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Oct 11, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
I have sisters and nieces. I have female friends. I grew up with some of them and I know what it means to grow up in a society that sometimes, or most times, has something against them; that they can’t live a full life. Or they can live a full life, but it has to be at the expense of sacrificing something. My female friends told me stories about their experiences and I wish I could offer them words to alleviate their emotions.
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Sep 9, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
In an interview with Channels, Nigeria’s minister for education, Professor Tahir Mamman declared that “underage” students will not be allowed to sit for the examinations held by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) which would deny the students to seek university admission at an early age.
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Sep 5, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
I had stepped into my hotel room before I realised it was just mopped. Dirty stains from my slippers trailed behind. Something wilted in me; I felt like I had just ruined someone else’s job even though the room belonged to me for the few days I would spend there. And it’s their daily job to clean it. Yet, I didn’t feel okay anytime it replayed in my head.
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Aug 29, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
Writing this is influenced by Lawrence Yeo‘s article on how our reaction to an awareness forms our identity. The article explores the difference between data and information and how curiosity plays a major role in what determines each of them. Data remains data when it does not pique our interest in further research. For instance, according to Yeo, South Korea has an obesity rate of 4%. Some immediately rush to Google to find out if that is true or false.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
Like many things I was oblivious to, I did not know anything about Big Brother Naija many years ago. If I had not found myself working in digital media, I might not have been as familiar with the show as I am now. I knew it was a reality show. I knew when students in my university cramped into a single hall to watch what I now know as the eviction show. I used to hear loud noises from that hall whenever something eventful happened or perhaps, their favourite housemate was evicted.
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Jul 4, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
It’s always a cinema on Nigerian social media; drama happens week in and day out and it comes with one or two popular slangs. The interesting thing about the Nigerian slangs is their versatility. A word or phrase can be extracted from a video or episode and will be applied to different, unrelated scenarios. Last year, “dey play”, “let the poor breathe”, “idan” and a few others were some of the popular slangs trends. As a norm, new ones have been coined this year.
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Jun 24, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
Many of us grew up with burdens on our shoulders – as we strive to achieve our goals for self-fulfilment, we also serve as a return on investment by our parents and guardians. We grew up understanding that there are people who contributed to our education or growth, and hope that someday when we bloom and become successful in whatever career we choose, we will reciprocate their favour in manifolds to them or their children.
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Jun 20, 2024 | 
theoffingmag.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi |Mandy Shunnarah |A.J. Jacono
Everything that surrounds you is enough to write about. The loneliness that wears over your desk and work chair after a long day of familiarity. The squirm or whine of your bed for housing your tired body after it has wobbled around here and there all day. The witness your bathroom bears to masturbations, the haram things you’ve done. The floor of your kitchen counting how many glasses and plates you’ve broken, how much food you’ve wasted, when there are thousands of hungry people outside.
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Jun 11, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
On the 16th of June this year, Muslims around the world will troop, en masse, to the prayer ground to observe a compulsory two-rakah prayer – the major act of Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha, also known as the Festival of Sacrifice, is an important Islamic festive season that commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God. It also marks the end of the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
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May 21, 2024 | 
bellanaija.com | Ahmad Adedimeji Amobi
As a child, I used to have an open box where I stored butterflies. In different species, I will catch and watch them flutter around inside the box and after a while, I will take the box outside and open it for them to fly out. Watching them fly out in different directions, in their different, satisfying colours, gave me endorphins. It became an obsession that my mother had to step in. She seized the box and flogged me anytime I held a butterfly.
