Youthfulperspectives

Photo by Ayano Tosin on Unsplash In one of her interviews, the famous poet, activist, and civil rights campaigner Maya Angelou once stated the importance of anger. The emotion Anger has had a bad rep since forever, probably because it is said to be at the root of many disruptive activities. At that moment, an angry person is perceived as a bad person who should be avoided because they are perceived as unyielding, not bending societal rules of conduct, and literally consuming anything on their path.  In this particular interview, Maya Angelou saw anger in a different light. She believed that anger was not a bad emotion to express. She believed it to be honest and purifying. It consumed everything impure in its path, fearlessly fought against injustice, and advocated for sincere accountability. This thought pattern makes perfect sense and can be extrapolated to fit the Nigerian situation.  See, I have always advocated for Nigerians and their right to be angry with their leaders...

Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Nigeria is a very hilarious place. Anything and anybody can drive conversations. The attention span is small, and just anything moves us around here. You do not even have to do anything special; anything delivering the smallest form of excitement moves us. Someone said our politicians must be thanking their stars, that they have to deal with this particular brand of humans. I totally agree because it is hilarious at this point.  The other day, the discussion was on the tribes with the best soups; shortly after, the conversation moved to some supernatural beings responsible for how small-scale businesses, retail outlets, etc., fail in the country. I mean, while other countries are busy innovating, finding newer ways to make their lives easier, and holding their elected leaders accountable, soups, magic, VDM, and Bobrisky vs. the House of Representatives are some of the issues we were so fixated on.  And yes, the notoriously popular 'VeryDarkM...

 I have vivid recollections of some periods in my childhood. I am sure there were moments in yours that you could also remember. I remember Uncle Ade back then in primary school. The dude must have just graduated from University then and had to make do as a primary school teacher for some kids.  I remember his face, height, and how he sometimes spoke to us in chilled tones and always added random facts about just anything to his lessons. I remember how he once asked us what our favourite cities were, and as you would expect, we mentioned the places where our homes were, faraway Lagos, and some other cities we must have heard in passing from our parents.  When it was Uncle Ade's turn to tell us what his favourite city in the world was, he mentioned the city of Dublin. He spoke about how much he wanted to explore the city, its food, and all the experiences he wanted to have in it.  As I write this piece, I check out Dublin (On Google) and marvel at how much the city mu...

Photo by Shedrack Salami on Unsplash Suddenly, my brother blurted out, "Guy, Shey, you know say if our refineries dey function, subsidy no go dey o". Well, spending a few days in Lagos and having to go back and forth on double the transport fares will make you have such thoughts. So, I fully understand where my guy was coming from.  Sometimes you get so angry at the system, and how things can be better done, and after some time, you calm down and then try to rationalize how powerless you might be in the grand scheme of everything. But anything for national development, right? If you can find a way of positively changing the thoughts of those in your immediate ecosystem, then all hopes might not be lost.  Although another factor to consider is how unhelpful it is that you are dealing with some of the most optimistic sets of people you can ever meet. No matter how terrible a government policy might be, there will always be its defenders. Even if the consequences of su...