So
the strike is over and gone with it is the forced house arrest. Work ought to
have resumed yesterday, but I’m adding this week to the aborted strike action. It’s
not as if I actually do anything meaningful at my place of primary assignment
in the first instance, so I reasoned; why bother go when I could as well sit
all day at home and save me about a thousand bucks.
The
real gist is about one of my roommate. He is back and now I am really missing
all the silence I ‘enjoyed’ throughout the entire strike period, though it
seemed like I was strolling through hell then, even feeling I was gradually
losing my sanity to seclusion. I regretted the isolation then, but right now I wish
it would continue. He is back and so is all his girl drama and repeated stories
of past broken relationships and failed romance. Don’t get me wrong, I like my
roommate a lot, he’s a cool guy but at times he drives me crazy with his girl issues,
not caring if I am interested in them or not.
Imagine!
He traveled to Lagos for the strike on the saturday preceding the strike monday
a single guy, but he’s back now with a new girlfriend. Now I have to go through
the torture of listening to him rant about his first date and their first kiss,
mtcheeeew (beef! I know you would say, lol). Anyway I have already cleared him
that this relationship would also cast just like the others. Not everyone must
go through the National Youth Service Scheme in a relationship!
So
much for all the protests that went down in the now more famous Gani Park, Ojota,
Lagos state, even though my kins men in Edo state decided to steal cows and
murder helpless Hausa men. Benin people must always show themselves. My main
concern is the Lagos protest because my roommate actually brought my attention
to it with his 2go update ‘strike is good
o, having so much fun at Gani Park, Ojota’.
First
impression I had when I saw some of the protest pictures on twitter and
facebook was; most people there were just out to keep away boredom and have
fun, while the ‘badt’ guys were there
to catch fishes and the smart girls ready to sell their market. Of course, my
roommate was among the ‘badt’ guys. I
kept hearing about how the crowd grooved and danced to the beats of various
songs rendered by popular ace musicians and shouting when distinguished Nigerians
made great pronouncement against the infamous fuel subsidy removal.
Like
a friend tweeted ‘did the organizers of
the Lagos protest educate the crowd about its purpose? Because I can tell most
of them are ignorant’. Then again on the bright side, irrespective of their
various individual reasons/purposes for joining the protest, their presence gave
a good crowd number helping to establish the stand held by many Nigerians on
the subsidy issue.
Back
to the other side f the protest, I remember seeing pictures of people sharing
food and drinks on the protest ground, some even taking out time to snap funky
pictures, smiling and obviously getting lost in the fun…another friend also
tweeted ‘I don’t think a fun protest like
this was the kind Martin Luther king led”
Trust
Nigerians to bring out the fun in every bad situation. So many subsidy jokes, forged
quotes attributed to distinguished Nigerians and phony photos flooded the
internet throughout the strike period.
Right
now, just one of my roommates is back and I’m already complaining, even writing
a note about how much I miss the solitude. I wonder what would happen when my
second roommate, who is the chief noise maker arrives. I’d probably end up writing
a book!
To
prove I’m not exaggerating, a friend in our office who hasn’t been to our place
but judging by his behavior once said he should please continue travelling to Lagos
for the weekends despite the fuel price increment because his absence means a
lot to us…
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