Blessing in Disguise

BLESSING IN DISGUISE

    “Guy, how far?” Kanu greeted, sat down.

    “My man, I dey ooh.” Emeka responded in vernacular.

    Kanu and Emeka who were two jobless graduates resident in the ancient city of Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria had been best of friends ever since they came across each other four years back in the said city. While they await white-collar jobs, which weren’t forthcoming, they could indulge themselves in any menial job just to make ends meet. On the above mentioned occasioned, Emeka  who was living just a stone’s throw from his friend was already seated in one of the restaurants named HotZone situated within their places of residence prior to Kanu’s arrival; HotZone was where they usually had their meals on a daily basis as well as their relaxation corner whenever time permitted. Aside foods coupled with drinks, other assorted and cultural dishes like pepper soup, ‘Nkwobi’, among others were as well sold at the joint.

    Emeka who was seated alone at one of the spots in the magnificent restaurant before Kanu joined him was already devouring a plate of white rice and stew accompanied with a piece of meat.

    The moment Kanu had his seat directly opposite Emeka who was making use of one of the red plastic tables in the joint, he requested for a plate of Fufu and Egusi soup to be garnished with a piece of fish. “How long have you been here?” he enquired as soon as he received the meal from the waitress.

    “Let say…, fifteen minutes.” answered the chocolate-skinned Emeka who clad in blue jeans, green polo and black leather slippers, took a sip of a sachet water that was positioned on the table.

    It was about 6:15pm on Saturday 17^th of March 2007.

    “How far nah?” said the dark complexioned Kanu who dressed in a similar attire but different coloured. “Any show?” He added.

    He was, as usual, actually referring to job opportunities.

    “Guy, nothing dey oh.” Emeka replied in their common language.

    “But, come to think of it,” quoth Kanu, took a bolus of his meal. “How long are we going to continue like this?” He lamented.

    Both of them who graduated from different polytechnics had been in the labour market for over eight years.

    Emeka took a spoon of his stewed rice. “God’s time is the best,” he asserted. “That’s all I know.”

    “Since you said so,” Kanu who wasn’t that religious as Emeka responded sceptically. “Let’s continue waiting till God’s time.”

    “We have no choice, my dear.” Emeka declared, rounded off his meal and quickly requested for a bottle of malt to dilute it.

    “Did you watch that match yesterday?” Kanu changed the topic referring to a football competition.

    “Yes, I did,” Emeka said. “It ended 2-1.”

    “That’s what I learnt,” Kanu said. “But, I was told Adjei Reuben didn’t perform very well?”    

    The moment he dished out the enquiry, Emeka received an SMS on his cell phone. He hurriedly opened the mail; wow, it was an invitation for a job interview scheduled to hold in Lagos State. The proposed interviewer happened to be one of the telecommunication firms where he had earlier applied for a job. “My man, I don get job ooh.” He elatedly announced as he scrolled down.

   “Are you serious?”

   “You remember that telecom firm I told you of?”

   “Yes.”

   “Guess what?”

   “I’m not good in guessing,” Kanu informed. “You know nah.”

   “They just called me for an interview.” Emeka informed joyfully, handed the phone over to him to read for himself.

    “Oh, this is good news,” Kanu exclaimed as he read the message.

    “You can say that again.”

    “The interview is on 19^th of March being Monday,” Kanu said. “That is, next tomorrow?”

    “Yes.”

    “Which means, you will be leaving for Lagos first thing tomorrow morning, unfailingly,” Kanu clarified. “Or, even tonight.”

    “You are right,” Emeka concurred. “Wahala dey ooh!”

    “What’s it?”

    “I don’t even have enough money for my transport fare.”

    “That one is not a problem,” Kanu assured. “I will support you.”

    “Really?”

    “What are friends for?”

    The good news ended their stay at the restaurant. They quickly rounded off and left the arena for Emeka’s lodge. Kanu spent the night at Emeka’s place; he needed to be around him to ensure that everything was in order.

    First thing the following morning being Sunday, Emeka departed en route to Lagos State. He had planned to spend some nights at the residence of one of his relatives based in the state. While on his way via a white Luxury bus, on reaching Benin-City, Edo State, one of the female passengers in the bus became so pressed that she needed to urgently address the malaise, so the driver had to apply the brake upon the solicitation of other passengers in the bus including Emeka who had sensed how disturbed the victim was.

    Having applied the brake as demanded, the lady hastily went into the nearby bush to unwind; in the process, Emeka who was yet to have his breakfast decided to walk to a shop within to purchase some items he would consume in the bus. The moment the lady returned from the bush, unfortunately they continued their journey while Emeka was still away; none of his (Emeka’s) fellow passengers remembered that he wasn’t around. They only recollected that he was missing when the driver had already covered a reasonable distance, thus there was nothing the driver could do.

    When Emeka returned and met their absence, he felt like going crazy. Worse still, he had no sufficient money on him that could take him to his destination (Lagos). The only money he had was his transport fare back to Awka after the incoming concernment; and he wouldn’t like to get stranded when he got to Lagos. Hence, he started begging for cash from the passersby and his fellow travellers within; luckily for him, he was able to raise enough fund. 

    While in the new bus he boarded, on approaching Ore in Ondo State, intriguingly he saw the previous bus he boarded lying pitiably on the tarred road; therein, he learnt the bus in question had a very fatal auto crash few minutes back, hence stumbled several times that none of its passengers alongside the driver survived. The news was just like a daydream to Emeka. “Could it be a blessing in disguise?” He soliloquized astonishly.

    Emeka safely arrived Lagos State that very day at about 5:20pm. The following day, he left for the interview. All-in-all, he emerged successfully after the interview, thus he was offered a well paid job by the telecom company.

    Surely, ‘God’s time is the best’. His hypothesis was at last proven beyond doubts. Isn’t it? Think about it!

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Spirit Lives On

SPIRIT LIVES ON

    “Honey,” Ugochi called right in the bedroom.

    “Yes dear,” her hubby Ugochukwu answered.

    “I have something to discuss with you.”

    The couple, Mr. & Mrs. Ugochukwu Okorie tied the knot nine years back, but was yet to hear the cry of a newborn baby. Though all the medical diagnosis or findings proved that they were perfectly sound, but they could wholly sense that there was something very wrong somewhere which they were yet to fathom. In view of this presumption, each day of their life as a couple was preoccupied with such series of expensive thoughts, mixed feelings as well as rhetorical questions as ‘God, why me?, who’s behind this?, what have we done to deserve this?, I wouldn’t have gotten married in the first place’, and what have you. Despite the coincidental synonymous nature of their names – Ugochukwu and Ugochi, which made many friends and well-wishers saw them as destined couple, they were still faced with a crisis that almost made them abandon their faith in God; in other words, the people’s initial perception over their union later appeared like a paradox not just to the couple but anyone around including their aged parents.

    During the aforementioned moment, which was in the early morning of that very day, the seemingly unlucky partners who just woke up from their long lasted night rest that was interrupted by several nightmares at intervals owing to the not unusual restlessness of their respective minds were still lying in their matrimonial bed.

   “What’s it?” Ugochukwu responded calmly.

   “Since we have confirmed that we are medically sound,” she began hesitantly. “I suggest we should try God.”

   “How do you mean?”

   “There’s this pastor a friend of mine introduced to me,” said Ugochi. “I learnt the man is very powerful.”

   “So…?” He said, staring at her.

   “I think we should give him a trial.”

   “You think?”

   “Yes.”

   “Well, I don’t think so.” He disclosed, faced the other side of the room.

   “Why are you being stubborn?” She said bitterly.

   “Me, stubborn?” Ugochukwu enquired, glanced at her.

   “Of course, you are being stubborn.” She vocally asserted.

   “Well, call it whatever you wish to call it,” he ranted. “The point is that I am not going anywhere.”

   There was a bit absolute silence.

   “Honey, I am so sorry if I have used a hard word on you,” Ugochi uttered submissively. “But you know what we are passing through.”

   The husband was speechless.

   “We need prayers.” She landed.

   “So,” he broke the silence. “We can’t pray for ourselves, right?”

   “It’s not what you think.”

   “So, what?”

   “I know we can,” she replied. “But we still need the assistance of a man of God.”

   “So, I am a man of the devil?”

   “Please, stop playing with this issue.” She urged madly.

   “But you just called me a man of the devil.”

   “I repeat,” she enjoined. “This is a very serious issue, and we must treat it as such.”

   There was tranquility.

   “For crying out loud,” Ugochi rode on. “Nine years of barrenness isn’t nine months.”

   “There you go again,” he said. “So, you believe you are barren?”

   “Please, stop misunderstanding me,” she quarreled. “You know how people see all these things.”

   “Is it now about the people, or about us?” He queried. “Well, I think this discussion is over.” He declared, made attempt to leave the bed.

    But she pleaded with him to stay back while holding his nightwear. “Honey please…,” she said. “If not for anything, just for my sake.”

   “It seems you don’t understand,” he responded amicably. “I don’t want us to start going from one church to the other.”

    She stared at him in awe. She wondered why the young man was yet to face the reality.

    “If God really wants to bless us with a child,” he continued. “He will do so at the right time.”

    The altercation lingered for several days until after two weeks when Ugochukwu decided to have a rethink. Thereafter, they were touring from one church, healing centre, house of prophesies, and so on, to another, all to no avail.

    The ugly scenario continued till one certain day when the couple encountered one passerby madman on the street when they were just leaving one of the churches they patronized.

    “Una just dey run up and down.” the madman lamented in Pidgin English meaning literally ‘you people are just wandering about’ as soon as they stepped out of the church premises.

     They stood aloof and stared at him.

    “No child for you unless you confess.” The stranger who was in rags prophesied.

    They instantly became shocked, stood still.

    “Woman, go and confess,” he said louder. “Man, go and confess.” He added.

    The couple became more depressed and flabbergasted. Luckily for them, there were no other passersby or residents within the arena.

    The insane man reiterated the last clause for the umpteenth time that he found himself singing with it.

    It was indeed a horrible moment for the couple whom was covered with fathomless ghost pimples. It seemed to them as if a messiah just came down from above to reveal the apparently forgotten story of their life. Therein, they recalled every bit of their collective past life which they foolishly thought had gone forever.

   The truth was that, Ugochi had once committed manslaughter. Nine years back when the couple newly got married, they were living with Ugochi’s niece called Ebube who was barely 11-year-old.

    Ebube was the first child to Ugochi’s married elder sister. Along the line, one fateful day, she provoked her aunt Ugochi owing to one slight mistake she made when both of them were busy in the kitchen, while Ugochukwu was seated in the sitting room watching television. And, in the process, the bad-tempered Ugochi unconsciously landed her kitchen knife on the poor kid. Therein, the kid bled profoundly till she passed on to the couple’s utmost surprise. Prior to her exit, Ugochukwu had ran to the kitchen to ascertain what went wrong the moment the kid cried intensely as a result of the hurt inflicted on her.

    The most painful part of it was that the couple hid the cause of her death to their relatives including the deceased’s mother. They had lied to them that she accidentally hit her head on one of the sharp objects in the kitchen. Little did they realize that one’s spirit lives on even many years after his/her eternal departure.

    Immediately after the revelation, the insane young man vanished into thin air as he repeatedly cited the clause – ‘woman, go and confess; man, go and confess’; he probably ran into a nearby bush. To him, the mission had been successfully accomplished.

    Thereafter, the couple headed for the appropriate quarter and confessed without much ado as requested, and eventually received the needed forgiveness. Barely three weeks after the scenario, Ugochi conceived at ease to the glory of God; she gave birth to a bouncing baby girl nine months on.

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Paradigm Shift

PARADIGM SHIFT

   “Kareem, my brother,” Bello called while seated opposite the supposed recipient of the call in his blue caftan.

    Kareem looked at him attentively.

   “I have in several occasions pleaded with you to kindly step down for me.” said Bello.

    Alhaji Bello Ahmed, the immediate elder and only brother to Hon Kareem, was aspiring for a Federal House of Representatives seat of his constituency in Kano State, North-West zone of Nigeria, and incidentally and coincidentally the latter happened to be his closest rival for the said ambition. Hon Kareem Ahmed who was vying under a different political party had vowed never to step down for his elder brother despite the countless importunities coming from him (Bello), and he (Kareem) ostensibly had greater chances of winning the awaited election which was fast approaching.

    Having emerged victoriously as the flag-bearers of their respective parties, Alhaji Bello was relentlessly making a frantic effort toward ensuring that his younger brother’s name wouldn’t appear on the same ballot paper with his, and he was employing every amicable means to actualize his genuine motive. For the umpteenth time, he had thought it wise to pay him a visit at his place of residence, and therein they were seated in Kareem’s parlour; he had earlier sought an audience with him prior to the meeting.

    “Bro,” the 46-year-old Kareem responded. “If you have been sleeping, I think it’s high time you woke up.”

    Bello got struck by the gravity of the words, astonished.

    “Yes,” Kareem who sensed how shocked his sibling was, rode on. “Because I have made it clear to you that I can never step down for anybody.”

    “Why are you doing this to me?” the 50-year-old Bello lamented.

    “Come to think of it,” said Kareem. “Why not consider stepping down for me?”

    Bello cast an abrupt glance at him, depressed.

    “Of course,” Kareem continued. “Since it’s obvious I have greater chances than you.” He asserted.

    The debate lasted for over an hour to no avail. The depressed guest left Kareem’s home at 7:45pm disappointedly.

    The brouhaha between the two related politicians lingered unabated that it triggered the optimum concern of all and sundry that thought good of their family name (Ahmed), not until their entire relatives including their aged parents intervened into the matter which almost became bloody; thus Kareem finally agreed to step down for the sake of brotherhood. The unanimous agreement between the family members, which was duly signed by the lawyers of the tussling brothers, was that having stepped down for him as requested, Alhaji Bello would go for only 4-year term if he eventually won the election after which he would amicably relinquish the position for his younger brother.

    Thereafter, everyone who heard of the story, which was only imaginable considering how Hon Kareem was making waves towards the awaited polls, sincerely commended him for the unbelievable step he had taken to save his family’s name.

    Luckily for Alhaji Bello, he emerged victoriously at the polls which took place in two months time. His victory, which was anticipated, ushered in merriment not just to his immediate family but to his overall extended family. Few weeks later, he was successfully sworn in.

    Truly, power intoxicates. The moment the legislator assumed duty, everything about him, including his personal and public life, automatically changed as if his entire person was transformed into something else. He hardly paid attention to the concern of his only brother, Hon Kareem who obviously sacrificed a lot to ensure he got to that position. According to him, his sibling gave him an unbearable tough time before he accepted to step down which was even occasioned by the unanimous efforts of his relatives in spite of his initial innumerable pleas in that regard; this was one of the unreasonable reasons that made him turned his back on him.

     It would fascinate you to note that Hon Kareem Ahmed was the immediate past Executive Chairman of their Local Government Council, and while in office he performed marvelously well. In view of this, virtually the entire concerned electorate had him as their only choice for that Federal House of Reps seat. So, anyone who was in his shoes would rather ask his elder brother to step down for him. To say the least, Alj Bello got that very political post as a result of his (Kareem’s) fame. Though Bello who was a successful industrialist was wealthier than him, but most times good name is far better and intimidating than affluence.

    Aside the aforementioned change of lifestyle, among others, that was directly affecting the family members, his (Bello’s) attitude in the public sphere was nothing to write home about. He hardly attended organized events he was duly invited to, totally unlike what it used to be prior to his victory at the just concluded polls. Funnily enough, before he won the election, he was attending occasions in which his presence wasn’t even needed, just like a street beggar. The abrupt and uncalled lifestyle persisted endlessly.

    Four years on toward the end of his tenure, like Oliver Twist, he nurtured interest to vie for a second term in office as if he had forgotten so soon the peaceful agreement jointly reached between him and his sibling. When confronted by his brother for such irrational step, he snubbed him. He further let him realized that that agreement was duly signed by their respective solicitors; rather than seeing reason with him, he asked him to go to court if he so wished. To this end, his brother, Hon Kareem decided to ignore his highfalutin behaviour and face his dream squarely.

    Subsequently, both of them emerged as the flag bearers of their various parties. Anyone who won the primaries of the both political parties had greater chances of emerging victoriously during the election proper owing to the prominence of the parties in question. Alj Bello was able to scale through the primary election having influenced the leaders of his party with his wealth.

    Three months after, the awaited election came on board. Consequently, Alj Bello the incumbent legislator got lost at the polls; he was overwhelmingly knocked out by his kid brother, the indomitable Hon Kareem.

    The defeat which was foreseen by every dick and harry due to the glaring popularity of the victor, kept the victim unconscious for a whole calendar month. In fact, the outcome of the election dawned the awful reality on him that power had finally been shifted to the electorate, contrary to the previous mentality or tradition that with one’s money or power of incumbency as the case might be, he/she could gain power at ease.

    Indeed, it was a paradigm shift. Or, what do you think? Think about it!

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