Dipo Tepede.POeT

Present Location: Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong. «How much does it cost?» I was pointing to the 555ml of bottled water. He looked at me and pointed to the direction of the water to confirm my choice in the array of bottled liquids. I concurred and I heard him say «3 dollars». «Do you mean 3 Hong Kong dollars?» I asked. He expatiated further; «No, 3 American dollars; it is 70 Hong Kong dollars». I paused for beat and did the calculation which amounted to 360 Naira for a 0.56 liter bottle of water which costs 35 Naira in Dubai International Airport and 200 Naira for 1litre bottled water in all the airports in Nigeria. My Ijebu instinct took over me and I turned back, walking towards the purpose of procuring the water; it was for a 14-year old female Philippines teenager vomiting ceaselessly because of her phobia for flying. She was a stranger to me but I was the only one kind enough to enquire about her condition. She just finished a term in school and came in from Heathrow Airport transferring to Manila International Airport where her parents are waiting for her. I looked in her direction one more time and turned to get the bottled water; all the while thinking of my daughter. 

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Present Location: Hyatt Regency, Deira, Dubai. I am waiting for a cab driver in the lobby when I saw something that sparked off this write-up. A beautiful long white car with about 16 doors halted at the doorway of the hotel and about a guy headed towards the car walking in slow motion. Their walking style really caught everybody's attention as there was an air of confidence about him that exuberated wealth. Just as he was about to get in to their car, my cab driver came by, pacing very fast, unnoticed by everyone. He was apologizing for coming late and was pointing to the direction of the car he brought. I entered the car, asked for his name in order to begin conversation with him. After exchanging the normal introductory data and fixing the price for the service he was about to render, I asked him how long he had been in Dubai because he was obviously not a citizen (that's another gist altogether). He said he has been around since 25 years – then I knew what was wrong? I knew the difference between the rich and the poor; I knew at that moment the difference between this taxi guy and the guy that own the 16-door car. They were both men of about the same age and obviously the same country but different style of walk (or should I say attitude?).   

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Present Location – Airport, lounging and waiting for my flight to be announced. I have got so many things on my mind but the major one was the private bond I was suppose to invest in which was suppose to give me a 96% return in 12 months payable on a monthly basis and full capital liquidated on the twelfth month. I hate missing out on great opportunities especially the ones that I can grasp with both hands. The challenge is how I am going to get to the bank and transfer the money, when my flight is scheduled in the next two hours. I did not want to take the chances of getting to the bank because the bank that maintains my domiciliary account is not anywhere close to the airport so I took solace in bringing you this particular piece hoping my battery would not run out.  

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President Yar' Adua regime brought a lot of scare to heads of different government parastatals from the removal of the Head of NNPC to the restructuring of the EFCC. I personally believe this scenario immediately caused panic in the camp of Professor Soludo because he immediately reacted with the a «not too familiar»Â economic reform; deleting two decimal places from the value of the naira. If you have a thousand naira, your money is immediately valued at ten naira. The explanation was very simple; it would force the dollars to come down and improve the economy. I personally do not think this is true and I believe it was politically instigated. But on a personal level, my reaction to this announcement was how I was going to profit from this policy. I immediately knew that substituting my cash to liquid asset was the key to the solution. 

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Scofield is back to prison in another season of exciting, fast pace, suspense-filled episode of «Prison Breaking». This season is different just like the season in our lives are different and we all have experienced the prison in a proverbial sense but not everyone is willing act like Wentworth Miller's Character in the Prison Break. There something about the film that reminds me of the poverty scenario in Nigeria and season «3» actually confirms a true solution to a lingering and a debilitating issue. Let's start by breaking through the fundamentals of the Prison. The Prison is a place of confinement: A place or condition of captivity or unwanted restraint. The definition above clearly points to the fact that prison is not a place or position you would ordinarily not want to be in. To make it very clear, an example might be needed.

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