"That's very good of you, my boy, where's your mum?" "What‘s the second law? You promised to teach me the first three today and you have taught me only one". "That's true. The second law of a boy scout is: a scout is loyal" "Wait uncle, let me try and explain that. l think l know what it means to be loyal" "What does it mean?" "We are loyal when we are faithful to someone and when we support such a person without allowing other things to prevent us from doing so".
"That's a beautiful attempt. I am happy that you mentioned the most important component of loyalty which is faith. It is faith that makes us remain loyal to someone. When we are faithful, we leave no space in our hearts for doubts. As a boy scout, you must be loyal to your country, your family and humanity”.
"What is the meaning of humanity, Uncle?"
"Humanity refers to people in general, whether they are related to you or not. As long as they are human beings, we must be good to them. We are loyal to humanity when we treat people as human beings and not as animals or objects, and this leads us into the third law of a boy scout which states that a scout must be helpful at all times".
"Does that mean that as a boy scout I must help everybody?“ “Yes, my dear“. "How is that possible? Nobody has the power to help everybody!”
"(Dayo smiled) Indeed, you can help everybody who needs help as long as you have the capacity to do so. You are not a superman, but you must be ready to help others at all times. Even if the help you are able to give is not sufficient to solve the problem, you must do whatever you can afford to ease the effect of the problem".
"What if l have no power at all to help the person?“ “You don't need any special power. Mere speech which is filled with love is a way of helping a person. Refusing to use harsh words against a person who has offended you is also a way of helping the person“. "But how can my speech help a person?”
"With soft speech, you can make the burden of pain easier to bear; you can give hope to those who are hopeless by telling them about God; you can speak kindly to a sick person to help him feel better and you can help those who offend you by speaking in a gentle manner when they expect you to get angry; in such a manner, you will force them to change to better conducts. If you react and get angry too often, you won't help yourself and you won't help others".
"Thank you, uncle but can you teach me the remaining laws?" "Of course, I can, but I think your instructors at the boy scouts club should do that, however, l want to tell you a story. Have you ever heard of holes in the wall? "No, uncle”.
"There was once a little boy who had a bad temper. He was always getting angry and anytime he felt offended, he would say terrible things to the person who has offended him. One day, his Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence. The first day, the boy had driven thirty seven nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually reduced. He soon discovered that it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence...
Finally, the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out one nail for each day that he was abte to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nail were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, ”You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.” The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter
how many times you say ’l'm sorry’, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends and loved ones are gifts of God. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. Let your relationships grow with kindness... therefore be careful about what you say and how you say it.. he concluded as Mrs Ojo interjected.
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