Oreoluwa Fakorede: This is Lagos, the capital of contrasts

by Oreoluwa Fakorede People, dreams, fleeting joys and repressed sorrows Cars owned, cars leased and cars borrowed Traffic, the runners without a sport who gather Children going home to missing fathers Wives and the husbands that are not theirs alone Lies told in person, in texts and on the phone Wannabes, pretenders and false impressions... Read More

Opinion

Eko, lagos, Oreoluwa Fakorede, Poetry

May 2, 2017

Oreoluwa Fakorede: Are you ready for your marathon? [NEW VOICES]

by Oreoluwa Fakorede I’ve been feeling stuck lately, trapped in the torturous repetition of commuting, working and getting whatever joyless sleep I can. I cycle the loop weekday after weekday from one month to the next till it’s “Happy New Year!” and the old beginning of the same old life arrives with muted fanfare wherever... Read More

Opinion

Life hacks, New Voices, Oreoluwa Fakorede, suicide

March 7, 2017

Oreoluwa Fakorede: The talking phase [NEW VOICES]

by Oreoluwa Fakorede You move too slowly and interest is lost, too slowly and it burns out. You finally took a step of faith and opened communication with the person of your dreams. Some people slide into it, some stumble into it and others dive in. Doesn’t matter, a step is a step. We’re trading... Read More

Opinion

Love, New Voices, nigeria, Oreoluwa Fakorede, Relationships

February 7, 2017

Oreoluwa Fakorede: A letter to my daughter about boys

by Oreoluwa Fakorede by Oreoluwa Fakorede Little girl, I’m 30 now and you’re 10. And because I am three times your age, I know some things you don’t know (yet). It’s not that I am smarter than you are (probably not considering that you’re already the closest thing we have to a genius in this... Read More

Opinion

boys, Life hacks, opinion, Oreoluwa Fakorede, parenting, Relationships

January 31, 2017

Oreoluwa Fakorede: When Fathers fail [NEW VOICES]

by Oreoluwa Fakorede When your natural example is a disaster, how long before your feet find their way off the cliff? I grew up with a father and then I did not because there is a difference between having a father and being raised by one. My mother tried to fill this ‘father vacuum’ in... Read More

Opinion

fathers, life, New Voices, Oreoluwa Fakorede, Poetry, women

December 27, 2016

Oreoluwa Fakorede: When did abuse become okay? [NEW VOICES]

We see it every day; in offices, on the streets, on the bus. We hear it from the neighbour’s house, loud voices and the sound of blows carried on the wind. We read about it in newspapers and online. We have suffered it. We have inflicted it. Abuse, in several forms, has become a... Read More

Featured

abuse, New Voices, Oreoluwa Fakorede, victim, woman, writer

December 13, 2016

Oreoluwa Fakorede: I am Nigerian [NEW VOICES]

by Oreoluwa Fakorede I say it like it’s a condition I have lived with for years. I say it in a matter-of-fact way while simultaneously trying to ignore the bitter taste this chronic fever of unchangeable citizenship has left permanently in my mouth. Pass me the mouthwash and a guarantee of economic asylum anywhere... Read More

Featured

life, New Voices, nigeria, Oreoluwa Fakorede, sticky

November 28, 2016

Oreoluwa Fakorede: Take care of yourself [NEW VOICES]

by Oreoluwa Fakorede 1. Inhale. 2. Exhale. 3. Repeat 1 and 2 as you try to keep everything together. That’s the core of the typical life plan. Living is work, hard work. Living is heavy. It gives you things to mind: the clock, children, bank balances and calories. Things to carry: responsibilities, guilt, the past,... Read More

Featured

ideas, Life hacks, New Voices, nigeria, Oreoluwa Fakorede