Sometimes I wonder if I am still living among humans or aliens due to the things happening around me. The name, Nigeria should be the name of a comedy show and not just a country.
Believe me when I say things are hard in the country and despite the challenges we are facing as individuals, it is impossible for you not to laugh when you hear or see some things happening around you.
Strolling in the evening is a habit I cultivated a long time ago and there are days I am always happy I didn't stay back at home even when I feel tired.
I decided to relax under a big tree in the neighborhood during one of my evening strolls and while I was enjoying the evening breeze, I started hearing a voice screaming from afar.
The person was far away and the voice wasn't audible enough but as she got nearer, it turned out to be that she was cursing someone. I ignored her and continued my bonding with nature.
Suddenly another lady was coming and it looked like she escaped from hell.
The lady who was cursing rolled her jean trouser at the sight of the other lady and I knew immediately that a Royal rumble smackdown was about to go down.
Other passersby stopped to see what was happening and I didn't leave the spot I was. The two clashed and the fight started, I didn't know what to do and people were observing at first so no one interfered.
The thought of the ladies hurting themselves didn't let me watch for long so I started telling them to stop but I didn't get close. People interfered and soon they were separated.
An elderly man asked what happened and I was shocked by their story. The girls are friends, one invited the other to join an online thrift.
Did you repeat the word, online thrift? I couldn't stop repeating the word in my head as well.
She has been saving for a while and now that she needs her money, the thrift collector is not coming online anymore and his phone number is not going through. In the end, they discovered that the thrift collector has absconded with their money.
The word "online" wasn't clear and in the end, I got to know that they didn't even know the thrift collector. One joined the thrift group through a WhatsApp link and invited the other so the lady that was invited is really mad at her friend because she believe that it was a setup.
I couldn't stop laughing and just walked away like many other people who wasted their time separating the girls, I was like in this century and age we live in, some people are still foolish enough to join an online thrift without knowing the admin or anyone related. I wish they weren't separated so that they can kick the foolishness out of each other heads.
On my way home, I had to pinch myself to be sure that I haven't slipped into another world because what I saw earlier was just unbelievable to me. I eventually reminded myself that I am in Nigeria, a place where unbelievable things happen.
The drama brought back memories of things I never thought could happen and living in the ghetto made me experience lots of unbelievable things.
There was a particular time that whenever we spread our clothes outside to dry, they usually get missing.
I had four pairs of jeans then that were majorly for work and at a point, I had nothing.
I had to get new ones and things got worse to the extent that I can't wash them during the week because I wouldn't be around to watch over them and on weekends when I do, I have to sit with the cloth until it is dry.
We all adapted to the new life since the culprit could not be apprehended.
On a fateful day, I woke up around 5 am because I have to be at work on or before 7 am for training.
The bathroom is not inside the building so I went to fetch water from a well and I was surprised to see my neighbor washing at that time of the day.
We greeted each other and I went to have my bath. I was about to leave home about thirty minutes later when he ran after me to ask if I helped him pack his clothes.
He sounded crazy to me so I just started laughing but he wasn't so I stopped. I told him I didn't understand what he was asking and he said that he went inside for just five minutes after spreading the cloth and they were gone.
I switched on my phone flashlight to confirm what he was saying and to my surprise, the clothes were truly gone.
I was dumbfounded, I couldn't say a word or process why someone would steal wet clothes. We checked around but there were no traces, It was just unbelievable and till I left the house, we couldn't apprehend the thief.