A BLANK DAY: MY MANY THOUGHTS AND I

Since I got into the office this morning, I have been seated at my desk trying to whip up a good blend of topics and also deciding on which to write upon but the clash of topics in my head have restrained me from doing justice to any of them so as an upshot, I would say ‘blank’ is my companion at this very moment.

Too many topics!

Today would have been the late OJB’s 50^th birthday but he chose to celebrate with the angels in heaven and so on my way to the office, I stopped by his place to get some of the branded shirts for his candle light procession billed for later this evening and as soon as I stepped into the premises, behold, his pictures and the condolence register were the first to be seen and then reality sets that truly our very own OJB is no more.

So should I still say “happy birthday Jigga”? All the same, ‘happy birthday Jigga’. I guess that would do.

Then the issue of the ban on street hawking in Lagos took me off the thoughts of OJB for a while and then I am forced to ask nobody in particular “is street hawking our biggest problem or challenge”?

These hawkers do not have alternatives otherwise they wouldn’t be on the streets. Please nobody should get me wrong by thinking me the ‘devil’s advocate’, no, not at all.

However my take is that if these people are taken off the streets completely, what would they fall back on as many of them peddle their wares as a means of livelihood? I kid you not, if there were other jobs, these people wouldn’t be found on the streets because from all indications, street hawking is no lazy man’s job.

Yeah, no lazy man can go ‘street hawking’ as he or she has to bear the burden of running after vehicles under the very sometimes unfriendly weather. Often I feel really bad when some commuters or drivers make the hawkers run after them haggling on price and at the end of the day, do not buy the item. Mtcheew, mean isn’t it? Well sometimes you lose or win some.

Even at that, the hawkers are undaunted as they keep, keeping up on a daily basis, hoping “e go better” one of these days.

Now that ‘means’ is about being taken from them by the government. What is the plan for them? Like someone asked on a lighter note “if they are caught, will they not feed them in the prison for the six months”? A ‘begging question’ there, right?

My take on the ‘hawkers’ issue is that, the government could give them the option of hawking in certain areas and at specific times of the day. But then, who am I to proffer solution? My opinion though.

Another clashing thought is the issue that government is taking over one of the new generation banks today and  news have it that it’s the first of nine banks  intended to be taken over as the times go by.

 

Hmmm! Can it get any worse for the bankers than it has been these past few years, months or days? Maybe, just maybe, it could be a turn of a good era for the bankers so let’s keep our fingers crossed.

Finally, trying to remember the other thought.

Aha! Now I get it. What is with the fight on social media?

Well, I’ll leave that topic for another time as my head is beginning to settle in to work again.

And so, it’s back to work, even as I get ready for the Candle light procession which starts in a few hours.