Pillow 054
the lifestyle cost
Before now, I always thought you needed to be a Member of Parliament (MP) before you can be a Cabinet member. So I was shocked to see this week that David Cameron had been appointed as the UK’s Foreign Secretary. I knew David had retired from politics after being Prime Minister with his stint with Greensill well publicized. So I dug and read this article and this and I realized he could take up the position through being appointed a Peer and member of the House of Lords, which is why he’s now called Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton.
Digress A
I finally created a TikTok account this week and it is easy to see why the app has taken off. It is incredible, it’s such a good product. I now understand why I have seen people across all social classes use the product. This is something Facebook has sorely missed, the excitement that Facebook had in the late 2000s has been replaced by automatisms. Facebook now plays it safe or copy upcomers and it has reflected in the acceptability of their subsequent products. TikTok is here to stay anyway, so they had better lobby groups for them to sell their US arm again or ban them.
So many people know John Travolta but the first time he came to my consciousness was in 2009 when he was in the news for losing his 16-year-old son. I mean, I had been seeing him on TV but didn’t really care much until that incident. It humanized John for me. Well, this week I watched his 1996 film, Phenomenon and it was such a good moment to humanize him all over again. For those of you who may not remember John Travolta, I am sure you’d remember the famous Travolta Dress worn by Princess Diana. Yes, it’s that same Travolta.
Digress B
How do people deal with continuous and constant grief? When it feels like you’ve escaped an episode, the next one hits harder. This week, I kept thinking about the Odukoyas; they have gone through so much grief yet they remain strong. Pastor Taiwo Odukoya and his wife Bimbo Odukoya built a huge ministry and they became popular with his wife hosting the highly acclaimed Singles & Married TV show. In 2005, his wife died in the Sosoliso Plane Crash. In 2011, he remarried, and in 2022, his second wife, Pastor Nomthi died. Seven weeks later, he lost his twin sister. In 2023, Pastor Taiwo, having gone through grief unheard of, died. I wonder how his family (five children across the two marriages) coped with this level of grief. I watched the service in his honour and his children danced with joy. What kind of revelation allows a man to exhibit such pure joy in the middle of turbulent times? Count it all joy… indeed!
Nigeria held three state-level elections over the weekend and it is so sad how our institutions have become decrepit. It has not been institutionalized that we cannot hold basic elections and get it right. It looks like the people leading Nigeria do not understand the concept of building a State. If Nigeria continues on this path where our institutions become severely weakened and politicized, I shudder to think of the future where we’re headed. One headline that I took note of from the barrage of all complaints from the three elections was this one from the Kogi SDP candidate who said going to court was a waste of time because he did not believe in the courts to right the wrongs. Incredible.
There’s a popular joke in the startup world when companies describe Nigeria as a 200 million people market neglecting the low purchasing power in the Land. Would you describe Netflix as a luxury product? Well, only 160,000 people pay for Netflix in a country of over 200 million people. Nobody is talking about the dwindling purchasing power in a country where people are struggling to make ends meet. Anyway, for people thinking of starting a technology business in Nigeria, this article gives a good idea of what your true market size may be. As Nigerians will say in their local parlance, “the lifestyle cost, na who no know”.
Always True!
Miracle Roch.