Perhaps there is just too much nonsense going on

Perhaps folks young and old are simply behaving badly

There are many things that do not add up

They might not all seem connected

Trust me, they are

Please help me understand

How an entire country was rendered ‘cashless’ because of new notes

How all old notes were mopped up and ‘burnt’

And then suddenly, all the old, wretched, smelly notes were resurrected from the ashes

And the new, crisp shiny notes have suddenly died

Please help me understand

The utter disrespect and abuse of revered elders

Elders are not always right

We cannot always agree with them

Yet it is not right to bare our teeth at them

It is shameful and irresponsible

We might have many clothes in our much-flaunted wardrobes

We will never have as many rags as them

And it is the rags that are evidence of a life well lived

Please help me understand

how a trainee Doctor ended up fatally butchering a pregnant woman

It happened in a State Specialist hospital

Where were his superiors?

Where was the required supervision?

Who is responsible when there are medical emergencies?

Now a cover-up is afoot

And a heartbroken widower is wondering how to care for a newborn and other children

Please help me understand

How, according to UNESCO, ‘the curriculum in Nigerian schools is outdated, overloaded and lacks present day development ‘.

Did we really need UNESCO to point this out to us?

Hope those asleep at the wheels of our education architecture wake up soon

Yes, the ones who want to ban Sex Education for example

Please help me understand

How can a mother give birth to a healthy baby

And be told by a nobody busybody that her baby ‘looks ugly’

And she proceeds to show the ‘transition’ of her ‘ugly baby’ to ‘pretty baby’ over time?

Was she not told by her own mother that she came out looking wrinkled and scrunched too?

What does an ‘ugly baby’ even mean?

Let her ask the untold number of women still on their knees waiting for God to hear their pleas

Please help me understand

Why any man or woman would record themselves having sex?

And they hope no one else will see the footage one day?

Sex tapes never end well, don’t let Kim Kardashian be your point of reference

Please help me understand

How you can send photographs of your ‘entry point’ to your supposed special person

Are you hoping that no one will know it belongs to you, so it does not matter?

As for you foolish enough to share your Banana

I am sure there are many who will recognise community property when they see it

Please help me understand

Why you owe rent of U$5,000 a year and you threw a party that cost you U$20,000?

You boasted to us about the latter and your landlord snidely told us of the former

Are you bad at choices, mathematics or investing? Perhaps all three?

It is none of my business

but the many people who look up to you as a ‘Motivational Speaker’ would like to know

Please help me understand

Why would you go out on a first date with a lady and expect her to ‘Collabo’ with you?

Why would you go out on a first date with a guy and mention that your rent is due?

Why would your son bring a girlfriend home for the first time and you send her to the kitchen to cook as a test?

Please help me understand

How would you go to a religious service

In search of serenity, solace and salvation

And leave after being divested of your money and phone by the visiting ‘Pastor’?

What part of the bible did he quote to make that possible?

Please help me understand

How can a boy drive a Lexus to his secondary school?

Cheered on by his excited classmates who are all lusting after his ‘accomplishment’

How, where did he get it?

Where are the parents of these children?

Where are the teachers?

Please help me understand

When I was young, we all had perky backsides which we used to flaunt proudly

and our mothers used to spank us for deliberately pushing out our behinds to show off

Now we have to ‘buy’ said backsides

Where did all those backsides go, did they skip generations?

Perhaps self-esteem needs to be sold as a commodity

Please help me understand

You ask a young person, ‘what do you do for a living?’ and they reply ‘Influencer’

Influencing who, what, how, where?

Real influencers have real jobs

Like successful entrepreneurship, professionals, sports, music, fashion, writing, public service, acting

You cannot be an influencer without influence

Please help me understand

Perhaps it is a new world

A new day

A world full of promise and opportunities

With informed and poor choices jostling for attention

Please help me understand

How to be in this new world

Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi is a Gender Specialist, Social Entrepreneur and Writer. She is the Founder of Abovewhispers.com, an online community for women. She can be reached at BAF@abovewhispers.com