Angela Ukomadu's Blog

In times like this, it feels so good to be a Nigerian. Don't get me wrong, I am a patriotic Nigerian, but during the Ebola crisis, all hands were on deck to do the right thing, and it was done to perfection. From the Federal government to the man in the street. I think everyone was scared, the people in government were scared too. I mean, this is something that you can't even see, you don't know when it creeps in on you. For example, the government can decide to fly to boycott a bad road, can get health services or education abroad to avoid our ill equipped hospitals and schools here. Ebola was not like that, you can do the right things and still get it, somehow, somewhere. From the first time Patrick Sawyer gave the disease a first class ticket to Nigeria, there was no rest, we just had to tell the story to the world. All the press briefings in Lagos and Abuja, the trips to the airports to cover passenger screenings, interviews at the Centre for Disease Control, the mark...

I woke up that morning, Wednesday, October 15, 2014, determined more than ever to observe the "Lagos No Horn Day."   I drove out of my gate, my home is in a close, and you know how it is for those of us who live on the mainland and work on the Island, we have to leave very early, 5:20ish. But the gate to the close was still closed, how do I wake the sleeping guard? I thought of coming out to knock on his door, but me, I sabi fear o, I feel safer in the comfort of my car. I waited a few seconds, checked the time, every second in Eko counts, so I used the horn to wake him. Number 1. Everything was going on smoothly and then they came again, yes, those ones in yellow buses, who feel once you drive past them, you will pick all of their passengers, I waited, ah ah, Oga use your church mind and shift na, I'm not gonna take your passengers, just shift make I pass. He refused, and so...... Number 2. Now, I don't want to bore you, with long gist, but I met this ot...

Greeting cards seem to be a dying tradition. Sometime ago in July, on a Saturday night, my husband got a late call to attend a birthday lunch the next day. This call came from someone who we can never say no to even if she had told us 30 minutes before the lunch. So on Sunday afternoon, thank God we had something that could pass for a gift, we set out hoping to get a birthday card on our way. After checking two shops without success, we bought the only thing we found in the third shop for 800 naira. To cut a long story short, the card was too poor to give out, so we just dropped it in the car. This shows that as people began to gravitate towards sending messages through mediums like BBM, Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Emails, text messages and so many others, shops began to stock less of cards, especially quality cards. We interviewed a man who opened a shop over 19 years ago specifically for cards but today he says the cards only occupy about 20 percent of the entire shop. ...

Have you tried the bride price app? What did you think of it? If you haven't done that yet, check it out here http://www.brideprice.com.ng/  Well, it made raves when Editi Effiong of Anakle first launched it, some thought it was hilarious, others felt it was spiteful. I love the part where the elders get to give their verdict. Well I thought it was hilarious, yeah I understand the extreme categories and criteria they put in it, but it was just a fun side to the whole thing, a satire if I can say. It was done to ridicule the people who ask for an arm and a leg from prospective in-laws. I mean, are you selling your daughter? No! Instead you are getting a son! I know of friends who were made to pay thousands of naira as dowry, I have also heard stories of parents asking for very outrageous things. But I think this has to do with the type of in-law you meet, some say a particular tribe is very expensive, don't marry there, that's just hasty generalization. That one person fro...

He had high hopes. He would have married late Justina Ejelonu come 2015. They didn't want to depend on friends and relatives to fund their wedding. They wanted jobs first. They got the jobs, almost at the same time, but it never lasted. Patrick Sawyer gave a first class ticket to Ebola to enter Nigeria, Justina Ejelonu was among the first to treat him, on her very first day of work. According to Dennis, she didn't want to go to work on that day, she had morning sickness, caused by the pregnancy, but it was the very first day of work, he persuaded her to at least go there, and ask for an extension of her resumption date. And so began Dennis Akagha's drastic change in life, he lost his fiancee, their unborn child, lost his job and now has to live as someone who once had Ebola. The only thing he has to hold onto is his life, the engagement ring he gave to Justina, and Justina's pet project. This is one guy with a basket full of faith and hope. He believes he was saved ...

Sheraton restaurant? Chinese? Combo meals? Fast food? Mama Put? Iya Bisi? Mama Onome? Court? Where do you love to eat especially on those days that you are not able to take your lunch with you to the office? The good thing is no matter where you find your self, no matter how high brow the neighbourhood of your office is, you must find that food vendor that suits your pocket. But for those who love the American style burger in Lagos, then look no further, Johnny Rockets may just be the right place for you, the right burger, with the right taste, and perfect preparation, but at a higher cost though...2300 naira. It is that expensive because most of the spices and other ingredients are shipped in to Nigeria. We also took a trip to Ogun state where Master Meats is situated. Huge expanse of land, so many cattle on ground, clean abattoir, nice freezing and packaging facility. I can still remember the sight of lined up cattle, waiting to go to the abattoir to be slaughtered. I think one ...

Okay, I know we have our power issues in Nigeria, but not having light for two years? Exactly what we saw at this small river side community around Lekki, but thanks to Midori Environmental Solutions, and with funds from the United Nations Development Project, there is a ray of hope for this community. All they have to do is feed the the bio-digester with waste, just waste. The community is supposed to collect about one thousand four hundred kilograms of waste weekly (from fish waste to water hyacinth etc) and with that they can generate ten thousand KVA worth of power to service their homes and small businesses. Midori Environmental Solutions is into the generation of power from waste, and this power can be in the form of electricity or cooking gas. I was simply awed by the cooking gas, imagine turning all my fruit and food waste to power for cooking? That will be awesome. I also would have loved to have electricity power from waste but since I may not be able to turn up enough...