Dec 25, 2007

Merry Christmas + Naija Bloggers Party

This is to wish all my subscribers and readers Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Christmas comes but once a year, so enjoy yourself as much as you can. Be careful though, and remember "If you drink, don't drive and if you drive, don't drink!

The Naija Bloggers Party will come up on Saturday, Jan 5. The venue has not yet been fixed. I'll notify you as soon as it is fixed.

I'll leave you with this video from NSync. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
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Dec 10, 2007

Christmas Traffic

Christmas time is here again, and so is Christmas Traffic. How such an unpleasant thing came to be associated with such a pleasant thing baffles me, however if you live in Lagos, you'll agree that Christmas is synonymous with traffic. Nigerians in the diaspora return home from all over the world with a majority of them coming to Lagos, and holiday makers and shoppers flood to the markets and malls in search of the perfect Christmas gift. It all leads to increased movement and a corresponding increase in traffic.

A notorious road for traffic jams is Ikorodu road, one of the busiest roads in Lagos Mainland. The government has not helped matters in any way. First a full lane was cordoned off the 3 lane road for the BRT project leaving motorists to jostle for the insufficient two lanes. Now after over a year, the BRT project is far from complete. To make matters worse, the service lane is presently being demolished due to an ongoing pipe laying project reducing the capacity to 1 lane instead of 2. Thus the present capacity of Ikorodu road has been reduced from 5 lanes to 3 lanes, which has effectively multiplied the time spent on this road by 3, 4, 5 up to 10. How else will you explain a 10 minute journey from Ikeja to Ilupeju taking 120 minutes? Amidst the hold up, you'll see an occasional heated argument between 2 vehicle owners that have run into each other with their vehicles constituting another bottle neck. If one of the vehicles is commercial, it'll only make matters worse. You'll also spot the occasional car (Usually a Mercedes Benz) on the side of the road steaming from over heat with the driver frantically trying to fan, add water and stay calm all at the same time. You'll also see the street hawkers trying their best to sell all kinds of wares as they maneuver their ways deftly between the car. Finally you'll unmistakably notice the angry faces of the drivers who have no idea how long they'll be stuck in the traffic and who also know they're powerless to do anything about it.

I personally see no reason why two traffic-affecting projects should be executed side by side, what with the Government's seeming habit of starting and not finishing. Why would the pipe laying project start when the BRT project is far from finished and for the most part seemingly abandoned? Who does such thinking for the Government? Someone is definitely not worth his salt. Now that Christmas shopping has not even started for most people, and most of the travelers are yet to arrive, I wonder what will happen 3 days before Christmas. I'm already contemplating on leaving my car at home and resorting to more subtle means of transportation, eg Okada or I might just get myself a bicycle.

Anyway, that's enough ranting, let me move on to some good stuff. I passed under the Maryland Bridge yesterday night and I was really impressed. Street lights were full and very bright. Flowers lined the middle of the streets and everything was beautiful. I almost felt like stopping and making a picnic camp right under the street lights. Driving through Ilupeju last week, I also noticed that the roads leading to and from Coker roundabout have been tarred as well as several roads in Yaba. VI - Lekki road is also presently undergoing a major expansion which should alleviate the traffic situation in that area. Hey, good stuff is happening too! It's not just happening as fast as we would like it to be. But patience is after all a virtue, we have no choice but to remain patient. Have a traffic-free Christmas.

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Dec 1, 2007

Tagged - Weird things + 30 days of Thankfulness

I've never been tagged on blogsville, and I've never even expected to be tagged. However, within the last 2 weeks, I received 3 tags in quick succession from Bobby Taylor, Pamela Stitch and Aloted, welldone to you guys, putting me on the line like that. Anyway, after days of deliberating, I've decided to reply your tags.

Weird things about me

I was tagged by Bobby Taylor and Pamela Stitch. Thanks for tagging me. You set me thinking up all this stuff about myself.

1. I'm not much of a football fan. I don't run after premiership matches and I don't participate in arguments about why ManU is better than Arsenal or why Chelsea won Man City. I used to be a ManU fan but was not too much of an active fan. I watch World Cup, African Nations Cup, Olympics, but when Nigeria is out, I lose interest.

2. I'm from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State. However, I can't find my way to my hometown. I don't even know where my family house is. My Dad grew up in the North and in Lagos and he didn't have much contact with home either. In my whole life, I might have been there once or twice.

3. I hate traffic. I prefer driving for two hours on a free road to getting stuck for an hour in traffic. Some time ago, I went to drop a friend in Surulere and was to go back to Maryland. When I saw the traffic on the other side between Surulere and Jibowu, I turned right at the stadium and drove all the way to Marina, then proceeded to the 3rd Mainland Bridge, came down at Ojota and found my way to Maryland. Long journey I know, but I didn't mind since I avoided the traffic.

4. I rarely get sick. The last time I had malaria was over a year ago. The last time before then was probably 5 years ago or thereabouts. Also, I can endure the highest number of mosquito bites without any disfigure or discomfort to my skin. While others are nursing sore skin and itches due to mosquite bites, I just need to get under a cold shower and everything's back to normal.

5. I can concentrate in very noisy and rowdy places. I've once revised for an exam at a busy airport terminal where I was waiting to pick up my cousin. The exam was later in the morning and his arrival was delayed, I brought out my revision book and trust me, the jacking entered well well, and I passed well well.

6. I know too much technological stuff for my health. I can do things with my phone that people never believed can be done. Things like having an auto SMS sent to everyone who calls me (an sms answering machine), using my phone as a remote control for the TV through infrared, logging on to my laptop through my phone, etc.

7. A friend once nicknamed me Jason Bourne. This is because I can be different things to different people. It's not about me having multiple personalities. It's just about what part of me you're able to relate to.

Ok, I guess that's enough weirdness for one day!

I hereby tag Laspapi, Akin Aworan, Ore, Jaycee, Mimi, OmoAlagbede and Aloted. You guys blog too much about serious stuff (especially you Ore), you need to loosen up (like I just did) ... lol. Omodudu, you lucky say them don tag you already o, otherwise you would have been the first on this list!

Here are the rules
1) Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
2) Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself
3) Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
4) Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog


30 Days of Thankfulness

I got tagged by Aloted. Thanks for tagging me. I'm first thankful for that.

I'm thankful for:

1. My Life - I'm thankful for my life because without it, I would be nothing. It's a chance to be on the earth to create a change and leave a legacy. I pray I'll achieve things that will make me remembered long after I'm gone.
2. My Family - I'm thankful for my family, for bringing me into this world and for being the first friends I ever had. The were the first examples I ever observed. The first people who taught me, brought me up and gave me a sense of belonging. They played the most major role in making me who I am today.
3. My Friends - True friends are gifts. No one deserves them. I'm thankful for all the friends I've ever made. My close friends and not-so-close ones, and even those who don't like me. You all add to the spice of life and you've all made me who I am.
4. My Country - I'm grateful for this country and would never exchange it for any other. Though the present situation leaves much to be desired, I'm confident that things are changing, and I must be a part of that change.
5. My Job - Even though at times I don't feel like leaving my home to go to work, I'm still thankful because my job is something I enjoy (unlike many people I know), and the organization I work for can be considered the best in it's field. It's a rare privilege to work for my company.
6. The Internet - Where would we be without the Internet? I can't even imagine. Kids being born today will never know there was a time in which owning a computer was considered a luxury. I'm thankful for having been a part of both worlds.
7. Blogger - I'm thankful for blogger.com and the world of blogging, for creating a perfect avenue where I can express my thoughts and opinions about issues, and have people read and tell me what they think. I'm not thankful for the addiction though.

For this, I tag Bobby Taylor (getting back at you, girl!), Ababoy, Overwhelmed, and Nneka.

I don't know the rules for this one. I think it's supposed to run for 30 days, but then again, there's always something to give thanks for, so I'm not posting any rules. You guys are free to be thankful in anyway you wish. Just make sure you are thankful.

I wish all my readers a great week ahead.

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