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Senior Kunle was the kind of dorm tyrant every junior feared. Loud, demanding, unapologetic. His power trip had no brakes until six exhausted juniors staged an unforgettable rebellion. Their mission took Kunle straight into Cuba, the dreaded school toilet that humbled even the boldest students. What happened that night reset the entire dorm and transformed Kunle forever.
Jelili finally lands his big abroad interview, but the location alone nearly sends him back to Nigeria. Three buses, one train and a spiritual battle later, he arrives,red tie, sweaty forehead and unstoppable determination. He charms the panel with confidence he borrowed from heaven. Yet just when he thinks the day is over, Tesco calls him back… and so does the mysterious woman from Aisle 7.
Boarding house life has a way of teaching lessons no classroom can deliver. One moment you are chasing a midnight slapper through a dark dormitory, the next you are returning to find your mattress gone and your pride questioned. That night on bare metal springs reshaped my thinking. It pushed me into a mission that ended with a mattress I never bought and a story that never left me. Unity Secondary School had its drama, but it also had a strange way of preparing us for real strategy, fast decisions and survival at scale.
Nigeria’s deepest crisis is not banditry. It is a mindset that celebrates personal comfort while ignoring collective decay. The country has spent years treating insecurity as a “regional inconvenience” instead of a national emergency. While one zone was engulfed in violence, others believed distance equalled safety. That illusion created the perfect vacuum for today’s kidnappings, bandit networks and criminal economies to spread across the map. This article explores how a culture of isolation, rivalry and self-preservation weakened our national resilience and allowed a crisis in one corner to become a threat in every corner
Jelili approached UK public transport like a general going to war. The bus stop humbled him immediately. He stood confidently in the middle of the road like he was hailing a taxi in Ibadan, tapped his bank card on the bus screen like he was greeting technology and sat proudly in the pram space until a British mother nearly set him on fire with her eyes. By the time he travelled twenty minutes in the wrong direction and asked a stranger, “Which road leads to where I am going?” the abroad had completed his initiation. This episode captures the day the UK transport system baptized Jelili without water.
Fresh off his “Visa Miracle,” Jelili arrives in London dressed like Oyo royalty and gets baptized by British cold. From mistaking a radiator for a stove to crying over the cost of bottled water, he quickly learns that the abroad has its own way of humbling confidence. A hilarious tale of first impressions, frozen showers and the painful price of Tesco groceries.
We often sing, “The labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain,” but what about the heroes standing beside us today? The one who picks your calls at 1 a.m., who reminds you that you’re not alone when life feels heavy. These are the quiet heroes; our friends, siblings, partners and mentors. Those whose love holds us together in ways history may never record. This piece is a tribute to them. A gentle reminder to pause, to notice and to never let their labour of love, trust and hope go in vain.
After three years of prayer points and heartbreak, Jelili finally got his UK visa. He screamed so loud the neighbours thought Nigeria had just won the World Cup. Within hours, he’d sewn a golden Ankara “travel outfit” fit for royalty and started practicing his British accent. Everything was perfect…well, until his cousin called at 3 a.m. to inform him his flight was yesterday.
Whether you’re just finding your feet abroad or doing fine in Lagos, Abuja, Nairobi or Accra, there’s always that person who pops up after years with a familiar line, “long time, boss!” Then comes the ask…
November is that in-between month, not quite festive, not fully dreary. It’s when cold mornings, missing gloves and warm lattes remind us that the year is winding down. Whether you’re feeling the chill in London or the harmattan breeze in Lagos, November whispers change softly but unmistakably.
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