• Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact
Premium Times Opinion
Saturday, April 3, 2021
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight
No Result
View All Result
Premium Times Opinion
Home Opinion

“Remembrances Of Things Past”, By ‘Lande Atere

by Premium Times
February 17, 2020
5 min read
0

My cohort attended federal government colleges and they were the best. Besides, these schools didn’t cost too much. Unilag, U.I., Ife, Jos, were our first-choice universities. Education was good and cheap too. My parents didn’t have to give an arm and a leg like we have to do now to get good education for our children/wards.


Time was when the standard fare on local television was a mix of homemade and British sitcoms. The other day, I was reminiscing on my childhood and so many things came to mind. I remembered the programmes we watched then. From “New Village Head Master”, through “New Masquerade”, “Mirror in the Sun”, “Basi and Company”, “Tales by Moonlight”, to “Love Boat”, “Good Times”, “The Jeffersons”, “Are you being Served”, “Fawlty Towers”, “Carry On”, etc. I remembered how we used to huddle around the TV and then once the light goes off, we would all scream N-E-P-A! When, eventually, the light comes back on, my mother would shout “PRAISE THE LORD!” And we would respond with an even louder “H-A-LL-E-L-U-Y-A”. Thinking about it now, that was simply hilarious.

Nothing quite focusses the mind like the passage of time. Given how difficult economic conditions are today, and the diverse policy responses in place, it’s impossible not to wonder how it was so easy then for our local cultural content to go toe-to-toe with the imported variety without yielding ground. “Icheoku” gave as much cause for mirth as did “Some Mothers Do Have Them”, while collectively exploring ever so subtle themes.

So, what has changed? At the personal level, a lot, evidently. I mean, one day I was a little girl, without a care in the world. I wanted to grow up very quickly and become responsible for myself. Then, suddenly, I became a young lady, with a big ego, persuaded that I knew everything there was to know. I had big dreams. I never doubted that if the need arose, I could walk on water. I wanted to grow up, get married, have kids and live my life. The eventual transition turned out to be more gradual, subtle and nuanced than the stories TV told in my youth.

Is my argument that none of “that” mattered to “this”? What is “this”? Today, I am a middle-aged woman. Who got married. Has children. Lives her life. But, deep down, wants to be that child she once was – without a care in the world. Well, just one care – to limit the frequency of N-E-P-A’s interruption of those TV programmes. But alas, that is not possible – I never got to walk on water!

Of course, I thought that life would be so much easier for me than it was for my parents. I never thought that I would have to endure more traffic than my parents did whilst taking the kids to school. Nor that I would grow up to live in mortal fear whilst plying the expressway on the way to towns outside Lagos.


I know people say age is nothing but a number. And, now, I only wish that were true. Age is much more than a number – at least, it has been for me. I really cannot do some of the things I used to do before. With female hormones unsure what their new roles are, my metabolism isn’t what it used to be. My body isn’t the same. I need eye-glasses to see figures that are 20 paces away – and letters a hand-stretch from me. I cannot just take off as I like or live my life as I like. I’m invited to consider how everything I do affects my children and myriad other dependents. The new injunction is to be a mature responsible adult.

Youth had plenty of mental shelf space for Pacesetters and Mills & Boons. Again, that tense admixture of the local and imported! Books and television shaped my thoughts about life as a woman. Hence my excitement and zeal at becoming an adult. However, to the extent that they also were corridors through which one escaped tedium, how much did they contribute to the fact that I never really gave much thought to the negative or not-so-good side of being an adult? Life was really about love, family, laughter, joy and happiness.

Of course, I thought that life would be so much easier for me than it was for my parents. I never thought that I would have to endure more traffic than my parents did whilst taking the kids to school. Nor that I would grow up to live in mortal fear whilst plying the expressway on the way to towns outside Lagos. In those days we were excited when we had to go out of Lagos by road. I never thought that I would be so fearful of walking on the streets for fear that kidnappers may lurk around the next blind spot in my path.

My cohort attended federal government colleges and they were the best. Besides, these schools didn’t cost too much. Unilag, U.I., Ife, Jos, were our first-choice universities. Education was good and cheap too. My parents didn’t have to give an arm and a leg like we have to do now to get good education for our children/wards. We didn’t care much for our safety when walking down the street to buy “Bazooka Joe” chewing gum, coconut candy or “Okin” biscuits. We hobbled along to the mallam or old lady by the kiosk. Gave 10 kobo, or 50 kobo or one naira and then ran back home, goodies in pocket.

Today, we don’t want to look old. We want the respect, but we certainly don’t want to be referred to as old. After all we are only in our 40s. Sometimes I wonder if my children think of me as some old woman, just like I did of my mother. I don’t think so though. I hope not!


There were few distractions. We were either playing ten-ten, hopscotch, or reading Archie comics. Parents could easily control what we had access to. They were our biggest influencers. Today, social media rules the roost. I am no Luddite. But the difference between today’s swiping across diverse touch-enabled devices and yesterday’s touchy-feely ways lay in the small things. Then, we bought birthday cards and waited till midnight to sing “Happy birthday” to our parents and siblings. Today we put up pictures on our DPs and that’s it. I turned 45 recently and it was only my mother who called. The kids put up my picture on their DPs and sent me beautiful messages though via social media.

I always thought my mother was old. As far as I was concerned 40, 45-years was old age. I think my mother agreed too. I don’t recall my parents or other parents disputing the fact that they were old. They were so into “respect” and “culture” that they just seemed old. We were often told to curtsey or prostrate to greet our elders, their friends, and our aunties and uncles and this definitely made them seem old in our view. You had to use “sir”, “ma”, “please”, “may I”, “thank you”, conscientiously. Our elders demanded these expressions of deference. Our parents dressed old or perhaps we thought they dressed old!

Today, we don’t want to look old. We want the respect, but we certainly don’t want to be referred to as old. After all we are only in our 40s. Sometimes I wonder if my children think of me as some old woman, just like I did of my mother. I don’t think so though. I hope not!

‘Lande Atere is a lawyer and everyday girl.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Print
  • More
  • Pocket
  • Share on Tumblr

Related

Previous Post

The Dekulakisation of the Nigerian Economy, By Uddin Ifeanyi

Next Post

The Imperative of “People’s Manifesto”, By Edwin Madunagu

Related Posts

Zamfara Gold As Commonwealth, By Zailani Bappa
Opinion

Sheikh Gumi, Governor Matawalle and the Sands of Time, By Zailani Bappa

February 2, 2021
June 12 As Democracy Day Needs To Be Reconsidered, By Bashir Tofa
Opinion

The Need To Act Now To Stop the Ethnic Conflagration!, By Bashir Othman Tofa

February 2, 2021
Kofi Annan: In Service of the World, By Ejeviome Eloho Otobo & Oseloka H. Obaze
Opinion

Biden’s Likely Policy Orientation Toward Africa, By Ejeviome E. Otobo and Oseloka H. Obaze

February 2, 2021
Agenda for ‘Born Again’ JAMB and TETFUND, By Tunde Musibau Akanni
Opinion

Oyeweso, A Celebrated Historian, Ascends the Sixth Floor, By Tunde Akanni

February 2, 2021
Before Nigeria Burns, By Akin Fadeyi
Opinion

Is President Buhari Presiding Over the Last United Nigeria?, By Akin Fadeyi

February 2, 2021
On A Soyinka Prize In ‘Illiteracy’, By Biko Agozino
Opinion

Obasanjo: Only Those Who Did Not Do Well Went Into the Military, By Biko Agozino

February 1, 2021
Next Post
Eskor Toyo and the Struggle for the Working Peoples, By Edwin Madunagu

The Imperative of “People’s Manifesto”, By Edwin Madunagu

Ogaga Ifowodo and the Call To Service, By Nehru Odeh

Dapo Olorunyomi As Citizen and Soldier In the Everyday Struggle To Save Nigeria, By Ogaga Ifowodo

Editorial

  • EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

    EDITORIAL: The Urgency of Tackling Nigeria’s Second Wave of COVID-19

  • EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

    EDITORIAL: Unearthing the Cogent Lessons In the NESG-CBN Economic Policy Imbroglio

  • EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

    EDITORIAL: COVID-19: Calling On Nigeria’s Billionaires and Religious Leaders To Step Up

  • EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

    EDITORIAL: Bichi Must Go; Buhari Must Halt Slide Into Despotism

  • EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

    EDITORIAL: The Flaws In Governor Emefiele’s Five-Year Plan For Central Bank of Nigeria

Subscribe to our Opinion articles via email

Enter your email address to get notifications of new opinion articles as they are published.

Join 526,527 other subscribers

Most Popular

  • Jesus Christ and the Empty Tomb, By Afeso Albert Akanbi
    Jesus Christ and the Empty Tomb, By Afeso Albert Akanbi
  • Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
    Nnamdi Kanu and Buhari’s Purported Death: The Facts and Fiction (2), By Nonso Robert Attoh
  • Enenche, the Glory Dome and Critics: One Year After, By Festus Owete
    Enenche, the Glory Dome and Critics: One Year After, By Festus Owete
  • The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Importance Of Keeping Secrets In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
    Islam and the Conditions For Marrying More Than One Wife, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Bad Consequences and Dangers of Adultery and Fornication (Zina) In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
  • The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau
    The Qualities of a Good Leader In Islam, By Murtadha Gusau

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Podcasts

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

  • Main News
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Democracy and Governance
    • Bámidélé Upfront
    • Jibrin Ibrahim
    • Okey Ndibe
  • Economy
    • Ifeanyi Uddin
  • Issues of the Day
    • Adeolu Ademoyo
    • Aribisala on Tuesday
    • Dele Agekameh
    • Pius Adesanmi
  • Politics
    • Ebeneezer Obadare
    • Femi Fani-Kayode
    • Garba Shehu
    • Hannatu Musawa
    • Zainab Suleiman Okino
  • Guest Columns
  • Faith
    • Article of Faith
    • Sunday Ogidigbo
    • Friday Sermon
    • Elevated Sight

© 2021 JNews - Premium WordPress news & magazine theme by Jegtheme.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.