Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Top 100 blog for learning about Africa

I got informed via some email sent to my inbox. Apparently,this article commends yours truly for providing posts that "offer a very real sense of what it’s like to live as a Nigerian with topics including politics, life, culture, and economy" (see no 37).

Agreed this is no Oscar award but it does feel good to get some form of recognition/commendation. I truly appreciate that someone thinks that my internal conversations (conversations to decide between natural or nutural responses) provides material on the Nigerian experience. I must be doing something worthwhile.

I am still a bit curious on the criteria used in evaluating and arriving at the conclusions stated.

Lagos Na wa!

Lagos is the craziest place I have ever been to.
MarianaVanZeller

A video that explores the Lagos experience.
http://current.com/items/89199577/lagos_la_vida_still_loca.htm
I must admit, her analysis of Lagos was thorough and unbiased but there are some two minor details that weren't quite true.
  1. Lagos definitely has a population and housing problem but people identified that live in shackles over swamp are rural poor that originate from Riverine areas. The lack of adequate housing is not the reason why those structure exist. The settlers are used to that kind of living.
  2. Environmental sanitation was not introduced 3 years ago. It has always being a form of unspoken policy as long as I can remember (was taught about it in primary school and groomed to do it throughout my life). Maybe it was re-introduced 3 years ago, but the fact remains that it has always been there.

This blogger's desire

One desire I have is to be renowned as a provider of art. The medium or the type of art is not clear but the focus remain; that message must come forth. A message that preaches fairness with equality and gets people to act in truth with one another.
But such message does not come out of thin air. It must be embodied in our understanding of individual daily rituals packaged in an artistic form; a form that capture imagination whilst allowing the message retain its purity. Thus, I am taking up the tasks of the medieval craftsman with the use of words:

* By capturing thoughts and giving insight into ideas people have overlooked.
* By preserving rare moments like the first kiss of a lady, or jokes shared by age old friends and merging it with the logic of a tale.

Such goes beyond the simple use of words and music but also it comes by the creator thinking in a realm where words are refined and become life. The creator must work as a craftsman, refining his thoughts, digesting specific moments and then searching for a medium that can adequately express the message in a way that can be appreciated.

It is something I desire to do. Making the tears flow, charging the atmosphere to release that euphoric feeling through the spines of my audience, and creating lasting moments that they can always identify with.
This might be my most noble act to humanity. Changing myself, to change the world.