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GOT

Feminism, the downside

The way girls are practicing feminism in African countries these days is highly unhealthy.

Homophobes on the rise

Nigerian churches are breeding millions of homophobes.

On homosexuality

Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

The pope just recently spoke about homosexuals, he said the Roman Catholics should apologise to them for the way they are being treated.

I'm not sure the pope's stance will sit well with Catholics. Homophobia is born from sexual sentimentality and not religious, although they exaggerate each other. The thing is, yes, the pope is the leader of the Catholic church but everyone kind of takes religion into their hands. Some Catholics might agree with the pope, and some might not.

The Anglican church and the Redeem Christian church (Nigeria) have both condemned the pope's stance, saying that "homosexuality is a biblical issue..."

But they are wrong! Homosexuality is a "biological" issue and not biblical. Religion only serves to butress one's sentiments towards homosexuality and not cause it.

Religion should operate within its borders and leave the issue of homosexuality to human rights.

The negative Nigerian

Everyone has something to say about their country. It may be good, it may be bad, but everyone has a feeling concerning the state of affairs. And it is normal for a person to vent his concerns about his country. Even more so in developing countries, African countries. Africans feel the need to compare their various countries to other countries, like Nigerians.

Nigeria is fast developing, doing better than most other African countries. A foreigner would think Nigerians feel hopeful about their country, but that foreigner would be wrong. The typical Nigerian has nothing but complaints to say about his country. He complains about everything; about electricity, about salaries, about politics, about bad roads, about everything. The typical Nigerian is a negative Nigerian.

He is always complaining about the country. These complaints have become a kind of language he speaks. He calls his friends on the phone, he complains. He's on Facebook or any other social network, he complains. He's in his house, he complains.

The typical Nigerian is blameless. He blames everyone but himself for all his problems. The President suddenly becomes the reason for all his problems. He talks down on other Nigerians for ruining the country while he omits himself.

Nigerians must get rid of this negativity and start taking responsibility for their lives and country. Blame yourself for all your problems, yes, because you let others create them for you. You can blame the president and the government all your life and nothing will change. Only you can cause your own change.

Insomnia, the battle

It's been a tiring day, stressful even, but you can't sleep. Why can't you sleep?

Insomnia, that's why. You can't sleep because your mind is forever active. Your mind is noisy and unruly. You're on your bed, your eyes are shut, but sleep isn't coming to you. It's a struggle, it's a fight. You plead with your mind to let you sleep, but it keeps on and on disturbing those crucial hours of rest. There are people who by just closing their eyes fall into deep sleep. You envy them, you want to be like them. You wish you could fall fast asleep like them.

Well, there is a solution to your sleeping problem. You see, you can't sleep because your mind is ever screaming, always active, too much noise in your head. You are going to have to silence the voices in your head, the thoughts. How do you do this? Simple, just think of something stupid. Yes, you read right, as you lie on your bed and shut your eyes try not to force yourself to sleep by begging yourself to sleep. All you need do is think of something stupid.

The period of sleep awakens funny activities in the brain, you begin to dream things that are impossible, dreams that you forget as soon as you wake. What does this tell you? Well, it gives us a better understanding of the nature of sleep. The things we see while we sleep don't make sense. So, isn't it a matter of commonsense that nonsense thoughts actually could make you sleep? Yes, think of funny things while your eyes are shut, think of a flying mat or a taking wall or tree, or a mysterious story. This is the fastest way to fight insomnia and to enter the realm of sleep. Don't try to logically force yourself to sleep, it won't work. Sleep in not logical. So think crazy, think impossible. The crazier you think, the faster you fall asleep.

On storytelling

Are you a storyteller? Do you often want to talk about what happened once upon a time? I guess this is natural. Everyone has a story, and most people want to tell their stories. Life itself is a story, full of events.

Now, the urge to tell your story is the easy part. Actual telling of your story is the hard part. Think about it, life happens to us all, we all have stories, but then I won't know your story or people won't know your story if you don't tell it. That's the simple truth.

Telling a story could be hard, that's what I wanna talk to you about. First of all, there are many ways you can tell your story; by writing, singing, painting, talking, etc. But let's focus on writing, the literary aspect. You have your pen and paper or a laptop, but you can't write. Why?

What's stopping you from writing? What's stopping you from telling that story? Lack of muse? Writer's block? There are so many thing that could hinder you from expressing yourself. But first let's talk about the reality of self-expression. Thinking is easier than doing. You know that, right? Dreamers and doers... entertaining storylines in your mind is the easy part, but when it comes to putting that story down physically, then so many rules emerge. Rules that make self-expression difficult; language rules, comfortablity factor (are you comfortable?), clarity (that story that you got right in your mind, are you sure it's as complete as it feels?)

In the mind, emotions are in charge. But in real life, details are in charge. When we think about a story in our minds what we really experience is how the story makes us 'feel', not how it happened exactly. So each time you sit in front of your laptop or phone or with your pen and paper, know that what you're about to do is going to be very tasking. Not because you're not good at it, but because you're transcribing from one form of experience to another, from emotions to details. So don't rush, take your time, writing stories take time.

Lagos-Ibadan Deathway

Almost every day there is an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Every day I pry into the news, accident. It makes me wonder; what is really going on on that road? Why so many accidents? Well, I did my research, and these are my findings:

Between Jan and June (six months), over 80 people have lost their lives to accidents on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. 80!

June 24 (this June) -- 4 killed; truck collided with commercial bus.

June 22 -- 3 persons died; a tanker fell, and people gathered with buckets to siphon fuel (they were warned). An impatient bus driver tried to manoeuvre through the gridlock and scratched his silencer against a concrete block, there was a spark, which ignited a fire that spread to the tanker and BOOM! 2 people scooping fuel died on the spot together with an escapee.

June 19 -- 19 persons died (see the correlation?) also on the Lag-Ibadan expressway. A tanker tried to overtake a truck and in the process collided with a fully loaded commercial bus killing 19 passengers on the spot.

Jan 7 -- truck crashed into van, 3 dead

Jan 13 -- 5 crushed to death in an accident involving a truck and a commercial bus.

Feb 5 -- truck rammed into Toyota Sienna, luckily no fatalities.

March 17 -- 10 crushed to death, bus collided with truck.

May 3 -- 13 burnt to death, SUV tire blew and caused a ripple effect of accidents.

Are you seeing the connection here? The commercial buses a.k.a danfo? The trucks? The tankers? These are the elements of any major accident on the Lagos-Ibadan express way.

Another evident factor is IMPATIENCE. These commercial bus drivers literally want to fly on the road, and the truck and tanker drivers that are meant to go slow and steady also want to fly! The danfo drivers will say they are trying to save time and increase profit by quickly dropping off passengers and picking new ones. But at what expense?

You see it's not so much the speed as it the impatience that amasses the death toll on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Vehicles trying to overtake other vehicles.

People blame the incessant construction projects going on on the expressway, alongside the potholes (bad roads), but in truth the drivers are to blame. They have to learn to muster some patience. Lives are at stake.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and the Nigerian Police Force should do more than anything else to correct the mentality of these drivers. And we the drivers, please let's learn to take it easy on the road, our lives depend on it.