So many things have changed in today’s world, and I doubt we’ll ever enjoy so many things we used to do in the past. A few days ago, I was going through a street, and some women were frying beans cake. I couldn’t tell what the occasion was, but many years ago, places like that used to be very crowded. It was a Yoruba tradition for people to fry beans cake on behalf of their loved ones who passed away, just as they cooked beans for twins on their naming ceremony. Things like that brought us together.
Foods like these were accessible to anyone; you just had to go there, and they couldn’t deny you. I remember clearly, about two decades ago, when I was returning from school and saw something like that. I was very famished and went to take some beans cake, which was accompanied with soft bread. A lot of people were going in and out of the place because we understood the purpose of this food, but along the line, the purpose of making this food changed.
People started having evil motives, doing fetish things with this food, and people no longer go for them. It’s not just about the food; it’s about the sense of community and shared values that came with it. We used to come together because we trusted and supported each other, but that was then.
This loss of trust runs deep and now we no longer feel safe relating with one another. Neighbors don’t even trust each other; kids on the same block can’t mingle and I wonder how we arrived here. It’s not getting better, just like many things in the world today. Sadly, that strong bond we used to have, despite not being family, isn’t there anymore.
People just develop hate without even knowing you. In this digital age, it’s even worse because someone will just start hating you from merely seeing your pictures.
This hate can turn deadly leading to loss of life which I would say makes no sense. This reminds me of a post circulating recently about two men who met their end by butchering each other in a fight. The whole thing started with their kids fighting, and it escalated from them to their fathers—something I barely experienced as a kid.
Looking back, when I was younger, a boy and I were playing with stones. He was throwing them at me, and when I decided to retaliate, I hit his forehead, and it was really bad. Before I could do anything, my mom heard about the situation and took me with her to the boy’s house. I got the craziest beating of my life, and my mom didn’t even want to listen to me when I was explaining that the boy threw stones at me first.
She paid for the treatment and the incident didn't affect our parents relationship as neighbors. I got disciplined, and that lesson stuck with me throughout my childhood. I didn’t dare throw stones at anyone again.
This same thing happened at my former residence, and it was a big fight between the parents because the mother of the culprit didn’t want anyone to scold her child, after all, they were playing together with stones. Despite living in one compound, seeing each other everyday, they don't even greet themselves.
The repercussions of abandoning the old way of life is very clear but we don't care and this shows how far we’ve drifted. While navigating the complexities of life, it’s very easy to lose touch with that genuine human connection and trust we once had which leaves us isolated and vulnerable. We’ve all become different humans and it’s important we restore the connections we once shared.
The genuine relationship and bonding is one of those things I would love to bring back to life because the absence of it is having a terrible effect on the human race. The absence of love is why neighbors would kill themselves, it’s why we can no longer tolerate each other, and it’s destroying us.
It would be a tough thing to achieve but with everyone thinking deeply about how worse things have become, we can bring back the old society we once had.
All Image Are Mine.