Angela Ukomadu's Blog

Nigerians are cool like that, nothing we cant do. Tucked in somewhere in Ogun state is Proforce limited, owned by Adetokunbo Ogundeyin. They build armoured cars, yes, you heard me right, armoured cars. So how do they do it? They buy these landcruisers, every other part of the landcruiser is discarded apart from the chassis, which now forms the base for the armoured vehicle. These guys build new ballistic steel body, new seats, new tanks, get fortified screens and tyres and have the best local and foreign experts to do the job. Also, if you want your own sedan or SUV fortified in such a way that no one will know it is armoured, just bring it on. And for those who want it the James Bond style, you can have tictac, where when you are being pursued, just a little press and nails or other sharp objects will come out from behind to stall the car behind. There is another one called oil spill too. Now you ask, if everywhere is fortified, what about the tyres, because that is the next ta

A Nigerian artist, Mr. Adeola Balogun is creating beautiful artworks out of used and discarded tyres. We all know that tyres are non degradable materials, they litter the streets and they never ever get rotten. Since artists mainly look out for materials that will last a very long time, he decided to use tyres thereby helping the environment and at the same time beautifying our homes.He looks for the tyres, cuts them into small manageable pieces, nails them together with some form of iron, sprays, decorates, and voila, you have something unique. I think there is something for us all to learn from what he is doing, he is giving meaning to an object that has lost it's primary purpose. So also it is in life, never give up, something may just happen, yep. Adeola Balogun was the best in his graduating class, he is a lecturer, has done several exhibitions both in Nigeria and internationally. He also did some notable works for the Lagos state government like the Awolowo statue at Allen r