18/09/2026
SALONE, WE NEED TO TALK…
Ah love Salone.
Ah love we country. Ah love we people. Ah love the smell of rain, the sea breeze, the mountains, the green hills, the laughter, the music, the food, and the way we can turn almost anything into a joke.
But sometimes ah wonder…
When exactly did we become so comfortable with things that should make us angry?
We complain on Facebook.
We complain on WhatsApp.
We complain in poda-poda.
We complain in the market.
We complain in offices.
Then we wake up the next morning and continue as if nothing happened.
NO. SOMETHING IS HAPPENING.
And pretending everything is okay will not make it okay.
Look around you.
Our roads are congested. Our drains are blocked. Plastics and garbage are everywhere. Some of our beautiful public spaces have become dumping grounds. We build something today and tomorrow we start destroying it through poor maintenance.
Na so we dey do?
We build, but we don't maintain.
We paint, but we don't clean.
We install, but we don't repair.
We launch, take pictures, make speeches, and move on.
Then after some months, the thing begins to die.
Maintenance seems to be one of the most expensive words in Salone.
And this isn't only a government problem.
It is us too.
We throw plastics on the ground and complain that the city is dirty.
We break public property and complain that government isn't maintaining it.
We jump queues and complain about disorder.
We give bribes and complain about corruption.
We cheat and complain about the education system.
We employ our friends instead of the qualified person and complain about incompetence.
We ask for favours and complain about nepotism.
We have become part of the problem we keep shouting about.
And before somebody misunderstands me, this does NOT mean government has no responsibility.
Government has a much bigger responsibility.
People cannot fix a broken public system with bare hands.
If institutions are weak, they must be strengthened.
If public money
