When Laziness gets……
When laziness gets the better part of me.
I avoid opening my journal to make an entry. I can’t seem to place any particular reason for this, but it happens sometimes. I am lazy to write, even though I have things I will want to write about. I am here now baby! I have broken the jinx. So, let’s begin the monologue.
I watched some more videos on African Tigress’ YouTube Channel on her tour in Lagos. There was a particular episode that I extracted a question from. It was a question she asked some random people she met on the streets of Lagos. She asked them what they loved about Nigeria and being Nigerian.
What do I love about Nigeria, and what do I love being a Nigerian?
I will answer that later, when I finish talking about this experience I had.
I witness a wedding ceremony today, not as a guest or an acquaintance of the bride or groom, but as a random outsider observing from the outside-inside. I sat at the gallery inside the church auditorium while the wedding was going on at the ground floor. I was having a bird’s eye view of the event. I did a rough count of the attendees present; they were about fifteen people, excluding the bride, the groom, the maid of honor, the best-man, pastors and choir members. I asked Silas whom I sat next to why most people skip the church solemnizations of weddings? He replied that it is the Nigerian style, that I should ask them (Nigerians) why they skip church solemnizations. it seemed like a phenomenon though. I came up with some few excuses for this trend. Excuses such as: Church solemnization might be boring and long, and the wedding proper is the reception. This could be the mindset most people adhere to, that: the main occasion is the reception, and that church solemnizations are for the couples and their family members. “The main party dey happen for the reception.” Said a random guy I overhead some time ago at a wedding. I am guilty too, because I do skip church solemnizations. The recent one I skipped was that of Okpirite’s, which was three months ago. I attended the reception alone. I recalled I had a crazy experience at that reception.
I witness how this wedding was conducted. Though this isn’t my first time of witnessing a wedding solemnization. I was more akin to every detail and proceeding of this particular wedding. One of the pastors mounted the pulpit to open the event via a prayer, after that, the choir lead the praise and worship session. I watched how the groom danced. He was handsome in his grey three-piece suit, next to him was his best-man who wore the same outfit. He looked handsome too. They both danced well during the praise session. I observed that purple and grey were the colors for the day. The ladies in the bridal train all dressed in purple gowns and grey head-gears. A hymn was sung by the congregation as the bride marched in. She looked gorgeous and angelic in her cocaine white flowing wedding gown. I could see her face inside her transparent veil, it was made up and lit up with her radiant smile. I presume it was her brother who locked arms with her as they marched in. Her maid of Honor was behind them. She wore a glittering grey gown. She was holding the overflowing hem of the bride’s gown.
Then came the exchange of vows part. Both the bride and the groom said their vows to each other with smiles beaming on their faces. They went on to sign their marriage register and collect their certificate after they were served the Holy communion.
“Chai! Wedding!” Silas screamed in delight.
“E just be like say na you for dy marry now abi?” I asked him. He replied telling me that I was in tandem with his thoughts. It was a beautiful scene to behold. “I now pronounce you as husband and wife……” The pastor said.
I was enjoying the moment until a call came in and interrupted me. it was an emergency, which I had to attend to. When I returned, the event was almost winding up as the pastor was preaching the sermon which was about marriage. The wedding ended. It was time for photographs. I wasn’t present at the Photo booth to observe the photography sessions. I thought about the reception, how it would be like. I guess it will be awesome.
Speaking of wedding receptions; I have attended some handful of them this year and last year, because of some part-time jobs I do in Event Decoration. Often times, I arrive late for most receptions. This is because I don’t want to wait for long for the event to end. My main interest there is to come lose the decorations I and my team did, and not the reception itself. But you know now, most Nigerian wedding receptions usually seem not to end until the DJ stops playing. This leaves me with little option to stay and wait for a while, before losing the decorations. There are some receptions I go early also, because I will be involved in operating a fireworks machine or a fog machine during the wedding reception or I will be involved in sharing food or drinks.
Back to that question earlier: what do I love about Nigeria and being a Nigerian?
I have a love-hate relationship with Nigeria, but I will stick to the context of the question here.
1. I love the weather. It is not extreme like that of Europe or Asia or North America. The weather is fair and good. I love that Nigeria don’t get to experience some famous natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, siphons etc. Those extreme natural disasters that occur in some countries in other continents seldom happen in Nigeria.
2. I love that the country has diverse natural resources like crude oil, coal, tin, columbite, limestone, oil palm, cocoa, etc. The country has lots of arable land for agriculture, and other natural features like mountains, rocks, rivers, waterfalls, etc.
3. I love the diversity of the country to some extent, like I have 50% love for Nigeria’s diversity. The diversity presents a wider experience for citizens; like in terms of food, cultures, languages, etc.
4. I love the Nigerian pidgin English language.
These are all I love about Nigeria at the moment. There will be some other things in future that I might come to love about her later.
What I love about being a Nigerian?
I have to think hard about this though.
1. I love this never-give-up attitude of a Nigerian. Many Nigerians showcase strong resilience and hope regardless of the challenges they face. This is like my everyday mantra and drive about life — Hope.
2. I love the merry and jolly side of a Nigerian. You will always see Nigerians make merry and jolly regardless of the economy or state of the country. Nigerians always create room and avenue for merriments.
These are the few things I could think of. There are some other things I love that I haven’t figured out yet. When I figure them out, I will tell you.
