On a day like this, I remember the cradle days of life where your neighbors were your parents in absentia; where the street was the melting pot of innocence and soulless fantasies; where the exploits of great men and women were re-echoed in proud symphonies.
Just like yesterday, I remember the simplicity that accompanied life where dogs were admirable pets of men and not guards of men.
I still remember with no feelings in my groin the nakedness of girls around me. The only time a girl will be different from a boy is when her natural cyclical flow was noticed and she coiled towards the knees of
elderly women.Rape was a difficult word even in the dictionary.
Pre-marital sex was an alien word and pregnancy was only seen when mothers begat new babies.
I remember with fondness when there were just two sets of people; the plenty good people and the very few bad ones. Those in the latter category were easily spotted and collectively stereotyped by the former. No crime was committed and even when committed, offenders were severely punished and stigmatized.
I remember the time of just one Christian and one Muslim faithful. God was adored in solemnity and in spirit. My uncle could walk up to just a place of worship and commune with his God as a Christian and my father would just walk to any open mosque and offer supplication to the Almighty Allah without being asked if he was a Dharika, Izala, Suffist or Sunnist.
Oh, life was solemnly divine in time past. We could count our Imams and Pastors!
Even as a child, I remember with nostalgia the time of town unions where parents levied themselves to raise token that was sent to their rural communities to be used for developmental projects; the time of communal habitation, where all men were for themselves, local healthcare were built, drainages were constructed and boreholes dug from the contributions of the altruistic whole. Life was collective and mutually beneficial.
I look back to the days of fewer refrigerators, where the source of water was from the constantly running tap. And defunct National
Electric Power Authority, NEPA, warned you with three intermittent
blinks, preparing you to get your lantern close for imminent power
seizure; beautiful time, where Water Board would announce on radio and TV, a likely interruption in water supply and so you have to fill all your water pots and taverns, or anything that can hold and store water, with water; one that would last you for days before the water supply would be back and running.
I remember the time when private schools were countable and most children were in public schools; when same syllabuses were used to teach the children in Zungeru and the ones at Calabar and Gandoki.
Edet and Simbi were historical references to our intellectual psyche.
After yesterday, then comes today. Today, where the absurdities of yesterday are now the norms of today; where the very things that caused scorn in the past are unashamedly celebrated with candor. When lying seem more welcoming and appreciated than telling the truth; where people have grown intelligent enough to back up every single of their actions with one reason or the other. Foolishness in guise!
For those who are in close touch with yesterday, tell her today has cut the connecting link. The people are so in love with the present that yesterday matters not to their future.
musing
