Lerabari's Blog

7th April every year is known as World Health Day. For the year 2018, the focus was on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, which seeks to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. In Nigeria and many other countries, the need for health insurance schemes was and still is being talked about as a means to achieving this developmental goal. The theme for the year is "Universal Health Coverage: Everyone, Everywhere". I registered for one of such schemes and here's my experience.  It was a Monday morning and I had to take permission to dash out of the office in order to see a doctor. In my mind, I had an idea of what was giving me restless nights, muscle aches, and sore throat, but I just felt like using up some of the health plan I had registered and paid for months ago. The Management of the company I work for had made it compulsory that all staff have a health insurance plan and I wasn't so comfortable about it because I don't believe in compelling ...

Every young single woman has her own story to tell about the dilemma she faces in life. I, for one, know that for many of us it spans from the time of our consciousness, being and becoming a woman. I began encountering older men right from my secondary school days. One of the first was our WAEC/NECO examiner. I can't remember his name anymore cause the 'relationship' didn't go as expected. He took a liking to me, and since I had a certain way of reasoning at that age, we became friends. It felt good having a mature adult as a friend. I found a way of communicating with him as I didn't have a phone at that time. We talked about a lot of things you know. He wasn't staying around, so he would come into town to visit. I didn't want him to come to my house because my elder brother was fond of asking 'silly' questions whenever my male friends visited, as though it was a taboo for a girl to have a male friend. I tried to avoid any funny scenarios, even t...

11-2-12 Eleven-two-twelve It's eleven minutes to twelve And I'm here thinking again Saying to myself, here we go again Yes, it's another fearful eleventh day of February Few days to Valentine's Day It's six years after After your demise stole my laughter Turned my world inside out Made my mouth full of bile And my heart full of doubt And kept me wondering what's in this life That when all's going smoothly And you got a smile so toothy Things just turn sour With just the snap of a finger Or in the twinkling of an eye Or before you say Kingsley Emezie Pause... Pause... Pause... I just froze at putting down that name No it ain't writer's block Although I must admit that A lot more than has come from this being Had been blocked by that call That call that I still wish didn't come That call that kick-started the storm That raged within me riotously That storm that no one could see But killed every zeal within me Pause....

So my nephew and niece attended a Christmas party today, organized by UPWA, the women association of the institution. It's crucial that I make this point early enough - this post is in no way trying to discredit the organizers, but to express my disappointment over the dearth of creativity in the organization of this event that's an annual ritual in Uniport. In our time, I won't say it was the best cause the organization was poor, it was always overcrowded, and it was open to all and sundry. This year and for some years now, they've realized this problem and have attempted to restrict attendance. Some funny things happened this year according to reports. First, there was no bouncy castle. Who does that? How can you organize a kiddies party in this day and age without a bouncy castle? I also hear the games were 'interesting' . Yes, chair-dance never gets old, so it was one of the games but the participants were Father Christmas, Mother Christmas, Tiger and C...

The word 'groping' has recently received prominence as a result of revelations in Hollywood and America in general. It's an offence in ths US to touch a woman in an unwanted and unexpected sexual way or to have committed the act in the past (maybe a time that it was passively permissible). This is because groping is an act of abuse, and can be classified as violence against women. In Nigeria however, we are still grappling with mundane issues such as rape, female genital mutilation and patriarchy to start considering what may be considered as trivial in these climes. An ordinary day in the market makes you prone to groping in Nigeria. We are yet to understand abuse in any other term not connected to the application of force. You go to the market to buy foodstuff or get wares. The male vendor not only wants to make ends meet by selling off his goods, but also attempts to flex his muscles, show that he is stronger and how you should  succumb to his pressure, just to buy...

November 10 is a day that every Ogoni man or woman remembers as a black day. It was 1995 and under the regime of a military junta and despot known as Abacha. The #Ogoni9 were accused of murder, tried and hanged under very bizarre circumstances. Late Ken Saro Wiwa was one of them and the leading voice of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP. The first time I came across the name MOSOP was in my primary school days. It was boldly written on a blue and red sunshade cap that hung conspicuously on the frame of my father's dressing mirror. I believe it occupied this special position not for the absence of a better place to put it, but so that when he looks at the mirror, he would catch a glimpse of it and step out for the days activities remembering the ecological imperialism and genocide his people have suffered. There were days this cap disappeared and also did my Dad. Now I understand he may have had crucial meetings in the village where he spent most of his wee...

I happen to be on the ‘big side’, not as a result of eating too much but as a result of my mother’s genes. I’ve tried so hard to control my size and weight and heard I have to watch my calories. But trust me, doing all the counting and all is really demanding. Then adjusting to my new job has been another challenge altogether. At my former job, there was a canteen with variety of food to choose from, rice and stew; jollof rice; salad or moi-moi; eba and native, okra, or vegetable soup. So there were options to pick from. I believe I ate healthy then. But now, the story is different. There's no canteen for starters. The lady who prepares the meals has a lot on her hands as she serves as the tuck shop lady. So she’s not always available or just too busy to be disturbed. So most of the time, I go hungry. I’m even surprised at how my stomach and system has been able to manage without adequate food for weeks now. Sometimes I return home and binge on something I had bought on the way,...