Style de Vie

  I want you to take a moment and think of that one person you know that has it figured out. That person you can always go to for whatever help it is that you need, that person you notice/see everyone go to for advice, help and assistance, that one person you know that is always giving (most times not given), … or in better words, that one strong person you know.   These people we call strong, are most times, simply pressured. When they realize that the expectations of everyone around them is to be a standby guide and guard to them, that “strength” is, most times, often perceived as pressure by them. Being everyone’s problem solver is often birthed from unconscious decision(s) one could make. Either from being the first child, or had a rough childhood so you got to find a way around life very early, or even being an empathetic person; and because the shoes fit perfectly, life decides to make the shoes fit for a pretty long time. And slowly… slowly but surely, these expectation...

  “While I was a student, it was more than a struggle for my parents. We were feeding from hand to mouth, literally, but we didn’t even have a choice to stop my schooling because they were more than bent on seeing me successful, and I on the other hand, was bent on making my uneducated parents proud. Honestly, we were getting used to the suffering. We kept on adapting and adapting till… well, my parents didnt know how I was going to adapt after bandits raided my school and kidnapped 64 of us, including our teachers and principal.   The news spread faster than wildfire and almost everyone in our not so little village knew about it. Of course, they did feel bad for the families of the victims, only for the next minute to be used to gaslight other villagers… not to leave their homes in search of us, or take the laws i to their hands, or even to go spiritual like we heard some communities do, but just to sit in bed and feel bad for the captives in the forest with bandits.  Ho...

  One very funny thing about Nigerians is our ability to give a very wrong meaning to words or coining out our own word and using that word both in and out of context. A perfect example of this is “ nepo  & lapo babies” (our focus will be on the nepo babies) In Nigeria, a nepo(tism) baby is a child from a VERY RICH, or in better words, a luxurious background. “Nepo baby” has, for a while now being the newest word in Nigerians’ dictionary, with us forgetting what nepotism actually is. A regular Nigerian could, in a layman’s terms, define nepotism as being wealthy. Why? This is because we have misused the word “nepotism” to the extent of taking it out of context. Nepotism in it’s real and original sense, is a case or situation where someone (mostly family or friends) uses their influence to grant you and opportunity or a favor, whether or not you are qualified or befitting of that opportunity.  Take for instance your mum happens to be the one in charge of cooking and sh...