BRT BUSES, AKARA, BRAZILIAN HAIR AND RIO 2016!!!

Team Nigeria at the Rio 2016 Paralympics. Photocredit: Getty Images

Firstly, belatedly though, let me join the teeming number of proud Nigerians in saluting our contingent to the Rio 2016 Paralympics where Team Nigeria with her stellar performance shone like a million stars with a formidable medal haul comprising of twelve medals.

Asides the 2016 Olympics and of course the ubiquitous Brazilian weaves (which we cannot get enough of); Brazil occupies a key position in West African history for both good and bad reasons. Brazil accounted for roughly forty percent of the African slaves brought to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade with most of them processed at Bahia before being sent off to plantations across the country. Centuries after the slave trade, the Yoruba influence is still heavily felt in Bahia where their dialect is a blend of Portuguese and Yoruba. Deities such as Orunmila, Obatala, Ogun, Sango, Obatala, etcetera are also worshipped. Babalawos nko? Dem dey there too!! Even local delicacies are well represented, take for instance the utterly scrumptious fried bean cakes called ‘akara’ here, in Bahia, ask for acaraje instead!  

GHOSTS OF OLYMPICS CEREMONIES PAST

 

 

It’s the Olympics, baby!

I cannot recall where I heard or got that phrase from, but like my ‘bottom box’ (special occasion) clothes which I seldom use, this phrase pops into my head without fail every Olympic year!

Hours from now, the world’s spotlight will beam on the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the opening of what is unarguably the greatest sporting spectacle on earth, the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The opening ceremonies are always highly anticipated and it has been said that since Los Angeles 84, each host country has sought to surpass its predecessor by staging a bigger and more spectacular show. 
 

Back in the 80s, there were only two television stations in the whole of what was then Bendel State -  National Television Authority (NTA) and Bendel Television (BTV). BTV later metamorphosed to Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS) with the split of Bendel State into Edo and Delta States respectively. Both stations ensured that viewers were kept fully updated with on-going events at the Olympics by dedicating one or more hours daily for the highlights. But these days, without an active cable television subscription, OYO (On Your Own) is your case!