Stephen Okon @thestephen

Recently, I decided to try making egg stew after watching a YouTube video about it. I’ve been getting tired of eating the same local foods all the time, so I wanted to try something different. Egg stew seemed like a good place to start. I bought carrots, green beans, and all the other ingredients I needed, excited to prepare something new.

When I got home, I played the video again to follow the steps properly. That’s when I realized the process was way too long for someone like me, who was already hungry and had little patience to begin with. The chopping, stirring, and waiting was just too much for me at the moment.

Hunger was winning the battle, so I boiled one of the eggs I had planned to use for the stew, ate it quickly, and decided to forget about the whole recipe. Cooking something new would have to wait for another day when I had more time and less hunger.

That night, I settled for the easiest meal I could think of, palm oil rice. It wasn’t fancy or new, but it was filling and quick to make. Maybe someday I’ll revisit the egg stew idea, but for now, I’ll stick to what doesn’t leave me starving.

Recently, I’ve been dealing with so many frustrating issues, especially with banking services. It feels like the whole system is under some kind of pressure because transactions are failing left and right. Payment services have been poor, and it's affecting basic things we do every day. It’s hard to tell if this problem is with just one bank or all of them, but it’s been stressful.

One of the worst experiences happened when I went to buy gas for my cooking cylinder not far from my place. I had some cash on me and my ATM card, thinking I’d be fine either way. After bargaining with the gas seller, I decided to pay with my card to save the cash I had. The card transaction failed, but to my surprise, I was debited. I explained this to the seller and asked him to give it some time, hoping I’d get a refund, but nothing came through.

To make matters worse, I decided to try a transfer using USSD. I thought it would save the situation, but it only made things worse. The same thing happened; another debit on my account, but the seller didn’t get credited. At this point, I had two failed transactions hanging, and I was out of cash. Luckily, the man knows me, and he trusted me enough to let me go. He told me to come back when the money is refunded, which was a huge relief.

Thankfully, both refunds came through a few minutes ago, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Tomorrow, I plan to try again, and I can only hope it won’t be another waste of time. These issues with banks need to be sorted out quickly because they’re making life unnecessarily difficult.

There’s a street I pass by often in the evenings, and it’s always lively with children playing. They greet me with so much joy whenever they see me, their energy contagious. But one day, something felt off. From a distance, I noticed the street was unusually quiet. None of the kids were there, which was strange because nothing ever seemed to stop them from playing.

As I got closer, I noticed the ground looked rough, with marks of little feet and scattered game equipments. It was clear they had been playing there earlier. I brushed aside my curiosity, thinking they might have gone home early, and continued walking. Suddenly, out of nowhere, they all jumped out of their hiding spots, shouting, "Uncle, we played you!" I couldn’t help but laugh. These kids had actually planned to prank me, and it worked perfectly.

One of the kids ran up to me with his report card in hand, beaming with pride. He had finished the term in third position and couldn’t wait to show it off. I congratulated him, then asked why he hadn’t gone home yet since school was over. His answer was predictable; they were too caught up in playing to even think about it. I reminded them that it was getting dark, and it was time for everyone to head home.

But of course, these kids weren’t letting me off that easily. They insisted I couldn’t send them away without giving them something, as if it was a tradition I had somehow signed up for. They were so persistent that I couldn’t say no. So, we all walked to the nearest shop, and I asked the store owner to give each of them a sachet of Hollandia yoghurt.

After that, everyone finally went their separate ways, and I continued my walk with a smile, knowing I had made their evening just as they had made mine.

It was one of those days when a simple task turned into a long adventure. My friend asked me to join him in towing a car from a nearby village back to the city. It sounded straightforward enough (a 3-4 hour journey, max). Since we left early and had no time to eat, I packed some rice and stew with a bottle of water to keep me going.

We hadn’t even reached the car we were supposed to tow when our own vehicle started acting up. Out of nowhere, it just stopped in the middle of the road. We got down, struggled with a few things, and after some time, we managed to fix it. Relieved, we continued the journey, laughing about how we couldn’t afford any more delays.

Barely thirty minutes later, the car battery gave up on us. My friend, always the joker, laughed and said, “Are we sure we won’t need another towing vehicle to tow this one?” At the time, it was funny, and we laughed it off. Little did we know that his joke would become reality soon enough.

Sure enough, the car completely broke down before we could even reach the village. We had no choice but to call for help. Another towing vehicle came, but instead of towing the car we originally came for, it had to tow ours to a nearby mechanic.

What was supposed to be a 3-hour journey turned into a frustrating 10-hour work. By the time we got home, we were exhausted, dusty, and hungry.

I remember back when we used to rear a few chickens at home, just about five of them. One of the chickens was reserved for Christmas meat, and everyone was looking forward to the feast. But on Christmas morning, just as we were preparing to catch it, the chicken broke free and ran into a nearby bush. It was determined not to end up in the pot that day.

To catch it, I called a group of children to help surround the bush. The plan was to block all its escape routes so we could grab it easily. But the chicken was too smart for us. It dashed deeper into the bush, leaving us all frustrated. The children and I decided to regroup and try again. This chicken was not going to ruin Christmas!

On the second attempt, we almost had it cornered. Just as we were about to catch it, someone shouted, "Snake!" True enough, there was a snake coiled up in the bush, right where the chicken was hiding. We couldn’t leave the snake there, it was a threat to all of us. Gripping my stick tightly, I struck the snake and after a few hits, it dropped lifeless.

While I was busy dealing with the snake, the children had resumed their chase. This time, they were more determined than ever. After a lot of shouting and running around, they finally caught the chicken, which was struggling furiously to escape. Its stubbornness came at a cost, though. One of the kids got a cut on his leg during the chase, and we were all tired.

After all the drama, it ended up where it was meant to be; in the cooking pot. The struggle made the meal feel even more special.