• Thoughts

    When is a Body deserving of having Violence visited upon it?

    I had a spirited conversation (read: argument) with my driving instructor and another student yesterday. No, it wasn’t about my reverse technique (which is atrocious, by the way. Wish me luck next class). What was it about, then? We were on the road doing a test-run when he suddenly blurted about a mad girl, followed quickly by a tirade of words. I was confused; “did something happen?” “Ahn ahn, didn’t you see that girl we just passed that her whole belly is outside and her short is barely covering anything?” I didn’t. I had been minding my business. So, I said, “Oh, I didn’t.” It would have ended there, but…

  • Articles

    He Called Me Ashawo

    Two weeks ago, I was called a bedpreneur, or in popular Nigerian parlance, an Ashawo. On Instagram too, for that matter. But how did we get there? Summarily, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were caught exploring each other in ways that were sexual in nature. The adults present, horrified that something like that was happening with teenagers, reportedly proceeded to punish the girl while admonishing her. All the while, the boy, her partner in exploration, was almost excluded from the conversation, almost as if the words of reproach had nothing to do with him. A man, a witness to this spectacle, became angry and proceeded to give the…