A while before 12 midnight, I saw the sky light up with fire works accompanied by the sounds of explosions ushering in the new year using the Gregorian calendar as guide for the measurement of time. The explosions lasted for quite a while followed by a lull. Recession must have eroded people’s purchasing power for “bangers and knockouts” as they are fondly called. Fondly called so much that the name inspired the song “ma yin e ni banger” by Pishaun and brothers, or so I have decided to call them.

The sounds of the explosions did more than usher in the new year. It ushered in good old memories which I relished with a cute smile on my face as I fondly remembered our own form of fire works back in time. You see, back then, it was rackets that dominated the New Year explosion celebration, and to many who lived in the late 80s and early 90s, you will have a vivid recollection of this. Matches constantly disappearing from our dear mothers’ kitchens and ending up in rackets; match heads skilfully peeled into spark plug heads detached from the plug itself and mounded onto a slim wire curved into the shape of figure 7 or L. I prefer the figure 7 because it vividly captures the exact shape of the standard racket particularly while holding ready for a blast in a manner similar to a talking drummer about to hit his drum with his drum stick...

http://www.niyisodimu.com.ng/my-childhood-fireworks/