Poda Poda Apprentices Lead Dangerous Lives

Travelling upcountry last week, I was amazed to see the dangerous ways Poda Poda apprenctices were hanging from their vehicles risking their lives as if they had spare lives. The minivans were so loaded with goods and people that the only 'seat' available for the apprentice was either the roof or the back of the vehicle. I shuddered as each passing poda poda showed an apprentice who would be dead or maimed for life in the next few seconds if the driver just suddenly hit on the breaks or somersaulted. see photos on the left.

Man vs woman?

Equality is an attribute that is difficult to achieve between any two beings. Only the sum of mathematical products can be equal when both sets on either side of the equal sign cancel out each other. The case of equality between the male and female gender has been a source of many debates and contention. If we liken equality with similarity, it is difficult to see how a man and a woman can be equal. Even the physiological and chemical compositions of both sexes are different. In the best of senses, even two men cannot be of equal character and composition. To stretch it further, even identical twins are not equal in all respects. What I think we should focus on is giving both sexes (male and female) equal opportunities so each can apply his/her attributes in maximising the opportunities. But to think that a man is equal to a woman is a fallacy. What do you think?

Life is about perception!

It's all in the mind! We feel comfortable or uncomfortable about many things when our mind perceive them to be either positive or negative. You can walk under the rain, get all wet and feel great if you are in the right frame of mind. On the other hand, there are times when a drop of water on you will make you as mad as hell. Perception plays a great role in our acceptance and rejection of things and issues we face in everyday life. What do you think?

Owning God

Human beings, the highest creature with a proper thinking faculty usually like to own things. The feeling of possession normally gives one the confidence that one can effect the outcome of situations. We always want things to be in our favor. As a result, we sometimes seek divine intervention in the pursuit of our goals. The interesting point here is that everybody thinks of the divine (whatever he/she conceives it be) as a being which should be in his/her favor. So, we all call on God as we pray. We pray as if we are the only ones that matter. Even when we pray for conflicting things from individual to individual, each prays as if God should only listen to him/her. We treat God as if we own him and He is bound to be in our favor. Do we confuse God with conflicting requests from person to person? what do you think?

Palaces in the Wilderness

The aerial view of any properly planned city should be pleasing to the eyes. But in the newly built areas at Leicester, in Freetown, no such planning for roads and other infrastructure is taking place. People just acquire their land and build houses at random. This makes it unsightly, particularly from the air. Also, no consideration is given to access, availability or provision of electricity and water supply in the vast area. Most of those newly built houses have no pipe-borne water supply or electrical lines. They depend on water trucks to supply them water and private generators to provide electricity. The area is so unplanned that direct vehicular access to some of the houses is a challenge as the occupants would have to circumvent other houses and bush to get to their houses which may seem so close to the main street but yet not easily accessible. The houses are like palaces in the wilderness.

Water is Life!

Water is Life! Pipe-borne water which should be a normal available resource for any country in the twenty-first century is a luxury to many Freetown residents. It is common to see children and sometimes adults who should otherwise be in school, doing their homework or gainfully occupied pushing home-made carts full of plastic containers (popularly known in Freetown as "5-gallon rubber"). As the population of Freetown swells faster than the infrastructural development, it is a wonder when this will be a thing of the past.

wine vs dollars: the older the better?

It is usually believed that the older the wine is the better it will taste. Not so with US Dollars in many african countries. I witnessed a transaction where US Dollars printed before 2000 were rejected in an African country but the wine which the currency was being used to buy was eargerly sought after because it was a very old bottle of Italian wine. I wonder why US Dollars series printed before 2000 are frowned at by some African merchants, but accepted in the US. Do you know why?