ADVICE | LIFE | CRIME
Take It Up Literally Now, So You Don’t Have To
Ever lost someone to silence?
“I better be a grizzly bear and be furious all the time than be a panda and still get bullied!”
Take it up literally now! Now is the time.
The recent death of a Nigerian indigenous artiste, Mohbad, inspires this article.
He lost his life a few days ago to a swirling wind of conspiracies, intentionally planned death and public death threats. Many blame him for not speaking up; others blame his close relatives and friends for not swinging to action.
Even if he had spoken up, maybe he wouldn’t have escaped the ordeal. But it sure sounds better when you listen.
Maybe all it takes is actually to listen — My friend’s ordeal.
Listening sounds squeaky as a word. Maybe that’s why it tends to be hard to practice at some point.
In 2010 I almost lost my friend because his mom failed to listen.
Here’s what happened;
He moved to a school far away from home, and his parents wanted him to still feel at home. With this in mind, they insisted he lived at a relative’s house close to his new school.
He never saw his folks like he used to anymore. Their regular one-week visits soon became two weeks and then monthly visits. They kept in touch but were far away.
On various occasions, my friend would tell me how badly he was treated at his relative’s house through our chats on Facebook. He would also narrate how he tells his mum about the suffering and inhuman treatment he receives, but she always says she’ll do something about it and never does.
Soon, he was wrongfully accused of stealing at his relative’s house and was assaulted severely. On one occasion, he fought back and was almost killed.
I still remember his mum shouting, “You should have told me.” “But he did. You didn’t listen.!” I thought.
Sometimes, that’s all it takes! Just listen. So many people carry a mountain of pain in their hearts every day. If they decide to share it with you simply, you better listen to it.
- To save your female child from molestation.
- To save your husband from seduction and marriage from breaking.
- To save your kid from a stalker.
You better listen.
Plus it’s better to take it up than to be sorry — My dad‘s wild mechanic.
Some time ago, my dad drove a CRV. On several occasions, he received calls from good-meaning folks who saw his car being used by someone else.
My dad never succumbed to their good-meaning calls and warnings. He responded that he was only test-driving the car after every repair. With each fender repair or service, the calls kept coming.
He never challenged him. It wasn’t long till we got a call that he had been arrested as he helped drive some criminals from one location to another without even knowing. On this one occasion, it wasn’t with my dad’s car.
But my dad surely felt the heat of “what if?”
It’s better to take it up than to be sorry!
If you are threatened most slightly, there is no crime in filing multiple reports.
If you sense a foe in a friend, dig them right up while you still can.
Never be scared to disrespect a defaulter of your peace by reporting them.
“Listen more and speak out! Most human-perpetrated evils are evident before they happen.”
