We cannot take away the fact that our environment, city, community, or country we live in has an influence on the way we behave, and it goes on to give us a lifestyle, whether negative or positive. The community where I was brought up was, and still is, a very peaceful one, and this greatly impacted my peaceful lifestyle. I want to make this article a storytelling piece, so let's go.
A certain time when I was in the community, an announcement came through the native town crier that no one should go to the bush to farm because herdsmen had entered the bush with their cows to graze. These herdsmen were very dangerous to the extent that anyone who challenged them on the farm or tried to chase their cows away would be beaten mercilessly or even killed. When the announcement came, the youths were charged up and wanted to go into the bush to confront the herdsmen and stage a fight until they ran away. This was because that’s what neighbouring communities usually did whenever herdsmen trespassed into their farmlands. The youths were ready for that, but the elders of the community refused. They begged the youths to stay calm while they looked for a way to settle the issue amicably without going to war. That very day, the elders went to meet the people in power in the state, especially politicians with influence. Legal practitioners were also contacted. The end of the story is that the herdsmen were successfully escorted out of the land and were warned never to cross a particular boundary to graze in areas designated for farming.
What I want to point out in this story is that if the elders of the community were not known for initiating peace instead of war, it would have resulted in a bloodbath. And bloodbaths are usually the end result in other nearby communities whenever herdsmen enter their farmlands to graze. This is why my community, often tagged as a lazy one, is actually one of the most peaceful communities in my Local Government Area. Non-indigenes love to live there because there is never any reason to run for their lives due to war.
This lifestyle has become a part of me because I always look for ways to make peace whenever trouble, quarrel, or war is looming. This doesn’t mean that I don’t hit back when I’m attacked, I do, but only sometimes, and only when a situation is completely out of hand. Still, I always seek peace first.
This world we live in will be a much better place if all of us shun trouble and war, and embrace peace at all costs. The ongoing war in the world can easily die down if the countries involved accept dialogue and choose to make peace. It’s that simple.
Thanks!
