CAIRO!!! WHOOP!!!

Ok!! So, the correct progression of my christmas travels is London to Cairo, had a one hour stop over then it was Cairo to Abuja. Spent a lovely Christmas in Nigeria touching Lagos, Asaba, Calabar, and Abuja (of course), then it was time to head back and that birthed the Abuja to Cairo post! Didn’t do a Cairo back to London post (no need, was pretty uneventful) but I definitely did a Cairo post. It’s this one!! Whoop!!

Ok, so following up from the Abuja to Cairo post, I woke up about 7am, refreshed from a long, peaceful night’s rest. Told myself I would have a shower and then go down for breakfast; next thing I knew it was 9am and I was still struggling to open my second eye.

30 minutes late I was in the breakfast room, and the only thing I can say is that Egyptians eat some really weird things!! I can imagine that’s what they’d say about some of our traditional stuff too though; I remember one of my English friends calling my delicious meal of eba and okro soup ‘dodgy’…. said the okro soup was ‘slimy’. Lol!

Anyways, Breakfast was lovely though, and my omelette was on point!! Kinda torn between who does eggs better now, me or them! I think it’s me though, has to be me…

Spent a few minutes in the travel shop in the hotel, and I saw this collage of notes I just had to take pictures of! Hopefully my picture is clear enough for me to ask you to do me a favor, find your home currency, or tell me how many currencies you can identify! Ready? Go!

Look!

look!

Look!

Speaking of money, the night I got in, I changed $100 at one of the banks at the airport. I didn’t count what he gave me back, and I was so tired all I heard was ‘something something 48 Egyptian Pounds; it was in the shop in the hotel I found out he had given me 648 Egyptian Pounds! So now you know the exchange rate, and I was happy I had a bit of spending money!

Bought two vials of Egyptian oil scents, mixes of Nefertiti, Horsi, vanilla, and something that had a wood/cigar smell, can’t remember the name now. They smelled amazing individually, but the mix was just on point!! I should patent it or something…

My new mash-up collection…. Can’t wait to start using them!

We wrapped up nicely because it was a really chilly morning, and then went out on a tour of the city! Went to the River Nile first; there’s a major drainage issue with the roads because the little bit of rain that morning and everywhere was literally flooded! Not flooded washing away houses kind of flooded o, just a level of water above the road. Not good. And all the cars I saw were filthy!

Headed through inner city streets to the pyramids, the best part of the tour for me!! Below are ten of my best pictures; I’ll find time to upload all the rest to my Flickr or something…

Olameday, Hannah and I at the River Nile…

Keke napep!! Whoop!!

KFC and Pizza Hut… bet all the meat is halal!!

One of the three pyramids….

Another favorite!

Loved this!!! My favorite picture!!

Riding in the carriage!!

@Olameday and I!

Our tour guide….

Lol!!! Crazy driver he was!!

One of the many statues I saw…. Nice!

Ran into some epic traffic on the drive back to the hotel but we made it, and rushed through lunch. I got royally ticked off by some other Nigerians (babies in adult bodies, SMH), but got it together enough to be civil.

Got to the airport, we were already checked in so I retrieved my passport and it was of to board!

Wait!! On the way to our boarding gate, @Olameday and I couldn’t help stopping by the Haagen Daz counter? Want to see what I got?

Waffles, vanilla and chocolate chip ice cream! Whoop!

Ok, back to the plane now. Yep, I slept, almost as soon as the plane took off.

Cairo was fun!! I pray for them today, that they sort out their issues and truly experience the all-inclusive democracy they desire. Amen.

ABUJA to CAIRO…..

All good things come to an end right? It came to pass that on a certain day, the return leg of my London–Abuja ticket became valid. Therefore, it was time to kiss Nigeria good-bye and head back to cold, loveless London.

That morning, I gave my darling Boo Boo a bath, prepped him for crèche (yes he goes to crèche and he has a book too), and then I got myself ready. I sped to my hairstylist’s to change my nail varnish (only I can tell why I left it till the day I was to travel) and when I’d waited for 20 minutes after the time I’d agreed we’d meet, I put the car in reverse to leave. As an aside, why do people tick you off intentionally, and then beg? Why?

Next stop was at my aunt’s, tailor was supposed to meet me there. I agree with the person who told me that my relationship with the tailor existed because I enjoyed a certain level of sadomasochism, i.e. causing myself pain. Of course he didn’t bring everything he was supposed to bring,  but that’s content for a totally different blog post!

Ran off to my sister’s to kiss her good-bye (we were both very brave), remember wiping a tear when I drove past Boo Boo’s crèche; only  reason I didn’t go in there was I knew I’d cry myself into changing the date of my flight!

By this time I’d gotten like three calls from my Dad asking if I was checked in at the airport, and errrrr, it was just past 10am. For a 1.30pm flight? And with benefit of hindsight, I don’t think I will ever bust my behind to be early for an Egypt Air flight, they are always at least 20 minutes late.

Anyway, so I got to the airport, checked in (no I wasn’t upgraded, silly people) and then I left the International wing for Aero’s Departure Lounge. It houses Biobak, and I’d been craving their food since the last time I was there.

One plate of rice and catfish later, I was back in our lounge. We boarded by 2pm, and again, Egypt Air didn’t have personal entertainment systems! Are they even allowed to do that?? Arrrgh!! And this was a 737-200! Anyway, brilliant thing about the airline is they let you use ANY electronic device once the plane’s up in the air. So I watched movies on my laptop, did some work, and then I slept.

All of this happened after I had bawled majorly! You know, I say that each time I leave will be different but nooooo.., I have to cry each and every time I leave. I should just come back and never leave again abi? Lol. Sometimes I think of myself as that parent who will form ‘strong face’ as they drop their kid off at boarding school, then cry all the way home. *sigh*

Got to Cairo about 8pm, stop over was about 21 hours; on purpose because I’d sworn I’d spend a day in Cairo. Had to sit and wait a bit while they sorted us into hotels based on our onward journey times the next day. I got Le Meridien, somewhere in town; by the way there are about five Le Meridien’s in Cairo.

Finally got to the hotel about 11pm, and I’d made two friends, Hannah and Miss @Olameday! Settled in to dinner, and it was a hilarious time, swapping tales of adventures in hotels! Smiling at the thought! Learnt from @Olameday that you’re more likely to get better service if you address the waiter by name; that’s how we got our meals changed!

Couple of things to note if you plan to plan a 21 hour stopover in Cairo:

• no need to buy the $15 dollar visa. The airport officials hold on to your passport anyway so technically you don’t need it.
• Everyone will try to fleece you of some money (but I guess that’s a normal issue all tourists face); don’t be afraid to haggle. More on this point in the ‘Cairo’ post.
• Their sockets are different from the ones in Nigeria.

ah ha… this is what it looks like… Take a travel adapter! Even though the hotel staff were nice enough to hand out adapters, and then helped me charge all my stuff when they ran out of adapters… Bless them.

After dinner I stayed in the lobby to chat with Ace via wi-fi, then it was off to my ‘LAN only’ cabled room for a good night’s rest, and dreams filled with flashbacks of the extra special Christmas I had.

Related articles

• Cairo to Abuja (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• My Trip to Abuja – Lessons and Discoveries (naijaspleen.wordpress.com)
• Abuja Stadium – Abuja, Nigeria (dailytrackpic.wordpress.com)
• London to Cairo (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)

CAIRO TO ABUJA

Catch up on the London to Cairo trip gist here. I advise that you go read that one, and then come back for this one. Ok?

So, I got to our departure gate thirty minutes to the time, making me one of the first people to board the bus taking us to the tarmac. Can I say the distance between the departure lounge and the tarmac is almost a trip in itself? I enjoyed it anyway, and I took a few pictures too!

Ok, so we boarded and the first thing I noticed was there were no personal entertainment systems on the plane. What??? On a 4 hours plus flight? Egypt Air just disgraced me there abeg. SMH! SMH (again, for good measure).

Since I was already feeling poorly (something I ate on the first leg of the trip had destroyed the peaceful equilibrium in my belly), I decided to sleep. Thank God there was a seat between a lady and I, and shout out to her for saving me a slice of cake, waking me up when it was lunch time, and even keeping a landing card for me! Quick question; do citizens of other countries have to fill out landing cards for their own countries? Just curious.

A bit of tatafo (gist) here that I didn’t include in the London to Cairo post. There was this lady who kept brandishing a British passport on every queue we were on. Started from the queue by the Immigration desk, she had the ‘red kpali’ in her hand, hand on her waist, and was probably playing ‘change your style’ in her head. She gets to the desk, brings out her Nigerian passport to be stamped, puts it back in her bag, and then continues with the flashing. We get to the last security check before heading for our gates. Apparently she’d been ‘almost strip searched’ like me so we got there about the same time. Again she brought out the Nigerian passport, got it scanned, and then whipped out the British passport again. Thought about it a few times since I got back; noticed she didn’t chat with anyone (I didn’t either) so what was all of that for? Did I miss something?

Anyway, I hated the second leg of the flight; I was so uncomfortable, nausea got worse with each passing minute, and it was all I could do not to cry, especially when the pilot announced that the temperature in Abuja was 37 degrees. What??? That’s 34 more than I left at the beginning of this entire trip!

Touched down safely (thank you Jesus), and as soon as we did the walk (IN THE SUN) from the plane to Arrivals, I started to retch. Made it to a safe spot and threw up everything even remotely connected to Egypt Air in my system.

Was doubled over (literally) in pain in the queue at Immigration and I’m very grateful to the officer who came over, took me to a seat, and then helped me sort out my passport. God bless you.

Ride home was uneventful. Tired and uncomfortable as I was though, soon as I saw my darling nephew Boo Boo, like Jacob in the Bible when he saw his son Joseph, my spirit revived! It’s good to be home! Thank God for a safe trip, for healing (I’m a lot better now), and for family!

Whoop!

Related articles

• London to Cairo (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• In Cairo, a Hint of Compromise – Wall Street Journal (online.wsj.com)
• Climbing that mountain (bellylorna.blogspot.com)
• The Lede Blog: Cairo Filmmakers Screen Images of Revolt on the President’s Wall (thelede.blogs.nytimes.com)
• A ‘Global Lens’ on Egypt (cnsblog.wordpress.com)
• ‘Men don’t have to worry about being caught’: Sex mobs target Egypt’s women (worldnews.nbcnews.com)
• My Trip to Abuja – Lessons and Discoveries (naijaspleen.wordpress.com)

LONDON TO CAIRO

Good morning from Cairo, Egypt! The land with free wi-fi at the airport, and clean toilets! Nothing fancy, but they are clean, and smell fresh. Dearest Nigeria, it is possible to have clean toilets in our airports o! Even if you want to have ladies handing out little bits of tissue paper like was done here (how they’ve predetermined how much any one will need beats me though) but please, it is possible!

Can I say the bits of the airport I’ve seen are really nice? I got a small bottle of water (Evian) for $5 but it’s all good; all these airports will answer to God on the day of judgement for their exorbitant pricing. The airport’s also got most of the ‘known’ names; Burger King, Haagen-Dazs, Cafe Ritazza, I could go on and on. You can spend sterling, Egyptian or American Dollars, Swiss Francs, and Euros at this airport.

How did I get here? It’s that wonderful time of the year when I get to be in Nigeria (whoop), and for the first time ever, I decided to fly Egypt Air. Major reason? My brother flew this airline to Malaysia sometime this year, and he was treated like a king! Hotel room on his stopover, buffet meals, the works; I said I had to see what it was about. Then, truth be told, it was the cheapest option to Nigeria at this time, considering I bought my ticket in the last couple days in November.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a pretty tumultuous day for me; from pendulum swinging emotions, to my right knee shutting down, pain in my back, loads of running around to do, you get the picture abi? One of those days. Got to the airport (thank God I’d checked in online), and to crown my day, security took my hand luggage aside to be searched. Odd because I’d checked it to be sure there was nothing in it to attract attention.

It wasn’t just the search that annoyed me, it wasn’t the near 15 minutes wait (I’m sure if there was anyone psychoanalysing my face from anywhere he would have read nothing but disgust and anger), it was the fact that the lady removed every one item from the box! When she was done she asked me, ‘why did they separate your box’? I said, ‘ask your colleagues’; trust me, it was the nicest reply I had.

I packed my box, re-arranged my dignity, and then had to walk really quickly to our gate to board; my knee was grating by the time I sat down. Window seat? Yes. Then this diminutive, pimpled guy comes, meets me sitting down and asks, ‘are you sitting here? And where do I stow my luggage, the thing is full’. I ignore the first question (because I don’t have a Christian answer) and would have ignored the second too just that it would have been rude. I point in the direction of the nearest hostess and say, ‘ask her’. Then I plug my ears with my earphones and try to ‘mind over matter’ the pain in my knee.

Young Jock (whose really short fingers I’ve just noticed – made me smile so that’s good) decides we must chat. Errr, there is a reason why my ears are plugged you know. He taps me to ask if I live in London. Yes. ‘Ok’, he says, ‘I live in Scotland’. Then he taps me again to ask my name. And then he tells me his, after which I wrap myself with my jacket and close my eyes. Arrrgh!!

Egypt Air doesn’t hand out earpieces except you ask (probably just in the Economy Class anyway) but I didn’t mind cos my Sennheiser worked, and I was forced to sleep soon by His Majesty. Oh yes, did I mention that Young Jock asked for a second helping? No harm done o, it’s the way he wolfed down both portions that ‘did me one kind’. This kind of person can eat a human being abeg!

Oh yes, there was this baby that started crying soon as we boarded, and honestly cried all the way to Cairo. I felt sorry for her mom, and inside me said a prayer for all the moms I know. This woman stood, sang, walked, played, nothing; this baby just wanted to cry. Then we touch down in Cairo, and the little princess starts smiling. If I was Catholic I would have made the Sign Of The Cross, all these things we can’t explain!

Ok, so I’m going to do a bit of exploring now, till it’s my time to board, and hopefully I can take a couple pictures too. Maybe I’ll have a Burger, or some ice cream; they opened shop at 4am! Who does that?

Me!

P:S – Dear Lord, can I have a quiet neighbour for the second leg of this trip? If he’s going to be noisy, then let him be fine! *wink*

*first chronicle from my new Macbook…..not bad at all!

Related articles

• Snake on a Plane Prompts Emergency Landing (on.aol.com)
• London to Cairo (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• Morsi invitation for Ahmadinejad to Visit Cairo is an insult for Egypt and the Arabspringers. (alakhtal.wordpress.com)

HOW BIG IS YOUR GOD? PART 2.

Let’s start by agreeing on this: my biggest dreams do not compare to even the tiniest thoughts God has for me. Regardless of how mighty, far-reaching, extraordinary the dreams we have for ourselves are, they don’t hold a candle to even the most fleeting of thoughts God has for us.

Welcome to church, today we touch on the second and concluding part of the ‘how big is your God’ series. The first part dwelled on our perception of God, the possible reasons we doubt his promises or refrain from asking for the things we desire. In that chronicle I was going to give an analogy my friend told me of, but I digressed till I ran out of space. That’s the thrust for today.

When Joseph, second to the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob dreamt about the sun, moon and stars bowing to him one night and the sheaves of wheat bowing to his in another, the general interpretation was that his siblings and parents would be dependent on him for their sustenance. That manifested when Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt; could be said that his dreams came true. Right?

Have you ever considered that the dream was only fully brought to life hundreds of years later when the children of Israel (descendants of Joseph) were at war with the Amorites under the leadership of Joshua? When Joshua commanded the sun and the moon to stand still and they obeyed? (Joshua 10:12-14). That was the first, and only time that wonder ever occurred in the scriptures. So while Joseph was probably only looking to his nuclear family for the fulfilment of the dream he had, God had far more astonishing plans. Halleluyah!

How big is this God? The one who is glorious in holiness, and fearful in praises? The one who parted The Red Sea for the children if Israel in Exodus, and set ambushment against Moab, Edom, and Mount Seir in 2 Chronicles 20:22?

We’ve only but scratched the surface of his awesomeness but let me interrupt that to ask; what is the thing you’ve been trusting Him for? That concern, worry, issue that seems to have defied all solutions till now? Seems like there’s no answer in sight? Have you laid it before the one before whom all secrets are laid bare? Hebrews 4:13. Do you fear your case might be too much for him? Not like you doubt God o, you just think that maybe your own request might take a little longer to sort out.

A little comfort for you; this God we’re talking about made all things by the word of his power. And all in six days. So from Kuala Lumpur to Kutuwengi, The Gambia to The Bahamas, Canada to South Africa, six days!! From the oil in Saudi Arabia, to the gold in Ghana, to the cocoa in Cote d’Ivoire, all in six days! Ever wondered about the crazy time zones? I’m always amazed, amused, and then confused by time zones and how different countries start their days before each other; God did all that in six days. So what’s your issue? He can take care of it jor!!!

I don’t know about you, but this week I’m walking around with confidence, trusting in a God who loves me, and is able to do more than I can ever ask or think!! You should too!!

Have a super productive week!

Related articles

• How Big Is Your God? (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• Send Your Dreams Down the River – Exodus 2:3 (dianneguthmuller.com)

3, 2, 1: AN HOUR WITH ZUBAIR

So it’s been a little while I did a chronicle that wasn’t school and learning related, and that’s due to the fact I’ve gotten to that point where I’m pleading with God for extra hours at the end of the day…. It’s also because there’s too much happening! From Nigeria to Ivory Coast, Zimbabwe to Egypt, to Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, and Japan, it’s almost impossible to keep up!

Anyways, I’m back, and repeating my promise to give you something to engage with every week, and I’ll keep that promise; at least I’m not promising 50,000 posts in one day!

On to the business of the day; I’ve wanted to run interviews on this blog for a while because despite all the ‘sad’ things around us, there are young people who are doing exceptionally brilliant stuff! Especially the ones that if you’re not told of, you’d likely miss.

The idea for the first interview came about a week ago, when I was researching facts for an article that would show the impact social media has had/is having on politics in Nigeria and I stumbled on ‘Nigerian Constitution App for Blackberry’, developed by a Nigerian, Zubair Abubakar.

Zubair Abubakar, fine boy  abi? Brains too!

I found him on Twitter, asked for an interview, and below is an hour’s worth of our discussion, reproduced as taken off Gtalk!

Enjoy…!

FGS: hey, good evening!

ZUBAIR: hey!!!

FGS: good evening…… Nice day?

ZUBAIR: good evening ma, yes, I had a nice day. You?

FGS: yes, I’ve had fun, especially since I finished a report I’ve been trying to write since Wednesday

ZUBAIR: ah, great!

FGS: yup! So basically, I wanted to do this interview because as part of my research on Social Media and Nigerian politics I stumbled on @techloy’s site, and I saw your work

ZUBAIR: oh ok…..

FGS: And I believe that it’s a platform for people to get to know you, and the work that you do…and it’ll help our knowledge base so that our arguments and requests from government are backed with a knowledge of what we are entitled to..

ZUBAIR: ok, sure!

FGS: great, thank you. Let’s start with, what is the one thing you hate?

ZUBAIR: WOW, I love so many things, I cant even pick one thing that I hate…but I would say dishonesty from people and people trying to take advantage of others.

FGS: Ok, we’ll pick through your answer but please tell me three things you love, since you said you love ‘so many things’

ZUBAIR: I love to impact in peoples lives

FGS: that’s one…

ZUBAIR: I love reading and learning basically

FGS: that’s 2a and 2b

ZUBAIR: I love God

FGS: three! Ok, back to the things you hate, have you ever felt someone was taking advantage of you? Tell me (us) about it..

ZUBAIR: yea couple of times;well a typical example is the way Nigerian leaders rule over us without caring about be accountable to us(me)

FGS: Isn’t that a function of their knowledge of the fact that we didn’t care? I say ‘didn’t’ because we do now…

ZUBAIR: Well, exactly!

FGS: Why would you say then that they ‘took advantage’ of you, since you agreed with me that they had a reason to?

ZUBAIR: well, in the moral sense, because you have a reason or power to take advantage of someone doesn’t make it okay to do so!

FGS: Agreed…. Forgive my manners, I forgot I didn’t ask who you are, and what you do…

ZUBAIR: LOL, I guess you already know that

FGS: No(insert smiling smiley)

ZUBAIR: I am a web/mobile application developer, a TED fellow, a volunteer amongst other things.I currently work with connectnigeria.com as a lead developer

FGS: Wow….And your name is? I know your twitter handle is @zubairabubakar

ZUBAIR: you can get more here: http://www.ted.com/profiles/9272, http://www.facebook.com/zabubakar,zubairabubakar.com,

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/zubair-abubakar/3/329/935. Zubair Abubakar is my full name

FGS: Have you always been a ‘techie’? By that I mean is it something you’ve always had a flair/skill for, or you studied and acquired it?

ZUBAIR: yes I have always been a techie, but my studies helped a great deal to develop the skills

FGS: What/where was school?

ZUBAIR: I first did a diploma in Information Systems Management at APTECH Computer Education, Lagos,then a BSc. Computer Science at Ashesi University Ghana

FGS: How long have you been building apps?

ZUBAIR: web apps or mobile?

FGS: both

ZUBAIR: since 2003, so that’s roughly about 8yrs!

FGS: Wow….what’s the first app you developed? (web and/or mobile). By the way, I was in first year for the greater part of 2003

ZUBAIR: oh really! Well, it was a web app, a diploma project, where customers can create accounts, deposit(virtually), check their account balance

FGS: neat…Can we digress a bit? How do virtual deposits happen? I can understand online transfers, deposits via ATM’s et al but I don’t really get virtual deposits, and I’ve been too lazy to google it!

ZUBAIR: a simple implementation could be the use of recharge cards

FGS:ok….

ZUBAIR: so a website may sell the recharge cards and ask users to buy a card of certain value (say N5000) and then load the value of the card into his/her account on the website

FGS: oh ok…

ZUBAIR: then the account reads that he/she has N5000 on the website and can use it to buy stuff or transfer to another user

FGS: Nice….is it in use now? The app?

FGS: Zubair? (he was gone for like 8 minutes)

ZUBAIR: hey sorry for the break in transmission…thanks to NEPA.. lol

FGS: that’s fine; one of the reasons we’re all going out to vote next month abi?

ZUBAIR: exactly! And no, the app is not in use

FGS: Did you register in February ?

ZUBAIR: no; in January, why?

FGS: January I beg your pardon… DO you have your voters card?

ZUBAIR: yes

FGS: Ok, I would have been very worried if you didn’t! That would have been one less vote…. What was the experience like? Easy, difficult?

ZUBAIR: well ok, could have been way better

FGS: ok, that’s what everyone thinks… What prompted the Nigerian constitution for BB app? And don’t worry, we’ll be talking about things other than work in a bit…

ZUBAIR: lol its ok. Well I was learning how to develop for blackberry phones at the time so I thought about what app I could develop to make an impact and coincidentally, I was lazily reading the constitution then

FGS: ok…

ZUBAIR: and then it occurred to me that Nigerians don’t read or don’t even have access to the constitution; what if I developed an app that would let them read it on their phones……and that was it!

This is what the app looks like, get familiar!!

FGS: neat!!! Now to the stuff that sells papers…how old are you?

ZUBAIR: lol, 27

FGS: ok, back to the app. Has it been successful, how popular is it?

ZUBAIR: well, I would say yes, I has been downloaded 15,000+ times, here you go

http://mobileappsnigeria.com/nigerianconstitution/ (that’s the link to download it guys)

FGS: wow…that’s a lot of downloads! @techloy did a little analysis of the amount of money you would have made if you sold the app

ZUBAIR: it has also set a record of most downloaded app in Nigeria within 72hr – 10,000 downloads

FGS: Yes, I am aware of that…kudos!!!

ZUBAIR: yep, I know right! Thanks; a big thanks to social media

FGS: How are you publicizing the app, because there are currently more than 80 million Nigerians using mobile phones; placing this app in the hands of even a tenth of that number would be great.

ZUBAIR: my plan exactly; so far its has been, bb broadcast, facebook posts, twitter, and blog posts

FGS: ok, nice. When you are building apps, what do you do?

ZUBAIR: do you mean when I am NOT building apps?

FGS: yes, excuse me

ZUBAIR: ok, well couple of things, reading, volunteering, sports, hang out with friends

FGS: Any ‘special’ friend?

ZUBAIR: LOL, wife you mean?

FGS: whatever…wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, cat, dog, you choose….

ZUBAIR:LOL, not really, I’m mostly a loner

FGS: are you lending credence to the saying that techies are ‘loners’?

ZUBAIR: yep to some extent 

FGS:You’re not even trying to deny it! Anyways, my final three questions (and I must thank you for being a sport), what’s your favourite childhood memory?

ZUBAIR: lol, you are welcome

FGS: what’s your favourite childhood memory?

ZUBAIR: I’ve had couple, I think I first time on a plane would be the one

FGS: What’s your favourite meal?

ZUBAIR: tuwo rice with fresh fish stew

FGS: who’s your most favourite person in the world?

ZUBAIR: dead or alive?

FGS: You choose

ZUBAIR: Gandhi

me: thank you very much!!!

And that my dear friends, is Zubair, and the end of the interview (and this chronicle)… Feel free to talk to him on Twitter, he’s an easy, approachable fella, and please download the app, and forward the link! Knowledge of the law will enable us lead more productive lives, and ensure that no one tramples on our rights. Thank me later!

Related Articles

• Social Media and the New Dimension to Nigerian Politics (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• A Nigerian Revolution? Or Maybe Not (africaunchained.blogspot.com)
• Seun Osewa Founder of, Nigeria’s Biggest Website Nairaland Interviewed (afrinnovator.com)
• Curtains Close (zubairthedream.wordpress.com)

WHAT THIS WEEK HAS BEEN

Monday – first day of the week, and my first day at Uni for the year. I walked into the class, was astounded by the sea of unfamiliar heads, welcome to Production Labs, one of my modules for this semester. Somewhere between finding an idea to work on (which I still haven’t found), getting to know my group (Team Yellow), sorting out the people we’re supervising and the ones supervising us, I was lost.

Add that to the fact that I had a throbbing headache from not sleeping well at all the night before and Monday was literally ruined. I was happy to go home and collapse into bed at the end of the day.

P: S – Started a ‘Jesus is my boyfriend this week’ project with one of my  favorite friends,  Tomi.

Tuesday – Made it to a tutorial on poster design yesterday (I’m writing that here because I don’t remember what filled my morning). I didn’t sleep well, but it wasn’t as bad as yesterday.

Spent some quality time worshipping God today, and I remember asking specifically for good news, anything to make me smile ( do you get to that point sometimes) and then I got ready for uni.

Had a great time at my class! To start with it was Jase, Kaz, Leonie, Mark, and Simi (she’s new) and it felt like our space again. Of course Dave Harte (our tutor) was there, with Stuart Parker, the tutor for this module. Welcome to Social Media as Practice; I was happy that apart from what’s already outlined for the course, we did an audit of the social media skills we posses, and areas we’ll be needing  help from our tutor. We have to stage an event et al too but I’m loving the course already!

Got home to wonderful news from Nigeria that wrapped up an already beautiful day! My Boyfriend really pulled all the stops to make me happy today, and I’m truly grateful. Thank you Jesus…..

Wednesday – I didn’t sleep before 3am (get used to it). Then again the Dbanj/Snoop video debuted on Twitter and because I couldn’t sleep, I watched it, and I was disappointed. Before you bite me, I (like everyone else) is excited that Mo’Hits have again raised the bar, broken new frontiers, etc but to me, the video was just there. Nothing special.

I also watched the ‘Alabukun’ and ‘Change your parade’ videos (for the first time) by Pepsi boy, Lynxx – see for yourself (my first video on the blog, yay!!!). I’ve got nothing to say about both of them but, beauty_____ brains (fill in the blanks).

Erm what else did I do today? Yes, I exchanged some stuff I got for my brother (for the third time), and then went to volunteer my time (AND ENERGY) with a charity called Read International. There’s nothing like the fulfillment from knowing you’ve done stuff that in the long run will have a positive impact on people less fortunate than you are. Plus it’s great experience that’ll profit TBAM.

Today was left overs night; dinner consisted of left over potatoes, rice (jollof and white), plantains (diced and fried), prawns, veggies, and sausages all heated n one big pot! God is great sha, I’m sure only He would be able to help that digest!

Thursday – slept well. Very very well in fact. Even though two phone calls by @aninoritse and @toluogunlesi woke me up at different times of the night, I willed myself back to sleep (after tweeting a bit), and I slept well! Woke up at 10am (bite me) feeling very refreshed, spent an extra hour grooming myself, and then settled in to finish reading a somewhat scary but extremely interesting book.

Good news! My programme ideas (yes I had two) for the school radio station were accepted so I’ll be on air soon! There’s nothing like being on radio, once you’ve been there it never stops calling your name! Woo!

At Digging Deep today, we learnt about the blood of Jesus, and the different virtues we can draw from it. On why we ask for the forgiveness of any sin (of omission or commission) whenever we pray, the Pastor’s wife gave this analogy: if you have a child with diarrhea, every time the child poops on himself, you wash him (without fail), and comfort them for the pain they’re going through. While your desire (and what you’d be working towards) would be to take care of the root of that problem, you’d be happy to keep cleaning up that child for as long as it takes. Same thing for us; as we keep striving for perfection, Jesus works with us, cleansing us every time we slip up, and He’s happy to do that. Of course that doesn’t mean we should ‘abide in sin that grace may abound’. Be guided.

Thursday night was also heartbreaking as President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt did ‘the more you look, the less you see’ for his people (and indeed the world) when he said he wouldn’t be stepping down like we all expected. What is it with African leaders and clinging to power? SMH!

 

christians protecting muslims during the protests in Egypt

Friday – took a long walk today (in the name of finding an outfit for choir); the weather was great, my ears were plugged with music, and ‘like play like play’ I found myself walking (instead of taking the bus/train) for close to four hours! Of course my ankles et al hurt later but that’s a different story.

In other news, Hosni Mubarak stepped down today! Yay! After 30 years of dictatorship, he handed over to the military headed by Defence Minister Mohammed Hussein Tantawi. It’s a little bewildering though, that Mubarak would install a vice-president but hand over to the military. We can only rejoice with the Egyptians though, and pray that this is the beginning of the freedom they have clamored for decades now, and not the proverbial ‘jumping from the frying pan into the fire’.

The prayer service today was great too, we specifically asked 2011 to yield to us every good thing God has ordained for us for this year. Can I hear an Amen?

Saturday – started by experiencing God’s healing, had a wonderful (however short) time brainstorming with the Gorgeous Social Media Army, and then misplaced my phone in a store! Two things: I found out on time, and then had the presence of mind to retrace my steps, and God being merciful, someone had found it, picked it and given to the manager of the store so I got it back! Yay!!!

Chanced upon an idea for a series of interviews I want to do on this blog, it’s too early to spill but stick around!

Sunday – end of what has become a beautiful week. Service was ‘on point’, and after the sermon the Pastor reiterated the need for us to talk to someone if we need help, encouragement, prayer, or anything. It’s true, I really believe that amongst other things, the house of God should be a place where we should be free to ‘lean on the shoulders’ of our brethren when we need to.

And that’s it, a summation of what my week has been! I’m looking forward to a wonderful new week, full of good news, and the fulfillment of all my desires. You should too!

Related Articles

• Two Books a Month (tbam) (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• How Pleased Will Jesus Be With You On His Return? (pastorpaulvbsblog.blogspot.com)
• That’s Former President Hosni Mubarak (reason.com)

A MAN’S PECULIARITIES

Erm……thinking of the age of his next baby love?

Before you start on this, this is my first chronicle on this site and I’m really excited about it! And, my sincere apologies for bringing this a tad late; you will agree with me that the past couple of days in Nigeria have not been without incident. And I also do not like to write about things I do not have full information about (even though there are some things we will never understand till the hereafter). Ok, I can hear you; I’ll get on with it already.

Recently I was at a friend’s house and she was trying to instill some discipline in her niece, a perky 12 year old and she said “better stop rolling your eyes at me and give me the respect I’m due, you don’t know that if I was promiscuous by now I would have someone your age.” I laughed so hard that day; it’s amazing what our minds whip up sometimes!

Today however, I am not laughing. Not because I had a horrible day or anything but because I bet that the little Egyptian darling Honorable Sani Ahmed Yerima acquired for himself would be able to make that boast in approximately 13 years, and not because she is promiscuous but because her innocence has been slain on the altar of personal issues like pedophilia, perverseness, and insatiable lust fueled by a contradictory and therefore ineffective constitution, poverty and hypocrisy.

When this story broke, I thought it was one of them jokes because you will agree with me that Nigeria can be very funny. Days went by and it suddenly dawned on me that the 49 year old son of God actually
1. Traveled to Egypt, therefore abandoning his constituency and his duties as a lawmaker (or maybe he was ‘bbing’ the House).
2. Acquired wife/ baby/ child; by Jove I wonder what the criteria for the selection was
3. Brought the baby/ child/ wife back to Nigeria to marry because Egypt doesn’t allow underage marriages. Actually, Egyptian law forbids marriage where the man is more than 25 years older than the woman. 49-13 (or 14) =
4. Paid a dowry (slave-fee) of 100,000 dollars (about 15 million naira) to the wife/ baby/ child’s family. It would be nice to note that his driver in Egypt is the father of the 13year old.
5. Now he’s saying the media attention he is getting is an invasion of his privacy, he’s not going against any law in Islam and the girl is 14, not 13.

Ok seriously, invasion of privacy? Last I checked when you defecate in public you automatically give everyone viewing rights and by God this brand of feces looks horrible, especially when this senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has a peculiar taste for children he swore to protect. A Federal Republic that has a Child Rights Act’ that only 16 states have passed (including Abuja where the wedding to a minor took place) and is excluded in Zamfara State that this Honorable Senator governed for eight years.

The first child bride that we heard of was Hauwa in 2006, she was 15; he divorced her just before she turned 17. Now he has picked a 13 year old. Ok so he says she’s 14, same ten and ten pence to me. Is it me or do we all agree that he is masking a certain physiological defect? Forgive me but I think if you have small pencil you’d rather you had a small pencil case to put it in………and that’s all I have to say about that.

This Honorable Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria also says he’s not breaking any law of Islam. Let’s start from the age old argument; did the Quran actually say a man should marry four women? Apart from the injunction in Al Quran 4:3 that says he must be able to share his love and affections equitably amongst all the women (and says in a later verse that it is impossible to do so), these are the conditions under which it might be accepted.
• In times of war (back in the day, if there were 200 men and 200 women in a community and the 200 men went to war and only 50 come back, they could take multiple wives so everyone would get married)
• If the woman cannot have children (you need to take permission from her to take another wife)
• If she is sick and cannot have sex (over a period of time)
• Poverty (it’s acceptable to take other wives to take care of them if there’s extreme poverty in the land.

So, I agree the little girl’s family is poor but does that make him their savior? I can almost bet little Miss Elady has elder sisters or aunties, why not marry them? Then he says (and I quote), “Our beloved Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) was given Aishat to wife, at the age of nine years so I am not breaking any laws”. Ok, even if his middle name was Mohammed, does that make him the Prophet(peace be upon him)? That would be like a Mexican named Jesus hanging on the cross only because Jesus Christ did so (or may be because he is Christian).

Correct me but technically Miss Elady is Yerima’s sixth wife; she’s only number four because he divorced two to make way for her and still be within the confines of Islam. The only problem with that is this; Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima is 49 years old and he’s been with six women so far; their ages and the duration of the marriages is obviously reducing, and drastically at that. How many would he have been with by the time he’s 70?

“The Child Right Act in section 21 prohibits child marriage; that nobody marries a child, whether boy or girl, under the age of 18,”, “Section 22 prohibits the betrothal of a child under the age of 18. It makes our laws a joke if the person breaking the law is someone sitting at the highest law making body of this country (also known as the people who made the law)!

Let’s call a spade a spade and not a big spoon; this marriage is a sham, a crime actually that Senator Sani Ahmed Yerima should be punished for. Only issue with that is a National Assembly that for days denied knowledge of the wedding (when a good number of them attended), finally receives the petition from equally questionable members of the House (because of all the media attention), and then hands it over to a committee to look into the ‘immediate and remote’ issues around it. How many other such committees have been created to look into the various ills that plague Nigeria? What results have we seen?

Wait o, what if we had voted him in as President when he contested? Just asking.

Related articles

• Nigerian Muslim Senator Marries Girl of 13 and other Forced Child Marriages in the news (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• ‘Our Senators are Hypocrites’ (nigerianlgbtindiaspora.wordpress.com)
• Nigeria: Muslim Senator marries 13 Year Old Girl (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Top 10 Misconceptions in Islam (islamolife.wordpress.com)
• Nigeria to send troops to Mali in next 24 hours. (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com)