IN SEARCH OF A MUSE

Writing can be a very taxing business! Anyone who has put fingers to keyboards (or for the unrepentant purist, pen to paper) will know how tough it is to craft ideas which are profound enough to make the creator sit back and ask, “Did I write that?” However, getting to that point is no mean feat. The usual prelude to such a point – hitting a brick wall in the thought process! Like many a writer, it is at that point one desperately seeks a new muse, the old one having gone on leave or expired. It is then one hits the streets – once again – for inspiration.

Fortunately, Abuja, Nigeria (for those whose grasp of geography is less than complete) is replete with muses, or things with semblances to muses. The sights and sounds of this beautiful city are my refuge in times of “brick walls”.  They make me smile, they make me think. Fortunately or unfortunately, not all of the nuances or substances or forms of these sights and sounds can be captured on any man-made device; it stays in the brain, setting off creative impulses with the passage of time.

I won’t be altogether selfish – I shall share some of those sights. I hope you find them as amusing, and intriguing, as I have. The first batch follows below.    

Scene One: A restaurant with a rather ingenious name located at Wuse Zone 2, Abuja. No, I haven't had a meal there - yet! 

Scene Two: Former member of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Honourable Dino Melaye caught in traffic on Adetokunbo Ademola Street, Wuse Zone 5, Abuja on May 30, 2012. It's a Pontiac Solstice, a rare sight in a country whose citizens don't often patronise American car companies. The tempestuous ex-legislator knows how to rock a good-looking automobile - he drove it himself! Nigerian legislators and ex-legislators also know how to live the life, in case you are wondering.

Scene Three: Surely, the most intriguing billboard I have seen in Abuja. Located at Wuse Zone 4. No one has been unkind enough to place an advert on it, so irregular folks like me get to see it often. It never fails to make me smile.