Episode 35: Nigeria in Call of Duty Game

     Good day dear readers! It's already the month of May and I haven't blogged at all this year. I've been really busy with my final year in the university (between sports, socials and academics). I planned to make four blog posts this month to make up for it, but I may end up making five this month as this post wasn't planned. However, something happened today (May 2nd, 2014) that provoked me to write. Activision announced a new game, Call of Duty: Advanced War and the reveal trailer opened my eyes to how bad Nigeria's reputation has gotten.

A Screenshot of Lagos State from the trailer. Note: Game takes place in the near future

Episode 20: Cross River - The Nation's Paradise

       I just got back from a five day excursion to Cross River state in Nigeria, and man, it was fun! The trip was organized by the Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan (my faculty, my school) but I was able to get one of my younger brothers, who isn't a student of U.I, to tag along. There were only 22 of us (25 if you count the Subdean of the Faculty and the two bus drivers) because about 20 muslims had to pull out of the excursion due to their Ramadan fast. Originally, the excursion had been planned to start and end before their fast. So what made it fun? Well, I got to see some of the best sights my country has to offer (for a dismal price, by the way), including water falls, cable car rides, and literally standing inside the clouds. Really. I'll break this post down into five mini-sections for each of the days of the trip so read on if you're interested in knowing why Cross River state (named for the cross river, called Oyono, which passes through the state) is known as "The Nation's Paradise".
          

A Roundabout near the University of Calabar

Episode 6: Boil Hotter, Get Sweeter

    The first week of 2012 just went by. In case I didn't say so earlier on this blog (which I doubt), I'm Nigerian and I live in Nigeria. Also, I'm a born-again christian. With that said, on the cross-over night at my church, our pastor told us some things that God told him about Nigeria in 2012. The fifth point (out of five) said "Nigeria will boil hotter, but get sweeter". Cool!
      Flash forward to later that same day (January 1st).  The president removed the subsidy on the price of fuel in the country, taking the price from N65 per litre to N140 per litre. A dollar is equivalent to 159.55 Naira (for my non-Nigerian readers). For Nigerians, this year has started on a really bad note. The cost of living just skyrocketed and most people have been criticizing the president (who, by the way, seems to be a puppet with no backbone or ego).
     I was amazed by the sheer amount of fuel subsidy jokes on the internet just a day after the subsidy removal. Facebook, twitter and blackberry messenger were so inundated with text posts and images that by the 3rd of January, I had heard literally ALL the jokes. Every joke I saw after the 2nd was a joke I had seen/heard before. Stuff like "TGIF. . . . . , na to go pop petrol 4 club" and "The best pick up line in Nigeria is 'baby, check it out. I've got a full tank!'" amongst many others. I'll post a few pics below.

       Just do a twitter search for fuel subsidy and see for yourself. Needless to say, there are protests and strikes opposing the subsidy removal. I'm not feeling the effects of the fuel subsidy removal yet (except in transport costs of course) but due to the strikes in protest to the fuel stuff, I won't be able to go to work for the next few days. I'll be working from home. The other 2 members of my 3 man programming team are staying at my place for a few days so we can write our first computer program as a team together.
    Since I don't have to leave the house early for work now, I'll be at the estate's basketball court every morning till the strike is called off to hone my skills. I haven't balled since last semester (3 months ago!). Also, I will have a bit more time for gaming. I'm at the finale of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks on DS. I'll beat the game tomorrow and post a review. I'll even have time to practice a few songs on the keyboard. This strike actually isn't too bad for me.............hotter and sweeter huh?