Back In... 1987 [Landmark Events]

Back In…1987

Nigeria…

Back then there were 21 states in Nigeria. Ibrahim Babangida was the head of state. Oyo witnessed a Yellow Fever epidemic (April/May) Obafemi Awolowo died (May 9). Crisis in Kaduna between involving Christians and Muslims.

On a lighter note, ‘Juju Music’ a documentary about the historic all-night Juju concert in Lagos featuring King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey by Jacques Holender was released. A unique performance documentary, Juju Music features the urban popular tribe music of Nigeria. The film includes a historic all-night Juju concert in Lagos featuring King Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey.

World Music…

 

George Michael released his debut album “Faith” which sold millions of copies. Bruce Willis also released his debut album “The Return of Bruno”, lucky he stuck to acting. Future music stars born in 1987 include Ke$ha (March 1), Bow Wow (March 9), Joss Stone (April 11).

Movies...

Fatal Attraction (Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, & Anne Archer) was the top grossing movie of the year. Other top movies that year include ‘Three Men and A Baby’, ‘Moonstruck’, Lethal Weapon, & Beverly Hills Cop 2. Michael Douglas was no doubt the biggest Hollywood Star that era. He also picked up the Oscar for best actor for his role in ‘Wall Street’. 1987 was also the birth of a movie that ended up becoming a pop culture phenomenon, ‘Dirty Dancing’.

Fashion…

Smiley faces adorned jeans, T-shirts, caps, badges and everything else! Smiley was borrowed from the psychedelia of the 60s underground music scene. Air soles in the heel of Nike Air trainers contained a revolutionary plastic bubble filled with gas. The trainers became such a fashion accessory that wearers were regularly mugged.

Back in ’87, the order of the day, at least when it came to shoes and bags, was the busier, the brighter—and apparently, the more bedecked in multi-colored buttons—the better. The pink suede pump on the left is Gianfranco Ferré, the other two are Miss Maud, a now defunct line designed by former Nina Ricci and Jean Patou model, Maud Frizon de Marco.

Shifting from the shocking, often layered blue shadows of the early to mid-‘80s, one of the beauty trends toward the latter part of the decade was a bronzer, more terra cotta-toned eye. The fuchsia lip, however, had some real staying power and was represented, page after page, issue after issue, well into the early-‘90s.

Swatch watches were on everyone’s wrists in the ‘80s. Though the Swiss watch line offered neutral, muted timepieces, the true Swatch watch was bright, covered in geometric shapes or cartoonish prints and was a personal statement all the kids could afford to make. One of the few ultra-popular accessories from that period that has maintained its popularity, Swatch still has stores all over the world today and from time to time even re-releases some of its most celebrated models from the ‘80s.

Tommy Hilfiger fashioned himself a “bad, bad boy” back in ’87. Who knew?

Football…

Born in different parts of the world but united by a common sport, football. Mikel Obi (April 22), Lionel Messi (June 24), Cesc Fàbregas (May 4), and Samir Nasri (June 26) were born. Only one of them had won the FIFA Player of the Year so far.

Everton won the Premier League. Napoili won the Serie A. Real Madrid won La Liga. Porto won Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League final.

One of the pop cultural highlights of 1987 was an advert by Coca-cola, “Tomorrow’s People”

I am the future of the world I am the hope of my nation I am tomorrows people I am the new inspiration And we've got a song to sing to you We've got a message to bring to you Please let there be, for you and for me, a tomorrow (tomorrow) If we all can agree there'll be sweet harmony tomorrow (tomorrow) And we all will be there, Coca-Cola to share Feeling so real and so true Promise us tomorrow And we'll build a better world for you

The most important event of 1987 was on the 16th of December, Adeshina Omotayo Babatunde Lateef was born. Just call me Ade.

@bankoletaiwo Last Tweet

Earlier in the week I read someone's post of Facebook, it was a RIP statement about a guy named Bankole Taiwo. Later that day on my Twitter timeline, someone else wrote a condolence message about the same guy. In the message, the guy's Twitter handle was typed in place of his name. Out of curiosity I clicked on it & realised the guy's last tweet was a retweet of an accident on the same road/day he died.

I'll try not to be insensitive [although you might perceive it as such] but two scenarios played in my head. Both of 'em started with @imagervet who was plying the Lagos-Ibadan expressway with her husband behind the wheels.

Her tweet...

"@Imagervet: The best part of the day,when dawn meets morn, cars scanty on the road,sleep just moving out of the way,arms around me....hmmmm....."

...was poetic & gives an idea of the setting along Lagos-Ibadan expressway. It was followed by:

"@Imagervet: Accident just occured on Lagos- Ibadan expressway....multiple dead bodies....just before RatCon....pls RT...missed it by minutes..."

She went a bit further to shout out for a retweet from @IBcity_Traffic:

"@Imagervet: Pls @IBcity_Traffic kindly help call ambulance services....accident just before RatCon leaving Ibadan,at least 6 dead...."

Now the first scenario...

@Imagervet's message got a RT, even from the deceased. Now I'm thinking, after the accident occurred was the deceased first response to tweet about the event? His tweet below...

"@bankoletaiwo: RT "@ayotheboss: RT @Gidi_Traffic: #REPORT [10:02AM] @Imagervet: ACCIDENT just occured on LAGOS- IBADAN EXPRESS. ... http://t.co/btm6Vzlm"

Now, since he died I'll assume he was probably in pain after the impact. @imagervet had also tweet:

"@Imagervet: Saw only 3 come out of bus,others appear badly injured...pls RT...some are lying on the road,hubby thinks tire mishap,lone bus...."

Either he was among the 3 or "some...lying on the road" he was in pain and pulled through to use his phone to tweet. Probably to call for help for himself or others. He noticed someone on his timeline had tweet about the accident so to save time he decided to RT. That is an explanation how the accident ended up as his last tweet.

The second scenario...

From @Imagervet tweet moments later...

"@Imagervet: A new appreciation of safe passage...saw about 4 fresh accidents this a.m.....too many factors at play....thankfulity....."

She witnessed "4 fresh accidents' that morning. It could be @bankoletaiwo's last tweet was about an accident before his. He was probably on his phone, reading his timeline and stumbled about an accident on Lagos-Ibadan expressway. That would have gotten his attention because he was in a vehicle plying that saw route. He decided to RT unknown to him what fate had ahead. Moments later, his vehicle was also involved in an accident and he died.

Now, I don't care if you feel I'm insensitive.
Remember the story of the Good Samaritan in the Bible, Jesus told it as a parable. It was about how men walked passed a man who was robbed and left wounded by the roadside. I see what happened as a modern version of the parable. @Imagervet & her husband drove pass "4 fresh accidents" and all she could do was tweet about it. On her blog,
http://randomthoughts-n.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/for-bankole-taiwo-et-al-2012.html?spref=tw&m=1,
she wrote about the incident & stated "There appeared to be several dead and 3men hobbled away from the scene..." and her reaction to it was "...I was ready to be recruited to assassinate those responsible for the state of that road".

I think we need to check our humanity. If good roads prevented accidents, America would not experience a high rate. Fact is it happens & lots of factors contribute to it. The blame game won't cut it. Like I said, we need to check our humanity. If God had put you in a situation to witness more than four accidents & you weren't involved in any, of what value is your testimony if you failed to assist one victim. We all know God is good all the time but how do we use the blessing?

I am moved by this because I've been in multiple situations where I had strangers rush me to the hospital. Such act of humanity helps a lot and a huge difference between life & death. Don't just tweet about it. Tweeting was the easiest way to pass along responsibility & there was over a 90% chance whoever reads it will do the same. For instance, see how a tweet originated from @imagervet > @IBcity_Traffic > @Gidi_Traffic > @ayotheboss > @bankoletaiwo < deceased on the same road.

Rest in Peace to those who lost their lives that day.

Eko 2012: 423 Gold, 422 Silver, and 579 Bronze

Nigeria had her 18th National Sports Festival, an event that most likly had more athletes (8000) than spectators (<8000). I was in University of Lagos a couple of times and witnessed the preparation. The hostels were converted to camp for the athletes and her sport centre hosted few games. I saw some muscular looking females, if I had those packs...hmmm! Anyway, the most interesting part was the final medals table.



423 athletes won Gold, 422 athletes went home with silver, while 579 athletes had bronze. How the f*ck was that even possible? In every competition there should be a first, second, and third place- an equal number of wins for each medal. This sh!t cray. I didn't want to be 'ignant' and did a little fact finding. I realised something similar happen in the olympics. The cumulative gold, silver, and bronze standing wasn't the same. Why? Not all sports had a gold, silver, or bronze winner. At times there was a tie, probably only 2 contestant completed the task, or none at all.



I'm still indoubt the number of games that Delta state could win 288 medals. I understand it was combined with paralympics and traditional sports were added, but what are those games.



The games is over, I'm sure with the millions spent someone became a millionnaire. I hope the guy that designed the mascot isn't one of 'em. That sh!t looks like Dr. Seuss 'Cat in the Hat' wearing a green suit after smoking SK.

My First ₦1 Show

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to my first ₦1 show. I appreciate you all for coming despite your very busy schedule to spend part of life your with me. As much as I appreciate it, I don't think I should thank you though. This show is effing ₦1, I mean, why won't you come. You should all be thanking me for bringing subsidy back to comedy and making you laugh for almost free. I mean, some of y'all didn't hesistate coming with your wife and concubines. Pretending to be rich and all. I bet if my show was ₦1 million I would be talking to myself in this hall. People won't want to pay ₦ 1 million to watch me, after all I'm not D'banj. I remember last December he had a show that had a price tag of ₦ 1 million for a table. That's ₦1,000,000 to sit in a furniture you won't take home. I had broke friends affiliated with rich friends who could pay and they attended. While they were probably having a good time I was asleep. The next morning one of 'em was looking at me desperate to tell me how it went. She didn't have to say it, just a look in her eyes said it all. After all, what was the use of attending such an event when there was no one you could brag to? Then I said, "People that didn't attend probably missed a great show but a pirated DVD of the event should make up for it. But those that got tables now miss ₦1 million. POW!". She looked at me one last time and walked away.

You know what, I didn't feel bad. That was life and that was the reason you had to pray for your friends to be as rich as you. That way you could share experiences. Have you ever had a friend you were richer than? I mean, mine started at an early age. I remember back in primary school I had 'em. I would have ₦1.50k in my pocket for lunch and this one kid would have nothing. It was as if his parents sent him to school to make money from peers. I probably was his bestfriend because in primary school your bestfriend had to be the guy buying you stuffs. Like most kids I was getting just enough as allowance but this kid wanted it shared between us. Now, there were times I would be interested in a lollipop and I knew if I got it this boy would give me the softest puppy eyes. Making me get him one. I don't think I was stingy but I wasn't his parent. Sometimes I would be effing hungry and would have loved to buy puff-puff in the canteen but this kid was with me. I would be all smiles inside while my stomach found nothing funny. I decided to begin to eat in secrecy. I would find time to runaway from him during break, get puff-puff, and hide behind the clinic to eat in peace. I put everything in my mouth and wipe my lips clean. He noticed I hadn't been eating and asked to know why, I told him mummy had been feeding me well for breakfast. The next day I did the same thing, during break we were on the swing and he wanted to pee. As he disappeared from my view I ran to the canteen got about 0.50k worth of puff-puff, then off to my usual spot to eat it. As I was about to put it all in my mouth I noticed someone was also there, I looked up and our eyes met. If was my friend and he also had a mouthful of puff-puff. It was a very very uncomfortable situation especually when he began to call me a liar. But you know, I had nothing to say because I was more confused.

But you had to pray for your friends, I grew up being in similar situations. My guys would say they were hungry and broke, and we walk to a buka. Everyone buys food worth ₦100 which could never be enough and I would be like, "give me the same" knowing that couldn't be enough for me. I could buy more but what kind of friend would I be. Everyone is feeding on a plate of rice with no meat while I would have assorted in my plate.

Despite all, I think I grew up well. Sometimes family members see me and say things like that. But you know what, I'm sure you've been in situations where you see a family member after a long while and they say something that sounds like a compliment but when you think about it, it was actually an insult. I've heard a family member say "you've grown so big into a man". Was she expecting me me to grow so big...into a woman, was she expecting me to have boobs and generate a pussy. Then they go ahead to ask the one question most people hate, "So where are you now?" I was literally standing before this person and he or she wants to know, "where am I now?" I understood the question though, it was to find out if I was in a position of social importance. I discovered the perfect answer to such question. Whenever you were asked such just reply, "We thank God".

"We thank God", shouldn't we? People ask if you've gotten a job you reply, "we thank God". They ask, "hope they are paying you well?", still reply "we thank God". There was this girl that gave me such answer. I discovered on Facebook she was with an airline. Her 'work' on Facebook was updated and her display picture had the name of the airline in the background. I was happy for her and told her, "Congratulations...hope they are paying you well?" She replied, "We thank God".

3 months later, this particular friend told me she was back in the unemployment market. "Months ago you were thanking God, what happened?". She replied that was training and was done with that. For the "real job", the airline posted her to their Yola station in Adamawa, with a monthly salary/stipend of ₦18,000 and no accommodation. In other words, she was to relocate from Lagos to Adamawa with a pay package of ₦18,000 per month. I asked, during your training how much were you paid and she replied, "Nothing, don't mind those stupid people". I reminded the babe I asked her about how much she was paid months ago and replied, "We thank God". You mean you were being paid nothing and you thanked God. Do you think that is God's portion for you to be paid nothing. I understand we should be greatful for whatever we have but don't be satisfied in a "job" that pays nothing. I'm not God but if I had the intention to assist someone and I ask, "How's your new job?" And she or he respond, "We thank God". I'll take it the person was in a good position and take my assistance away.

Anyway, the show must come to an end. The validity of your money must expire. See you next tima and God bless.

Been Down/ Blue October

Awake listening to Blue October, I had to share this lyrics [poem]


I dreamt you seduced me
Just walked away
I dreamt you inspired
Then rewired what I say
I dreamt you spread your bottom wings
And pulled me to the bed
But then I woke up feeling nauseous
You danced around my head


Chorus:
Tell me
How long, how long have I been down?
How long, how long have I been down?
How long, how long have I been down?
Down, Down


I dreamt you burned my fingers
Yes, an automatic sting
I dreamt you called me beautiful
Then asked to hear me sing
I dreamt your singing invited me
To crawl within your space
But then I woke up feeling nauseous
Girl, you danced around my face


Chorus:
Tell me
How long, how long have you been down?
How long, how long have you been down?
How long, how long have you been down?
Down, Down
Why can't we work when we both try?
We try, we try, we try, we try
Why can't this work, when we both try?
Why can't it work when we both try
we try, we try, we try, how we try
And how we try
I meant to sympathize I want to be your friend
I know apologizing won't erase the end
But I learn that moving on, is where I must begin
Because when our colours mixed
We couldn't fix the way they wouldn't blend


Chorus:
So tell me
How long, how long have we been down?
How long, how long have we been down?
How long, how long have we been down?
Down, down, yeah
And I wish that only greatness follow you around
I hope to God, you find a way to keep from down
When you do I hope you share it all with me
Please try to understand, yeah to understand me
Just try to understand me, yeah understand me
How long, how long have we been down yeah.
Down, down, down, yeah