost all their toys are a sort of miniature speed masters. I am not referring to you that grew up with ready-made toys kids in Japan make in their daddy’s garage, the same toys your daddy pay huge sums for. By “boys” I meant […]
“I Want to be a…” Their Dreams, Your Dreams and You.
When next you meet a child, try asking him what he wants to be in future and you may be surprised at the things you will hear. Perhaps, what should be of more importance to us is the passion children attach to their dream careers. Recently, I visited two kids close to where I live. […]
Superhero
I lost a pair of glasses recently, but I did not lose it per se, it was taken by a young cousin who felt she is more trend-conscious than I am. She had just visited, picked the pair of glasses, wore them and that was all. I have not really been a glass-wearing person, but […]
Time is NOT Money, Money Is Time
Monday! That word scares Lagosians like us. This is especially true since the time the whole world decided to visit Lagos every Sunday night, leaving us stunned in the morning. Where did all these people usually come from? You see, they want to disgrace us, they want to make us late for work on the […]
Wetin Concern Agbero With Overload?
I have been receiving expressions of sympathy lately for the “Lagos Traffic Week”, the same way you non-Lagosians have been asking ‘how do you people cope, how do you survive in that place…’ Thanks for the concern but, I keep telling you, Eko is not a mere ‘place’, it is Africa’s largest city! I am […]
Lagos Is Rouge
Life can be a bubble sometimes, a puddle at other times, a sparkle yet at another time… Life is a complete package. Lagos is too. When a friend saw the picture below on my social media status, he asked if it were recent and I said it was taken the previous day in Oshodi and […]
Castle
Yesterday a bare land stood Beneath it, a zeal the future dares Today a castle springs from its shoot I see no one on its stairs. Yesterday a poor man stood With dreams sealed in a box of fears Today his castle is worth a hoot He built it on the air! (dreams don’t build […]
EYE WEY DEY TALK (OJU TO N SORO)
One of the first Yoruba and Nigerian Pidgin phrases I learnt are as above. I was barely 7. I cannot remember where exactly I learnt it from, but for years my mind has associated it with Ola Rotimi and his The God’s Are Not To Blame book which had a glass-wearing man on the cover. I kept […]
Lagos Noir
If cities were a drink, then Lagos would definitely be a cocktail. No, not that expensive one they bring in an ice bath or that wear orange slices and covers itself in a straw umbrella, but local cocktail. I mean the cocktail that is a mixture of roots and herbs and lime and pineapple and […]