What Did Britain Look Like Before The Suffragettes?

Well, scratch that title. It’s not what this blog post is about. The truth is, since the start of 2024, every time I dipped my quill in ink, it dries up before I compose anything coherent. Ladies and gentlemen, I am experiencing the block. A few weeks ago, I was joking around with a friend about the thought pieces I should put out this year. About 7 of them. We bounced a few ideas around, in the hope that I’d be inspired to write. At the end of that exercise, Pabo lo jasi. (it didn’t help me). I became like the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, with a stiff ability to think and communicate ideas with the pen. This got me jolt-awake.

I don’t know how long this block will last, but I feel the longer it takes, the more I feel like I will suffer from worded Edema. It’s not the first time though. The only difference is that this episode is taking longer than usual, and I am beginning to feel worried. I know the next level, and I dread it. The level where I start feeling like my writing isn’t good enough, or that I shouldn’t even be writing in the first place. Smart people call it Imposter Syndrome. So to avoid that feeling of inadequacy, I have decided to apply what the streets of Lagos Island taught me…Mo ma fi werey pot e (I will force my way through). That’s exactly what I am doing with this post. If this makes it from the draft to the published state, then I know I am winning.

As I write this, I am 36,000ft above sea level, somewhere between Uganda, and Kinshasa, DR Congo. I had an idea earlier today on what I should write about, which I can’t seem to recall. Could it be that I wanted to write an article about Using Springboot and openAI Whisper To Transcribe Audio Files? I have had to do lots of AI work in the last couple of months, hence the feeling of needing to write a tutorial/article about what I have learnt. Asides the tech/code side of AI, I have also been heavily exposed to the policy and ethics side of it, which I personally believe will be a bigger hurdle to cross for companies, than writing the best AI compliant code. Unfortunately, the work on policy and ethics, isn’t moving as fast as the advancements in technology that AI is experiencing. Anyway, we will figure it out. We always do. A few court cases here and there, protests on the well lit streets and social media influencers setting up ring-lights to explain to us how some unseen entity wants to kill us all using AI. A ma wa alright (we’ll be alright)

Okay, maybe what I actually thought to write about was an article about the 2023 elections. I had thought of a title “The Igbos Are Republicans, We Are Not”. Of course the contents of the article wouldn’t be as provocative as the title suggests. I had thought of analyzing, albeit comically, how the three major tribes in Nigeria interfaced with the elections and electioneering process. I knew long before Mountbatten became Nicky, that it might end up controversial. I worry about the kinds of vibes I will get from certain quarters. But I am comfortable taking bad vibes to heart, and submitting to its welcome. It will be a question of dogs barking and the caravan moving on.

Or maybe I really wanted to write about the Suffragettes. Europe generally has presented herself as the model for gender equity, equality and human rights. Sometimes I just wonder what Europe, and more specifically Britain looked like before the brave, fire spitting women of the WSPU movement. Things must have been tough…and bad….for it to demand a revolution. A revolution planned and executed by the gender some refer to as weak. It worked. Someday, I will delve into this subject.

To round up, I hope this marks the first day of the rest of my writing life. Hoping to write more poetry, travel blog articles, writings on Islam and other issues I shall now categorize as “Cruise”. I write the same way that I speak, and those who know me, would probably read this article in my voice. Those who don’t, I do hope are able to hear the voice I speak with, through my writings. Either way, I am humbled you have read this far. I feel like Francis Nganou, after losing a Fury fight.

Stay with me.