Humble Greetings.

I trust u're all in good health.

I woke up this morning to a rather nostalgic sensation, which is not bad to say the least. And it kept me spell-bound all-day writing. I had bouts of silent reveries and I got deeply reminiscent of a lot. I couldn't help but think: I should keep a journal, a real journal, not a virtual one like this, one that my kids can see. There's a lot you can discover if you read a lot like me and have a keen interest about the sort of things you read.

I don't quite think I'm a retrohead and that's because I've long gotten a hang of the present. However, there are a few things I like to remember retrospectively like SuperTed, Voltron and Robin Hood. Haha!

Michael Jackson was the King of Pop and also the king in our personal stereos. In those days, Michael Jackson and MC Hammer topped our playlists. Now Coldplay and Rihanna has taken over. The good ol' days.

Who remembers the song 'Everybody hurts' .. The 1994 single by R.E.M. I remember watching it's video recently on YouTube and I
remember thinking to myself 'what a scenery'. I just wished I could be right there.

I remember my primary school days in Lagos, the love letters and the trysts I had with my classmate Loreen. Long story short, I was busted eventually and did I get whopped? I got a real old-school style whooping. Front of the assembly Epic disaster. I think I hated Loreen afterwards, mostly because she wasn't punished like me. Yeah, school admin knew I was a real Juvenile gangster, a no-gooder at the time.

I remember our enormous black and white TV set that open and shuts like a theatre. I suppose it was designed that way to re-enact a theatre in your home.

Oh, I remember my VCR. I was lucky to have a VCR in my room as an adolescent. What's more? My evil childhood bestie Frank always had new porn to lend me, as scarce as they were then. EVIL BOY! Now he owns and runs a school. What a great way to wound up as a bad kid. Irony, isn't it? I never skipped locking my room whenever I had to got out, at least whenever I had the atrocious film in my VCR ( at least I know now that it's atrocious to indulge these things).

I remember Super Mario and how I never got around to crossing world four. I'm humming it's popular tune in my head right now, I know you are too. Y'all remember it I'm sure.

I remember the original trade fair at Lagos-badagry expressway before it was polluted, real fun. I got a truck-load of toys visiting these fairs.

I remember, I was actually good at something during my Primary school days. Sports! I remember going to other schools for competitions and representing my school In track and fields! Most notably, for a game called 'egg race'. Let me explain. You put the base of a table spoon in your mouth whilst suspending an egg with it's tips. There'll be other contestants and there'll be a race inherently and an eventual winner. I won't say it was always me but take a guess. But really, can you imagine how foolish we looked? What buffoonery! If you still don't remember that race, picture this: it looks like the game Nigerian politicians play with the masses during election time. 2019 is faster approaching.. Another egg race. Lol.

I remember visiting the national museum and seeing the Mercedes-benz that a once head of state was assassinated in. Maybe that's why I'm so terrified of death now as a grown man.

I remember visiting the national theatre. It was a wedding. I don't know how weddings were held in an art gallery (supposedly). Why? Your guess is as good as mine. My NIGERIA. Unfortunately, the national theatre is at it's nadir!

I remember the older luxurious buses that was all metal and more metal. They would keep you on the road for four days even though it didn't break down on it's way to the east, remember them? I'd rather not write anything on those and I'm sure you know why. U're chuckling, yes? The Joke's on you!

I remember the amusement park in Apapa, Lagos.. The swings, the multi-hued metal galleries et al.. It was a regular joint for me and my mom.

I remember Dad's JVC turntable and amplifier devices, do not go close to them or risk being burnt (literally). He still has in storage those large black discs. Old soldier never dies.

Speaking of Dad, Dad told me he came to Lagos in the 70's, luckily he found a job in a metal-forging company and rose in the ranks within a few years. And then providence brought him to my mom, and then... That's a story for another day.

Sometimes I wonder how it might had been like for our parents in the 60's, 70's and 80's. So I did personal findings of my own, I jumped on my computer for answers and I found some. I found pictures of Old Lagos and it was a far cry from what it is now. I saw a picture of Broad Street and it's awfully odd-looking. Albeit entertaining to my enlightenment at the very least. I was sunken in thoughts but in a good way.

A quick story: my Dad had a VW Passat ( I can't remember the Model now but 80's kids could guess). The car has a special story behind it. Dad may have told me the story perhaps a 100 times. My Mom went to University of Lagos and Dad always went to hook-up with her, obviously during their courtship. The boys in her department would be visibly angered whenever he shows up. Yea right! My Dad is the original #pepperdemgang. These instagram puppets of today are secondary practitioners. Moms ended up inheriting the Passat.

Pops had a Toyota Hiace bus for business, it was goods only. There were no passenger seats save for the front seats. He was dealing Palm oil at the time in large quantities. The good ol' days. In the mid-nineties, he had a vehicle called Lada Niva, never heard of that, right? That's what I thought. In clarity, it was a rather distasteful, awkward-looking 4x4. I've just found out on Topgear that it's of Soviet union origins. I also remember his Peugeot 505 Evolution which he never drove. He got it from a white man and for some reason, he never got around to fixing it. Ok! Enough with my family!

In conclusion, I wonder if my 2-year old son would feel intrigued with nostalgic feelings someday in his grownup years. Everything seems to be on the Internet in wild technicolour. Oddly enough, modern day technology has rid us of these before-modernisation pleasures. But I'm grateful anyways. I'm grateful to be born in the era of Voltron and Robin Hood, I'm also happy to around in the same era as Game of thrones and Empire.

I'm Igbo
I'm Nigerian
I'll always be Nigerian
I'm African
I support Unity
I support peace
I also support freedom.

God bless the Republic of Nigeria.