I was going to serve my beloved country straight out of the university. It’s a mandatory one- year obligation to serve the country after graduating from a higher institution, and I was getting ready for it.
I had the opportunity to stay back in the bustling city of Abeokuta where I schooled but I rejected it. My supervisor spoke to me about it, and he was willing to pay the cost of making sure I stayed back, but I didn’t want to.
He discussed with one of my other lecturers too to convince me so I would stay back, but I refused. I understood his reasons, but I had my reasons for wanting to leave the lively state to a boring and less social one.
My supervisor convinced me in so many ways, but I wasn’t going to listen to him because I knew at the time, that wasn’t the best option for me, so I refused despite his many ways of finding people to speak to me about my decision.
I had spent about five years schooling in the state. I had experienced everything from the fun parties, to the late-night bustling, to the multiple markets, restaurants and the beautiful sites, and I wasn’t bored of any of those things, but I had to leave. Why?
First, the cost of survival in that state was not something I could afford. Even though my supervisor promised to give me one of his flats for free, I wasn’t going to take it because as a minimalist, I take the “cut your coat according to your size” seriously. I don’t want to be placed on a pedestal where I wouldn’t be able to keep up, so I rather moved to a state where I wouldn’t have to spend much on renting a one-room apartment.
I left for service, and I was deployed to a much smaller state just like I knew would happen because that’s the style of deployment. I got to the state, made inquiries about securing an accommodation, and I found out that I would spend just 20% of what I would’ve used in the previous state to secure an accommodation there. And because I had some savings to cater for that, I got the apartment and still had a balance more than I thought.
The food market was close to the apartment I secured, and the cost of food was so cheap that I wished I could buy much more and take home to my family. I spent half of what I would’ve spent in the previous city on food items, and I also had access to farmers directly, so, healthy living, plus affordable meals, and low cost of housing? That’s minimalism. I didn’t do much. I just did what my pocket could afford, and I regretted nothing.
I spent a year in service to my country and still stayed back after because even though I missed the social and night life there, I choose peace over pressure, and importantly, a healthy life matters more than the social life in the city.
Images are mine.
