Nigeria my home.

Nigeria a closer look

• When you look at Nigeria what do you see? When you think of Nigeria what do you imagine? oftentimes especially in the internet we see more of the bad side of the country, but I'll share with you a few beautiful things I see when I look at Nigeria as a Nigerian myself.

• Walk with me

• The food, from the south side of Nigeria she has variety of dishes like okra soup, egusi soup others, and the famous Nigerian jollof rice which is the first picture below. Each meal has nutritional values as well as taste awesomely different, these meals are usually prepared with fish, meat, (cow, goat) or any other meat desired, also with sea food, these meals are extremely rich and very delicious. (Soups go with Garri, Amala, starch, semovita) etc

• Another wonderful thing I see is family, the love from the grandmother to her grandchild, from a husband to his wife and child, from siblings to their parents and from mother to daughter.

 

• Beautiful cultures especially with the marriage ceremonies, the marriage ceremonies are beautiful moments were the women are adorned with beads and beautiful attires, from wrapper to blouses, as well as the men also, looking elegant and handsome for their brides with music and dancing, not forgetting food too.

• Hard working people, it's no secret about how bad choices of some Africans has  made the African community look bad, but there are exceptional young males and females in Nigeria as well as other African countries, doing things they love or sometimes just try their best and make honest money.

Good environment both for living and for business, every new day is a hustle day, were people get closer to their dreams of becoming better, richer or just have enough to be comfortable.

All of the provided pictures are from the south-East of Nigeria, this doesn't mean that the other areas of Nigeria are bad, no far from it, I am just focusing on that part of the country because like they say "experience is the best teacher"  and this is where I have almost all of my life experiences. 

A SHORT ARTICLE  OF THE BEAUTY OF NIGERIA

..the above picture is that of Lagos Nigeria 

Nigeria is one of the African countries in the world where like other countries have ups and downs, they face difficulty just like every other country in the world, like political crises as well as religious .

But the beauty of the country cannot be denied, I will be mentioning quite a few reasons why its a beauty.

1. THE PEOPLE The people of Nigeria are homely, they accept and take care of others especially from other countries, they are entertaining, brilliant, lovable and kindhearted.

2. CULTURE The culture of the Nigerians,when displayed by different ethnic groups, shows love, strength, pride as well as homeliness, unity, peace and this are often displayed in public, thereby allowing other ethnic groups or visitors to enjoy the festival.

3. EDUCATION its quite difficult to get into the country and find people who cannot understand you especially when you are from a different country and can speak English fluently, Nigerians are becoming well educated thereby moving alongside the world globally, technologically and otherwise

4. ENVIRONMENT yes no doubts there are places with low standard of living who experience insecurity just like every other place in the world, but there are much better and lovely places to check out, either for a tour, educational reasons or just mere enjoyment.

The list goes on and on, but one thing to remember is the PEOPLE, they have succeeded in so many areas of life, both academically, in the entertainment world, pursing career, obtaining wealth, and any other places one could think of. NIGERIA is a place to be.

PORCATINATION 


A big easy word which simply means the action of delaying or postponing something...


Causes of porcastination from my research has pointed out a FEAR of failure as well as Carelessness or laziness....

Interestingly it can also be related to a phycological disorder, the amygdala is the section of the brain associated with our automatic emotional reaction to a solution.

The brain is protecting us against possible negative feelings, the norepinephrine chemical takes over, causing increase level of fear and anxiety, adrenalin gets pumped in.

There are quite different kinds of procatinations, I'll mention just 4


Anxious procatinations

Fun procatinations

Plenty of time procatinations

Perfectionist procatinations

It doesn't really matter the kind of procatination here is 4ways to help solve it 

1. Forgive yourself for procatinating in the past

2. Commit to the task

3. Promise yourself a reward

4. Ask someone to check up on you,

5. Ask as you go rephrase your inner dialogue

6. Minimize distractions,


To further stretch, narrow your focus, procatinators often spend more time looking at the big picture, so a project can seem overwhelming..

Reward yourself for meeting your goals.

Connect activities you dislike with the ones you love let those incentive help you stay on task.

Hold yourself publicly accountable.

Do not loose momentum

The picture below can help in our goal setting..

Procatination is a very serious problem, though it might seem harmless but it takes away our ability to get things done as well as decide.. .. N0 it won't happen like magic.. . YES it can be achieved by complete consciousness to the problem and deciding to solve it. 

Watching from a distance.....

Waking up early in the morning from 5 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. to sit outside my compound has been a common occurrence to me

Each time I have had the road sweepers as my companions until proper daylight.

Recently my attention has been drawn to a very young boy, possibly around the age of 10 to 15 years old, a few times I've had the opportunity of speaking to him, though I haven't asked him any personal questions so I don't make him uncomfortable but today we had a little chat.. .. the picture below is a picture from where he was sweeping.

He actually initiated the conversation when an army van was passing by, he pointed them out to me and said ( see them oh go inside) asking me to go inside,(because of a lockdown in my area due to the covid-19) I smiled back at him and told him it was okay since I was in front of my house,, truthfully he saw them pass without looking my way..

Knowing there was a lockdown and restriction of public transport I asked him how they (him and his mom whom he was obviously helping out) got to work he said (we use leg trekk come) meaning they worked, from where he said he lived to where he was sweeping right now is approximately a 5 minutes drive.

He pointed something out to me about the difficult part of the job, packing the sand.

Looking at him something hit me.. Road sweepers and the challenges they face.

Doing my research I found out that nearly 69% of the city sweepers suffer from 

multiple health problems

It includes disorders related to bones, joints and muscles, lungs, eyes and skin. 

These health issues were due to prolonged exposure to dust, lack of periodic health screening and customised cleaning equipment like broom sticks and poor awareness and negligence in using safety gear.

Improper working posture, usage of short and damage brooms and inadequate supply of brooms.

The biological materials in the dust are capable of causing allergic diseases in humans, such as running nose watery eyes and sneezing by large size particles as well as swelling of lung tissue and asthma by fine particles.

Note: many of the sweepers do not survive more than two to three years post their retirement due to the prolonged exposure to pollution.

Aside all this they are not provided with health insurance.

People give them little or no respect,
daily they face life-threatening situations like accidents, and some especially the females get molested sexually. .. 

What is my aim??? To draw the reader's mind to the challenges road sweepers face.... When next you walk on the street and is tempted to litter the environment. 

What killed Mr Ben?? 

Mr Ben goes to a road side shop owned by a woman called Sandra, he buys food stuffs from her worth two thousand five hundred Naira, (2500) 


After buying he tells the woman he doesn't have money to pay the bills but will definitely come see her when he does.


The economy is hard especially with the Corona virus,

Sandra tells the man she can't accept it, she needs money to immediately buy and sell. .

Ben keeps what he has bought, and sits just by the side of the shop with his hand on his jaw

 

Another man comes to buy something and sees Mr Ben, he asked Sandra the shop owner why the man was sitted that way.

Sandra explains, out of pity, he says to the woman give him what he has bought I will pay.

Sandra goes to the man and calls out Mr someone had paid for your food stuffs here take it ..

Mr Ben didn't respond, moving forward to touch him, he still wasn't responding, 

Mr Ben was dead, sitting at that same position but dead....... 

True story.....what's your thoughts on this??

Personalities that make things happen in their own little way, one of kind is this wonderful young man, I had the opportunity of speaking with him, he is an Artist who loves what he does, and earns a living doing what he loves, I have personally seen his works and I know he is doing a wonderful job, i'll also be sharing some of work here

MR Jazpa David he is an Artist by profession..






What's your name?
Jazpa David

Where and when were you born?
I was born in Porthacourt and raised up in Onitsha, later came back to Porthacourt in 2007.

How would you describe yourself as a child?
At my tender age I was fascinated by so many things that surrounded me and I really wish to replicate what was in my surrounding, but then my inner dialogue was self defeating.

Any best memories from childhood?
Deep Childhood Memories hmmmm... I love drawing and painting since my childhood and I would shamelessly flaunt my skills to everyone.
 Different stages as an artist:
(1)junior: sometimes I used to place a transparent white paper over my drawing book and draw the sharp lines over the figures. ones the drawing figure is imprint on transparent paper, i draw over it and fill the colors.
(2)secondary: I started free-hand drawing. Love to capture the cartoon characters on my sketch books. It was fun

Are you in a relationship or married? 
Am not married neither in a serious relationship because it's dynamic let just skip the line lol

What do you do for a living?
Art.


In your own words define Art?
My broad definition of art: Art can be define as Airplane  for the expression or communication of emotions and ideas, a means of exploring and appreciating formal elements for their own sake as mimesis or presentation.


How did you get into your line of work?
I guess you have seen artist sacrifice both of this in the name of Craft, but you need your body on the most basic of levels to create, mine started with motivation, inspiration, and emotions.

What lessons has your work life taught you?
Well all I can say is that the future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in a creative way, But in life you are the character and you need to find your own pattern that helps you grow and Excel, the trick is that there aren't identical shape available in the same familiar places, every time the view is different, in my opinion if one has no beliefs about a particular matter one cannot have knowledge about it.
If you could do anything differently what would you do?

Music and importation of art materials

What is your religion?
I am a Christain, born and brought up in Roman Catholic, but migrated to Dominion City worldwide. 

Do you believe in after life? 
Hmmm lol, Do you have any experience that made you believe in a higher power or life after death? I can't just believe that....

What drives you to be you as an Artist? 
Passion

Any advice you want to give to others a artistsstruggling to be better?
 Sometimes, success is less about knowing when to say "yes" to opportunities and more about saying "no" to things that are holding you,,.. Sitting around and stewing about isn't going to help you, so my advice to the person is he or she should engage in any art school based on practical or internet, most of us hold a browsing phone without knowing the value, I can recommend (Kevin okafor) and (Arinze Stanley) fix yourself on YouTube to watch how practical goes...    


I'm thankful I was able to ask mr JazpaDavid these questions, I commend his humility when I approached him, it was indeed a pleasure especially since I'm a struggling Artists myself, his works inspire me to strive I hope it will do the same for others.... To reach Mr Jasper this is his Instagram account iam_Jazpadavid as well as his Facebook Jazpadavid

TRUTH BE TOLD

What would the world look like without a man??? 

In the absence of a man who would sing the praises of women? 

Who would recognize her worth and pride? 

Who in the absence of a man will provide and protect?

Who in the absence of a man will seeds grow?

Without a man there is no people, no nation..

Who In the absence of a man will sacrifice? 

The importance of a man is sometimes not acknowledge if not overlooked.... 

When a woman dances as she shakes her waist it is for enjoyment, but truth be told when there is a man there is a sparkle, she is proud, she is beautiful and knows this because the men cannot take their eyes off her.

When a woman has a man she glows differently, his words oh!! his touch, his touch follows her everywhere.

Who in the absence of a man would give pleasure unexplainable in mortality?

Oh!! without a man how would there be Queens and Princesses..

Without a man! Without a man! There is no life truth be told!