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The Yellow Bus City

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Eko akete (Lagos) Ilu ogbon (the home of wisdom) Aro dede maja (an elastic city) Eko aromi sa legbe-legbe (Lagos that balances on the edge of waters) Eni to o ba lo si eko ti o ba gbon (one who goes to Lagos and does not become wise) Ti onitohun ba lo s’ajo ko le gbon (will never be wise even if they travel abroad) Bi oju ko ba t’eyin igbeti, (If the marshy areas are not disgraced) Oju ko le ti eko ile (then Lagos can never be disgraced) These words echo through time—Eko: a city resilient, wise, and never disgraced. Image generated by ChatGPT by OpenAI , customized to feature an aerial view of Lagos, Nigeria . Lagos! LAGOS!! LAGOS!!! The Yellow Bus City The city with the large heart, welcoming all to prosperity. Lagos Eko ile! When I step into a room, I hold my head high—BECAUSE, do you know where I am from? I be Lagos Babe ooo! The confidence is follow-come , ever-present rather than wavering— a ma fi shakara gbe. This is my Lagos. My Lagos? Born, bred, and buttered up in Ek...
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N...O...!

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No! Yes, I mean … No! Sweet, Simple, Plain No! How often have you found yourself saying anything and everything but NO! Looking back, I see a lot of times I should just have said No! No extra explanations, shy yeses, consenting silences, just sweet, plain ol’ NO! As a strong-willed child, I said No a lot. I mean, my dad said I started every sentence with NO. Even if I was going to agree with you, No would find its way in my response. Now a politically correct adult, I find myself not saying No enough! I want to say No more. I found that being agreeable is taken for granted and exploited by a lot of people.  Remembering a quote I learnt as a child; “ the gentility of a tiger does not symbolize its timidity ”, simply put on the streets of Lagos, Oó pọ̀ ní ilẹ̀ bí Iyẹ̀pẹ̀!  Never take a person's choice to be agreeable as an excuse to walk over them. While some may naturally be agreeable, others went through (or still undergoing) therapy to discover their soft side; you don't...
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A trip around the Sun...

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A kaleidoscope of three sixty-something days around the sun. The past year will be one I won't forget quickly. While it went by so fast, I remember days when it felt like time froze. Days where words filled my heart, and I just could not put them together. Drafts started but were not complete; empty note pages littered my Keep. We never truly know how far we can go until there is no option but to keep going. The night before I left home, I cried, I cried because I thought three months was too long to be away from my family. Three, four, five, six, seven, EIGHT! months until we were together again. This experience, I will forever cherish because it taught me to appreciate being together with my loved ones. You know how we take it for granted when we have people around, constantly annoyed with each other's presence, bickering over little things, all these are what make our lives with each other colourful. For the fun part, I'd be telling the rest of the story in pictures I to...
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New Frontiers

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 A new phase in this journey called life! A little background gist: I am a deep lover of my country Nigeria. Whether the love is reciprocated is a story for another writer, definitely not me.  I always felt I had no need to relocate; if people made it here, I could also make it without leaving. I planned to thrive gracefully in my 9ja. Omo! No matter the planning, 9ja throws a spanner in the plan from time to time, till plan get k-leg. I have a wonderful family, both nuclear and extended, and I am very content in this regard. I had a job but wanted more and definitely deserved more. Don't get me wrong, all employees always want a little more no matter how much they get, but the responsibilities increased (this I am thankful for the experience gained), but the remuneration crawled behind. This imbalance created a yearning that had me looking to explore.  "...You are almost through with your professional exams; why not try to enroll for an MBA to add your qualifications. Th...
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T... A... T...

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  photo credit:  Pinterest Flashback to a thirteen year old me who's alter ego was a Gothic-punk red hair girl, I had a crazy to-do bucket list. Some things off the list includes getting piercings everywhere possible, get a ratchet hair cut, and full sleeve tattoos. Eventually got just one extra ear piercing, got an haircut although it was not ratchet but never a tattoo. Is there one thing you always wanted to do but just cannot do because of a reason or the other? Well for me, it getting permanent tattoos. I LOVE tattoos.     As a young girl I wanted so much to grow up and be able to get tats without anybody chewing my head off (whispers parents) . By the time I grew up, at least old enough to take such decisions without recourse to anybody, I had learnt it is not permissible based on my religious belief. This however did not stop my appreciation of tattoos on people.     Body art; some with cultural significance (e.g. Tā moko by the Mā...
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On Becoming ... ME

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Sitting here wondering... do I truly know who I am? How do I describe myself?   Oh, I know me. But How do I describe myself to you. It's the perfect tag for me I seek. Couple of times when I really had to answer this question, my answers always depend on who is asking. Inside I am Me and a hundred more. No, it is not bipolar or multi personality disorder.  Sometimes, I feel I stopped growing at seven, other times I am as excited as a budding fifteen year old. Then the old soul in me rears her regal head when she feels like it. Left to me, the naughty four years old me is my favorite version of Me. She had no filter and says it has it is, not the Me that has to be politically correct.  The ME who is Me is a combination of all of Me. A bit of Tatashe , Ata Robo , Salt, Sugar, Honey and every thing in between. A fine finished Kampala ( Adire ) of bright contrasting personalities.   Cheers to the ME I have become To the ME I will become, I trust you to be best...
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Beyond The Twin Grey Rocks

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North of here Across seven seas Beyond the Twin Grey Rocks You will find that which you seek with Ameshaya The Blind Seer ... Maybe it is because I am such a terrible daydreamer. One minute I am in a meeting at work discussing strategies; the next minute, my mind is imagining jumping off an airplane in Dubia right after a cup of tea on the highest peak of the Himalayas. I am usually amazed at how far and fast my mind wanders. Even more amazing is trying to understand the level of "mind wandering" Creatives do to come up with a wonderful, beautiful, amazing piece of Fantasy Literature. This is a Salute to every creator of Fantasy that has Whoa-ed me. For their minds to create complex worlds, stories, concepts that are perfectly intertwined and yet have not lived or experienced it, is amazing! I wonder how it starts; a whisper, an inspiration, adaptions of real events or do special Angels bring the manuscripts? Now, starting is the easy part, I am sure, do the stories start wi...
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