JENNIE IFEATU

They say what you value, you protect. I may not have understood this a couple of years ago but in recent times, I have learnt to understand the intricacies of protecting my mind as a human and as a creative.  I have learnt the act of using and conserving my mental energy. Don't yawn yet. I am not on the route of schooling you on psychology.  This morning, I am on my way to work. My soul has a yearning to flip through few pages of 'Born a Crime by Trevor Noah '. Man's a genius! I am wondering why it took me this long to read his book. No, I don't read instead I binge watch a TV series on my phone. That's what my head says. My actions are often based on concession between my mind and my head. Few minutes later, my eyes are getting tired. I steal a power nap just to avoid being feeling cheated in the building traffic ahead. Don't school me about theft in Lagos buses, I should be called upon to facilitate a masterclass on how to avoid being a vict...

Sometimes what we tend to see is a facade, there is usually more to it. Don't get all serious and expect a motivational talk. Life is honestly not as serious as you think. When you see a beautiful and sophisticated lady, the first thing that comes to your mind is "What a wonder you are." However, what you don't know is that wonders, come in different shades and versions. Today, I am seated in a bus between a 'wonder woman' wearing really heavy makeup. If you know me in real life,  you will know that I don't quickly take to things like this but if I tell you it was heavy. Take me for my words. Today, I am a little drowsy. Taking drugs that contain sleep-inducing elements comes with a payback. I close my eyes for a short nap. Soon, the bus jerks, I open one eye to scan my environment. All is well. I settle in for another short nap and there is another jerk. Thanks to the Nigerian Government who give us the 'best of roads' in the world. The...

One of the places that you should never judge people by the way they look is in Lagos and Onitsha. In the former, a stray looking guy might be a military officer and in the latter, a guy looking like a pauper might just be your unknown landlord. Fridays are my happiest. I just let myself get lost in my daydreaming and indulge myself in the luxury of waiting for the long-expected weekend. Today, the road is free. We ride in calmness except for the sound from the engine that depicts acceleration in our pace. A man dressed in Ankara is seated by my right and a lady holding her umbrella and looking lost is seated by my left. We approach Costain and just as the bus tends to swerve a careless bike rider attempts a rough overtaking. Our infuriated driver is yelling at him as well as the passengers. In Nigeria, some questions don't pose as questions. "Are you mad? Are you crazy?" Our driver is hurling at the indeed crazy biker. The bike rider is obviously the obstin...

The popular saying when you go to Rome you behave like the Romans does not apply at Lagos Bus Stops when you are new in town. Opting to ask another responsible looking passenger on the routes a bus conductor is calling out is more advisable than rushing with the mad throng of passengers with the hope that you heard him clearly. This is also what led a friend of mine who had been new in town to board the wrong bus. The young man was standing enthusiastically for the first time at the popular Iyana-Iba axis as the bus conductor yelled, "Seme! Seme!" He could bet on his life that he had heard 'CMS!' The rest of the story is being told in our family jokes of how this fellow ended up at Seme, just thirty minutes from Badagry on the coastal road between Lagos and Cotonou. The bus conductors are rapping the routes they are headed to as usual. I am aboard the 'yellow bus' heading to CMS. I am engrossed with replying messages. Having a long list of messages...

Early morning rain has an effect on Lagosians.  I will need to carry out a research to find out if people in other cities experience this too. When the rain falls, it strangely finds its way into the brains of these city people, seeping away every memory of normalcy in their heads. Drivers and cyclists struggle to pass through the same tiny path that might let only one cyclist pass at a time. Everyone is struggling to pass through the most convenient way, hence we create the dreaded traffic ourselves.  This mess is not our making only. The government is a ceremonial head. From the top to the least cadre enjoy the razzmatazz on television talking about laudable project they never accomplished. The Lagos-Badagry express way is a disaster, the government's disaster. It has consumed lives, people's means of livelihood and sanity. We are beautiful puppets with a meagre right to vote and none at all to desire good governance. S...