Dominion Okon @grandmaster

Based on a true-life story. There was a young lady named Ruth, she was born into a wealthy family. Her parents had six children, one male and five females, she was the fifth. Ruth never lacked, not even for once in her life, because of the wealthy family she happened to be born into, hence, never struggled for anything in her life, a fertile land to kick off on.

She attended a very expensive boarding secondary school, money was never her problem. On one occasion, her father had caught her with a guy in a bar during school hours, far away from the boarding school. Everybody wondered how and why she will sneak out of boarding school to meet a guy. She spent her secondary school days clubbing and partying, with the huge amount of money her father sends to her consistently. Ruth used to receive bunch of strokes from the parent and the elder siblings because of her reckless living, still she didn’t care. Her WAEC was nothing to write home about as she failed woefully. She had to register for the examination again the following year, in a school where examination malpractice reigned supreme, and that’s how she passed.

Ruth was sent to the university to read computer science, and as usual, she did not take it seriously. Seven years in the university and she has not still graduated from a four years course, everyone became tired of pushing her and gave up on her. All her siblings had graduated, and some were married, including the last born, but she had nothing to show forth. Her father was super worried and disappointed. She told her father about a one-year professional computer science course in Lagos, collected a huge sum of one million naira and left. Unknown to them, she took the money to go and start up a business with her boyfriend in another town. She soon got pregnant and made it known to her family, that she won’t be coming home and that she is with the man she wants to marry. You can sense the bitterness in her father, but she didn’t care.

One year after Ruth gave birth, changes began to set in; her boyfriend got a new girlfriend and brought her to the house to live with them. Ruth objected and the boyfriend emptied her bank account, collected everything she had and sent her out of the house without anything, not even her phone. She managed to find her way back home, but was rejected. Heavy depression and frustration came on her to the extent that she had a critical mental problem, she became half mad and refused to eat. Stayed in one position for days, crying always, and narrating her story to whoever cared to listen. Slimmed down as the days go by, and before anyone knew it, her light was out, Ruth died. A life that had all what it takes to be one of the best, wasted miserably by the life owner. She was warned, but she refused to heed to it, and ended like she never existed.

I remember when I was still preparing to write jamb, my parents enrolled me in a jamb class which starts by 4pm and ends by 6pm on a daily basis, excluding Sundays. Since it was not so far from home, I used to trek to the jamb and trek back home, and at times it will already be 7pm before I get home.

There is this narrow and long path my parents used to be very pissed off with, the path was known as ‘shear road’. The path was always very quiet with no houses around and you barely see people in it. My mother used to warn my siblings and I not to use that path, even in the day time, except we’re walking together with group of people. But as for the night, even if you’re walking with 50 people, my mother won’t still approve any of us to use the shear road.

Initially I used to say that she’s just stressing too much about the shear road and there might not be anything cruel related to it. She will counter by giving stories of the negative happenings she heard about the path, it will say it’s just mere stories and there is no evidence of who ever had been a victim of that lonely road. Even then, I had never for once used that path in the night, only in the day time, and with friends.

One day, I had a cartoon series, named ‘Dragon Ball Z’ that I really wanted to watch on startimes decoder, and the series was to start by 5:30pm and end by 6:30pm. I really wanted to watch that episode and wished I could skip the jamb class that day, but I couldn’t. I went for the class, and immediately it was 6pm, I packed my things and started running home to catch up with the remaining half of the already started episode. And then I came across the shear road, a very shortcut to get home faster, and without thinking I took the path. I was still running when two guys immediately stepped out of the bush and stood in front of me, it was too late for me to stop immediately and I ran into them and they felled to the ground, including me. I stood up before them, and this time, with adrenaline pumping through my veins, I ran like Flash, without looking back and with my school bag firmly held in my arms. I know I ran very fast, because my vision was blurred and the only thing I could hear was the faint shout from the two guys, “hey stop there, I will shoot you, oboy hey!”. I didn’t stop, I ran with all the strength I had till I got home.

I was so tired, sat down in front of the house and panting aggressively, checked myself to confirm if I was still intact, good thing the smart phone my parents bought for me was still in my pocket, the phone was barely a month old and I would have been dealt with if I had lost it. Whether those guys were truly with gun or not, I was home safely and vowed never to set my foot on that road. Entered the house and saw that the cartoon series I risked my life to run home and watch just ended as 6:30pm clocked, what a waste. I should have heed to my mother’s instruction about that road, good thing I’m safe and so are my properties. Till date, I have not told my parents about that incident, for the fear of being scolded for going against their orders.

Few years back, there was this neighbor I had that was a tailor, his name was John, he had just moved in newly. He rented a shop for his tailoring work just in front of his house, so he was always around. He was very friendly and easy to relate with, but it later turned out to be only a camouflage.

There came a time John came to borrow certain amount of money from me and promised to pay back in two weeks, I gladly helped him out. But then the two weeks came and passed, months passed and nearly a year, and he didn't still pay me the money back. He had lots of customers he sew clothes for, so he had the money, but I wondered why he refused to redeem himself from the debt.

Soon, John was no where to be found, he ran away from the town entirely and even changed his phone number, unlinked himself from all the friends and customers he had made while he was still here. Then I discovered I wasn't the only one John was owing, he had borrowed money from almost all the neighbors, including his landlord. He ran away with electric stabilizer and pressing iron he had borrowed from his friend. He took along with him, the clothes his customers had paid him to sew. People came out and lamented bitterly.

A year later, I heard about how John went to apply and get a contract to sew uniforms for an organization which was worth millions of naira. He entered the presentation room to present designs he had come up with. But then he quickly recognized one of the board members to be one of the people he had borrowed money and items from, and ran away with it some time ago. He knew for sure he wasn't going to get the contract, and so he made a move to turn back and leave immediately. But that was too late as the securities were asked to detain him and he was handed over to the police.

The man who arrested John demanded that John must pay him back, but John had nothing at the moment, he was very broke and even his family members refused to help him because he had duped them too. John owed so many people of which amounted to the sum of one million naira, and since he didn't have the money, but could sew very well, he was made to sew all the uniforms for the organization for free, under the supervision of the police. The sewing took him up to a month without a day's rest and he wasn't paid a dime. I was surprised hearing this. He paid heavily for his deeds, lost trusts, friends, and his reputation as no one ever wanted anything to do with him ever again.

There is this woman that lives in the same compound with me, it's a yard with about 30 tenants. Amongst which this woman was the first to communicate with me when I rented the place newly. She's married with two kids. She called me her son and always showed some level of care and concern towards.

But then I noticed some strange behaviors from her towards her husband and children, she always disrespects the husband, rains curses both on the husband and children. Publicly she has wished that a car will knock down the husband and lightning will strike down the kids. Clearly she hates them with passion. A breed of human being I have never seen before.

Everybody in the yard tries as much as possible to stay away from the woman to avoid problems. But then I thought to myself one day; how come this woman is this good to me and very cruel to the husband and kids to the extent that she will carry her pot of soup to her friend's house to hide it, so that the husband won't eat from it, when it is said that charity begins at home. I started getting answers.

The woman starting borrowing money from me and won't return it, borrows almost everything from me on a daily basis, keeps my electric cooker in her house and won't return till I ask for it. And at times when there is power supply and I want to use my electric cooker to save my gas, she will refuse to give it to me and will say she is using it. Something that belongs solely to me, I had never seen such in my life. I remember knocking on her door very early one morning to wake her and get my cooker to boil water for bathing since there was power supply and prepare for my lectures by 8:00 that morning. She lied she was using it, someone I just woke from sleep. I didn't want to disrespect her, so I left quietly although feeling very bad.

Until one morning when she was preparing to go to market, I got my cooker from her because I had intentions of cooking beans that morning if power was supplied and I told her this. But then the electricity didn't show up and I got news about an emergency class, so I hurriedly prepared to leave for the class. And while I was about locking my door, this woman started a quarrel with me and asked me why I took the electric cooker from her when I didn't have intentions of using it. She said I have a bad character and didn't want her to use the electric cooker again, that's why I'm locking it inside my house. The quarrel didn't stop her from taking the electric cooker back to her house, I was pained, something that belongs to me.

When I returned from school, I saw my electric cooker in front of my door, my neighbors told me that she dropped it there after I left for school and she said she'll never borrow it from me again. Deep down I was kind of happy if she won't even borrow anything again from me, she has done enough, I've never seen this level of borrowing before. Greeted her that evening and she snubbed me. In my mind, I felt free. The next day, she tried to get things back to the way it was, but I refused, knowing what I suffered and was just starting to enjoy a life where no one is trying to use my head.

Since that day I had peace and felt free, this woman got this close to me with intentions to suck me dry and use my head to her own interest and I had break free now. The trust and respect I had for her was diminished, till date, the highest form of communication between us is just greetings. I would never again let a strange get this deep in my life so that this experience won't repeat itself.

When I was in nursery and primary school, there was a period when I struggled to understand anything being taught. I couldn't read, write or even spell my name. My teacher at that time was a young man who frequently beat me, leaving me with cane bruises every day. The fear of his punishment made me dread going to school. My parents believed he was doing the right thing by disciplining me this way and even hired him as my tutor after school. This only intensified my fear, making it impossible for me to learn.

Everything changed when a new school opened in our compound, and my parents enrolled me there. I started in Primary 3 and met a kind and caring female teacher. Unlike my previous teacher, she never used the cane. Her gentle approach and encouragement helped me to feel comfortable and safe. Within one term, I learned to read and write, something I couldn't achieve under my former teacher's harsh methods. This new environment allowed me to thrive academically.

I soon became the top student in the class and took first place that term. The moment my name was announced in the assembly as the top student was incredible. My parents stood at the back, smiling proudly. I stood up, faced the school, and smiled back at them, knowing I had made them proud and that their efforts had paid off. They gave me a gift to celebrate my achievement, marking a turning point in my academic journey.

And since then my life changed because of that one teacher who made me love studying, and even till today, I haven't forgotten her and can never forget her. I hope to visit her in the nearest future and repay her for transforming my life. She laid the basic foundation of education for me. The thought of how my life would have looked like by now if I never met her terrifies me.

This experience taught me that children learn best in a supportive and loving environment. My previous teacher's harsh discipline only instilled fear and hindered my learning, while the kindness and encouragement of my new teacher helped me to excel. My story shows that with the right support and care, any child can succeed academically.