FROM ME TO YOU

Have you ever told your friend you are on your way when, truly, you are yet to set out? If you have ever done so, you are not alone. It is an indication that you are well aware that people don’t like to wait, especially when the reason for your delay was unintended. Indeed, waiting is tough. I recall an occasion when I was billed to attend a social gathering with my old classmates. I reminisced the old times and I looked forward to the fun. I was ready ahead of time but had to wait for another classmate whom we were to attend together. For reasons not entirely due to my friend’s fault, minutes turned to hours, with repeated assurances from my friend that he was just a moment away. After a long time of waiting, the excitement I looked forward to waned and I almost lost the interest to go for the get together. Eventually my friend came and we journeyed to the event. Hard as I tried to enjoy every moment of fun the gathering offered, it was hard for me to forget the anxiety and disappointment that enveloped me while my wait lasted. My friend tried to make a joke of my mood but I doubt if he knew that he spoilt the fun for me, for all it was worth.

This is the third time I am asking this question but the more I ask, the more innocent lives are lost to avoidable deaths. We talk about death casually but I cannot but keep asking - what is the worth of an average Nigerian? Another nine (9) lives were lost in cold blood at Ojuelegba, Lagos penultimate Sunday. Yes, nine innocent lives were terminated by a fallen container in a system that keeps talking about the problem but does so little to solve the problem. Even to non-Nigerians, Ojuelegba is a renown centre, not only in Lagos but in Nigeria. Thanks to the late king of Afro Beats, the Abami Eda himself, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, when he sang 🎼for Ojuelegba 2x, moto dey come from east, moto dey come from west, moto dey come from north, moto dey come from south🎼 Motor is still coming from all the four cardinal points at Ojuelegba but containers are falling from the overhead bridge to sniff lives out of innocent Nigerians on regular basis. It is more like a ritual and I cannot but ask again, what is a Nigerian worth? Accidents do happen but what makes ours fearfully different is that we can predict our accidents. I had cause to pass through the scene of this accident barely two hours after it happened.

Fathers are meant to love, yet they are meant to be strong but according to Izogie, “love makes you weak”. In other words, to love and be strong is tough. It sounds more like a paradox but before you hasten to critique the contradiction, let me tell you who Izogie is. This is so that your judgement may be balanced. The Woman King is an African movie, rich in culture, perfectly scripted, excellently delivered. It is the story of the liberation of Dahomey people from the Oyo Empire by the women warriors, the Agojies. Jimmy Odukoya played one of the lead roles as Oba Ade, leading the Oyo Empire warriors. I must say his delivery was top notch. Nanisca was a woman warrior, a war general. She was assisted by Igozie to command the palace guards. You are probably wondering the correlation between The Woman King and fatherhood. Just a moment. Nawi, a 19 year old girl was about to be betrothed by her ‘father’ as a wife to a rich man who promised her physical abuse in good measure. Nawi would not have any of that. She revolted and her father, in anger, gifted her to the King.