It's just my code

Looking at the title of this prompt, I suddenly remembered what one particular anime character says all the time, and if you have watched Naruto, then you will know this phrase too; "I never go back on my words, that is my Ninja way" 😅 that is basically his moral code, which just means he never breaks his promises. Everyone has certain things they will never do no matter what happens, and I believe we have all heard stories of people even dying because they refuse to do something that goes against their morals. But then again, do you have such strong convictions when it comes to your moral code?

It's not surprising that so many people have ended up going against their moral codes for one reason or another, and that's because it's never easy to keep to your code, especially when in very desperate and critical situations. That is why I don't blame people who end up doing the things they said they would never do, because I never know what they went through that made them go against their code and I won't understand until I have found myself in such a situation. On the other hand, we have those who break their code out of curiosity, looking to explore and then they end up loving that vice and even getting addicted to it.

For me, two things come to my mind when I think of moral codes and the first is smoking; I don't think I will ever have a reason to smoke anything, be it cigarettes or marijuana (weed). Smokers have different reasons why they do so, some will say they love the high they get from it and it helps them forget about their worries (mostly weed smokers) while others will say it helps them stay warm during cold weather (cigarette smokers). Now that's the one I don't get; Nigeria is already a warm country, what are you using cigarettes to get warm again? I can understand its use in temperate countries where temperatures can go down to subzero but, using it in the tropics? It doesn't make sense

Then some say it helps them cope with negative emotions like anxiety or depression but from what I have noticed, it does make things worse in the long run because aside from the emotional issues you're facing (which will still be there after you have come down from your high), you will still end up battling addiction. During my earlier years at the university, I stayed in a hostel with a lot of smokers and at one point, even my roommate became one of them. I always wondered what they see in smoking but I never for once nursed the idea of trying it out to see what it feels like, it's something I have said I would never do and I never broke that code. You would be surprised by the number of youths that smoke one thing or the other in Benin City.

Secondly, I have a strict moral code against scamming/defrauding people, it's something I would never do despite being presented with several opportunities to do so. I live in a city with one of the highest numbers of fraudsters in the country and it's so bad that when you see a group of 10 youths gathered, there's a very high chance that more than half of them are into one type of fraud or another. A couple of years ago, I had this circle of 5 friends but I had to cut them off because they all went into internet fraud and I was the only one left behind. Rather than going into fraud, I decided to look into ways of making money online legitimately.

That was how I discovered Hive and many other platforms. With more research, I realized I needed to learn a skill and I ended up learning graphics design during the COVID-19 lockdown, did some design jobs back then and made some money. Now I have switched from graphics design to software engineering and it has been a remarkable experience. I didn't want to resort to scamming people just to make money and end up looking over my shoulders for the rest of my life, so I channelled that energy into something good. The time I will spend perfecting the art of scamming can be spent learning a skill and monetizing, thereby having a clean conscience.

I'm never going to go against these two things I have mentioned and if I was able to go all through my university years without breaking any of them, then I'm good to go. The pressure to go into both of these things I have mentioned is very high in tertiary institutions, as many smokers or scammers I know started when they were in the university or polytechnic. But as I said earlier, I don't blame people who end up doing these things because I don't know the circumstances that led them to make that decision. The only thing I can do is pray that I never find myself in a situation where I will resort to smoking or engaging in cyber fraud just to make a living.

Thanks for reading