Whether or not travel enthusiasts should travel whilst there is a pandemic, is an important question. Here, I will share my thoughts on whether travel should even be on the table as an option given that one of the known ways to curb the spread of Coronavirus is via social distancing and the imposing of stringent lockdowns. But is it that simple? Many conversations around travel are centred around selfish desires sentiments such as “but I reeeeeally want a holiday” or “I haven’t left the country in soooooooo long”. I’m aware of these sentiments as they are statements that I myself have uttered ..read more

Songs are an important part of our lives. They take us back to key moments and tap into so many different emotions. It’s day 19 of the afrobloggers challenge, and I have been tasked with sharing 5 songs that are special to me. Today, I have invited a good friend of mine to share with my audience his five songs and what they mean to him. And here we go… Tere sang Pyar Mein – Lata Mangeshkar Bollywood films were quite the craze in 80s Nigeria and this haunting melody from a 1976 movie called Nagin or “snake girl” amongst Nigerian bollywood aficionados has never left me, Lata Mangeshkar’s vo ..read more

How did we get here? 2020 has brought with it a global pandemic, quarantine and lockdowns, worldwide riots, the death of Basketball great Kobe Bryant and a whole lot more. Oh and did I fail to mention that we are only in June! It’s one of the times in history that is sure to be remembered, but for all the wrong reasons . Why do I say this? Well if you’ve been active on social media and keeping your ears and eyes to the ground, you’ll be aware that a trending issue in 2020 is that of Sexual Abuse. Yes. In 2020 when the world should have progressed further; and as a race, our conduct should not ..read more

Dear Anxiety,  You continue to enlighten me. Why do you frighten me? Need you to be me more kind to me   My fears have got a hold of me. My thoughts are now controlling me. I’m thinking catastrophically Hearts racing…hands shaking. This is not what I thought it would be  I thought you were a subtle thing. Something I could control and fling. To the side…and offside. Will reality ever let me see. That you don’t have control of me  I have everything I need to be. Just need to see it differently. I’m not you and you’re not me.&nbs ..read more

When we think of the word grief, the first thing that might come to mind is the death of someone important. Though this can be the most painful type of loss associated with grief, there are other losses that many of us may have endured through the recent pandemic; for example, the loss of a valued job, the loss of financial stability, the loss of certainty and many other losses. This post may hopefully explain how we can make sense of and process the various losses this recent pandemic has brought. Processing When processing loss, talking can be helpful. Either talking about what’s happened or ..read more

I hope you read that R.E.S.P.E.C.T, the way Aretha sang it. Respect. the very thing that Nigerian culture seems to have been founded on. When asked to share one thing about my culture, there was so much that I could have written about. The culture of naming babies was one. (Did you know that it’s taboo in Nigeria to say your babies name before the naming ceremony on the eighth day? Don’t be suprised if you’re a nurse and that Nigerian family on the ward has a baby that they are calling him/her/she/he. That baby is not going to get given it’s name until the eighth day.) Nigerian naming ceremony ..read more

Gunfire has erupted and the loud screech of the locals can be heard for miles. I call them locals, but they are actually my neighbours.  Bolu, my best friend and her family live to the right of our house, whilst on our left are the Okafors. The youngest daughter is called Adanna, she’s my other best friend. I call her nana for short, even though her mother tells me not to. You see, Adanna means “her father’s daughter” in Igbo. With every call of “Adanna!” Her mother is brought fond memories of her late husband, Adanna’s father. I try not to call Adanna, Nana, when I visit, but it is hard ..read more

I’ve never been a proverbs kinda girl. In fact, realising that I’d have to share 5 proverbs, had me shooketh. My initial instinct was to turn to my old friend: google. Alas, I had an epiphany. I am the child of Nigerian immigrants! There’s bound to be a proverb or 50, that’s in my vernacular. And just as a side note, my identity is more than just my native country, so keep an eye out for the proverbs that have informed my vernacular from the country of my birth (United Kingdom) to my religion. So here it goes… A tree cannot make a forest I’ll give all credit where credit is due. This proverb i ..read more

Today is day 10 of the Afrobloggers challenge is all about brand partnerships. I skipped day 9, so I’m feeling somewhat guilty. I have decided that for day 10, I would go a step further and rather than name just one brand that I’d love to work with, I’ll give you 3! Brand partnerships offer mutual opportunities to both parties. There are a number of brands who I feel would align extremely well with my values. However the following 3 named brands mean a lot to me, and I’ll tell you why. Ethiopian Airlines A rather painful fact that I’ve been acutely aware of over the years, is the absence of a ..read more

Of all of the blog post titles that the afrobloggers challenge has suggested, today’s title has probably been the most challenging so far. I’m supposed to write about three things that I wish African bloggers could avoid. The first thing that came to my mind was African content creators not feeling pigeonholed into particular categories. But after giving it some thought, I don’t feel that this is the case. I’ve been privileged to read blog posts from many bloggers, and the diversity in content has been huge. From reading about Ugandan diaspora upliftment to opinion pieces from a Gambian writer ..read more