No need to ‘rush’, fellow young ones

LAST Friday, I sat at the balcony watching my younger brothers chat with my neighbour’s children through the window. Though I didn’t pay full attention to their talk, some parts of their conversation were of interest to me.

They reminded me of my childhood days when I would watch my mates play at the backyard through the window; all I did was giggle when necessary; talking and laughing  were not options, especially when my father was at home. My father is a very strict man with stiff principles. He never allowed me mingle or talk with my young neighbours. I used to be scared to wave back at anyone who waved at me; I was scared of his burning eyes and fierce face. He rarely smile. His husky voice and harsh bang at the gate whenever he returned from work was enough to cause me heart attack. I used to wonder why my mother settled for him.

Since, I wasn’t allowed to play or talk with my neighbours, I only watched secretly from my window while they played.

However, as time went by, father became a bit lenient; that’s the reason my younger ones could talk with anyone from the windows without the fear of being beaten, although they are not allowed to go out and play.

I WAS still in my thoughts when my father called for me. He asked that I accompanied him to the fuel station to buy some fuel… it’s not something he often does, so I didn’t hesitate. I rushed to my room, took my black scarf lying on the bed and then the keys from the kitchen to open the big gate.

The fuel station is not far from my house, it was easier since we rode in the car. On getting there, we were told that fuel was not available at the time, dad reversed and headed to another station, which is quite far, mid-way down the road; we got into traffic but it didn’t seem like the usual traffic caused by faulty cars, bad road or hit accident that would cause quarrel between two drivers.

 It was quite uncertain as the air was filled with noise, I looked ahead of the car before ours and saw people gathered, I was inqusitive about the gathering.

“Did you see anything?” My father asked

“Yes sir, I see crowds but I don’t know what’s  happening nor why they gathered.”

Cars weren’t moving at all, thus he turned the car’s ignition off.

Minutes later, he asked a few people passing. The reply wasn’t really pleasing.

“A young boy just started running mad, he has been making confessions of all kinds of ridiculous things…”

“Na Yahoo im dey do,” another person added.

We drove pass the young man, he was not a sight to behold: he was unclad; he cried out loud several times and ran in different directions as though something was chasing him, he had a nice hair cut which insinuates that the insanity started not quite long. He’s handsome too.

“What could have made him take rough life’s decision?” I asked myself silently.

A LOT has been happening in Nigeria recently. It’s everywhere; the social media has made it easy for us to witness most of these ugly events that have befallen the unlucky ones such as death, insanity, public humiliation and the likes.

Internet fraud, Yahoo and money ritual have become rampant as of recent.

It really feels bad to see young, vibrant and promising Nigerians venture into such act. The “get rich quick” mentality has made many to follow wrong paths.

My question is, who should we blame?

Is it the parents?

Didn’t they bring up their children the right way?

Is it friends?

Is it government?

Should we put the blame on the slow growth of our economy, or the dysfunctional educational system — these two working well would have kept most youths positively involved in creating a good lifestyle for themselves.

No matter what the cause could be, it’s important to know that there are consequences for every action taken, be it good or bad.

There’s no rush in life, everything has it’s own time and season.