David, The Nigerian Atlas.

Nigeria is a paradise for the rich and hades for the poor. Being a Nigerian is the worst form of luck and should be the first tip on 1000 ways to die. Being a Nigerian is being suicidal. We suffer beyond measures internally, and externally we are always targeted for scapegoatism. To the rest of the world, we are perceived as incompetent, fraudsters and unworthy citizens of the universe. How do I blame the world if our predecessors prided themselves in forgery, thuggery, fraudulent activities and the mockery of our sociocultural values in every foreign land they went. I wish most of us weren’t already selected by the universe to be a part of this human race. We can’t even trust ourselves cause experience have taught us never to honour a word said by a Nigerian. Though, it is true to an extent, but no two persons are the same. I admit that the bad eggs have duly rid us of our true image, but we deserve better than we get some times. The present state of Nigeria is such a dirge w...

Many a Nigerian have never come across nor heard about the concept of 'blood law', or what it means. Blood law also known as blood revenge refers to the custom in many societies where the responsibility for the death or murder of a person falls on his/her close relatives and must be carried out to restore and create balance. It's might not be necessitated by anger or revenge but a need for balance and order, because as many know and believe life is sacred and only a life can atone for another life so as to create balance in nature. In current times, the Nigerian police has become a pain in the flesh of Nigerians, its corrupt and devious personnels mainly preoccupy themselves with extorting, maiming, killing and generally terrorizing Nigerians, without anything being done or said by the police authorities nor the Nigerian government. On a ranking of the most hated Nigerian public institutions, the Nigerian police definitely will come tops, showing the hatred and aver...

10 guidelines to knowing and understanding Nigeria and Nigerians. You think you know Nigeria and Nigerians? Do you often wonder if you're a Nigerian? You see it on your news and on the internet, maybe you even fancy yourself a Nigerian, maybe by virtue of association with Nigerians or by living in Nigeria, or by reading and digesting massive amounts of information available online and offline about Nigeria and Nigerians, well here's how to be certain. 1. PRAYERFUL/RELIGIOUS Are you prayerful and religious, and I don't mean just believing in God or going to your place of worship now and then, nah, how often do you go, as a Nigerian you're expected to go everyday Mon to Sunday, mornings, afternoons and evenings, not forgetting about the frequent vigils too. Hope you pray for good roads, clean water, semi stable electricity, getting admitted to college, that you get that promotion or salary increase you so deserve and maybe winning a court case or getting justice...

The revolution that killed the ( gi )ant of Africa To anyone who sees and recognizes the truth, something is terribly wrong with Nigeria. Since it's independence 59 years ago Nigeria has continuously been touted as the giant of Africa, population wise yes that seems to be the truth, as the citizens can't seem to slow down their rate of birthing children here and there, most seeming never to have heard about birth control before, but growth indicators wise it's more of an ant and less of a giant. It's 2019, 59 years after it's independence and anyone still having any hope in/for Nigeria is either dimwitted or an Ostrich with it's head hidden in the sand. Many African countries most with bloody and turbulent beginnings have greatly surpassed and left Nigeria in the dust in most development indexes, but still Nigeria and Nigerians keep deluding themselves about being the giant of Africa. For a nation that had so much potential and a great start, nothin...

A Nigerian and religion are like a Siamese twin, one inseparable from the other. In a country of over 200+ million citizens, more than 95% identify as members of one religious group or the other. Most religion inclusive of the ones practiced by Nigerians preach the tenets of brotherly love, truth, justice, godliness, and general humanity to one another. Knowing all this makes me and some others like me to wonder, why Nigeria is in such a sorry state as it is today and getting worse, it's citizens fleeing en masse to other nations far and near, death, destruction, corruption, ritual killings, jungle justice, mob killings, violent robberies, nepotism and other vices too numerous to mention being the order of the day. And the irony is that all this vices are perpetuated by the same people who practice one or the other religions found in Nigeria. Religion, be it Christianity, Islam or traditional religion, all found in Nigeria, can be argued for positively, they give people ...

  I'm an ardent movie freak, always have been, even from boyhood. I make sure to stay updated on all top trending and latest movies. In as much as I love my movies, I love my military, war, world war one and two movies and documentaries even more. I've always had love for the military, though not for any flimsy reason like the movies I watch, their uniforms or whatever else but for the discipline, life changing skills, experiences and knowledge one get to gather plus the life time brotherhood and family you make too.   In the last four years I finished from college and carried out my mandatory national youth service, began my daily hustling as any normal Nigerian youth hoping to make a better life, got married, I also began my applications into the Nigerian Army short service course (SSC) for graduates hoping to enlist as officer cadets. Twice I applied, twice I failed to make the shortlist, on my third trial I was finally shortlisted. Guess as folks will say "t...

Having made little or no progress in the four years since finishing college and carrying out my national youth service, one or some could argue that I've been lazy, haven't hustled hard enough in Nigerian parlance, or as a Nigerian president said, that we the youths are mainly lazy lol. Well let's put all these possibilities to the test.    My first question is that, for one who is neither lazy or don't want to work, what do I work on, who will give you a chance or the help needed, financially or whatever else otherwise in a country such as Nigeria, where it is a dog eat dog situation, all man for himself and maybe his family too, all as a result of the hardship, poverty, and economic uncertainty prevalent in Nigeria.    We can't all certainly become entrepreneurs and I for one I've been through that route, how do you run a business when you've no money, can't get a loan either from the banks or individuals, atleast without some hefty and shocking...

Being born a Nigerian is hard, gut wrenching and almost being ill prepared for life, which many Nigerians will accept as the truth and nothing more. Foreigners and those in the Western world hardly know the extent of what we go through, especially the ordinary and common Nigerians. Life in Nigeria is truly short, nasty and brutish.       I was born in a family that could be said to be middle class, my father a government worker, my mother a business woman, I was the second child of the family. Lower/primary school was pretty much uneventful, was used to coming top of my class, receiving awards, secondary school/middle and high school too were uneventful, though I was just an average student by then except in few subjects  I was still coming tops in. Finished and got admitted into one of the first and foremost universities in Nigeria, into a course I didn't apply for or had heard about before then, but which I and my family were extremely happy for, knowing the s...

I'm David, a Nigerian. In my late 20s, married without children, once a Lagosian, finished from one of the first and top five universities in Nigeria. Many will argue otherwise but being a Nigerian has had to do with majority of how my life has turned out to be, almost meaningless, just existing but not really living. And having come to the end of the road, having no job, no money, no hope, nothing working out for me, and seemingly no talents or skills I can harness or monetize, instead of suicide or much self pity, I have decided to fall back on the one thing I've always known I'm good in, writing. I've always been a reader, a wide and prodigious reader, ever since I remember, and it's said when you read you must write, a river has to have an outlet, otherwise it becomes dead and stagnant. Being a reader, I eventually became a writer and a poet, writing short stories and poems. But as is wont life happened, facing college, studies and life, all that passed a...