Curiosity they say kills the cat. Yet curiosity is a major attribute to good journalism. I often hide my curiosity, or need to know as I quaintly put it, under this guise. So when Cornelius Tay, an old friend, invited me to the funeral of his mother in Ghana, I felt it was an opportunity to know how the other side handles funerals.

I often wonder how lucky Igbinedion feels anytime he goes around Benin City and sees the difference a fellow human being has made in five years; something he didn’t— or couldn’t—do in eight.

Armed robbers visit your house, spending over three harrowing and traumatic hours with you and your family. Young men who are not older than your first child, or who, given their scruffiness, could easily be your mechanic or house boy slap you around and kick your butt if you are tardy in obeying their rapid fire instructions.

Jones Usen, a popular broadcaster with the FRCN at a time, and self styled ‘man with the golden voice’ called the golden eaglets the beautiful ones after their exploits of 1985 in far away Asia. Those young boys dazzled and glittered in China and made our heads swell with pride as they delighted the world with skilful and purposeful football. In celebrating our moments of euphoria, Jones had declared ‘the beautiful ones have now been born’.

A joke went viral in the early days of the GSM which read: ‘What is it that starts at the neck, slides through the breasts, caresses the belly button, and moves across the thighs? It’s not what you think. It is a seat belt!’