Public Awareness Stories & Experiences

Today, I attended a wedding for the first time in two years. It felt refreshing and different because everything about the process seemed new to me. From the exchange of vows to the prayers, the entire ceremony was a learning experience. We danced with the couple, gave offerings, and celebrated their union in the church.

After the church service, we moved to the reception, which was in a building just next to the church. The hall was well-decorated, and everyone seemed excited to continue the celebration. Drinks were soon distributed, and that’s when things took an unexpected turn. To my surprise, the main drink being served was beer. I couldn’t believe it. Just a few moments ago, we were praying and celebrating in a sacred space, and now beer was the drink of the occasion.

What shocked me the most was the way the drinks were being shared. A man sitting beside me was almost forced to take a bottle of beer even after politely refusing. The person sharing the drinks told him, “This is not the church,” as if that justified the behavior. The man boldly declined again, clearly uncomfortable with the pressure. It seemed like there was no regard for God and the occasion we had just witnessed in the church.

It was heartbreaking to see how quickly people could switch from a place of worship to such casual disregard for the values we were celebrating. I left the event disappointed.

I used to be very skinny and muscles-less in my secondary school days, and because of it, my classmates would look for my trouble, because physically I didn't look fit to compete in any strength contest. It was so humiliating at a point for me, I started feeling less of myself. Countless instances where they will look for my trouble, and there are times I tried to retaliate, but couldn't.

I was the smallest in the class, the big guys were respected and no one dared to mess with them. Looking at my age back then, I was 14 years old, I decided to pack on some muscles, at least to be well built to an extent. I couldn't do even one push-up at the start, but with consistency and persistency, I surpassed 15 push-ups, I started looking fit and my stamina increased. I made sure not to look like a weakling anymore.

Believe it or not, your physical appearance accords you a lot of respect, there are people you can't stand in front and talk or act carelessly, because of how they appear; fit and strong. One of my classmates challenged me to friendly strength contest, and I defeated him, I was surprised myself. Something I was never close to before, I earned myself some level of respect before I finished secondary school.

You can't eat so much and become so fat as a guy, it's not healthy, your body has to be in shape, the same goes for ladies. Do your findings, you will see that fitness of the body also accords you respect, and determines the way people approach you. I do see a lot of rich men jogging in the morning, so you see it's not about flat tommy, it's about being physically fit and in shape, otherwise they would have consumed slip tea.

Just this evening, my neighbor came around and said I look physically fit, he desires to be like that, but ready to pay the price of setting time for daily exercise. Googling the benefits of exercise, it builds us physically, mentally, and many more. My father some days back was doing exercise, something he has not done in years. Better to know the benefits and engage in it now, rather than when you're old, it's more effective now. I treat my physical look very important, when you're fit, you'll look more handsome. And you hardly fall sick, but for me, it's the respect your appearance accords you that I like the most. That's the truth.

My life took a dramatic turn when I gained admission to study Human Kinetics. I often found myself feeling like an outsider, especially compared to my two roommates, who seemed to have it easy without the rigorous 7am morning workouts and physical activities that came with my program.

There's one day that's will always inscribe in my memory forever. Even thinking about it make me feel suffocated and depressed at the same time. It was a day that started like any other, but took an unexpected turn.

Initially, I had an athletic class scheduled for that morning, but our coach unexpectedly postponed it until the evening due to unforeseen circumstances. I was caught off guard by the news, and to make matters worse, I had an assignment that was due that same evening,i need to rush thing as per student life era.

As the evening arrived, I headed to my practical class, where we were instructed on the proper technique for throwing a discus. Our coach guided us through the steps, and then it was our turn to try individually.

When it was my turn, I gripped the discus confidently, following the steps I had just learned. I was excited to showcase my skills, but my enthusiasm was short-lived. As I released the discuss, I lost my balance and found myself tumbling to the ground alongside the discus.
It was an embarrassing moment, and I wished the ground would swallow me whole as laughter rolled out from the mouth of the coach and my classmates. I thank God i didn't sustain much injury. But as I reflected on the incident, I realized that I had made a terrific mistake by skipping meals throughout the day.

That embarrassing moment taught me a valuable lesson to never underestimate the importance of fueling up before a physically demanding class.

Before you write jamb to study your dream course in any university of your choice, acquire a skill.... Learn handwork o.💯

You can decide not to do this is your parents are buoyant enough to cater for every damn thing and bills in school.

During my days in the Uni as an undergraduate, I saw shege. Guess y'all have already read some of the stories published on this space about my hard times in school.

One of the things that kept me going then was the fact that I was able to see small small change on a daily even though it was hard to save cause of too much billing yet there were things I did for myself without boring my people with unnecessary needs and complain.

If you're yet to secure admission, utilize this opportunity and learn something. Put your mind there and learn it.

The first year I wrote jamb that was 2016, though I gained admission to study my then dream course, I was unable to start schooling then.

Instead of staying at home, I decided to learn how to barbe hair.

When I finally got admission 2019, then I was already good with my barbing and it helped me scale through school.

Bought some textbooks, offset some bills and most times fend for myself from the money I made.

Do not feel too proud to acquire a skill, it's for your own good make your parents no kpai because they want to train you to become a better person .

Unless you have other options that can fetch you money when you don't get from your people, aside that, learn a skill today.

You'd be glad you did😊💯

A very long time ago, there was this electrician we had in our village, he was the only good and qualified electrician back then, because of that, he had steady inflow of clients. But there was never a time I saw him with gloves, he never wore it, even when touching naked and life wires, which was very risky. I remember my father asking him why he doesn't wear gloves, and how come he doesn't get shocked by life wires he touches. I still remember his reply.

He told my father that if you hold your breath and touch a life wire, that it will not shock you, and that is exactly what he does, he holds his breath while handling life wires. I imagined it to be very risky, how could you possibly hold your breath, what if something unexpected triggers you to breath against your wish. What will it cost to buy a glove, how much is glove that he doesn't want to buy it. He just chose not to bother himself with glove.

I don't think it was up to a year after, when the guy was shocked to death while connecting electricity into his client's house from a pole. There was power supply before he went up the pole, he knew it and decided to implemented his method of holding breath as always, but no one knows how the method failed him. Electricity killed the founder, it's nothing to be joked with, seeing wearing of glove as stress is just like thoughts of suicide.

I don't blame the guy much, he learnt it from his mentor. If you're learning, learn to do it the right way, electricity has standards that must be followed accordingly, any attempts to doublecross it might be fatal. I relate this to things like driving, all rules must be observed, ranging from seat belts to tyre pressure to others, any attempt to bypass any could turn out to be fatal. My friends do nickname me to be a protocol type of guy, but that's just how it should be.

For me, standards must be adhered to, and if your new found standard is lower than the regular standard, then it's not even a standard at all.

After spraying some insecticide in my room, Istepped out to seat around the compound for 30 minutes until the sprayed fumes must have taken action on mosquitoes and cooled off.

I found a comfortable bench outside and under a tree, and there I sat.
few minutes passed and a company came to join me on the seat. we exchanged pleasantries and when he sat and consistently heaved, I peered into his phone to understand what made him sad that was obviously on his phone.

I was looking at what seemed like a livescore interface, he had placed a bet on today's football matches and obviously, his predictions already failed him.
He caught my curious eyes and immediately started letting the load in his heart out_ he had used his course registration fund to place a bet that his friends were all partaking on and while staring at the live score, He was sure to lose his money.
He was a new comer in the betting community, because no male shares his losses on failed predictions with a girl.

After we spoke, I advised him not to ever try betting as people tend to loose more than they even gain, and to exclude religious limitations_ betting was unarguably a bad habit.
He appreciated my words and to assure me of his genuine transformation, he deleted the betting app on his phone, but still I saw the disappointment on his face, he was still bothered about the money he had lost.
A thought almost led me to helping him out but then, one learns with experience. He should endure the pain of the loss.

We have come to another festive period again, some people have taken it upon themselves, to source for Christmas money anyway they can, not minding if it's legal or not. The rate of activities of thieves this days is increasing rapidly, and if we look deeper, it will be just to impress somebody; girlfriend and fellow friends most especially. My parents called me some days back to tell me what thieves did to them and my aunty, in a short space of time.

My aunty came all the way from Abuja to visit my parents, on arriving the park, she carried big bags, and so she paid this guys with wheelbarrow, that help carry goods, to where she is supposed to board a vehicle. Shockingly, the wheelbarrow transporters zoomed off with the bags and disappeared into the aunty, making away with my aunty stuffs, painful right? In a very crowded place, they moved faster than my aunty and stole away her bags.

My aunty now got to my parents house without anything but her handbag, very awful thing. And when they left for church on a Sunday, a thief broke into the house and stole the TV and some other items. It is now as if this season is the season for thieves. The luck my parents had is that there is an hotel next to the house that has a CCTV camera facing their house, they met the hotel manager and accessed the video recording, and found out who it was.

The thief had sole the TV, the mother begged my parents not to arrest the thief, so the mother had to refund the money back to the person that bought the TV and get it back. Some of the stolen items could not be retrieved, the mother of the guy paid for every single one of them. Just that my parents are not violent, the thief would have been dealt with the normal way people handle them. It's the birth of Jesus Christ we're celebrating, how does stealing fit in? Isn't this season supposed to be about love, peace and reconciliation with God? I tire oh.

Lately, I've been having this thought of what life will look like after graduation. Honestly, it's been giving me series of sleepless nights, and the deeper I thought, the more confused I became. So yesterday, after a stressful class and a boring lecture, I and my two friends were just walking back home, discussing how the class went and how we'd just waited our turn only to come and sign attendance.

As usual, we stopped by our normal food stall to buy some plates of food, particularly beans and plantain (bolle). While we waited for the woman to serve the food, my friend called our attention, and he asked the big question: "We're about to graduate; what are your plans?" It was as though he was in my mind, and I became aware that I hadn't been able to answer the question myself. I kept mute, just to hear what others had to say, and they were as confused as myself.

We ended up trying to share business ideas within ourselves. It was then I realized that even starting up a business on a small scale is still not easy and is still capital-intensive. And the worst thing to do is to depend on the government for employment, so we only left our fate to God. We were yet to have a solid conclusion when the woman serving the food called for our attention. We forgot everything and just dived in to satisfy our hunger first.

I was walking back home from work few days ago when a white Mercedes Benz stopped in front of me, the glass winded down and a guy in dreadlock tried to talk to me, I was really very tired and wanted to get home as quick as possible, so I tried not to sound rude to the guy. I asked him what he wanted so I can continue heading home, he didn't really have anything reasonable to say, and when I started walking away, he said, "how much for a night?"

Deep inside me I was boiling, but I was out of strength to reply the guy, I kept mute and used the little strength I had still I got home, shows how tired I was. I was very angry after I took my bath and ate something, I wondered why that guy will say such a thing to me, I dressed decently and didn't look like someone cheap or desperate for money. I don't conceive the idea that ladies must depend on guys for money, I work for my money and can take care of myself.

The following day as I woke up and was preparing to go to work, I heard news of girls that got killed, butchered, stacked in a bag and disposed at a junction that leads to my street. I thought to myself that no other set of people, would have done this, other than the type that tried to buy me with money the previous night when I walking home. Girls these days, because of hardship fall easily to traps like this and have their life taken away in a brutal way.

If all the girls will stop depending on guys for money, live decently and responsible, I doubt that this ritual guys will see anyone to use for their evil act. It breaks my heart as I write this; one of those girls that got killed happens to be someone I know, we're not close, but at least I use to see her around and I know where she lives. How do you comfortable follow somebody with so much money and luxury, yet no one knows the source of the money.

Girls have to be wise in this end of the year if they want to live and see next year and beyond, stop being desperate for money, only people that are alive enjoy money, there is no enjoyment of money in the grave. Until girls come to this realization and call themselves to discipline, rituals will continue to wax strong, this is the fourth time that deaths like this is happening in my area within a month.

This morning, I woke up later than usual. I wasn’t feeling too strong, so I decided to make something simple which was Indomie with eggs. I quickly got dressed and headed out to buy the eggs from a nearby shop. When I arrived, the shop was busy. One person was cutting meat, while the other was helping a woman who had come with her husband to buy eggs. I had no choice but to wait for my turn.

After what felt like forever, the woman finished buying her eggs and was heading back to her car. Just as she was about to get in, she hit her foot on something, and the bag of eggs she was holding fell to the ground. Everyone around shouted at once, but the husband calmly stepped out of the car. Without saying a word, he started picking up the eggs, sorting out the unbroken ones, and putting them back into the bag.

The woman looked so frustrated, and it seemed like she wanted to vent her anger, but her husband calmly told her not to worry. His tone was so gentle that it surprised me. He didn’t raise his voice, didn’t blame her, just quietly went about fixing the situation. It was a level of self-control I wasn’t expecting.

Meanwhile, the ladies at the shop couldn’t stop talking about the incident. Some were laughing, others were commenting on how eggs are too expensive to waste. But the man ignored all of it. He didn’t engage or get distracted. Once he was done packing up the good eggs, he got back into the car with his wife, and they drove off as though nothing had happened.

I met one of my friends today, I haven't seen her for over a year now, we only chat online and place calls once in a while. I'm on holiday, so I decided to go and visit her, just like old times; gist, laugh, play, talk about the future and many others. We sat at the front of the compound, under a shade, and it didn't take me long to notice the strange way her eyes was.

A drop of tears rolled out from her eyes, she managed to keep her eyes half closed, and at the same time trying to cover it with her hands. I asked her what was going on with her, she told me she has an eye problem, and it gets worse under bright lights like sunlight and florescent bulbs. I began to wonder how the eye problem came about, because I've known her for a long time, there was never a case like this before.

She began to narrate the story of when she was living at Niger State, and was working at a restaurant back then. They used to cook in the restaurant with a kerosene stove. Everyone knows that blowing off a kerosene stove with your mouth will bring up toxic gas that will inflict some pains to your eyes for a moment. This was what she did everyday, blowing off the stove like up to 15 times in a day.

The toxic gas will inflicted pains in her eyes on daily basis, I asked why she had to blow off the stove, and she said the stove wasn't good, and so it won't go off without having to blow it. Her boss didn't care to repair the stove since she didn't complain about it. And overtime she began to have this permanent eye problem, so sad. I felt very sad and angry at the same time.

Sad because she's my friend, angry because it is somehow her fault. The money she was working for had finished long ago, but the eye problem still remains. Doing a job that brings health complications is very dangerous, the pathetic thing is that the money paid to you all together might not be enough to cure you. Some of the problems might be with you forever, for how much?It's not worth it. Carefully avoid jobs that inflicts damages to your body, or you spend your entire life battling with the consequence.

Some years ago, I decided to get a driver's license for myself, since there are occasions where I'm asked to help out in driving people or items to places, and I didn't want any embarrassment from the Road Safety or Police. One of my relatives directed me to someone at the Secretariat, that will do it for me without extorting money and too much of my time from me because they knew their selves. So I went, with the hope that at least I have who to meet that will help me out.

On getting to the Secretariat, I stopped a man named Mr Benson and asked about who I went there to meet. He asked me what I came there for and I told him, he told me to follow him to the person, only for him to take me to an office and asked someone to do driver's license registration for me. I told Mr Benson that I was directed there to meet someone already who is going to do it for me. He replied by saying that the office we are seated is the office of the person, and he wants to go and find the person for me.

I reluctantly believed and carried on with the registration, I felt compelled to do the driver's license there because I was directed to meet someone who would have done it for me. Mr Benson came back after the registration was done and told me that the person I came there to meet has gone home. I paid 18k, they gave me a driver's permit (that will let me drive without disturbance from security forces) that will expire after three months and told me that the driver's license will be ready before the driver permit expires.

As I was about going, I met someone and the person told me that the person I came to look for doesn't work there anymore, that it's been up to a year since he left. I asked myself why Mr Benson had to lie to me, he obviously has a cut in the registration money. The driver's permit expired and the license wasn't ready yet, little did I know that this man scammed me, he didn't even save my number on his phone, as he will always ask "who is this" whenever I called him. I didn't want to believe it.

He didn't submit my form for the enrollment of the driver's license, he made away with the money, I went there but couldn't find him. Someone told me that he won't do the license, that it is what he does to people; collects money from people and disappears with it. Mr Benson blocked my number at a point, I used another number to call him and he changed his number. Till today I have not heard from him and I have not collected my driver's license, my 18k wasted just like that. I didn't have a strong will, that is why I fell for this, that is why till today, if I plan to do 'A', no one can convince me to do 'B' if I can't execute the 'A', I must take my time and analyze it thoroughly, I might go with 'C' at the end. When I say 'NO', you can't make me say 'YES'. I call it THE STRONGEST OF WILL, that is what it takes to survive in a real world.

Today, I'd like to share my thoughts on toothpastes.
Over the years, I have tried different varieties of toothpaste brands, always opting for quality products. Some of the brands I’ve used include Close Up, Oral-B, Colgate, and even charcoal toothpaste among others, I don tryoo 😅. I’ve experimented with many different options, but lately, I’ve settled on one that I truly prefer: Oral-B.

I find Oral-B to be the best choice for several reasons. First, the fragrance is classic, and the menthol level is higher compared to other brands [investigation done and signedby my mouth]. Whenever I'm done brushing with Oral-B, I can't always help but to move my tongue against my teeth, the feeling that my teeth feel smooth and free of any coating is a clear indication that my mouth is truly refreshed.

One of the features of Oral-B that makes it stand out is how long the fresh breath lasts. I’ve noticed that it keeps my breath feeling fresh for about 12 hours after brushing, which is impressive.
Other toothpaste brands dey try oo, but let me praise my preference small. For other brands, I often find that the freshness diminishes much sooner.

Not here to advertise any toothpaste; I'm merely sharing my personal preference based on my experiences. Each brand has its special qualities, but for me, Oral-B simply stands out as the best option at this time.

Living in the city was something very special and enjoyable. I imagined it would be like the Nollywood movies, those kind of films that made me admire the actors as they drove through splendid avenues and past grand mansions. Everything seemed so bright and glamorous, and I longed to visit the city.

When I was applying for tertiary institutions, I included UNN on my list, knowing that my course required me to move to the city for my 200 level to complete my remaining years. This was always on my mind. After I traveled to Enugu and finished my 100 level, life became tough. The economy and various challenges weighed heavy on everyone. No one here is smiling; both the rich and the poor are complaining.

It wasn't like in the movie anymore; I had to cook my own food, go to classes without support, come back home, and do my research. I had to drag myself along and be an adult. I never prepared for this; I never prepared to be an adult so soon, but I think I'm still learning. It's part of the learning and experiences we encounter in life that make us who we are. Well, I'm still keeping on the right path, and I pray that God keeps me and gives me my daily bread, also protects me all through. It's not easy being a student. For every student out there who is keeping on the right path, they deserve accolades.

I was in the market today, and I found myself watching this fascinating scene before me. Let me tell you guys about it. A guy was switching wallets, and it was captivating to see how he switched three wallets around, moving them into different positions. Then he will then ask us who had gathered to identify the one that had a red stripe on it.
I’d seen him do this countless times, about four times, to be specific, and each time I had guessed correctly when he opened the wallets to confirm my choice.

Feeling confident, I was about to step up to stake my 1,000 Naira and win the 3,000 Naira prize for any correct guess when suddenly, another man came up first and handed over his 1,000 Naira. I watched as he performed his usual wallet switch, and I made a pick like I had done the past times in mind, absolutely sure it was the right choice.

To my surprise, the man beside me chose the same wallet I did. We both stood there, waiting with confidence, but then When he revealed the wallets, it wasn’t the one we had both chosen that had the red stripe. We were dumbfounded, I looked at the man who made a stake as his eyes were changing to a cloudy red balls. It felt like a trick, and deep down I knew there was something off, but how sure can one be?

I took my seat on the bus that was set to take me home, many things about the bus was getting me uncomfortable especially the sound of the engine.
It was going to be a long day, and the road was long and dry. It was 3hr journey to my house.

As we approached a police checkpoint ahead, the bus came to a halt, and my heart sank because they will be waisting more of our time. Instead of conducting a proper check on everybody, they were busy moving their eyes up and down through the passengers, and like a scene from a Nollywood movie, they picked three of us out from the crowd, two women and one guy.

One officer barked that we stepped forward, and then I felt fears running through me. What had we done to deserve this? Was it the way I was dressed? My sunglasses or my jeans? With hesitant steps, we approached them, and truth be told, I was scared.

As we stood by the bus, the officers instructed us to identify our belongings. I felt like a criminal. I slowly pointed at my bag. The officer’s expression was hard as they roughly went through our things, and I couldn’t shake the thought: Will they find something? Something that would turn this moment into a nightmare? Because I had some paracetamol and septrin tablets.

Do you have anything illegal on you?
one officer threw the question at me. I began to stammer but I was able to say no afterwards as I shook my head.

In one of our examinations, something happened between my coursemates that dropped our jaws. My coursemates; Emmanuel and James got themselves into a very terrible situation. Emmanuel is a very brilliant guy that writes exams without any help, James on the other hand has never written exams without expo as his main source which he couldn't do without.

While an examination was ongoing, one of the supervisors from a distance, sited James acting suspiciously and told him to stand up, James was using his phone to write the exams. While the supervisor was walking towards him, James passed his phone to Emmanuel to help him hide it. Emmanuel, though a brilliant student, was only help his coursemate to escape severe penalties.

The supervisor searched James and couldn't find anything on him, and so decided to search Emmanuel who sat close in front of him. And of course, the supervisor found the phone with Emmanuel, the lecturers in the exam hall were really disappointed, being that they know Emmanuel to be very intelligent. Emmanuel and James were accused of joint partnership in exam malpractice, their scripts were torn and they were sent out of the hall. we couldn't believe our eyes.

This served as a big lesson to us, how can you spend hours studying everyday, and at the end you decide to risk it for somebody that clubs everyday without studying. To help people is good, but in this scenario, it is bad to render any help of this kind, because if you are caught doing so, you are in big trouble and it will cost you so much. Emmanuel has failed that course because of trying to help James from getting caught, James didn't deserve that help, Emmanuel should have let him carry his cross.

Today was a really special day at school, and I was so excited.
We had an awareness program to share about our department. Well, the program was like moving in big groups and working together to help others, especially with staying healthy.
Our department is very popular, and today we wanted everyone to know what we do, especially road workers and other random students.

The sun was not on our side shaaa but we were all determined. Our department area was filled with colorful banners that said captivating things about health. My friends and I were all full with energy. We helped hang up the banners and make everything look wonderful.

As we started the program, everyone began talking loudly and cheerfully as we were walking down the street. Some of my friends stood in front of the crowd and and danced as we demonstrated about what we do in our department. People came over to listen, and I even saw some road workers nodding to our exhibition.

Then, it was time to take pictures. We all gathered closely together, like one big happy family. We made funny faces, and the camera flashed.
I'm actually tired right now that all I need is to rest.

I needed to talk to Arinze, our course representative. He often carried himself around like the king of the classroom, with a touch of arrogance.Time and again, I watched him turn down people's suggestions and advice, always behaving like he has all the answers. The truth was, he wasn’t living up to the trust we had placed in him as a leader.

As I made my way across the lecture room, I noticed Arinze leaning against the wall, arms crossed, surrounded by a small group of other classmates that was making enquiries about one thing or the other.

Approaching him, I asked if we could talk to him aside. He raised an eyebrow, surprised, but nodded in agreement, i thought he was going to embarass me, but he was just humble.
We found a quieter corner of the classroom, and I sat down. I immediately started to talk about how things had been going this semester and how it felt like he often dismissed the suggestions we tried to make.

At first, he was defensive. He claimed that He he was merely trying to lead the class arguing that if he took things too lightly, in his view, would result in people not taking him seriously.

But after much deliberations, I let him know that true leadership comes not just from commanding respect but from earning it. I emphasized that he could be strong without being dismissive. People wanted to feel valued, not whisked away.

I was sure my sermon had gotten to him, he agreed with me and promised to change. It was not just hid promise, his eyes assured me.