Travelling, of whatever length or duration is for me a moment of fertility. As vehicles race past one another or as we race past foliage of green forests, sandy arid deserts, intimidating rolling hills, flowing rivers or swirling littering ocean, or as wide-bodied aeroplanes slice swiftly and deep into silent woolly clouds to swim delicately in the air, I settle into my seat with sweet imaginations rioting in me.
A trip to Badagry in the far west of the maddening Lagos offered me one such opportunity although on a frustratingly bumpy ride for almost the entire stretch of the road from the ghetto Okokomaiko to the heartland of the Ogus , a minority tribe in the state of aquatic splendour. It was to witness the memorable wedding of the daughter of a consummate journalist colleague, Qasim Akinreti. It would not be my first time of traveling to this beach town reputed as the embarking point for shipment of able-bodied Africans to the West Indies during the slavery era to farm in the Sugar plantations of the Caribbean islands or the Amazon rain forests of South America. But on this journey to Badagry on bright Saturday morning, the old slave town sitting by the Atlantic Ocean cut for me the images of some inner towns in the Malaysian States of Sabah and Sarawak on the Borneo Island, an island shared between three countries: Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia in South East Asia.
As I was soaking myself in the refreshing purity of the air of Badagry, occasionally punctuated by the trailing smell of fresh fish from the sandy water front and the surging Atlantic Ocean veiled by tall coconut trees, I was fascinated by the neat but narrow lanes skirting the entire town. In this fascinating frame, my mind was also pulsating on the illustrations of life and man’s struggle in it. I was visualizing the life of Qasim Akinreti who is giving out is daughters and in marriage. The trip to Badagry for the marriage Baseerah in her early 20s after a quality education offered me a perfect opportunity to explore life in its diversity
At 50 plus, Akinreti has come far in Nigerian journalism. With a doctorate in Mass Communication obtained from Babcock University and leading the entire journalists in Lagos as the Chairman of the State Council of NUJ, this passionate and unassuming newsman has risen unenviably to a deputy director, like me, in Voice of Nigeria. The marriage signals becoming a grandfather soon, not an emergency or unplanned one for that matter, because the daughter he is marrying off has been adequately groomed, completing her education in a record time. Was Qasim’s journey as effortless as the one his daughter is embarking on with marriage? I thought no. I said having led his daughter on a smooth course, he is giving her a head start, with a multiphase and well attended marriage that brought many Lagos journalists into the bowels of the serene, 1972 established Administrative Staff College[a1] of Nigeria in Topo.
.In my estimation, Life is neither a straight line nor is it a perfect curve. In fact, the race of life comes with or covers different distances, requiring different strategies, depending on the coping capacity or capabilities of individuals to endure its stress and strains. In life, there are always hurdles to cross, barriers to crash and pains to endure. Therefore, those wo want to run the race of life as a dash affair often arrive too early, needing greater energy to continue acceleration in top speed and top form especially if they will be blessed with longevity. Tats herculean for those who came to power, fame or wealth in their 20s or early 30s. They must always be on frenetic run if their wealth must last their entire life time and be sustained over generations.
The elasticity of life is in varying degrees and dimensions as well. There are those whose lives are infinitely inelastic. Nothing changes for them, no matter the era or clime they live. Like a pond, they are static or stagnant, glued to one spot. Yet, its pure fun for some. Who do we blame for the fate whose life is stunted or zig-zag? So I begin to see life in different shades. For some, the elasticity is irregular, changing in gradient at some points, stagnating in some areas or proceeding perfectly at some times. There is also life cycle. But some cycles of life never run their full course before termination while in running their cycles some are extremely slow you will conclude they may never conclude it at any significant point. Here, I see some whose lives are of pure adventure, filled with fun. In a life of adventures, Bohemians and hedonists mostly thrive. Ajeku laiye, Aye laa se ka to sorun. You find most members of the adventurous club on the fast lane of life caring less about tomorrow. They live for now. Pole apart from the adventurers are those who have been pummelled or humbled to submission by adversities. Life of adversity is never a life to pray or wish for. It’s a trial and tribulations filled existence in wic those wo fate forced into its frame hardly find any favour in life.
Between these two poles of adventures and adversities, I find people who live life of adulation, or an endearing. As illustrated in Thesaurus, this has different variants and definitions such as adoration, praise, worship, exaltation, respect, admiration, reverence, idolisation, or glorification. Ironically, like in Pareto Principle only a few does Providence guarantee this inspiring, exemplary life of achievements, emulation or recommendation where the greater percentage of people mere eke out living. In my further reflection, I find two other variants of life, a Life of Administration and that of Adaptation or Adjustment. By Life of Administration, I mean an ordered, organized or planned life. Administrators need not be rich at all. The thing about them is administrators try to manage their lives, to cope with circumstances, to live within limits, to conform without complaining. They are not so much different from adaptors or those who are able to any situation they find themselves, even if sour or sorrowful. Usually, I find these groups among the Stoics. Thesaurus again assisted me in the definition of life of the Stoics. They are enduring, tolerant, patient, usually indifferent, sometimes apathetic, resigned, even passive, the extreme of which that they could be fatalist or ascetic as dictionaries can also be unjust to tem in defining them as impassive or unfeeling persons.
Whatever the description or definition, I always see life as a maze. Life is truly amazing. Why? Some go through a maze of life almost effortlessly and unaided while others are always at the dead-end in each move they make in the maze called life. You wonder how crooks are undeservingly successful, escaping the long hands of the law mostly while the conscientious, and the skilful, gifted or intelligent are painfully impoverished or stagnated. Now, I arrived at a standpoint that the distance, the longevity of a life is immaterial but how and at what station did we end the race of life are of utmost significance.
This is where we must interrogate wat is life of victory and that of villainy or infamy. Either classification of life is to be found in the dignity or integrity with which we live our life entirely, the diligence with which we toiled to arrive at our station and the devotion and dedication with which we attend to or follow our life course. This is a question or an issue of conscience which a philosopher described as an open wound which only truth heals. In this, I found sincerity, faith and conscientious work, rooted in the belief that man will live wholesome or enriching life only if he realizes that this life is not the ultimate end, that there is still another life. This is type of life I typify as the life of admonition, the exemplary life from which others can take lessons of life, a life that is constructed on piety and faith in the Creator of Heavens and the Earth.
This life of admonition leads to the awakening of conscience, the pursuit of truth at all times, the enthronement of justice and fairness, promotion of virtues, battling vices, living abstemiously with contentment in endowment, gratitude for every favour, quickness to rectitude and self-accounting as well as penitence at every infractions, consciously or unconsciously committed .
To the adepts, this is a life of righteousness and consideration for the Afterlife. Yet, to many engrossed with or consumed in This Life, that life, the Afterlife is still a mystery, even a mirage and an unfathomable idea about existence. So, they care less about the ultimate Truth and reality that This Life is A Trial.
Abdulwarees, a volunteer for the Muslim Public Affairs Centre, MPAC Nigeria as Director, Media and Strategic Communications is also the Acting Deputy Director, Strategic Planning & Corporate Development, Voice of Nigeria
korewarith@yahoo.com, 08090595723