Each week here at YNaija, we round up the best Nigerian writing on the internet, highlighting the stories, profiles, interviews and in-depth reporting that rise above the daily churn.
Here are the ones that caught our attention:
Timaya: Original over best – Joey Akan
Timaya’s existence has been dedicated to a steady pursuit of wealth and artistic value. Even his weed—recently delivered in fancy wrapping—looks and smells rich. “Look at this strain,” he picks up a black pack, emptying the herbs into his palm and pushing it forward for me to catch a whiff. “This is called Purple Punch,” he says. “The other one is ‘Creative Sativa.” His assistant begins to roll some for the occasion. “Because of weed, I have to buy a house in Amsterdam,” Timaya declares. While we smoke, the dumbbells saw constant action.
The Christian right to crusade in Africa – Paul Hildebrandt, Birte Mensing and Kiki Mordi
In no other country in the world do so many pregnant women die as in Nigeria: around 58,000 women per year . Many of them die of an abortion that is performed under unsafe conditions – a 2019 study estimates that there are around 6,000 women annually – others die in childbirth or from its sequelae. For every woman dead, there are hundreds more who suffer from the health consequences of unsafe abortion .
Love life: We were scared of going from best friends to lovers – Eris Ekanem
LMAO. I stayed over that night. The next day, we went out for ice cream. We kept smiling at each other from across the table. We came back to his, and started watching a movie. He paused it, turned to me and said, “We’ve known each other for so long, we care about each other very much. I think we want to make each other happy. I think we should date.”
FK Abudu’s aspirations transcend her Twitter influence – Alexander O. Onukwue
“I could call Dapo Abiodun [the state governor] but obviously you don’t just call him; he’s no longer Uncle Dapo.”
“My daddy gave me the commissioner of Police’s number. I called him, he said I was disturbing his sleep. I said ‘my dear, you will wake up.’”
“I called my grandpa, I said ‘sir, for your legacy – phone Obasanjo, start waking everybody you know. People are being imprisoned in our state, it’s not normal.’”
The secure #Naira life of an Engineer in oil and gas – Fu’ad Lawal
Immediately after NYSC, I got a job at an oil company. The starting pay was ₦350k/month. For the first time, I had more money than I knew how to spend. Anyway, I earned this for about 10 months before I moved jobs, another oil company, this time the pay was ₦500k.
I got a few promotions, and by the time I was leaving the company in 2019, I was earning roughly ₦1 million a month, excluding bonuses. I left to a bigger oil company and currently earn about ₦4 million/month.
Toluwanimi Onakoya is a spirited writer, creative and videographer. Her biggest drive is to connect with people and depict tales using various forms of media.
Toluwanimi is available on Instagram and Twitter @nimi_onaks
