As I sit here at my
desk in the office going through one of the national dailies on an update report
by the Nigerian Police on the death of the late young Joy Odama who was said to
have recently died in the hands of an Alhaji as a result of an overdose of
cocaine in Abuja, one cannot help but be pained at how callous and undiscerning
some so called men can be or get when it comes to exciting themselves with some
of these vulnerable girls.
The sad part is that as
you read this now, no doubts some other stubborn girls and hell-bent ones are
still on their way to see one or two unknown Alhajis even with this trending
story on the investigation of Joy Odama’s death. These hell-bent ones will
still embark on such journeys with a mindset such as “that Joy Odama Girl was just unlucky, what happened to her can’t happen
to me”, and so many more young girls have gone and also met their ends with
such mindsets. It’s a sad truth.
A couple of days back,
while having a chat with one driver who operates with one of these newly
introduced and well packaged car hire service providers in Nigeria, I was
amazed when he reeled out the number of young girls he picks up on a daily
basis to destinations where they meet men they have never met in person before
except via social media connections all in a bid to get money in other to
maintain their “slay queen” status. In other words, many of these ‘runs girls’
stake their lives for little, more or nothing when it comes to this kind of
business as sometimes their monetary expectations are either met, surpassed,
not met or are killed in the process.
What a shameful,
painful and sympathetic life as many of them are declared missing on a nearly
daily basis, that’s if not found dead with no trace of where or how it happened.
In the case of Joy
Odama, she was said to have been invited by a friend to see one ‘Philanthropic’
Alhaji while she was on holidays in Abuja sometime in December 2016. According to
reports, the mother of the deceased was offered N400,000 so that she can keep
the matter of her child’s death buried. What an avoidable death!
Now the many questions being
asked include “Who was this friend, who is this Alhaji and why would her mother allow her go to see
an unknown Alhaji and for what? Can N400,000 bring back the young girl’s life?
Once again, like I have
mentioned in previous posts, I reiterate here that the society takes a huge
part of the blame when it comes to the question of “who is to blame?”
A young intellectual or
young business struggling man or woman appears with an average lifestyle given
his/her humble source of income; unfortunately, they are hardly recognized or
respected when they appear at events or any social gathering. They do not have
a ‘say’ in extended family meetings or amongst a gathering of friends all
because they don’t have the kind of money to throw around. If he/she manages to
buy a small decent car, buys inexpensive but good looking watches, clothes or
shoes, they are looked upon with disdainful looks such as “is this the kind of cars your mates are still driving, do your mates
still were such watches, clothes or shoes?”, the list is endless.
To crown it all, he or
she is invited for an event and when he gets to the gate of the venue, the
security man with just a quick look at his/her car will ask them to park
outside with an excuse such as “no more space inside the premise” but as soon
as a supposed “big man” with the latest Range Rover arrives the same event, the
‘silly’ security man will not only quickly fling the gates open but will add a
quick military-like “salute Sir” and thereafter goes to direct the driver of
the car where to park in the same premises he had earlier said there was no
longer space.
Now tell me, why won’t
young girls, boys, men and women who cannot endure such disrespect anymore lean
towards all sorts of methods to get rich overnight just so they can earn the
respect they so desire from the society? It takes God and a strong morally bond
person to still stick with the “slow and steady” lifestyle with the hope that one
day after so much genuine hard work, things will eventually fall into ‘pleasant
places’ for him/her.
In the past few days
after the news of the death of Joy Odama and the recent capture of ‘Evans’ a
reported kingpin in kidnapping made news, the social media has been agog with
different remarks filled with 90% of condemnation with the other percentage on
pity especially for the family of the victim, Joy whose mother has been seeking
for Justice.
Interestingly a huge
percentage of all those condemning, casting aspersions and sharing sneering
remarks on ‘Evans’ and even Joy Odama’s misfortune, are guilty of disrespecting
those who seem ‘not to have arrived’ while praising the “ I have arrived” ones
whenever the opportunities arise even when the source of income is
questionable. What a group of discriminating ‘two-faced’ individuals.
Sadly, there will be
more Evans Chukwudi and Joy Odamas in our society until the government creates
an enabling environment for entrepreneurs, until many of us stop our nauseating
ostentatious lifestyles and discriminating attitude. Until we stop disrespecting
humble earners, until we stop unnecessary praise singing, ‘show-offs’ and thus
making guys and ‘queens’ struggling to ‘slay’ on social media as well as events
trying to look rich in a bid to earn respect thus getting ‘pocket’ broke in the
process, this circle of “menace to society” will never stop.
My two cents!!
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