FERT

Humans of Lagos "I remember the time when social media and smart phones were yet to penetrate the country. I mean those days when your friends could only call you to make live commentaries of games that you missed. Short Message Service (SMS) was the order of the day. It's during that period that I got an SMS alert that I've won in one of a leading companies promo. I was very happy, though I couldn't remember entering for any promo. The message instructed me to call a number. So when I called the contact, the receiver mentioning my name confirming to me that I've indeed won a huge sum of money. My prayers were answered, I couldn't hold my joy. I was instructed to send airtime recharge voucher to another number to confirm my willingness to claim my prize. I spent over 30, 000 Naira buying and sending recharge cards to them, they kept on redirecting me and was just following with hope. I was warned against telling people about my win so that envious p...

Humans of Lagos "That two shall become one is the biggest scam ever invented. Two may come together to form something else, and or, they may be like parallel lines that will never meet. My father was a Physician while my mum is a Preceptor. Mother tried all she could to help father's addiction to alcohol and smoking, but her efforts were not enough. My dad would drink like his liver and kidney were invincible. Mother begged him to compromise so that he could be healthy, stay alive for her and the children; but my dad turned deaf ears. Sooner, he developed health issues as a result of his addictions. His colleagues warned him to quit his addiction. Yet, he didn't listen. He died cos of what he loved. If he'd loved his children, he would sacrificed his addiction. If he'd became one with his wife, he wouldn't struggle with addiction. How we came to life may never matter, the doctrines handed to us by our guidance may not last with us. The truth is,...

Humans of Lagos "There's something that pisses me off easily, the innate human nature to lie. For goodness sake; I lie, but why should people lie to me too? I'm like the police force who doesn't trust but want to be trusted! I hate competition. © FERT, 2019"

Humans of Lagos "My boss being a politician is good with words. He's well known and the masses revere him for his oratory skill. Though we think of him as 'all talk but no action', this opinion of ours do not count in the eyes of the multitude that have sort of canonized him. Most times, he is the opposite of every speech he delivers to the public. One day, he promised free medical check-up for a community, just to boost his political presence. He made us, his staff, the health care deliverers. Though he had not enough medical materials to aid this task, we had no choice but to go. On site, we knew we would not be able to cater to everyone that showed up. Nonetheless, we started our job, attended to the few that we were able to serve, and announced to the rest that we were out of supplies. Suddenly, we were mobbed. They chanted that we diverted their philanthropist aid for our personal use. We were called thieves and saboteurs. Some of my colleagues were ...

Humans of Lagos "I've shared many ideas which have been stolen by my friends. All I got was, "you're a genius." I felt proud to be called a genius. Then I decided to take things further by working on an idea till fruition. That's when I knew that idea is just an idea. Anybody can create an idea, but not everyone can take it further. Water has always been able to generate electricity since the beginning of time, but remained untapped for millienniums until harnessed. The rigour of making an idea come to life is not an easy task. My imagination could not birth its concept. I fainted, and quit. Now I accept the fact that every "well said" is to be followed with "well done". When the job is done. I wish my ideas can fetch me fortunes, I don't think I'm cut out for anything beyond idea creation. © FERT, 2019"

Humans of Lagos "I got an opportunity to leave the village for Lagos early in my life. I saw it as a road to the greener pasture. I left my friends, abandoned my parents, and I broke up with my girlfriend. I thought Lagos was a land flowing with milk and honey. Literally. The man that brought me to Lagos never told me the reality of the land. He only assured me that "Lagos is a land of opportunity." I was not prepared for any opportunity, but I believed that an opportunity would find me. Sixteen years later, my life is as stagnant as a lake. When my parents died a few months ago, I visited the village and I became overwhelmed with sadness upon my arrival. My friends have progressed in their local endeavours, my ex-girlfriend is now a married woman who could hardly remember me or our dramatic breakup. I might not have existed. Imagine. I reside in the "mega city" but my success is mega shallow while the place I left behind thrives. I wish I ca...

Humans of Lagos "I thought I was addicted to phone screens, I could never have imagined that I can live with having a restricted access to the virtual world. My Cell phone developed a software malfunctioning; while I totally forgot that the phone still carried a warranty, I took it to a roadside repairer to be fixed. The quack compounded it's problem by installing the wrong Operating System thereby killing the phone. When I eventually took the phone to the manufacturing company, I was asked to bring more than 80% of the initial cost of the phone. I had forfeited the warranty when I took it to an unauthorized repairer. I decided not to worry myself about being phoneless. At first, it was a hard ball, but I later adapted. I get to check my mails on my laptop, and ignored the social media. I felt an unexpected flood of freedom. So many of our pursuits are illusional. Like many of our wants and needs- if not all. We are thinking beings that can either create pains or p...

Humans of Lagos "I'd postulated so many theories on how I should be successful. I'd fashioned several ideas towards my path to being rich. My simple definition of being successful is to be wealthy. Don't blame me, I grew up in a society that value material wealth over all else. I'd planned to be a philanthropist, helping my deemed poor friends that appeared to be happy despite their pauper state. Yet, my struggles to attain financial greatness has left me seeking financial help at the moment from the ones I planned to assist once I am wealthy. It is their token to my breakthrough. But then, I now realise, not all plans will come through, not everyone will be rich; I'm teaching myself to understand that I may not be affluent as I want. However, I should learn to create my happiness from within like friends." © FERT, 2019

Humans of Lagos "My dynamite ex-husband used to vent his anger on me by pouncing on me like a wrestler finishing his opponent. I think beating me up massaged his ego. He's always happy to hear mediators knock on our doors begging him to stop. "A man must be above his wife in all things." He would boast. During one of the "happy moments" in the marriage, I told him that I only allowed him to beat me so that he could feel good about himself. He didn't believe me. Considering my smallish stature compared to his holiness, he'd likened my utterance to a drunk Zebra challenging a hungry Lion. He tried turning every argument into a fight, but still, I allowed him to win. After the fight, he'd mockingly remind me of the statement I made about beating him. On this particular day, I was ready for him. As usual, he launched the assault. I dodged his fist that was coming for my jaw, and then quickly landed an uppercut into his armpit thereby disl...

Humans of Lagos "I woke up with excruciating pain, so tormenting I screamed out of my sleep. My wife was so worried seeing me writhe in untold pain emanating from my ring finger. We checked it, and saw that the finger was a little swollen above the rest of my fingers. The pain was killing, my wife likened it to the pain some women experience during their menstruation period. I once read via Google about Herpes Whitlow; a painful viral infection on the skin. So I concluded that I'd Herpes Whitlow.  As a virus infection that would leave after completing its cycle, I was ready to bear its pain while it lasted. My wife advised that I kept applying dry heat on the finger. I did. During my office hours, my colleagues couldn't but notice the agonizing pain I was undergoing. It was during this agonizing experience that I realized the moment you feel any part of your body, there must be a corresponding malfunctioning on that part - my finger was in such a state alerting...