It's 3.23am, it's early into a new day and I am not asleep yet. Don't get it twisted, I don't have exams coming up, no tight deadlines either...so what on earth am I doing awake? I am not on FB and not up to blog or play either...I just got home, well not even home technically, I am putting up at a friends for the night (more like morning). "In my house in Ibadan, I have Three generators (7KVa diesel, one 5KVa petrol and one 2KVa petrol) and Two sources of water (well and borehole)."
I stopped clubbing, late night hang outs and parties a while back and I haven't been to a vigil in a while. What am I doing awake and why am I just getting home? I haven't answered that question yet but I will - I was in traffic on Lagos Ibadan expressway for 6 hours, almost a whole work day/shift. The journey of forty minutes became a journey of 7 hours, Abeokuta to Lagos, I am indeed wasted!!!
The day started on a rather promising note, after all it was a work free day...DEMOCRACY DAY. It started with a trip to the barber's, window shopping to kill time (since I bought nothing) and then a smooth drive to Abeokuta to spend quality time with my childhood friends and see a mentor. I had to leave Abeokuta reluctantly as I was having some fun, food and fad, reminiscing over old and new times with my quartet of childhood friends. One of us is married so we had our wife to do some home food and a babygirl to spice up the jist.
Anyways, I left Abeokuta around 7pm and hoped to be in Festac in about1.5 hours...for where, for 9ja, bobo!!! Never even got to Festac that day, spent my DEMOCRAZY evening in traffic, added a little of my 'environment sanitation' morning too. Throughout the long and tedious drag and drive, I kept thinking about my beloved country and the cynical and calamitous state of our basic social amenities. I really came close to weeping for my country (wept on the journey for another reason anyway but unbloggable :)).
I am forced to wonder if Nigeria will ever be great, even doubt if it has ever been great, I never grew to find any trace of the acclaimed 'Giant of Africa'...felt like a figment of some geek's imagination, bobo as some would call it. I love this country, no doubt!, I cherish it and want the best for it. I had the opportunity to have been of the shores of the country for academic reasons but I never tried staying out, my heart was always back here (HOME).
I stayed in the UK for one full year obtaining a MBA in Business Management from the University of Sheffield in 2005/2006. I will never forget my first night...please don't abuse me...no be my fault. I remember switching on my lights on the first night in Sheffield, I remember clearly the reaction I had to the brightness of the light, I remember thinking the bulb was going to explode, I remember thinking it was all too bright...in fact I switched it off. The truth is PHCN light and our old generator back at my "father's" is all I had known before my trip, none of the above ever clocks more than 180 volts. In fact, PHCN at 160 volts (the norm) was a great feat, better that than the low current (voltage) alternative.
In my house in Ibadan, I have Three generators (7KVa diesel, one 5KVa petrol and one 2KVa petrol) and Two sources of water (well and borehole). I have consciously decided not to pay PHCN anymore, can't keep paying for a facility I don't enjoy. Ask Ibadan indigenes, anything public is a luxury, especially water!
I am a tax paying citizen of Nigeria, never defaulted on that. If I make my tax bill public, it may result in a public outcry. The fact that I pay it to the current government of that state makes it absolutely ridiculous, a total waste of my hard earned income. Understand my plight when I tell you I am not sure if there is indeed a government in that state, the first in the West of darling Nigeria.
to be continued...
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