It was December 2012 when my mum called asking if we are coming home for Christmas. I told her it seemed unlikely based on prevalent conditions. Fast forward 25-Dec-2012 she called to exchange greeting. She sounded lively and energic. She prayed for family and me and blessed us.
New Year day, we spoke again. Again, she prayed and blessed the New Year for us. Before we ended the call she called my name as usual:
"Dozie" (my pet name);
"Yes Mum", I answered.
"Don't forget the God we worship and never forget your prayers".
Little did I know those were her last words to me. Almost immediately, she had a visitor upstairs (in our village house - Idemili, Anambra, Nigeria). She sat in a chair opposite the visitor and was gisting. All of a sudden, my mother slumped. The visitor rushed her and saw blood dripping from her heart. It turned out that a stray bullet pierced the roof and hit her directly on the heart.
She struggled to talk but could only utter one word to the visitor - "Dozie". She still struggled to live but gave up.
Eventually after investigations, it turned out that the bullet was from one of the armed escorts accompanying so-called dignitaries at a ceremony a bit far from our home. The trigger-happy escort shot in the air to impress the audience not realizing the implication - A life was being taken. Such recklessness! Such cruelty. And so my mum passed on.
This is a true story. I did not write it just to get upvotes but to plead on anyone reading this not always consider the impact of our actions and evangelize it. Often times we do many things without considering the impact and implications to the environment.
Some of us eat in cars and throw leftovers through the window. Imagine you threw a banana pill and a bike coming behind skid on it, tumble and crash, have you not killed?
Imagine you are driving and meet traffic in a junction, and then you blocked the junction forcing others to standstill. Imagine there is a patient being driven to hospital but got stuck because you blocked the junction. If eventually they get to hospital 2 minutes late and they could not revive him, have you not killed?
Imagine the other things you do, think of the consequences, think of the impact, and think of the environment think of others, think LOVE.