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Winter | Zikoko!
  • You’ll Relate to These 15 Things If You Japa to the UK During Winter

    You’ve finally escaped your village people and arrived in Papa Charlie’s London, but nothing is giving as you imagined because cold wants to finish you.

    Don’t worry, it’s just the winter. Prepare to relate to these things.

    The cold hits once you step outside the airport

    Your Yaba winter jacket was found shivering.

    Bed cold as ice

    Prepare to “microwave” everything before you sleep, so you don’t end up like Jack in Titanic.

    The weather playing hide and seek

    It’s the most difficult period to predict the weather. It could be sunny and warm today, and the next day looks like a scene from Winterfell.

    4 p.m. looking like Naija 9 p.m.

    But everyone else sees it as normal, so you have to pretend you don’t think the world is coming to an end.

    Random love for tea

    By fire or by force or by “this cold won kill me”.

    Mood swings you don’t understand

    Don’t worry, it’s not you. It’s the cold threatening to freeze your brain from inside out.

    Outside is not calling your name

    All the “I’ve arrived pictures” and “hang out” plans will have to wait because na who dey alive dey breathe.

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    No more outdoor parties

    This one will remind you of Nigerian parlour parties. 

    Dressing like Nollywood’s version of a mad person

    Winter you do this one. But you’ll feel better when you see everyone else dress like you.

    Skin like ashes

    This one will make you remember Nigeria’s Harmattan.

    Laundry takes days to dry

    On top of this, you’ll have to deal with all the haunting flashbacks of your wash-and-wear days in Nigeria.

    The heating costs

    You’ll now have the sweetest memories of PHCN killing you with heat at no extra cost.

    Winter festivals

    Especially Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. Should you choose life or freezing enjoyment?

    The days are shorter

    The Nigerian in you will ask, “Ahn ahn. When did 5 p.m. knack?”

    Flu is after your life

    You’ll start reading the news to be sure it is the catarrh you know and not another variant of COVID. God, abeg.

    You’ll have your fill of grilled, peppered or fried meat and many more at Zikoko’s meat festival on November 11. Have you bought your Burning Ram ticket? You can do that real quick here.

  • Nigerians Abroad, Use These Tips to Deal With Winter Loneliness 

    It’s a tough period for Nigerians in the diaspora. It’s colder than your motherland, and all your friends are in their homes with family. If you’re lucky, your own family is with you. How can you survive this period without losing your mind? 

    We have tips.

    Enter someone else’s relationship

    There’s a solution for everything if you’re desperate enough. Enter a relationship that doesn’t belong to you, whether with permission or by force. They think they can wear matching pyjamas and snuggle together? Show them that Naija no dey carry last

    Buy plenty mirrors

    The mind isn’t as smart as we make it to be. That’s why there are things called illusions and magic. Surround your room with mirrors so when you enter, it seems like you’re in a place full of people just like you. Abi, don’t you like yourself 🙃?

    Do drugs

    What else can make you feel like you’re not alone? Once you begin to feel lonely, take something that’ll convince you your family is in the room with you, commenting on your weight and asking when you’ll marry. Just like old times. 

    Disclaimer: It’s play o. Zikoko does not encourage the use of hard drugs

    Join a coven

    If you can’t find physical companionship, you can always look towards the spiritual plane. Cold no dey catch winch o. Plus, abroad witches and wizards have brooms to fly. You won’t have to trek or disappear with bad graphic effects. 

    If witchcraft isn’t your speed, get yourself a spirit husband or wife. We have a full tutorial

    Come back to Nigeria 👀

    Come back home. Is it not ordinary flooding, insecurity and inflation? Is that why you want to freeze in a foreign land? Come home, let’s throw banger together joh. 

    This is not your village people talking.  

    Sleep a lot

    It’s somebody who’s awake that knows there’s nobody for them to play with. Sleep, wake up, eat and go back to bed. It’s just three months of doing this every day. Light work. 

    Set your goals for next year

    It’s always a wonderful thing to spend time lying to yourself about things you want to start, stop and achieve in the next calendar year. Write one goal per day and meditate on it. Before you know it, time has gone, and winter is over. 

    Gaslight yourself

    When you begin to feel lonely, convince yourself it’s because society wants you to feel that way this period. You’re better than being a puppet of society. How’s winter different from other times of the year? Is it not just that snow is falling? Why should that make you lonely?