Pocket of Thoughts™ by Saint Akanji

In the pursuit of identity, man will stop at nothing. Crime and its variants are mere grievances.  The Jungle has matured. There was a time in this country when it was unthinkable that a Nigerian will strap himself with a bomb only to detonate same to take his own life and that of others. Things are no longer what they used to be. It is a dawn of a tumultuous era. Our jungle is about matured. There are things we would rather not talk about for fear of being singled-out. Nobody wants to be tagged controversial. The title Prophet of Doom is not one desirable even by the most notorious. In that self-same spirit of not wanting to ruffle feathers, we simply let the sleeping dogs lie. Hypocrisy reigns; it lurks in the deepest of places; the human mind. Violence and its variant vices are all grievances. It was Marshall McLuhan; a man well ahead of the thinkers of the day who asserted that violence and crime are grievances. Grievance is a motivation for all human a...

The man who the gods will destroy they first make mad - African Proverb  Madness is described as a state of insanity. Another word that closely defines it is senseless folly and this word aptly describes the state of my beloved country; Nigeria. Identity crisis is the greatest crisis According to Marshall McLuhan, violence is a quest for identity in the same vain as crime and many other vices. This assertion is very applicable in the Nigerian context. Our historical antecedents are filled with bitterness and grievances. Our founding fathers as much as one would be compelled to recognize their good deeds, the legacy they bequeathed to us is not very rich in love. The best of them sacrificed nationalism on the ignoble altar of selfishness and personal ambition. Five decades after independence, Nigeria remains plagued by many woes. Communal clashes have become a common fixture. Our society is void of humanity. The well to do amongst us is consumed by gree...

  Marketing is about making things that people want as much as it is making people want things.   This post is on marketing and the power of psychology. Here's a little open secret about us humans: WE ARE CURIOUS. Think Garden of Eden. Understanding this truth about us and using it works. Now, imagine a blog site titled www.nonsensegrammar.com powered by Patrick Obiagbhon (not sure of the spelling)? You may vilify the man Patrick (he is surely one troubled soul) but I bet on it that most people will click on the site just to see. It's who we are.  Things are not the same or are they?   This is a post like no other. The idea for it came to me while in the loo. I have been thinking lately about the role of marketing in this post modern era and through the lens of others, I have come to appreciate a little more robustly that although people are individuals, the fact that they want to be identified with tribes put them into a buc...

  Write your own story. Be epic! I am not one given to tradition for the sake of tradition. I have a very strong belief that rules are meant to be broken. Laws? no man should break. This post is about embracing change. I chronicle some profound principles that I am learning to practice as I pursue my triumph over status-quo. I am on a journey of self discovery and I'm loving everything so far. An orange mind is one who is exceptional in all material respects. Think of an orange mind as a purple cow; a linchpin. Thou shall not conform but TRANSFORM The easiest thing to do is conform to an order. I am not talking about compliance here because if it were so easy to comply, we wouldn't need prisons. A lot in life although depends on our choice. Life is not a chance and it is true that You Only Live Once (Y.O.L.O). Conformity is when you are expected to sacrifice your true passion for a job that puts food on the table. Conformity is what makes people do the job...

The moral of this story is that Africa must device her own ways in the same way she must tell her own story.   I grew up in Oshogbo; a town in the western part of Nigeria foremost for its arts and craft. Oshogbo is foremost for its ebullient tye and dye. My fondest memories included exploring some of the streams that banded my Fagbewesa settlement, the rhythmic evening sound of the wobbly Nigeria Railways Corporation trains (faka-fiki-faka-faki fooo…) and more. I am fascinated by the concept and tale of freedom and for the umpteenth time, I have chosen to tell one for her. There was a time when folks who chose the blue-collar route underwent a period of apprentice after which they bagged their freedom. The freedom celebration was always a grand affair. The only other celebration that rivaled “Freedom” was the spoils from the Islamic graduation then called Wolimo . I and my gang of gluttons thoroughly relished the venison that accompanied every Wolimo .   Wolimo ...