PROSPECT OR RETROSPECT:SCRIBBLES BY THE SUNLIGHT

17/06/2014,  2:45PM

Woke up yesterday with the normal feeling and excitement of a brand new day and the anticipation of its offerings. The major task of the day being a trip to Bowen University Iwo, Osun state Nigeria, West Africa (the adjectives are indeed needed) with just a singular and simple mission **to deliver an essential document to my sister**I knew it was going to be a long day but I never knew it was going to be longer than the “long” preconceived by my heart earlier. On getting to the town I got wind of the fact that the campaign train of one of the state’s gubernatorial candidate is stopping at the town, not bulging still, I flagged down a number of bikes but noticed they were all rejecting my advances until one reluctantly agreed (but with exorbitant charge) citing traffic congestion because of the campaign.

The journey was smooth until we got to a junction where we met a group of thugs shouting to hell with the opposition party bla bla bla, it wasn’t actually the shouting that caught my attention but their sophisticated toys ohh weapons. We managed to pass through the hellish junction only for us to enter into the other party’s territory, at this point I had to tell the bike man to drop me when we got to a dead end because it seems I will leave my legs and brain to finish the task. I alighted and the first thing was to seek refuge at a nearby gas station, so I joined other fellow onlookers to watch the amusing but shameful show.

It was panic at first which later turned to amusement  and amazement, I saw as thugs paraded the street (99.9% youths),saw different sizes of youth (able bodies, six-packed men, three-packed men…,slim, potbellied, short and tall ones alike… et al) all wearing a vest indicating the party’s logo and different local government from where they were imported. I was taken aback when I saw the weapons they carried, axes, knives of different shapes, (I didn’t even know a bow-looking gun existed), broken bottles of different sizes and of course wooden and metallic “kondo”, all were shouting and working around like men possessed by legions. I constantly looked around if my safe spot is still safe, concealed my watch and other essentials should in case!!! Actually they weren’t making much of a trouble but they were all battle ready in case duty calls or eventuality prevails.

After feeding my eyes pretty well, a thought came to my mind, these are the future and hope of our nation; future doctors , engineers, lawyers, professors ,future et al, then another thought quickly  tried to counter-support the first; Yes they are the future Yes! Yes!!Yes!!! But all I see before me are unemployment, frustration, poverty, insecurity, Illiteracy and hopelessness all brandishing weapons. The former thought talks about their prospect but the second thought speaks much about their current or better still “retroprospective”state. All I see is poverty breaking bottles, unemployment brandishing cutlass, frustration advertising axes, and all sort of other misfortunes demonstrating to the best of their abilities …… and I became quite sober.

As I maneuvered my way through the mammoth crowd and trekking about 1km before getting to my destination, I actually took pity on them, most of them are victims of societal misfortunes(but they are still to blame anyway),then it seems I caught a glimpse of why all this still thrive in our society. It’s like, if I provide enough employment for them, who are the jobless ones that would execute the next election? If I fit them in the society, who are the misfits who would do the job when needed? If all are learned, then whose Ignorance are we going to exploit next time?....huh….

Thank God I was able to complete my mission in Iwo, and as I was walking the mandatory 1km in order to take a bike to the bus park, the same scenery obtains but now it’s been subsided to drinks, boozes, and dirty pranks. I saw them cramming, ramming and packing themselves into their various buses as they planned heading back to their various hideouts ohh homes. I heaved a sigh of relief and shook my head for the umpteenth time **last I think**
P.S
** Civilized campaigns are needed and very much encouraged in a democratic setup but the after-effects thuggery …hmmmn…who can tell?
** Why sacrifice your future to service your present, why allow the means to run over the end – Senor Joe
I overheard the conversation of other passengers in the bus I boarded saying the aspirant and other VIPs came with an helicopter. #Thatsaysitall
>God bless my country<