One Second Away From Death!

“HOwam I going to feed myself and my family?” Albert asked himself that cold evening in the shack where he now lived, in the ghetto of Orile, a Lagos suburb. He took a long and sombre look at his five children who were sleeping on the hard, cold floor without any food in their stomach. The children had cried for close to two hours, lamenting their plight and condition, but when they realised that their dad had nothing to give them as food, they accepted their fate and slept off with empty stomach. His wife, Nze was fast asleep too, without food. Albert Chukwudi made up his mind to poison himself and end it all. He wondered how life could treat him so wickedly. Albert was formerly the senior executive advert manager of Antope International Agency based in Ikeja, Lagos. He had everything going on well for him. He had a fat bank account, two good and sophisticated cars and was living in his own house. The house was a duplex, and it was an architectural masterpiece. That time in his life was sweet and memorable. His children attended the best schools in town, ate the best food and wore the best clothes designed by the best designers in town.

‘ Who would dare believe that fortune could treat me this way?’ he thought. ‘ Two years ago I was enjoying life without any qualms… and suddenly my destiny became a sour tale… Almighty God, the only solution is to poison myself and die… I know I’ll find peace and solace in death …’

Such is life! Albert, who had rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty in the society a couple of years ago later had to face the most traumatic and sad dimension of life. He couldn’t fathom or understand why destiny was cruel and angry with him. Tears dropped from his eyes when he recalled what the security man in his former place of work had said when he asked him for some money to feed his children: “Oga, I must help you because you were nice to us when things were good for you.” The man then dipped his hand in his pocket and gave Albert N500 and told him to manage it.

Albert was in his early 40s at the time of his travails, and all he could then think about was death. The father of five children, who was formerly fat, with glossy skin, later looked gaunt and tattered. He had no iota of courage or hope in his soul again. What led to his total hopelessness and morbid condition of mind could be traced to his grave experience two years before that time.

His travails began when he got a loan of N12 million from his former employer to build his own personal house. Exactly five months later, he packed into his new house, which was a beautiful duplex, along with his immediate family. However, six months later he got a summon from the court that he should vacate the landed property because the land belonged to someone else. Albert was worried at the development. He started running from pillar to post – really disorganised. When the time stipulated by the court summon to vacate the said land expired, it was like a nightmare to Albert as bulldozers belonging to the local government drove in and demolished all that he ever worked for in his entire life. To be continued