And he became a ‘Yahoo-Yahoo’ boy (II)

Yahoo-yahoo boys; boys who constantly work in cahoots with the shrine. They have that firm belief in the extra-physical. They rely on powers of darkness- on herbalists. I never thought herbalists could be found in the north of our country until when three agents of hell in search of the unknown murdered a policeman and […]

Yahoo-yahoo boys; boys who constantly work in cahoots with the shrine. They have that firm belief in the extra-physical. They rely on powers of darkness- on herbalists. I never thought herbalists could be found in the north of our country until when three agents of hell in search of the unknown murdered a policeman and plucked his eyes out in the knavish thought that eyes of their fellow humans could become the magical wand and the fountain from which naira could flow. But whatever happens in the north does not stay in the north; whatever begins in the south usually end up in the north. Yes. In this instance, two other instances from their roguish and fiendish ways bear recollection.

Yes. The unfortunate girl never knew that it had been her destiny. She never knew she already had a destiny with death and that she would first be deprived of her eyesight, in the most fiendish way, before she would be sent to the great beyond. That happened to be the unfortunate destiny of the university girl in the south-south. She was murdered by three young boys who wanted to live life before their time. He was murdered too.

Yes. Victor was murdered by youths in search of lucre and illusions of life. They abducted him when he came to his homestand in Osun state to see his grandmother.

Again working in alliance with an herbalist who was reported to have given the prime suspect information about their unfortunate victim, these liquidators of hope and happiness entered the room where their victim was sleeping at night, subjected him to the most inhumane attacks and forced him to transfer three million naira into their account. Out of desire and desperation to prevent the victim from seeking redress, they bundled him into the booth of his vehicle, took him to the outskirt of the town and ultimately sent the vehicle ablaze.

I know you would probably wonder- where have we got it wrong as a society? Why is it that our society constantly produces these elements which remind us of the evil in us as a nation? Where have we got it wrong? I am of the strong opinion that we all know that gangterism and youth violence thrive whenever and wherever youths are attracted by money, power and glamour.

Whenever youths dream not of anything else but of riding in flashy cars, of wearing massive gold jewelleries and of having big bank balances; whenever youths dream of becoming the controllers of the underground and the underworld; whenever youths lose touch of the solemn and most profound meanings of life then gangterism becomes the order of the day. Societies that produce become theatres- of murder, robberies and kidnappings.

But this has always not been new. In other words, human history teaches us that every centre of civilization always run the risk of becoming and producing centres of barbarism. Societies and families that produce heroes and heroines are usually the ones that produce villains. But not always by force. Most of the time by choice. By conscious intervention of the critical segments of the society.

But sometimes, these things happen not because we failed in our duties to our children. Would Prophet Nuh (a.s) have been happy when his son refused to take his seat on the Ark? His father shouted out to him- “My son, come on! Enter the Ark and do not be among the disbelievers”. But his son responded saying-” (Don’t bother dad)! I will take refuge on a mountain to protect me from the water.” [Prophet Nuh said- “There is no protector today from the decree of the Almighty, except for whom He gives mercy.” (Quran 11: 43-44).

Deep lessons for me and you- the constant presence of the shop-owner to oversee her wares is not usually a guarantee for good sales. An absentee trader may achieve better sales than he who never steps away from the market. Nothing guarantees the success of the child better than, after good training, prayers of his parents. At a public lecture the other day to inaugurate the Governor who just stepped out of office, I asked the then “Your Excellency”- “exactly what do you think you did for the Almighty to have merited this elevation in life’.

He looked me straight in the eyes and said- “if this were to be based on my personal efforts, I do not think I merit this success. But, I know that what has worked for me in life are the prayers of my parents”! Pray for your children; it is the only remediatory measure that we can take to correct the error we have all committed: the ‘error’ in bringing them to this strange world.