Figure Heads?

Happy New Year Folks! 
I know it's rather belated, but...., Better Late than Never. *wink.

I have often wondered what my first post for the year would be; I had several instances when I thought I had found a good subject to write about, but stopped halfway for lack of steam.I however doubt that I would loose steam this time around. 

I haven't travelled much, but the few times I had passed through security check points at our Local and International Airports, I always wondered how effective those searches were; and my sister's experience yesterday confirmed my suspicion : all those points and officials are Figure heads! 

I mean, if they aren't just there for the fun of it, how do you explain the presence of 4 heavily armed civilians on a domestic flight heading out of Lagos to Abuja? 

How do you explain the fact that it took a ' spirit filled' air hostess to suspect one of these guys who then she pried further and found guns in the hand luggage? 


Haba, what happened to all the scanners and gadgets we have to pass through?  
Abi why do we have to put off our shoes and belts when some guys can go past with guns without being detected? 

My younger Sister said ' B8, it could have been a hostage situation, my flight could have been diverted and hijacked ' ; and this is the truth! 

I don't even want to think of all the possibilities! All I want to do is hug my sister and Thank God for His Faithfulness. But mehn! I am worried!

How did they slip through the cracks so easily? 

Did they have an insider? Or is our Airport Security protocol just another figure head like several other agencies that flood our faces with names, uniforms and badges, but whose usefulness the Nigerian people cannot decipher?

I really wonder! 

Electrocution: our new nemesis

A few months ago, we wouldn't have been having this discussion about electrocutions; not because we didn't have live wires lying all over, but because they were hardly ever powered. In fact, there used to be a joke about spreading your wet clothes on these high tension wires and having nothing to worry about. 

As I listened to the front page review a few days ago, I heard about a first-class accounting student of UNILAG that was electrocuted when a high-tension wire fell on her. While ruminating about the students' protest that ensued and their demand for a 'ransome' for the deceased parents ( I suppose the UNILAG  S.U.G president meant a compensation and not a ransome, after all she wasn't kidnapped), I read online that the driver of a truck was electrocuted in front of Jakande Estate when his high truck came in contact with a high tension wire.  
If you've seen these trucks, you'll know that they always have long poles with which they raise these wires and they had nothing to worry about as these wires were never powered.

 My heart goes out to the families of the deceased but i'd like to remind the public that as we have all been experiencing, this is a new era; every act of electrical escapades that we have hitherto engaged in should stop. 

It's not news that people get ladders and climb up the electric poles to reconnect their building to power supply after PHCN has disconnected them. Please, if you have attempted such in the past or know a local electrician in the neighbourhood that plays the role of a PHCN engineer, remind him that Nigeria is Changing, Buhari is working, PHCN is moving!

Dear PHCN officials, please, please and please, we know that this change seems sudden and drastic, but help us upgrade the system. High-tension wires and poles shouldn't be falling off or lying low.

It's a New Dawn Nigeria. I can't remember the last time I charged my power bank cause electricity supply has been constant. My colleague says she can't remember the last time she bought fuel for her generator. And yet some people still believe PMB is ' baba go slow'.
I wonder what would happen if PMB decided to go on the fast track!

Happy Mba Months!

Awesome, Christmas is around the corner! 
This also means the 'ember ' months are right at the door.
Soon, posters and fliers  of special ember season promos will flood our phones, pages and streets.
Religious centers will churn out prayer points binding the blood-sucking, accident-thirsty ember spirits

You can click the link below to get my thoughts about this tradition which I posted this time last year.

ba-ba-ember-months.

While folks are dealing with the ember spirits, I'll be indulging the MBA mode.
MBA means NO in the igbo dialect.

You see, August was my cheat month. I broke all my healthy-living rules. 
Feasted on plantain chips like I just hit a jackpot, had a bottle of carbonated artificial drink and didn't workout at the gym at all! 
I also didn't stick to my budget for spending, neither did I stick to my daily schedule.  
In short, I ignored all the rules I set for myself in the month of August and I enjoyed doing so. 

But like everything in life, causes have effects, actions have consequences and so, my face is riddled with pimples, my account isn't smiling, I have gained an extra KG or two and I am back to ground zero in terms of being disciplined enough to follow a schedule.  

So, in my MBA months, I shall be saying NO to the same things I said yes to this month : plantain chips, compulsive eating and spending, excuses that lure me away  from the gym, and activities that crop up unannounced. 

I might not attain 100% success in the first month but I intend to be consistent in these MBA months; which is why I have told the world my plan.
The thought of people watching out for my success or failure should keep my eyes on the prize.

Dear friend, as we approach the ember months, instead of just casting out demons, try saying No to drinking before or while driving. Say NO to impulsive spending no matter how appealing that item is. Say NO to the adrenaline rush encouraging you to break the speed limit. Say No to those friends that encourage you to indulge in that self-destructive habit. 

I love Christmas! I love the yuletide season! The lights, ornaments, carols, gifts, and euphoria! 

Yippee Christmas is almost here

Happy MBA month folks 

Is your kid an orphan?

Yesterday, I met a girl, less than 2 years whose parents noticed her unexplainable awareness of her vagina. She always moved away whenever they attempted to clean that area while bathing her, so they got worried and came to the clinic.

After examination we realised that this young girl that couldn't even coherently express herself yet had been sexually abused. 

Of course, we got the usual reaction : shock, denial, despair, anger, rage, disbelief, horror bla bla bla.

As we tried to ask the father further questions about his daughter's daily activities and upkeep, we realised the most annoying thing: this man didn't know the name of his daughter's creche  or after school care centre! He had to call his wife to find out!

Though I was livid, I comported myself and behaved like the professional I am. 

Believe me, if I had my way, I would have given the guy a piece of my mind; but then I would be missing a portion of my mind by now if I did so.

Here's the gist:

With the rate of sexual abuse sky rocketing and the number of child victims increasing these days, couples need to sit down and decide if they know and have what it takes to be a parent.

You see majority of the victims and culprits have one thing in common : ' a deficient home'.

Being a parent isn't synonymous with being able to donate a sperm or contribute an egg to the formation of an embryo;

It also goes beyond possessing the ability to provide a home and good education for your offsprings.

No sir!

Being a parent is a role that requires commitment, availability, responsibility, preparedness and a lot of resources ( financial, mental, emotional etc). 

I mean, I am not a parent ( yet) but with the things I have read, heard and seen in the past one year, i know that parenting isn't something you go into because ' it's the next step'. 

You need to count the cost before you begin this journey ( even the bible warns about not going to war if you are not sure about your resources) . 

You may say ' but parenting isn't war' - true. But parenting is synonymous with building a life and that same scripture warns against starting a building project without checking your treasury first!

A friend said that a lot of kids are orphans even though their parents aren't 6 feet below yet, and I agree with him. 

Please folks, get involved in your child's life. Be their friend, gain their confidence, watch out for them. Your work or ambition shouldn't take you away from their lives.  

Too many predators are out there lurking, ready to pounce on your kids while you aren't watching. And the bitter truth is that statistics have shown thatt over 90 percent of these predators are people you know, in fact your kids refer to most of them as ' uncle ' and 'Aunty '.

Please let's reduce the statistics of child sexual abuse by becoming more responsible in our parenting role. 

God forbid that the next child I see in my clinic with a similar story is your daughter or son; but God has given you this responsibility, take it as you take your job - SERIOUSLY!!!

Remember: 'your child needs your presence more than your presents' .

The Stigma called " The Girl Child"

I know you must be alarmed by the topic of my article but hear me out.

I was born into a community of people I have come to know as my family. If you have met the whole clan called THE BANADOGS, you'll agree that we are more than the western definition of an extended family.

My whole family, however isn't the focus of this write up, that will probably be for another day.
I'ld like to refer to my nuclear family instead.

You see, my mum is the typical ' Mamabongirls'.
She gave birth to 4 girls (I'm the 3rd) and on the naming ceremony of my younger sister, one of my aunts actually taunted and harassed her for having a girl 'again'.

My mum was severely stigmatised for having 4 girls and she bore this pain for a long time.
Looking back, I believe that she tried and did her best to give her girls the best because of the sneers and snorts.

Whenever my mum has to summarize her experience, she says ' God compensated me by giving me 3 Medical Doctors and an Economist '. I heard her say this again this afternoon and the activist in me got angry! 
For God's sake giving birth to a girl isn't something that needs divine compensation!  
A girl child isn't more or less than a male child and vice versa. 

We have been tagged weak and helpless for so long, its appalling!
A person is weak not because of her phenotype but because she has agreed to be weak!
A man is successful not because he has a Y chromosome, but because he decided to be successful against all odds!

Mother Theresa was a stronger vessel than most men despite her petite stature,
Margaret Thatcher put several men to flight at the sound of her voice,
Abimbola Ogunleye became a global advocate for children despite her XX chromosomes!

If you are in this age and time and believe that a particular sex is more advantaged than the other then you need a spank in the butt or a plank on the head to wake you up! Smell the coffee dude!

Gone are the days when a man's excuse for polygamy is a male child! If you must marry another wife, please look for a logical excuse or better still, keep your excuse to yourself.

History has proven repeatedly that your phenotype isn't an advantage or a disadvantage ; we have had successful men and women, evil men and women, tyrants in skirts and trousers alike. 

Dear Miss/Ms/Mrs, if you have fit into the mold of the weaker vessel that the society has carved out for the female all your life, please smash it and fit into the one God designed for you!

 I am no weaker than I accept to be.
I am who I am not because I am a woman, but because I am me, made in the image of the Almighty.

Stop the stigmatisation of the ' Mamabongirls'
Stop treating the XX chromosome like an anomaly! 

Disease Alert!

I'ld like to bring to your attention a disease that has been recently named. ‎
It's called Irojulotitis caused by the organism Irojulococus

Etymology:
Irojulococus derives it's name from the Yoruba root word IROJU‎.
‎ It's a concept that makes people settle for what is convenient at the expense of what is beneficial.
‎‎
Irojulococus affects every aspect of our lives from how we eat to what we eat to how we make money. ‎
‎It affects everything and is one of the causative agents of procrastination‎.
‎Irojulococus is fast and easy but it also fast tracks deadly diseases and disastrous outcomes with ease

‎
Irojulococus makes you defer writing the proposal now; hinders you from making the call now; impedes you from showing up where you volunteered your services.‎

Irojulococus makes you give up easily and makes you a local champion leading blind people, Irojulococus leads to shortcuts that cuts short.
It conditions you to make excuses your best buddy and assumptions and guessing your bedmates.


Irojulococus would never allow you think or study. It wants what it wants without effort and where it embraces effort it forbids an extra mile.
Irojulococus makes you scorn folks who have results instead of going to ask how they have gone global.

This Irojulococus is also a comforter and a justifier.
It tells you 'God will do what He will do'
'If its God's will it shall be done'; and when it's not done he says 'it's not His will for me'!

With Irojulococus Thomas Edison would have given up on incandescent lamp;‎
Bill Gates would have settled down with windows 95;‎
Mark Zuckerberg would have sold Facebook when 1billion dollars was offered while he struggled to pay salaries.‎

Irojulococus prefers to listen to others and would never fact find anything.
Irojulococus settles for what is displayed on the screen in church than carry a personal bible.
Irojulococus gets excited at 7 steps to...... and 10 ways to........
It looks for more 'easiest ways' when it doesn't work.

Meet someone suffering from Irojulococus and his first question will be: 'what is the easiest way out? '

Irojulococus never blames himself for any adverse situation, instead he manufactures a non existing spirit and heaps the blame on it

Irojulococus greatest inventions are names of spirits responsible for everything

Some of its inventions include;
Ember spirit
Spirit husband
Ancestral spirits
Poverty spirit
Spirit of favour
Spirit of break though
My pastors grace
Spirit of marital delay
Spirit of traffic etc

In short any spirit willing to take the blame off!

In case this organism is already feasting in your system, not to worry.‎
‎Today is another day to start the process of getting rid of it and trust me there is no single drug that can flush it out at once!  It's a process.
‎
Start the process;
Find someone to hold you accountable and tell you the truth and if possible push you; 
Avoid excuses; follow through till it becomes what you saw in your mind; never settle for less (if you saw a billion never settle for 100million)

Appreciate Irojulococus for how far it has led you and let it go its way today.

Written by PF.

Little Explorers!

I was on call a few weeks ago when a 3-year old boy who had ingested 10 capsules of Indomethacin ( popularly called Indocid in this part of Nigeria) was rushed into the ER!
I was angry and felt like scolding the parents, but my first priority was this cute child, so I got working! And he survived, just like the 2-year old boy that drank Kerosene a week earlier.

However, a 2-year old girl wasn't that lucky! She was rushed in dead because she drank Snipper, a poisonous substance used to kill pests like rats and cockroaches. Angrily, I held back tears; another preventable death- If only her caregivers were careful and vigilant!

Dear parents, caregivers and readers, we owe our little ones the responsibility of keeping them safe and this includes keeping the environment safe.

Poisoning amongst kids is almost never intentional: most times, it's an accident!
Once a child can move about ( either by crawling or walking), they become explorers; they are curious and their mouth is the first place they put ALL things because according to Freud, they are in the oral stage of development. They don't know better!

But you do!



Here are a few tips to keep your environment poison proof:

Store medicine, cleaning and laundry products (including detergent packets), paints/varnishes and pesticides in their original packaging in locked cabinets or containers, out of sight and reach of children.

Safety latches that automatically lock when you close a cabinet door can help keep children away from dangerous products, but there is always a chance the device will malfunction. The safest place to store poisonous products is somewhere a child can’t reach.  

Purchase and keep all medicines in containers with safety caps and keep out of reach of children. Discard unused medication. Note that safety caps are designed to be child-resistant but are not fully child-proof.

Never refer to medicine as “sweet or candy” or another appealing name.
Check the label each time you give a child medicine to ensure proper dosage. For liquid medicines, use the dosing device that came with the medicine‎.

Do not place poisonous products in food or drink containers.
Keep coal, wood or kerosene stoves in safe working order.

And if you realise that your child might have ingested anything harmful, PLEASE DON'T TRY TO INDUCE VOMITING!
RUSH THE CHILD TO A HOSPITAL!

Remember that your child doesn't know better, but you should!

I hate to see kids die! It's unacceptable and can be prevented.


#Keepthechildsafe! ‎