On a beautiful day during my Industrial Training at AutoClinic Academy, Ibadan, Nigeria. I was coming back to our placid abode from a very intensive work day. I was looking so tired but hopeful, looking forward to a busy night in preparation for the next workday.
I didn’t know my day was about to get even more interesting, I missed the luxurious bus. and I had to enter a commercial bus to get myself conveyed home. The unbearable condition of the vehicle was beginning to infuriate me until I made my way to the back of the bus to sit down. I looked beside me, and saw a nursing mother backing her beautiful baby.
I stared at the baby for a while, remembering how much I love babies and how I always wanted to carry them when I was very young. The innocent baby was a fair girl, she looked so vibrant and stunning. She was really an epitome of her mother.
The innocuous baby was staring at me with evident trust on her face. I remembered how much it can’t be overstated that infants love and trust easily. Trust is indeed a short cut for a child’s brain.
A study, conducted by Vikram Jaswal, illustrated that children are naturally inclined to believe what they are told. Jaswal concluded that the trust levels of children are designed to save the child’s brain from constantly evaluating everything.
I was immersed in the full consciousness of infant’s innocency and trust when the old vehicle was jacked to life, giving a very unpleasant mechanical sound, especially to me, a lover of automobiles. A stone’s throw from where we took off, the driver wanted to buy fuel in a colossal gas station and we had to stop.
Amidst our stop over, the mother of the beautiful baby, already getting frustrated at that moment checked the screen of her phone as it vibrates. It was ‘Mon Cheri’ calling. As an amateur and a lover of French language, I was able to guess that her husband was calling.
I did not want to start a conversation in a commercial vehicle, but I still wanted to ask her whether she speak French. So, I would rather wait for the perfect time to ask her. Interestingly, about a minute later, she wanted me to help her adjust the hand of the little damsel enjoying the satisfaction of her mother’s back. I obliged complacently, and graciously adjusted her little hand.
I finally had an opportunity to ask her, don’t you think? So, I enquired in a solemn voice, do you speak French? She stared at me looking so flabbergasted. Then she asked, how do you know? I was enjoying the situation, and wanted to make her more keen and suspicious. So, I waited for a moment, keeping a smiley face until I finally uncovered that I saw the ‘Mon Cheri’ she saved someone’s number with.
By this time, our dramatic driver has jolted the car into motion. The woman chuckled, she told me she speak French to a reasonable extent before then she asked curiously, do you speak French? I was expecting the question, I told her I am an ardent lover of the language, and I have been learning erratically from my Ivorian friend. She encouraged me to learn well, as she claimed French is a very easy language.
The sun was beginning to show its face against the baby from the other side of the bus’ rear window. At this moment, she could no more face the other side intermittently. She was looking at me playfully, exuding her genuineness and innocence. She was playing with her mother’s curly hair and wanted to start eating it.
I was observing her intently, satisfied to know that her hand could reach the hair, but could not take it to her mouth in that position. She began to struggle with it helplessly like a typical baby. Then she halted for a second, now craving genuinely for my help to put the hair into her mouth. So adorable, she never knew it is bad or unhealthy, she just wanted it. As she was reaching for it again, I did not consent. I brought her hand down and she was looking at me pathetically.
I was thinking about the whole situation critically, and I began to think about myriads of life phenomenon we can relate the situation to. A practical example is the issue of examination malpractices. It has gradually become a menace in Nigeria. The excruciating part of it is that these children do not under the permanent repercussions of their actions. The teacher or elderly person who knows quite alright, is the one helping to ‘put the hair in their mouth’. You can begin to excogitate how pathetic it is. We have so many other malpractices.
Consider a situation where children who are oblivious of the aftermath of their actions or inactions is directly on the losing end of the parasitic relationship. And the elderly ones who is indulging them, encouraging the laxity is either not losing or consummately gaining. You can begin to imagine this aberration going on in our society, and the outcome we should be expecting in the next few years if we do not stand up against this menace.
Other examples of day to day occurrence oozing this misappropriation can be found in the undeniable indulgence we have in parenting, oddity happening in our Schools, private organizations, public organizations, hospitals, and other institutions to mention but a few. You can glaringly see leaders ‘putting hair in the mouth of their oblivious followers’ anywhere in our society these days.
I admonish that you as a fundamental part of the society will look into this barbarity, check yourself thoroughly for any trace of this problem for correction, and also rise to speak against it. We can only achieve a better world together.
I just wish I have touched someone positively. Please clap and follow this page for more interesting content. Thank you so much for reading.🥰❤️
© Stephen Oke, September 2023.