Serendipity

  Photo: AA My mum took the first dose of her Covid-19 jab yesteday, it was the AstraZeneca vaccine administered at a primary health care centre. This first phase of vaccinations covers different groups of people including healthcare workers and all emergency responders, security agencies, the judiciary, teachers and folks aged 70 years and above. There was an information poster on the gate at the entrance to the health centre with information about all eligible groups and procedure for getting the shot. A generous piece of real estate on the poster was reserved for an image of the local government chairman for that area; perhaps a reminder of his benevolence for delivering the vaccine to his propitious constituents.   The entire process from arrival to getting the actual jab took a little over an hour and this happened with a very light influx of people. The entrance to the health centre was manned by individuals who I would guess were local government employees but whose...

Image: Sunnewsonline I was one of those people that campaigned vigorously for President Buhari in the build up to the 2015 elections. I had one main reason; I was tired of the ineptitude and corruption that held sway with blatant disregard in the Jonathan administration. I like many Nigerians at the time wanted Buhari to tackle corruption. I had no delusions of grandeur that Buhari was going to do wonders for our economy or transform Nigeria into a land flowing with milk and honey. The man in my mind had just the one mandate; fight corruption. And then possibly pave way for a younger more charismatic candidate beaming at the seams with progressive ideas; and one who would finally be able to settle down to the business of building a Nigeria of our dreams without the encumbrance and bottle necks of deep seated venality. The argument about Buhari’s performance thus far has left Nigerians divided, (not that we were running out of reasons to be) but irrespective of what side of th...

Image: Crossed Flagpins I remember the first time Venezuela ever came to my consciousness in a significant way. It was during my teen years, following the Miss World pageants; there had been a lot of winners from South America generally but particularly Venezuela. Venezuela holds the Guinness world record for being the only country to win back to back titles in the Miss Universe pageants in 2008 and 2009. Venezuela also ranks right on top in terms of the number of International beauty pageants it has won. Here is a country that could legitimately lay claim to having the most beautiful women in the world. The former Spanish colony also boasts the largest oil reserves in the world, is a founding member of the global oil cartel, Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and has consistently been one of the world’s foremost oil exporters. I want that to really sink in, ‘largest proven oil reserves’, founding member of OPEC (and why not, it has the largest freaking oil reser...