A live band is playing in the background tonight at Metroville. Everybody around is swaying their body to the rhythm of the elite highlife sounds of the performers. Even Mallam Hassan is casually nodding his head while taking occasional big man puffs out of his cigar. Eddie, being the Lagos boy that he is, has found himself his element tonight, rocking Tokunbo’s behind gently at the side of the table....
This morning, I binged on pap and some akara before I left for work. I typically leave home without having breakfast, but I woke up a little earlier so I had enough time to buy some akara from the lady at the end of the street. As soon as I got to the workstation, I started to feel drowsy. It did not take long for me to close my PC and get a good nap. I might have even snorted a bit. Abdul remarks about...
Tonight, only myself and Eddie are cheery. Mr. Cele's sullenness isn't much of a surprise, but Tokunbo is uncharacteristically grumpy too. When I asked her, she said she was alright, but the more time I've spent here tonight, the more I realize how far from the truth she is. Eddie whispers to me, loud enough for her to hear, that maybe she's having menstrual related mood swings. She shoots him arrows with...
These, and more, are very common utterances at the workstation. I have since noticed, with utter amusement, how quickly I have settled into this 9 to 5 life. Time moves quickly, and fatigue has not been as much a problem as I had projected. I had never taken conscious notice of the underlying factors that contributed to these things until I had a conversation about office space with my friend, A.B. A.B....
Eddie is uncharacteristically moody tonight. Tokunbo is doing her best to rile him up with her mischief but he’s giving her the blunt end of his reactions. Mr. Cele is explaining to me the wonders of the gbegiri and ewedu combination, a taste he acquired during his NYSC days in Osogbo decades ago, but I’m distracted by the sour countenance Eddie is putting up tonight. Mallam Hassan is yet to...
Have you moved cities before? And if you have, how hard did you find it to settle down, and how did you find it adjusting to the ambiance of the new city? At the workstation today we were talking about the culture shock one experienced when one moved from Lagos to Abuja or vice-versa. One of our colleagues had moved from Lagos to Abuja, and had intimated us about his experience with settling over here....
Eddie has been on a video call with a South African lady he’s trying to convince to visit Abuja; all expenses on him. Tokunbo isn’t here yet. Mallam Hassan and Mr. Cele are not here too. After Eddie gets done with his call I tell him that Mr. Cele is going to arrive here complaining of something someone did to his house or his vehicle. Eddie thinks I’m being cynical. We take a bet. Mr. Cele...
Mr. Solomon arrives earlier than everyone else to the workstation. On most days, the rest of us arrive to meet him performing his morning rituals, which basically involves him drenching himself in worship songs playing from his HP Pro 3520 desktop PC. He says the music often helps him get through his early morning tasks, which are usually the most tedious. When he’s done and out of the office for...
It's a lethargic evening at Metroville. Mallam Hassan has, as usual, not arrived. Mr. Cele is also yet to arrive. Tokunbo is having a heated Twitter spat with someone, and so her concentration is divided between us and her phone. It's just Eddie and I actively present. We're having a casual chit-chat about football when I get a beep on my phone. At first I am reluctant to whip out the phone in the middle...
I had always read about how much properties had appreciated in value in a matter of years, and I had always had to imagine what it would have been like if I had the opportunity to buy the said properties at their initial value. Earlier this week, the company rolled out a Kid’s Investment Package, and most of our workplace conversations had been tailored around it. I had intimated my colleagues about my...