TwoCents | I had no shoes - by Samuel Ibok

Dear all, Yesterday I experienced the great walk toward freedom. In other words, I trekked until my legs started shaking. Oh yeah, with my shoes on. I walked from Idimu to Ogba. If you live in Lagos, you can imagine the distance. Most Nigerians have been complaining about the recent switch in currency aimed at curbing corruption in the forthcoming elections that may not hold. Yeah, previous elections have always been postponed, so it won't be surprising. The events this week have left me down in the dumps, so much that I couldn't declutter with my book and pen (through writing). I've had things to write on but just couldn't ink them. In case of an attack, I now walk around with personal protective equipment. There's hardly a week that I have not had to fight or push my way through Agege under the bridge because of thugs. I have now changed my route completely because of the frequency of GBAS GBOS. My resolve to leave Nigeria has deepened. I believe in patriotism from abroad! How did we get here in the first place? by voting for people who made us believe that they had been through similar things. The whole narrative is a PR stunt to win the hearts of the populace and leave them impoverished. We have allowed our struggle to survive to cloud our judgment. We have taken bags of rice as gifts from politicians, not knowing that these leaders will bring us famine. Yesterday, I watched the riots build up from a distance at Agege, and I'm doubting if we will ever experience peace. Because if hunger drives you, you will be less motivated after eating. Stop voting for those who feed you before the elections. You can vote for character, history, competence, order, etc.; you can add the rest yourself. If you see me ask for crowdfunding on social media, just know that I tried and I'm done. Sometimes, in the right climate, less is actually more. Nigeria almost got me, but God got me. I hope you caught the swerve! And yeah, after my long trek to Ogba, I decided to use a bus because I only had a N200 old note, which is still accepted. I still had other denominations that were rejected. Person go get money but him no fit spend am! At the point of entering the bus, a student asked that I help lap him. I rejected it at first but later accepted it because we rise by lapping others! As he sat on my lap, the commuter beside me echoed, "Tomorrow you will say I suffered when I was in school." People lapped me because I had no transportation money and no shoes, but you will forget those who helped you. Boom, everyone joined him, and I felt for the innocent young student, but their complaints came from a point of fact. I pondered what they said as I alighted from the bus to continue the great trek to work. To think of it, I actually trekked over an hour and 30 minutes to work. May our journeys not be in vain, and when we eventually have shoes, may we not forget those who stood by us when we had no shoes.

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