One morning, during my course of study in the university, I woke up, in a hurry to go the bathroom to ease myself, lo and behold, I beheld a sight that left me dumbfounded for some time and the urine I wanted to let out had to respect the moment and hold its piss. The sight of a truth, grieved my spirit.
What sight was this?
I saw one of the hostel cleaners who in a hurry, rushed into the hostel and his first destination, was the waste bin. The waste bin! Can you imagine? In fact, you do not want to know how the waste bin in my hostel looks like especially in the morning. Now I was surprised as to why that would be where he first goes to and why in such a hurry. Well, I did not wait too long to get for myself the answer to this early morning mystery. The cleaner rushed there first and in such a hurry so that he would be able to get for himself the left-over food thrown into the waste bin by the students the previous night, and this signalled to me that he surely is not the only one in this novel trade. He found a half-eaten bread then kept this pearl of great price in a nylon bag he had come with for this purpose. In shock and disbelief, I called him and asked him in English:
“What do you want to use the bread for?”
He did not answer me. Probably because he could not speak English well or could not speak it at all. At this point, I gave him a stipend and dissuaded him from doing such again.
The story does not end there, here’s something that thrilled me. I told my roommate about what I had seen, and he affirmed that he knows and had he not told me before that the cleaners take or pick up disposed food from the waste bin to it? Of course he had told me, but I found it hard to believe. So about a year later, this same room mate of mine bought bread and egg one night and having eaten out of it, he could not finish it. I then saw him put the remaining he could not finish into a nylon and then he tied it. I knew he was not going to eat it again so then I had to ask him,
“What are you going to do with that?”
This was his reply:
“I would keep it in a place where these cleaners can see it and pick it up to eat tomorrow since I cannot finish it and I would not be eating it again”.
Now that struck me hard. This was THE ONE DAY I WAS CHALLENGED for even though I had given one of these cleaners a small amount of money sometime back, here was someone who rather than waste resources, would give to the less privileged. Here was someone who cared a lot about the well being of such people. Yes! He may not have given these cleaners so much, but I tell you, the little he has given means so much and is no mean feat.
Finally my fellow Nigerians, we crave and yearn for national excellence and growth, yet we disregard love and care which are the smallest strings we would pull that one bring about ONE NIGERIA.
Remember these words;
IF YOU ARE MORE FORTUNATE THAN OTHERS, IT IS BETTER TO SET A LONGER TABLE, THAN BUILD A TALLER FENCE.
GOD BLESS YOU
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA.
Twitter: jerryjohn_
Facebook: Jerryjohnenoch
Instagram: jerryjohnenoch
(c)jerryjohnenoch2016
