Wait till Tomorrow

Can you hear and smell the sound of coming rain? Which makes the night most peaceful for sleep, the night rain is what engine oil is to cars, it keeps the engine running effectively. No need waking up in the morning feeling all grumpy. Do you know that unknown studies show that the rain facilitates the best dreams and visions?

Let's wait till tomorrow to study for that test in the afternoon after all, the worst case scenario is that we will flunk the test but the exam is what truly matters, it is when most of the marks are at stake.

Let's wait till tomorrow to work on that business plan, with this rain we will have a much better and well thought through idea by the morning. Bring a flash drive to copy that movie I have been telling you about, by the time you wake up we will have a killer business plan that those investors will be falling over to be a part of. I can assure you that unlike drugs and alcohol that are said to be a bad combination; a rainy night with a brilliant movie makes for very good sleep. Na only you waka come, is it not in the night, the night was made for sleep, did you not already do enough work during the day. You are still young, you have a lot of years ahead, and by the way don't you know that one of those studies off the internet says that you need a minimum of 9 hours sleep especially for a bright and budding man like you.

Ehen now! I have checked the weather forecast and I know it will be bright and sunny tomorrow, or are you a learner and don't know that after the night rain, the sun comes with its fiery heat. Wait will tomorrow to prepare for that lecture and presentation. By tomorrow our minds will refreshed and bodies receptive to present our project to the panel and more attentive to listen to some of what those boring old lecturers have to say.

You seem like a sharp lady, shebi I have told you that I have checked the weather forecast, don't you know that's how they do it in all those developed countries that you want to go and work in, their schedule is dependent on the weather, sharpen your eyes now before you disgrace your people at home when you get there.

That saying goes 'we are the leaders of tomorrow', so what's even the hurry, its tomorrow not today, tomorrow. You are saying you need to prepare for tomorrow but don't you know luck's on your side, (pst pst, low voice, how do you think a certain leader got there).

Waiting till tomorrow, often brings disappointment, and self-loathing about haven’t been unable to resist that feeling to rest a while longer when there's something very important you should be doing.  Ask yourself is it procrastination making that call or is that inner voice telling you to be calm for everything will truly be alright. Each time you want to procrastinate, always remember that never leave till tomorrow what you can today.

Dream Me a Vice

They told me it was alright to dream. That dreaming was all a part of the human experience. They said that dreaming kept us alive, it kept us hoping for a brighter future. They told me that many people had dreams and they didn't necessarily have to have a tangible meaning. That I should accept dreaming like each breath I took, a subconscious action I could not do without and one that I could go on doing without putting much thought into it.

So I began to dream. I dreamt just of the sun rise and its setting, its resplendent light giving joy to many. I dreamt of the moon and the stars ever shining in the dark night. Soon my dreams were no longer about the mundane but began to feature me as the main character. A character ever evolving and changing with every dream, a character who knew all the best lines, the best way forward, the greatest strategies, the fixer, the action hero.

I waited every morning for night, the night time that came with dreams, fantasies and wonders of me being prince, king and president. I chose never to miss it. I watched movies and read novels so that I could re-enact my own versions, where I was the good guy, the super hero, the star of attention.

When people spoke of vices, I could speak of none. When they shared experiences of drinking, womanizing, or getting high, I couldn't trade my own tales of who I fought last night, or the look alike of that popular female actress whom I had rescued the night before.
I couldn't connect with their vices and didn't seem to understand why they chose things so destructive. Before long I found out that I too could get wrecked by my dreams, my weakness that I refused to acknowledge.

So I lied to myself to keep up the habit. I began to research not how to break the love for the dream, but how to separate sleep from dreaming. After all. I told myself, my vice wasn't in the dream but in the sleeping. The dream was the end result I craved and the sleep was the unnecessary process that could get me there, it was also the true vice that could lead to my end. So why not separate the process from the end result? It was like trying to separate drugs from the feeling of being on top of the world that it brings with it, a fool's errand I knew it was, even before I began, but I refused to acknowledge it for what it was, a Vice.

We refuse to acknowledge them for what they are: bad habits, trivial defects, shortcomings that could lead to our downfall even when we know what they are we ignore them, lying to ourselves and putting a positive spin on them. Vices spread beyond the obvious three (smoking, drinking, drugs) they are things we indulge in and spend far too much time doing rather than concentrating on goal achieving actions: gossiping like the world is coming to end, shopping till you go broke, borrowing like your life depends on it, and sleeping like a bear in winter. Acknowledge your bad habits for what they are, vices, that need to be broken, or choose to live life in the shadow of your true potential.

A bit of Jibber Jabber on Conscience

Shoot the angel called Conscience,
It’s probably time to let it go.
It’s a sign of weakness,
Don't be too afraid to become a douche bag, welcome it, and embrace it.
Imagine that the fence is collapsing and you have to jump to a side, pick a side quick!

Stop trying to master the artistry of fence sitting.
Jump off the wall.
The executive position of the right winged fence sitter is already taken and the line of potential successors is way too long.
Run all the algorithms in your head,
Analyse what you may but know that you have to jump to one side; either that or you crumble with the wall.

Even as I type I can still hear the Conscience alarm going off in my head.
Let me go I beg of it,
Although I get rid of it this time,
It most likely would come alive at the next opportunity.
Except I slowly starve my Conscience out, until it has no voice

I type this text in a moment of frenzy, moments of quick escape from my Conscience
I can already hear the alarm sounding closer like the siren of an emergency truck, (Note: not a police truck)
To revive the Conscience, take it through CPR, and get it back on its feet.
The Conscience paramedics would succeed this time,
But if my hunger strike is successful, less often would the alerts go off.
I know that before I post this text the Conscience alert would sound again, hoping to deter my actions.
If you never see these texts know that my Conscience succeeded.
While I debated too long allowing it to creep in and take root, giving me the impression that it had always existed, Existed from time memorial.

For the sake of my Conscience, it’s time to make excuses.
This is to them, the people that the Nigerian masses put there trust in, what has become of your Conscience?
Were you that successful in starving your Conscience?
If so please teach us how, so that we will be resistant to its call, barricade ourselves against its sirens and whistles.
So that when you come calling in a few months we would think with our heads and not our hearts.
We would not listen to your contorted tales of Shoes and No Shoes.
We would pick right for ourselves, nodding in acknowledgement two months down the line that we made the right choice.
That we would not turn our revolt to a carnival and not back down by the soldiers and sentries you throw into the works.
That we ourselves will be able to turn up the alerts of corruption, and tune up to work harder, and ring up the bells against poor services.
So that we can become douche bags to you when you come with your promises and oaths. 

Rather than pandering up to you, hat in hand.

My Two Cents on the LGBT Issue (in simple language)

I had initially though not to comment on the current happenings regarding the passing into law of the bill against LGBT’s (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) by President Goodluck Jonathan. However, something came to mind which resulted from the way CNN reported the story when it first broke out (their tagging of the man they interviewed from the streets as a Nigerian musician got me quite rattled at that point in time, especially when you see it from the perspective that musicians are almost like journalists who thrive in communicating the stand point of a majority of the populace), an office discussion and a bit more thought.

The perspective that I had initially played up in my mind is one that resonates with a tweet from Ruggedman (an actual musician) “what is it with this present day govt n sexual matters. Now its gay bill rights? Fix the infrastructure, develop d oncoming generation jare .” I felt there were more important issues on GEJ’s plate than delving into the LGBT issue. So upon second thoughts I looked at it from a different angle, a political angle.

The political angle I see from where I lay at the moment is an angle of diversion and manipulation that takes into focus 2015. 2015 is when the next presidential elections is going to be and President Jonathan is trying to put his ducks in a row,  realizing the relatively short time he has to buy goodwill, especially with the high rate of party switching from PDP (People’s Democratic Party) to APC (All Progressives Congress).  The signing of LGBT into law is a sign that he is making deliberate moves to capture the hearts of voters.

The GEJ camp has realized that the LGBT law is one that they know would garner support from majority of Nigerians. Based on a recent study by the Pew Research Center in 2013, Nigeria seemingly has the highest percentage of people globally against homosexuality i.e. nine-in-ten (98%). This result implies that the passing into law of the LGBT bill would be a point for the GEJ camp, especially as no political party will be able to challenge it. The bill reaching his table already shows that the honorable senators were able to reach an agreement despite their various party differences.

What he has done is to buy himself support from Nigerians and portray himself as a bold leader in the African continent, especially as he’s one of the first African leaders to take a solid stand. He has not so subliminally passed a message to the world that he will stand behind the majority opinion of his people despite the international outcry.

I see this as a strategy from the GEJ camp to use the bill as a substitute for football, which is known to bridge religious and ethnic differences within the Nigerian population. Also, it also appears that this is not the first attempt by the GEJ team to buy support. The other strategy I refer to was a major flop, and involved the renaming of a popular educational institution after a President-elect from South West Nigeria who never got to be President.

The Possible Backlash

With the current reactions by countries like Canada who allegedly asked GEJ to discontinue/postpone his visit is a sign that several more governments could react in a similar or more drastic manner. The question that now stands ahead is if the GEJ team thought through their strategy and are prepared for reactions like this or will succumb to international pressure and ask the Senate to revise the bill, giving room to opposition parties to question his leadership.

However, there’s a high probability he will hold this stand point till 2015 when he hopes to get re-elected, using the law as leverage, then he might chose to remedy the relationship that’s slowly turning into a difficult international issue with countries that support LGBT’s. Except of course he chooses to chart a different path with Nigeria’s foreign policy (which this writer doesn't have in-depth knowledge about) with a country like Russia, which is already known for its resistance to LGBT.

Little One

The Little One stood out like a sore thumb.
Her face had patches of white caused by powder that wasn't applied properly or from a powder of inferior quality.
Along with her were two smaller ones, who she was trying to keep in check.
She couldn't have been more than than 8 years old but she was burdened with the responsibility of taking care of her two younger siblings.

The Little One stood in one of the ultra modern shopping complexes that was fast becoming part of the economic landscape and was helping to promote the false impression of a booming economy and a growing middle class.
Along with her siblings, she had a huge shopping cart in front of her seemingly trying to decide what she was supposed to do.
I couldn't tell whether she was waiting for someone (hopefully she hadn't just been abandoned) or she was out in a world she didn't fit into.

Around her were little ones of her age group, little ones of expatriates and well to do citizens having fun, pushing shopping carts along with their mummies or nannies and reaching for products they had seen on TV.
In the midst of these activity was this Little One, who was forced to grow up fast, abandoning the joys of what it meant to be a child, would this Little One be the next legend that would take her world by storm? Unfortunately, in the country this Little One lives she would be lucky to get a good education.
This Little One is most likely taking her siblings on a treat, from the little money she had earned from crisscrossing major roads to hawk food items rather than being in a classroom receiving an education, which the country's government has not seen as a worthwhile venture to adequately invest in.
Even if this Little One was off the streets and in a classroom, the education she would get would be from teachers who were teaching with the same syllabus/curriculum used 10 years ago,how then would she be able to compete equally in this dynamic global village.

This Little One would be lucky not to be sold into a marriage, without an understanding her body or what the institution of marriage entails.
This Little One would be fortunate not to be forced into a marriage to satisfy the sexual perversions of a man, much older than her, especially one who ought to know better, but rather hides under the cloak of religion.
Luckily these Little One may just be sold into the household of a wealthy politician who has embezzled enough to satisfy every whim of his third and fourth generation unborn, so that she can have a lavish happily ever after, even though the pains of her childhood would haunt her.
This Little One was most likely born into earth to make an impact but because of a lack of proper family planning on the part of her parents, she is one of 15 and still counting from a child making factory.
This Little One would be lucky if her father was sober when he named her and can remember her name despite the number of children he has.

Sleeping Heads

I am seated in a bus to Lagos, feeling like a ball in a game of ping pong, just that I have to avoid being hit.

The batons are the heads of the individuals seated beside me. And I am forced to dodge being hit by their sleeping swinging heads.

And the score is 1-0 the first hit delivered from the man on the left, and it’s just 15minutes into the journey can I possibly hope to dodge any more hits before the game is over. I hope so.

No, the guy on the left just got a hit in leaving the game 2-0, Advantage Server.

The situation of the roads helps to contribute to the intricacy of the game. From the countless potholes that the driver dodges left and right to avoid entering, to having to choose which of the potholes are a lesser evil.

I am forced to continue this game of sleeping heads, its 20minutes before halftime when the driver will park by the roadside for undisciplined passengers to have a pissing contest on the side of a major expressway.

After some careful manoeuvrings the man on the right gets a hit, despite apologizing for hit number 2 leaving the opponents a very good advance with a 3-0 lead.

I wonder who's gonna get the first hat trick, @audience place your bets now. Just as if the guy on the right can hear my thoughts from the deep recesses of his open mouthed sleep he gets a hit in.

The game is progressing quite well, thankfully it looks like the guy on the left is not going to score any more hits since he appears wide awake.

And our man of the match at the moment gets another hit, leaving the game at 5-0.

I wonder what it would take for me to get a hit in, because anything I do would be paramount to revenge. Well the other option would be to pretend to be asleep so that I change from being the ball to a baton

No, am too much of a pacifist to do that.

And the option of revenge would most likely blow up in my face, what can a skinny all bones individual like me do in a fist fight?

Well except a miracle of Darman repeats itself I am going get crushed in this game.

After more careful dodges on my part the guy on the right gets two consecutive hits in leaving the game at a 7-0 lead, disadvantage receiver. It’s almost a few more minutes into that halftime I spoke about earlier.

And it looks like the game is going to end, as the guy on the right has finally gotten a good sleeping position

We have reached the end of the game and I want to thank all of you that for sticking to the end of the commentary. From yours truly SultanWais.

To my dear hosts; the caretakers of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway (whoever that is or if it exists) get the road fixed or the railway working effectively to international standard rather than beating your chests over restoring a deadbeat train.  So that people like me won't be forced to participate in a game of sleeping heads.

The Race

It's quarter to 3 and you still lay on your bed as if you didn't hear the pistol signifying the start of the race.

You lie on your bed tussling and tumbling as if tortured by a nightmare

Rather the only torture you feel is that of laziness already tired of your presence in it's kingdom

He is tired because his worshippers want to crown you lord over him

And he's having none of it, so even he is giving you a nudge to take get off the side tracks and get onto the race.

You had actually thought you had had the others beaten, thus you decided to take a break. 

You look back to realize that they are upon and you again take off, 

Unknown to you, they are running the third lap of the race while you at still at the second.

True you shouldn't compare yourself with others but you still need to set a bench mark for yourself

Did you really think you would be at the lead forever, when all you have desired is take short intermittent stops.

Your mates are flying and you want to fly to but you can't enlist in flight school because you haven't gained enough mileage on the ground, thus you can't gain air miles that will qualify you to fly into space.

Its not just being bond to the ground that annoys you rather it's being giving the opportunity to fly in the skies but not knowing it.

All the opportunities lay at your feet but the eyes to see them don't seem to exist

You don't want to go trampling upon the opportunities that lay at your door step 

Thus should you stay home bound scared of doing anything that would opportunities.

You don't want to go foiling your opportunities thus you decide to play safe with everyone you meet but the problem is that some of the people you meet need to be shaken up a bit, like a tree so that they can drop the fruits stuck to their stems.

Your playing safe would leave nothing for them recall you by, asides from your distinctly remarkable features, which would at best cause a few moments of talk after they have met you.

In the race you have to choose what side you want to be on; the sidelines or on the tracks.
The sidelines are for those that have run the race well and have set a record for those coming after them. Its also for those that chose to give up much sooner than they should have and those that never started the race at all.
The tracks are for those that are running in the race, they may stumble but they continue, they don't give up until they reach the finish line they set for themselves or are brought to a stop by oppressors who are threatened by their efforts.