LET THE FIRE KINDLE

VIGILS are not an easy tasks for anyone
It can however be motivated by the desire to live .
Vigils are certainly not the inherent desires that fill the hearts of anyone
However, desperate times calls for desperate measures .

The street is filled with people
All engaging in an activity which is anti natural
For the deprivation of sleep is certainly not at the top of the body's agenda.

Ewu nbe loko Alonge o
There is fire on the mountain.
For every human in the area is running,
While their mouths fervently call out to God or their gods.

Jesu oooo
Agbanilagbatan gbawa oo (Save us completely)
Angeli mimo ode orun ,shey abo fun wa o (heavenly angels guide us)

Spona o
Strike them dead.

Osun the river goddess, Mother of all living creatures; save us!

However, calling on their gods wasn't adequate,
And further preventive measures were taken.
For Fear is a terrible thing.

The young, old and the suckling child alike have been forced into becoming olodes. (Night guard who never sleeps)

Ah!
Olode
The protector of the night with a his feeble might.
Munching the kola to drive away sleep and chanting the incantations to keep safe the weak
Diligent in carrying the enterprise of his trade with cane and shakabula gun with him .

'Talofe ku' (who wishes to die?)
Both the rich and the poor fervently wish to save their lives.

The Irony this life is built upon is simply amazing
The poor starves yet he wants death to be far from him.
The rich complains of bad investment yet would not consider embracing the cold hands of the grave.

They understand.
Yes they do.
That the gift called 'tomorrow' is really priceless.
That the soup called 'patience' is very nutritious.
For the breaking of the sun resurrects hope that is seems dead.

Everyone takes in the pain of today with the great belief that tomorrow is limitless.
For a tiny light would appear in the dark skies
That light that holds the opportunity to change the tide  

Kai
The society which they lived had changed.
The country which they had been birthed in had undergone a baptism of wickedness.

Every stranger became a suspect.
The popular styles of dressing lost their appeal,
Parents began to warn  their children to dress in an 'un-guy' like way.

Even the hot headed agbero has gotten the memo and turned towards a more appropriate mode of dressing.
For, to the Nigerian society, an evil person can always be recognized by his dress sense.
And a seasoned witch can always be recognized by the number of tooth in her mouth.

Everybody don learn to coordinate
Night crawling sef don reduce well well
Since nobody wan turn victim of circumstance, or as Waffi go talk, 'no body wan kpai for street like fowl'

Aye le (life is hard)
Further down the road, Tade ran as He threw all caution to the wind.

He dashed out of the house with his trousers just below his knees and an unkempt  hair

Who fine boy help ?
Who would bother to dress well when there was fire on the mountain.
For Tajudeen his brother was experiencing an asthma attack.

Clearly, earlier in the day, tajudeeen had forgotten his inhaler in his wooden school locker.
And it was of no use sitting with the gasping lad when Tade could run down to the pharmacist to get a new inhaler.

Mama agba would have been of little help to Tajuydeen
For even old age had embraced her joints like an old friend, she could still be of little comfort to him.

Alas
Iya Agba was deeply asleep, having spent the day selling dried fish in the market.
With this news came despair and urgency.
As the survival of his only relative after Mama Agba rest solely on Tade's shoulders.

11pm wasn't an appropriate time for asthma attack to cone
But sickness no dey look 'ushe' face.
Neither is sickness a visitor that sends a letter beforehand, seeking for stay.

'Aye o gba gbere'
Somewhere and someplace in a house on the street opposite were Iya tawa and her friend.

One might wonder what two women were doing, whispering at such an ungodly hour
Apparently ‘the  gathering’ of people outside was a business opportunity
For people needed water,chewing gum and obi (kolanut) to help them overcome the Tse Tse fly venom which was already trying to lull their guard.

Who better provides the solution than 'iya oni sweet' herself.

Afterall, she always intoned that she did not come to Lagos to count the number of bridges.
Afterall, she was the only woman who could count as the eyes and ears of the community.
Afterall her shop was the only shoprite in the 'adugbo (neighborhood)'
For she always opened her store at 5am and closed at 12 midnight.

Fear is a powerful force,
Yet she took the risk of always arranging her wares for the petit profits.
As the church aladura prophet had told her to always support her husband by providing another stream of income.

Every unexpected sound terrified her and her friend.
Leaving them alert and ready to run at every time.
Death clearly wasn't an option
Staying longer indoors was like writing a letter to hypertension requesting for a longer and more painful death compared to  the blow of badoo cult
But money has to be made for she had little to eat tomorrow.

Aiye yi ogun ni (This life is war)
Every one is fighting their individual wars
The fear of been robbed or shot left Tade glancing backwards often.
As the still night has been violated and converted by some to a period of perpetrating evil.

He slowed his  pace due to exhaustion and wisdom.

The pharmacist's shop was the base of the gathering of the eager olode's.
And it wouldn't be wise to run right into their midst

"Emu Emu"
Came the shout.

Fear; a force that unites.
Fear; a  force that disunites.

The gathering had assumed Tade to be one of the dreaded badoo group.
As he slowed down his pace when he set his eyes on them

The street filled up immediately.
Shouts and murmurings immediately broke out within the forming clusters.

'He must definitely be the spy sent to give a report"
One woman said as she adjusted a wrapper and shooed her child inside.

"See as him dress sef like them"
Another man said, his accent thick with Igbo and his heart jumping wildly.

"He certainly thinks he is wise" one lady, who worked as a call girl in the local brothel, chipped in.
For she had endured a lull in her business of late.

"Tire da? Petrol da?
Bring the Tire
Pour petrol"
They all shouted as a tyre materialized out of thin air.
A magic that could never have happened if any of their cars pulled a flat tyre.

“where are your others ?”
The incensed crowd kept asking.
Peppering his face with slaps from all angles.
In between the slaps and spurting of blood, he tried to tell them.
But his eyes had dulled and his molars had been uprooted by the force of the slaps.

In the twinkling of an eye, the flames came on.
The fire danced wickedly and licked his clothes within minutes.
The young Tade had gone up in flames

No one knew he had an aged grandmother at home who always prayed that he would bring respite to her struggles.
No one knew he had a dying brother at home
No one cared that his death will lead to the alienation of his immediate lineage.

Who will give Tjudeenan his inhaler
Who will feed mama Agba?

These were questions Tade asked as he breathed his last.
Questions that hung in the air like the morning dew that refuses to rain.

Yet, he died a gruesome death because no one was willing to let the law take its cause

Say no to jungle justice. Let us learn to master our emotions.
Lets save people lives
Let's give the fire a chance to kindle

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