Stories of family expectations, generational conflict, secrets, loyalty, love, and everything in between.
A Diary of Family, Property and Impossible Choices. Some families inherit wealth, others inherit questions. When Chibuzor Okeke plants a “FOR SALE” sign outside his childhood home, he believes he’s doing what every responsible son should do. Sell the ageing family compound, secure his parents’ retirement, travel abroad, build wealth, create opportunities and rescue everyone from a
I didn’t sleep, not properly. I lay on my side of the bed, staring into the darkness, listening to the sound of my wife’s breathing. She was sleeping, or at least she appeared to be. I wasn’t. Her question kept repeating itself in my head. “If you are allowed to marry four wives, why have
My friends have convinced me that I am not doing anything wrong. That is how this whole thing started. Maybe that is also how most men get themselves into trouble. They sit with their friends, everybody talks confidently, everybody has an example, everybody suddenly becomes a relationship expert, and before you know it, you are
I should have stayed in Surulere. Maybe if I had stayed at home, I would have been sitting on my father’s old sofa, listening to everybody argue about the family problem. Maybe I would have been miserable, but at least I wouldn’t be hiding inside Madam’s wardrobe in Ikoyi, afraid to breathe. Let me explain.
I didn’t sleep. Well…my body slept but my mind didn’t. There’s a difference. I’m sitting alone in the sitting room, staring at the blank television. It’s off, has been off for hours, but I keep looking at my reflection in the black screen like somehow it has answers. My roommate, Femi, finally convinced me not to
Zara Ibrahim has built her life on one principle: control. As one of Lagos’ most sought-after corporate crisis strategists, she helps politicians, celebrities, CEOs and billionaires survive scandals that could destroy their reputations. In a city where perception is everything, Zara always knows exactly what to say, exactly what to do, and exactly how to stay one
People think the worst thing that can happen to a man is poverty.It’s not. The worst thing is watching poverty slowly remove your choices until you start doing things you once swore you would never do. If you had met me six years ago when I graduated, I was full of plans. I was going
I don’t know how I got here. One minute I was at the police station, the next minute I’m standing on a bridge. Cars are passing behind me, people are driving home, somebody is laughing somewhere, and life is still happening. How strange, the world didn’t stop. It should have. Mine did but everybody else’s
I have changed my clothes three times already. The black dress is lying on the bed, then on the chair and then back on the bed again. I don’t know why I’m pretending the dress is the problem. The problem isn’t the dress, the problem is where I’m going. A funeral.His funeral. Even writing those
I’ve taken three showers already and I still don’t know what else to do with myself. The apartment is quiet, the television is on but I couldn’t tell anybody what’s playing, my food is cold, my phone is on the table, and my mind is still in that photocopy room. Still with her. I remember