What are we really promoting?

To all returnees, I want to start off by commending your efforts. To summon the courage and make the decision to leave your country of birth or where you spent the majority of your life is not an easy thing to do. Nonetheless, despite the negative press, a business environment that is completely different to that in Europe, and a scanty infrastructure you went ahead and the majority of you have been able to not only create sustainable livelihoods but make a profound impact in your chosen industries.

There have been numerous success stories, which make me beam from ear to ear whenever I read. We Nigerians are a remarkable people of substance. Our resilience, determination, and dedication is proof of this. Moreover, it is a combination of these traits that have allowed us to grow from strength to strength in what is described as a backward society.

My senior pupils and I tend to have discussions on Nigerian returnees (also known as IJGBs) every so often. We discuss industries from entertainment, right through to finance and hospitality. They ask questions about my trips to Lagos and express interest in relocating also. Several returnees are mentioned, although it is the popular 'IT' girls and fashionistas that are mentioned most frequently - Some of whom I do not consider ideal role models. On occasion I mention an entrepreneur's name and they respond with 'miss who's that?'

At times I feel slightly discouraged that my students emulate individuals who's lifestyles are not idea; for growing minds. To give you a rough idea I shall list some of their common characteristics below:

• Thousands of followers on Instagram/youtube
• Hair/weave sellers
• Makeup artists
• Fair in complexion 
• Artists/Rappers
• Display luxury lifestyles

I am not here to name drop or discredit any person, and we must also remember that there are several credible individuals's within these industries in Nigeria, take Asa for example. However, the artists mentioned by my students in the classroom are not comparable to Asa in any way.

Now my question to those who appear to be 'chopping life' or 'living the dream', other than Instagram likes what value have you actually added? You left the developed world and moved to a developing country. What have you changed since you returned? Can people define what you do? (As in what you actually do lol). I am very sorry to say this and I will probably be labeled but in my eyes, the fact that you have twenty thousand followers on Instagram does not make you successful. My students reckon they are successful and idolise them. This set of returnees are sending out a subconscious message that education is of little or no significance and perpetuate an image that puts immediate gratification at the forefront of personal development. These teenagers want it all... The business class trips to Dubai, luxury designer handbags, footware and the latest Range Rover Sport.

'Mans about that GWAG life, dun know' shouts one of my year 10 students.

'Miss I heard Nigeria's live you know. Apparently, you can get bare p for just sitting down in hotel lobbies and man just walks up to you and drops 20k on the table cos he likes what your wearing'.

I could go on...

My point is there is a young generation of Nigerians both at home and in diaspora who are watching and can see the societal decadence unfold before their very eyes. What is most frightening is these students are the potential leaders of tomorrow... Adopting values like those listed above will only keep Nigeria in its present condition which will only spell misery for the future.

Food for thought?

@_ijustgotback_ 

Why I am in love with Funke oyinbo Pepper

It has been a while since I last posted.

Being back at work on a full teaching timetable has been busy, to say the least. I am also finishing off my Travellagos project.

Anywho, I was scrolling through Instagram the other day and came across a page owned by a Caucasian lady known as Funke Oyinbo Pepper.

Now, what were my first thoughts? 'ahh, another oyinbo one forming Naija.' Typically I was rather disgruntled over the fact that a patriotic Nigerian in diaspora like myself - who loves their country, is pretty much bypassed, but as soon as its a Caucasian person Nigerians go crazy.

First I watched a few videos and thought hmmm. She addressed questions raised as to why she visits Nigeria, as many assume she was invited or has a partner based there. These were the same questions people asked after I traveled to Lagos for the first time in 2011 and continued travelling two-three times a year thereafter.

I then moved on to her website.Two days later I have read almost every single article!

Of course, the teacher in me was quick to spot errors in her text but I am pretty sure I have a few errors in my blog too. *shrugs* Also I assume she learned English in addition to her mother tongue. English is my first language however in the words of my students, my Yoruba is 'weak'. I get the impression that Funke is actually quite talented.

The content on her website is good and I was not paid to say this, she probably doesn't even know I exist lol.

So here's why I can't get enough of her web page:

• She uses her online platform to promote Nigeria as a tourist destination.
• She blogs about her personal experiences in Nigeria which challenge traditional western notions of Africa and poverty.
• Education wise her blog is very valuable - it depicts a range of Nigerian ethnic tribes, cultures, and traditions.
• She uses real life experiences to explore Yoruba myths and beliefs.
• Choice of interesting case studies. 

http://www.funkeoyinbopepper.com/stories/white-lady-in-love-with-african-braids/

Some other things we share in common are that we are both lovers of giving back i.e, volunteering, we both visited  Nigeria for the first time in 2011 and her writing flair shows a quirky sense of humour. On her website biography, she states 'I promote a positive image of Nigeria and Africa in general' and it's no word of a lie! Whether you are Nigerian or not, If you haven't seen her website then you need to check out www.funkeoyinbopepper.com

You might just learn a few things :)

Gendered Roles and the Nigerian Household - Part II

I recently received an email from a friend and as soon as I read it I thought about part one of this post. 

I would like to share the email I received as the second part of my post. Please bear in mind, I don't actually know who wrote this piece and I am in no way taking credit for it, I just wanted to share it with all Nigerians.... 

The Misconstructed view of Man

Every day, especially with the rise of social media, the menfolk are bashed and branded “evil”. We often make generalisations about the whole “specie” based on isolated experiences.
Recently, a Nollywood actress wrote that “all men cheat”. My intention is not to write a rejoinder to the referenced article, neither is it an attempt to repudiate the assertion. However, in my moment of solitude, I asked if truly something is wrong with us as men.Before making my case, please permit me to share three independent events that will help connect the dots with you.

Event 1
Recently, at a party, I was having a conversation with a group of childhood girlfriends. One of them, Omolara, was deeply concerned about the posture her nine-year-old son is beginning to assume in life. According to her, he is becoming too “SWEET” for a man, (Sweetness in her dictionary is a lovey-dovey, soft, simple and good man). She was actually seeking my opinion on how to help him ‘toughen up’. As I struggled to make sense of her request, I asked why she wanted to alter the poor boy’s personality and to my utmost bewilderment, Bidemi, Shewa and Zainab, all other three ladies sitting with us attacked me with an intense “Jezebelic” venom. I left the party wondering to myself if I was some sort of a novice, probably naïve or worse still, archaic in my thinking.

Event 2
A few months ago, I got a phone call from a very dear friend. She asked if I could recommend the service of a good lawyer for her. Since she worked in my former constituency (i.e. the Nigerian banking industry), I erroneously assumed that she was about to resign her job to register and start a new business, Alas, my very good-natured, homely gentle and caring Bolanle wants to get a divorce. The reason: Bros has been cheating on her with two of his ex-es and a new kid on the block in his office.

Disturbed at the distraught sound of her voice, we agreed to meet up at a nearby restaurant on my invitation. As she walked towards me, the pain from her countenance would best be described as the percussion to the symphony of a shattered heart; in one word: BROKEN.I watched as she broke down in tears whilst she narrated her experience. She had led a chaste and responsible life as a single chic and had been a faithful and dutiful wife. Her world was tearing apart not only because she caught Le-boo red-handed, but, because he rubbed his affairs in her face and was too prideful to show any form of remorse.Secondly, because NOBODY was in support of her divorce. Everyone, including her darling mum and numero uno confidante, encouraged her to her stay on in the marriage and their unanimous reason is that, all over the world and particularly in Africa, philandering is in the DNA of men.As I listened to the societal justification for her to remain in the marriage, I realised that somehow in our social construct, we may have bought into an unconscious “conspiracy theory” that has no empirical, cognitive, scriptural, or moral validation.

Event 3
The first time I saw Iyanya’s ‘Oreo’ music video, (no disrespect to the talented dude) my first instinct was fear for the ‘boy child’. I reckoned that excessive exposure to those sort of videos in his formative years can catalyse his inclination towards a ‘vulgar’ future expressed in poor character traits such as objectifying women, multiple dating, infidelity, lack of respect for women, cheating, polygamy et al. You can then imagine the emotion I felt when I walked into a friend’s house as the video was playing on one of the music channels on DSTV and right before Daddy and Mummy, was their six-year-old son watching and singing along without parental check.

Here’s my pain:In most cases, all through her life, the girl child was trained to be contrite, to be meek, to cook, to serve the king as a queen, she was generally prepared for life. The question is, who prepared the boy child for life? Who bothered to help him discover his theme and guide him on how to navigate his way through the tides of life? Who spent time to teach him how to care for a pregnant wife? Who counselled him on how to be a gentleman?As a teenager, I recall listening to a conversation about the girl child losing her innocence. For the girl child it is a taboo, but in most cases, for the boy child it is acceptable. I have seen where an African mother defended her boy child in a case of fornication gone wrong, but the girl child was stigmatized for the same “crime”.

In some homes, the boy child finished eating his meals and the Mother ensured that the girl child packed up his plate and washed them. It was forbidden for him to do the dishes because he was either the only son, the last boy or the first boy (as some Yoruba mothers will say, “Baba yin ni”).All his life, the boy child has been told that he is the champion and that it is a sign of weakness to be vulnerable. In some parts of Africa, he is the preferred gender, the one to carry on the family name (‘o ma se o’). There is nothing wrong with building up a child’s self-esteem but there must be a balanced approach to it, the sad effect of these alpha-male doctrines and masculine philosophies is that it messes up the child’s belief system and often times he loses the power of believing right. (The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word).

The world tells the boy child that he is the VICTOR whereas he is actually the VICTIM.He is the victim of a society that lied to him that he is superior to the girl child (that is probably why some men may never be able to handle a super successful, upwardly- mobile woman).He is the victim of a system that deceived him; that it is a sign of weakness for a man to cry.He is the victim of a system that gave him a false sense of dominance over his female counterpart.He is the victim of a system where his own mother concurred to the sinister doctrine that polygamist tendencies is an innate trait of the masculine gender.He is the victim of a system that had no strict boundaries for his social conduct and contriteness whereas the girl was prepared for life and marriage.He is the victim of our cultural flaws and idiosyncrasies.He is the victim of a faulty foundation of a failed society.

Here’s how I see it:It is our responsibility to show him (the boy child) the masterplan of his creator.To be strong at heart yet not afraid to admit his weaknesses and cry if need beTo be a leader yet with the humility to be a servant and have control over himselfTo be courageous yet not afraid to open to his errors in the days of adversityTo be strong yet meekTo be swift yet patientTo be sweet yet wiseTo be kind yet firmTo be wise, prudent, caring and focusedTo be honourable in the place of chastityTo build the capacity to commit to his words and not renege on his promise of loveTo respect the WOMAN, her GOD, her will and her bodyTo demonize feminine abuse and revere her emotions, her spirit and her essenceTo own his story, his will, his calling, his purpose, his family and his lifeA man who will treat all women with dignity and not exploit her vulnerabilities even when the latter so easily give in.

Let’s help develop a breed of perfect gentlemenLet’s help the boys grow to become Men after God’s heart!To young mothers with growing boys, teach them how to handle the needs of a woman from a woman’s perspective, it is obvious that men don’t get it as much……(Family Customer Service 101)We may not be able to change the global stock of men, but in our little corner, with our sons, our nephews, our cousins, our protégées, our godsons, our neighbour’s sons. We can build ONE man that will affect a nation.

A sage once told me: it is easier to build up growing children than to repair broken adults.came across this and felt I should share and post.



Anon

Gendered roles and the Nigerian Household - Part I

It is Saturday morning.

I'm in the kitchen, on all fours scouring away at the oven floor. Several minutes into the scrubbing I can feel a slight wetness on my index finger, water appears to have seeped in through a small hole in my marigold rubber gloves. I'm almost done so I carry on scrubbing the sides, followed by the oven door then rounding up with the metal grids.

Still, on all fours, I notice a presence with me in the room. I tilt my head towards my chest. It's an upside down view of my mother, she's standing in the kitchen doorway grinning from ear to ear 'you are good when it comes to cleaning you know, your husband will be lucky'.

I let out an exasperation ', ahh leave it out mum.' *rolls eyes*

'it's true, you don't joke when it comes to cleaning.'

In my head, I'm like 'lol that's because I have OCD mother' but I just wipe the surfaces down and move on to mopping.

Lagos to London: The Super-Rich and Bulletproof Cars

There has been plenty of discussion in the diaspora this week regarding a documentary titled 'Lagos to London' which was aired by channel 4 just over a week ago. The documentary narrated a set of Nigerians who were extremely wealthy, and despite not being permanent residents in London were the third highest consumers in the capital after the Chinese and middle eastern Arabs.

I was elated that channel 4 was showing Britons that Nigerians were not all low-middle income earners. It was completely different from the 'Welcome To Lagos' documentary filmed by the BBC a few years ago which painted an all too narrow view of life in Lagos. Thus, it's no surprise that many of the British Nigerian pupils I teach in lower school were unaware that Nigerians with this much purchasing power even existed. 

I remember when I worked in John Lewis a few years ago, I saw a large number of Nigerians purchase goods valued at over £30,000 so I wasn't too sure about the Toke Makinwa feature. 

In the documentary, I found the comments of Florence Otedola also known as DJ Cuppy quite interesting. An excerpt from an interview with the daily mail reads;

'When she is working in Nigeria she needs to travel with a security team in a bullet proof car due to the risk of robbery and kidnapping.

She said, for this reason, she feels much happier in London, where she has recently moved into her own apartment. She said: 'London is bliss as I can walk down Brompton Road without a worry in the world. In Lagos I can't say "I am going out for two hours", I have to go with people, take security, my dad needs to know where I am. 'None of my other DJ friends need security, it is kind of his fault so he has to pay for it.'

Once I finished watching the documentary I had a mixture of thoughts. The first being Florence needs to be mindful of the things she highlights to the British public due to the incredibly tarnished image we already have. She recognised that 'Nigeria' had a problem with two types of crime in particular but I also feel as though she could have commented on how the problems had been or were being addressed.

If I use myself as an example I have travelled to Lagos quarterly for the last four years and have never made use of a bulletproof vehicle. Safety in Nigeria as a lone female traveller - although carrying an element of risk, I have never been a victim of crime. No one I know personally has been kidnapped, a few were mugged or had been burgled in the past. Although in contrast both of my parent's homes in the UK have also been burgled.  


Although I am not the daughter of a billionaire tycoon, does Cuppy actually need to travel in a bulletproof car? Or does her father make it a safety precaution as standard because he feels there is a significant risk due to the family wealth/social status in Nigerian society? 

The average person watching may interpret her comments as that as 'Wow is Lagos that bad that people must travel around in bullet proof cars' When in reality that is not the case.

I believe there was a time in Lagos when the incidence of burglaries was extremely high. Nigeria as a whole did not have a kidnapping problem. Criminal activity is often localised and the most common location for kidnappings in Nigeria is the Niger Delta States, but that does not mean it does not happen in Lagos state. Furthermore, there are a number of northern states and middle belt areas that would be considered medium-high risk in terms of crime and violence.

I am sure she meant no harm but I feel it's essential that we move forward as a nation and focus on the positive aspects that Nigeria has to offer in the global market, rather than exacerbate the negatives.

Repositioning Our Value System - Guest Writer

The practice of a value system requires more strength and consistency especially in a Nation that has lost her way in the path of deep morality and wrong leadership systems.

In helping humanity answer the question of fair play and equality, we must address our human right policies and improve on our core value system and the culture of morals within leadership. In a society of diverse human ideologies and various philosophies of social justice and public systems; how do we adopt a well-balanced culture of core values?  This is why we need to critically look back into our community structure system and see the good morals that God has embedded in us as human beings so that we can unite and make a positive achievement in human development,  this will take us back to the place of value and morality in our society.

The view is that the sour and unbiased nature of values and morality of our society is reflected largely in the lifestyle of our ruling elites and has resulted into the worst nature of our attitude to work and poor output capacity in the workplace. Our beliefs about what is wrong or right have been compromised because we chase after riches and wealth in all-cause not minding what happens in our public sphere and the citizenry.

Morality is supposed to be our guideline and principle of wrong and right in the society or nation. This is because value and morality are the two exponents that promote peace, and a healthy society. Values and morality are the building resource for a strong society and well-flourishing economy growth and development which will stand as a society's backbone, but rather we have traded these simple and positive exponents that are supposed to promote national unity and a healthy society.

The performance of the government on the social structure and economic system show that the ruling elites held the upper hand on the negative influence of our society moreover profane value, injustice, corruption, and poor leadership are the factors pushing forward in our society, it is true that followers have decided to follow the path of our leaders since it's now a compromise structure.
However, we must reposition our minds for the right character and attitude to collaborate with each other irrespective of our background or tribe, we must join hands together and champion fight against immortality and bad governance in our society.

My closing remark is that we must learn how to cultivate the spirit of  national interest and re-orientate our youths and teenagers about values and positive leadership and patriotism. Let's stop any incompetent hands from reaching our national system and educate the masses properly on what to do as not to produce shoddy and unsatisfactory results which give into corruption.

Dappa Rowland

A Letter To Nigerians In Diaspora - Guest Writer

Dear compatriots,

I'm really grateful to God almighty for giving me this opportunity to write my fellow beloved brothers and sisters in diaspora.  I am aware of the intimidation and unfair treatment you receive on a daily basis from the caucasian community in the form of institutionalised racism and discrimination, yet you keep holding on for a better tomorrow. It is not your fault because our past and present leaders in the arm of political systems have not considered the populace as one of their key interest points thus, there's no way you would leave your fatherland in search of quality education and a greener pasture in another man's land where you would inevitably go through emotional torture and psychological maltreatment just to acquire a simple university degree.

Although in the past our leaders have accused us of being lazy and gullible, how amusing can that be; when the same so called politicians steal billions of Naira and channel it to swiss banks and other foreign accounts and leaving us with no other choice than to migrate out of our beloved country, well let's not go there now because that's a long story but I will write to you subsequently on how our funds were misused by our leaders.

I am writing and pleading to you fellow beloved Nigerians that our future is here and now and we must stand up and take what belongs to us peacefully, we are our future and that of our unborn generation so let us not sit down hoping everything will be fine. You that reside in the UK, Ukraine, USA and other nation indigenous to the white man, you have been exposed enough to add value to this country and join hands in the rebuilding of our Nation, so I urge you to return home and share ideas that will benefit our Nation with your fellow brothers and sisters. This is not a matter of tribe or religion because those two social factors are the reason why Nigeria has become backward today when compared with other countries. At this present point in time, we (Nigeria) have no future projection, insight, and upright attitude towards good governance.

Let us stop accusing our colonial masters because they successfully handed power over to us five and a half decades ago, however, our problems are greed, selfishness and lack of transparent leadership insights and no value for human rights or human life in general. It is true that our leaders in the past tread along a path of self- centredness and corrupt social systems without any progression in our social, economic structure, and the rule of law. But we must put the past aside and start a new nation that is centred on core values and genuine love for one another and I am convinced that God almighty has deposited the resources we need to succeed in us, so my beloved compatriots the time has come for NIGERIA to be liberated from the wicked elites so that she can occupy her rightful position in the Global system.

If you want to be relevant and significant in the New Nigeria wake up from your deep sleep and remember that the Israelites crossed the Red seas after 400 years in the land of Egypt to journey into the land of milk and honey that God promised them and their fathers. So let us also get ready to rebuild and make Nigeria a nation that is free of corruption and establish a generation of societal values where integrity, honesty, commitment, loyalty, stability and genuine humanitarian interest will rule our hearts...

God bless you!
God bless our New Nigeria!
God bless our strengths as youths!
God bless our vision!
God bless our creativity!
God bless those who believe in us and those who do not!
God bless and cure our open wounds, heal our broken bones, and dreams!
God bless and restore our insights!

PREPARE NIGERIA!

Dappa Rowland

Had a look at your CV lately?

My sister sent me two links a few days ago.
After reading the articles, several realisations dawned on me.

Resume Whitewashing

Although not guilty of it now, I have altered my resume in the past to increase my chances of being called for interviews. Let's take my name for instance, my middle name is Folasade so I split the name in half and used either 'Fola' or 'Sade'. On my former CV, my forename was listed as Fola rather than my actual first name which has five syllables (Yes we Yoruba people are blessed with multiple names which come with multiple syllables. :D) When I enrolled at university I got the registrar to replace my first name with 'Sade'. In my eyes being compared to the famous singer was far better than having lecturers make several attempts at pronouncing my first name and still fail even after correcting them - something which I experienced throughout my entire school era. I couldn't bare the embarrassment any longer.

In an attempt to sound less African my Nigerian friends prefer to use their English forenames on their CVs rather than their Yoruba ones, I don't have an English name so I had to cut my losses and make a choice between my first and middle name and of course you know which one I chose.
I won't bash anyone who does it because I can understand why... Rather my point is that whitewashing your CV is a complete and utter waste of time... Whys that you may ask? whilst it may increase your chances of getting an interview it will certainly won't do you any favours in boosting your salary packet.

Read the link below and it should make more sense.

Black workers' pay gap in UK 'widens with qualifications'

Here's the quote from the article that stood out for me 'The research suggested there was a 23% gap in hourly pay between black and white university graduates.'

Despite being born and brought up in the UK, passing through the same educational institutions AND achieving the same qualifications why do black Britons earn significantly less than their white counterparts?

I remember when I was about 14 my mother was having a rant about the discrimination she experienced as a Nigerian woman in the workplace. 'You can bleach, use straight weaves, wear eye contacts, speak queens English, dress like them even bear the same names as them. It will never be good enough'.

Now for a solution... Not sure there is a solution for institutional racism to be honest. Perhaps it's something that we should just accept?

Please comment and share your thoughts...

What do Fab Empire Skincare and BellaNaija Have In Common?

A lot of people have been sending me emails about my blog not being very engaging because I rarely include images. Don't worry guys you will get your images today...

Bella Naija Weddings

I was scrolling through Bella Naija Weddings on Instagram recently and I noticed something, the majority of women on the page are fair skinned. Then I pay attention to the couples, 8/10 times its a dark skinned male aside a fair skinned female.

Ok, so here's the logic. BNW have 1 million followers the majority of which are Nigerians, and their counterparts in diaspora.  If we then look at the gender ratio the majority of their followers are women.

Let's face it, regardless of tribe or religion, the majority of single women in Nigeria are under pressure to find a spouse and start a family. Since we can see these beautiful ladies on BNW have secured their spouses and just happen to be light skinned then maybe, just maybe I too can improve my chances of finding a spouse if I bleach/tone/lighten/whiten/brighten my skin...

WRONG! WRONG!! WRONG!!!

I don't know who started BNW but I hope they read this...

The funniest thing women don't understand is that enhancing your body to make yourself more physically attractive - whether by having cosmetic surgery or altering your skin tone will indeed attract attention from the opposite sex...
Once you have achieved your optimum skin tone and begin to notice an increased number of toasters, ask yourself what exactly are these men looking for? Do they seek a spouse like you? Or are they just drawn to your yellowness and coke bottle like figure?

Fab Empire Skincare

Now let us move on to fab empire, a popular skincare company in Nigeria who boast the award for the best skincare brand in Nigeria and claim all products are made from 100% plant extract. The first thing I noticed on their website was the youtube reviews. They managed to get two Caucasian ladies (from the UK and the US) to talk about their products for 40 seconds - Interesting marketing strategy...

Firstly who are these women? Why are their names and clinic details not available so I can actually look them up and verify they are registered dermatologists. Secondly, how do I know they tested any of the FES products in their labs? It's pretty obvious the reviews were scripted and the women, paid to market the 'natural' products. I'm sure you know the typical Naija mentality right... If the oyinbos know about it then the cream sure pass.

LOL

Anyway, take a look at the images below.

























Kids Choice Cream Treatment (Image)

Kids Choice Cream



Half Caste Treatment (image)

Half Caste Cream



Snow White Cream Treatment (Image)

Snow White Cream

What I find most shocking is the fact that people are paying millions of naira for these cosmetics. N230,000 for a twenty-ounce tub of snow white cream? That's the equivalent of 796 GBP. My whole cosmetic range costs about half of that annually.

The half-caste cream is N75,000 that's around 260 pounds. Why on earth would you even think of using such a derogatory outdated term as the name of a cream? And if you see the customer reviews I don laugh O  'It made me look like a mixed race in three days.' I do wonder though how comes each product listed on this post has a similar amount of reviews which are all five stars...

Fab empire also promotes the skin bleaching of children with their kids choice treatment at only 12,000 naira, around 41 pounds.

Contrary to the claims by the two dermatologists, there are several ingredients on the FSE list that are far from natural. One of the ingredients is oxybenzone which serves as a sunscreen. According to the Environmental Working Group

'there are several suspected dangers associated with Oxybenzone. Despite its sun protective abilities, it has been shown to penetrate the skin and cause photo-sensitivity. As a photocarcinogen, it has demonstrated an increase in the production of harmful free radicals and an ability to attack DNA cells; for this reason, it is believed to be a contributing factor in the recent rise of Melanoma cases with sunscreen users. Some studies have shown it to behave similarly to the hormone estrogen, suggesting that it may cause breast cancer. It has also been linked to contact eczema and allergies.'

Even if the quote above made headlines the majority of brainwashed individuals purchasing them would continue anyway. Shebi we have to die from something?

In the words of my mother 'If you like to win one hundred awards' it does not make any difference. Some blame the consumers with colonial mentality whilst others may blame the rogue traders getting rich from selling a dream, or we can look to societies across the globe promoting this white Ideal and ask why it is still happening...

As human beings, we are naturally inclined to like things that are visually appealing it's not rocket science. However good looks will only get you so far, it will always grab the attention of the opposite sex but that doesn't mean the man will want to keep and eventually marry you... Did you consider that you may just become an object for show? Eye candy perhaps? or the trophy wife? With the rate of the divorce nowadays I think it's time we start to look beyond the physical, don't you?

Not All That - Part 2

Two years on, counterparts from secondary school without any form of higher education earn substantially more than me. I had a conversation with some friends recently concerning the lack of progression within the teaching profession - particularly for ethnic minorities. My question then is, if you manage to finally gain some sort of senior position after passing through a multitude of hurdles, are the copious amounts of stress actually worth the pay packet?
Upon hearing my dissatisfaction, my friends reassured me suggesting that I apply for an independent (private) school, relocate to an Emirate city, or return to university to complete my masters degree.

I bumped into my one of my old secondary teachers... After teaching for fifteen years, she was appointed as deputy's head... Apparently on 80k.... she said she gets five hours of sleep per night at the very most... Her last comment was something along the lines of 'Just don't expect your quality of life to get better with salary increments.' Interesting... Although when I pause to think of it, if my choice of career was based on income alone I certainly wouldn't have become a teacher.

The Conversation 

A dialogue I overheard on my last trip to Lagos inspired me to draft part one of this post.

Now back to my original point. I am aware that life in Nigeria can be difficult for your average citizen. When you have limited income, little, or no political influence it's frustrating. It is said that things get done a lot quicker when you have the status and connects to match...

Imagine your home being completely cut off from the national grid for twelve consecutive days, no complaints system and where complaints are lodged no action is taken. Could that ever happen in the UK?
When you see ordinary people being stopped for no genuine reason; ordered out their vehicles, stripped, beaten, and ridiculed like animals by those who deem themselves police, life carries on as normal and nobody is held to account. I read a story about an abandoned newborn left in a cardboard box. She was heard crying by members of the public who did not want to rescue her out of fear that they would be accused of child abduction. The baby eventually died.
I occasionally hear reports of corpses lying bloated by expressways. I thank God I have never set my eyes on such - that kind of image would haunt one for a lifetime.

To the Nigerian citizen who believes the only way to make it in life is by going abroad, you shall not miss it in Jesus name. I understand why you feel that way. To create a livelihood in Nigeria is challenging, to say the least, and often a time individuals feel as if all odds are stacked against them. However, Nigeria will not change if you leave, Instead of being complacent and watching these daily atrocities go by without batting an eyelid thinking to yourself 'that's Naija for you' challenge it, find a decent solicitor, ask for the oga at the top, read up on the judiciary, do you know your rights as citizen? Abeg stay in your country and create the culture that you want to see for yourself!
Add an ounce of value to every person you meet in every interaction you make.
Let us enlighten ourselves so that we can make informed choices and bring about changes step by step.

I love it when I visit http://www.movebacktonigeria.com/ and read the success stories. It makes me excited and the reason for that is, despite a series of unfortunate economic events Nigeria is still churning out millionaires... (I'm not talking yahoo boys, runs girls or stolen government money O)

Remember the grass is always greener on the other side. I leave my house in darkness and return home in the same darkness. The winters are not very enjoyable and keeping homes heated is expensive... Then you jump on the train and a drunken reveler spews 'go back to your country you black c*nt.'

How I wish I could...

Not All That - Part 1

A conversation between two males at palms shopping mall Lagos, Nigeria.

Mr X: Guy, how far na? Long time.
Mr Y: I dey jare, I travel.
Mr X: Ah ah, where you go?
Mr Y: I bin go for Europe tour.
Mr X: Which area for Europe.
My Y: Guy, I go like seven different countries O; Milan, Paris, Rome, Holland, Spain, Amsterdam, and Malta.
Mr X: Omo, you dey chop life O.
Mr Y: *Laughs* For where? The waka no reach me sef.
Mr X: Guy if to say na me enter Europe, I no go come back O. This naija plenty palaver dey for my head.
Mr Y: As in.
Mr X: I go just find one EU babe toast am well, then marry am. I go settle there na.
Mr Y: Guy I don waka well, but there's no place like home.
Mr X: No place like kini? Abeg leave that one. Wey, dem get light, good road, and fresh water, wetin go make me sidon for here make sun com turn me to burnt offering? If say I get chance leave naija this night, bros I no go look back.

***

06:15 AM

Two beeps... Another two... Then another. I thrust my hand out from under the duvet reaching for my iPhone, desperately wishing to hit the snooze button... I can't risk being late to work. I quickly pull my arm back under the duvet attempting to bask in the warmth of my body heat.

I sit up in the dark then head to the shower wincing due to the brightness of the lamp on the landing.

The house is chilly.

I get dressed in a hurry and descend down two flights of stairs. No time for breakfast but I grab my lunch from the fridge which I put together the night before.

6:43 am I glance outside the kitchen window, it's still dark. Keys check, oyster check, diary check, staff card check. No time for makeup just a pair of studs and watch, my hair is pulled back neatly into a bun. I need to catch the 6:57 train so I power walk to the station. I catch the DLR then change for another train at Stratford, followed by a bus for the final part of my journey.

7:58 am I pass through the school gates heading towards the staff room. I ditch my running shoes for smart pumps, wash my hands, a quick glance in the mirror shows the cold has left me with a pinkish tinge in the nose and cheeks. I check my pigeonhole for mail then log into a computer to check emails from colleagues.

It's 8:25 am, the bell goes for period one. I log off and walk briskly to my class.

Twenty-eight small people burst into the room. 'mam, you know the homework... 'mam I have to leave at ten past for my piano lesson', 'mam I've got a belly ache can I go medical room'...'mam I forgot my book.' Not to mention the cluster of good mornings in between....Meanwhile, I'm trying to log onto my PC and upload the register - My brain is trying to process about fifty thoughts per minute.

I spend form time following up pastoral issues and hand out notices before I realise it's break time. That's gone in a blink too, I gulp down half a measly cereal bar just as the bell goes. I upload the powerpoint for the lesson, distribute the necessary resources and take my last bite of raisin and apple gooey stuff disposing of the wrapper in the bin.

3:00 pm the final bell of the day goes... Home time... I want to actually have a weekend where I can unwind, completely indulging in total relaxation. I leave school at 19:10 pm that evening and 18:20 the following day.

On weekdays, I spend roughly nine or ten hours at work plus an additional two and half hours commuting. As a contractor, I don't get paid during half term holidays (when schools are closed) neither do I qualify for sick pay. I will not disclose how much I earn but I will disclose that just under 300 GBP is deducted from my salary every week. First my agency takes a small commission fee, then there's tax, national insurance, my pension contribution, ooh and finally how could I forget the wonderful student loan?

Now if I divide my weekly earnings by the numbers of hours worked- not including additional time spent planning lessons, marking exercise books, and preparing resources on weekends talk less of all the other irrelevant admin duties modern day teachers are burdened with, I earn £7.56 per hour which is sixpence more than what I earned working as a retail assistant whilst studying for my degree.

My mind just flashed back to 2013... The education consultant who assisted me with securing my first teaching job. His spiel was something along the lines of  'teachers in inner London, you guys have the best graduate salary, it's better than a 9-5 cos you guys finish at three AND you get loads of annual leave.' I actually believed it, twenty-seven thousand... He coerced me into buying into this fallacy lol. Na lie O after all those deductions my salary is nowhere near twenty-seven thousand...

Up next...

Not all that - Part 2