Diary of a 20-something Nigerian: job offers, Nigerian politicians, and The Vampire Diaries
It’s Saturday, October 21st, 6:45 pm.
Today has been calm. I’m grateful.
Woke up, did yoga, ate, napped, worked out, showered, and now I’m here, writing to you, gentle reader.
Sometimes I want to reach through your screen and ask how you are. I’m always talking and it would be nice to hear about your lives too.
I command all of you to come to Abuja (I’m kidding).
Abuja has been rainy recently, and I’m enjoying it; I love the constant sound of it, almost like white noise, and how the rain makes things slow down.
When it’s raining, most people are trapped inside, so they’re forced to be still and present, or curl up with a book and a cup of tea, or whatever.
As you can tell, I’ve been having very slow days, another thing I’m grateful for.
Apart from living inside my bubble, has anyone else been scared? It feels like Nigeria is sliding down a slope and gaining velocity with every second. I’m afraid of the spectacular, fiery crash that seems imminent now.
Inflation is insane, everything costs three times more than it did less than a year ago, and it makes you wonder what exactly public servants discuss in those their senate meetings.
The kinds of tea they like? The colour of their next cars? Who is cheating on who with whom? Like, what is going on?
The average Nigerian is just suffering and suffering and why? What is being done? And the craziest, most painful thing, is that there is almost no accountability. There’s no way the common man can say, omo, how can a loaf of bread be 2k, who do I speak to about this?
Maybe it’s a romantic way of looking at it, but I feel there have to be checks and balances in government, and it’s one thing we lack in this country.
Because what the actual hell?
I don’t blame anyone for leaving anyway, this country is too careless about its citizens’ lives. It’s just sad that we are running away from our land, looking for opportunities elsewhere, because Nigeria is actively invested in our destruction.
It’s scary, and I’m worried.
Do you guys remember the job interview I had last week?
It went pretty well.
As the chronic over-preparer that I am, I went online beforehand and searched “common interview questions” and spent that morning going over them and answering them.
It was actually kind of enlightening because answering those questions made me think a lot about myself and the path I want to go down.
Things may change, but I don’t want to be an editor full-time again. I want to be the one telling the stories, not editing them. So if I’m not doing both, I don’t think I like it.
It also made me realize I don’t have very strict professional career trajectories. I mean, I want to write a book someday, but apart from that, I don’t have a solid “this is exactly how I want things to go for me”. As long as I’m writing and I’m making good money, I think I’m good.
That then makes me think, am I not ambitious enough?
That’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to drag you guys down, so let’s just move on.
I was interviewed by the person who runs the company, and after a few moments of anxiousness, I got comfortable quickly. He was genuine, open and inquisitive. And in such a natural way that it was less of an interview and more of a conversation.
We spoke for an hour and a half, and it was great. He seems like someone who would give great advice.
Anyways, he said after a week he would come to a hiring decision and communicate whatever that division was to me by or before the end of that.
I was feeling pretty positive about the whole thing.
It’s 10:13 am, Tuesday 24th October.
I stood up in the middle of writing that last part and just never sat down again.
I don’t know how too, but I’m back because I’m determined to post this week.
So, continuing from where I stopped…
I’d asked the right questions, the company seemed a good fit for me — not as fast-paced as my previous one — and it seemed I’d get time to breathe because this was content, not necessarily news.
I hope I never work in the news again, my God.
Anyway, a week later, on Friday, I received an offer from them.
I’d been checking my email studiously, (spam included, thank you very much) and I decided that I was going to check my email for the last time that day because I was becoming obsessive about the whole thing — which I tend to be — and there it was.
Internal screaming.
At first, I didn’t process it, because I have this weird thing where big emotions don’t register immediately for me. I usually have to take a few steps back and then revisit the situation in my head before I start to feel.
This happens in both good and bad situations.
Anyway, it wasn’t until I told two people (one of whom sent me money to celebrate), that I genuinely felt happy about it. My best friend sent me a barrage of messages and then a long VN squealing and speaking manifestations and prayers for me, telling me how proud of me she was.
I think it’s key to have people in your life who celebrate your wins wholly and can also comfort you during your down times, so I’m grateful for that.
I have another meeting with the company tomorrow to discuss the finer details of my employment and all that, so, as usual, I have researched a list of questions to ask before I sign any papers.
Make sure you enter contracts and agreements with all the knowledge possible kids, don’t be foolish.
I’m going to start rewatching The Vampire Diaries.
I never finished it; I stopped at season six because someone told me how it ended and it just seemed foolish to me, so I stopped out of irritation.
But now I don’t care, it’s a good series and I want entertainment.
If you don’t like The Vampire Diaries, I’ll assume you’re just dead inside (or a boomer).
No further discussion, thank you.
Yesterday I checked my blood pressure (by now you must be used to my random thought trains, so) and it was a record low for me!
It was 108/66.
I’m not sure if I spoke about this in a previous entry, but when I lived in Jos I had a bit of a health scare with my blood pressure. I went to the hospital to get my tinnitus checked out, and when they took my vitals they saw that my blood pressure was 168/100, which is moderate hypertension.
That was scary because how?
Anyway, since then I’ve been actively monitoring and being as healthy as I can.
So, this means that all my effort is paying off! I’m in a better place both mentally and physically than I’ve been in a long while.
I’m very grateful.
Okay, I’m going to leave you now, and I’ll let you know how the follow-up call goes in the next entry.
Thank you for reading and being.
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