Godwin Williams
Me, a millionaire at 25! Never in my life would I have thought this possible, particularly after wasting 4 good years looking for a job that wasn’t even going to settle my needs. I, Godwin Williams becoming a millionaire at 25, in Nigeria? At a point, this looked like a day dream, a fantasy that was never going to become a reality but here I am, Godwin Williams, a successful, professional website designer.
I never thought I would be a website designer. All I wanted to become was a petroleum engineer. I studied Petroleum engineering for 5 years, came out with a first class but still couldn’t find a job even in most local oil stations. As God would have it, I saw an ad for a website designing course, registered, finished, started practising and boom, the money started flowing in. To me, God gave me many clients.
I have always harboured the dream of having a family, training my kids, being there for them. Finally, I started a family with my heartthrob. She gave birth to a bouncing baby girl for me. I was so happy.
All was going well and good until a police operative unit set up to combat violent crimes and armed robberies in my country suddenly stopped our car when we were on our way back from a family outing at night.
“Come down, all of you come down”, all of them shouted in unison. It was as if they recently got information that we were spies or worse armed robbers. “What is wrong, oga officer? Why are you telling us to come down?” We did nothing wrong. We are not going to come down until you give a legal and valid reason to” I said. I had lawyer friends; I wasn’t going to allow some individuals to trample on my rightjust because they were holding guns.
“Na us you dey talk to like that, you this ritualist. That baby wey you carry for back na for rituals, You and that ashewo beside you. Confess na before I shoot you”. One of them said raising his gun.
I was perplexed and shocked, you dare say I am using my own child for rituals and called my wife a slut. I was so angry, so angry, I couldn’t take it anymore. I told my wife to stay in the care and angrily came down from the car.
“Oga, I no be ritualist, my wife no be ashewo. Please apologise”.I said. Omo see this yahoo boy,another officer said,you dey drive benz and using Iphone, you kon carry dreads for head. You think say we no know say you dey carry that child to renew your yahoo yahoo rituals. Pay us 100k now or we will arrest you for being a ritualist and yahoo boy.”
I couldn’t believe what I heard, I was shocked. I picked up my phone and tried calling my lawyer friend. “Who you dey call?” One of them said. Before I could even reply, they took my phone and smashed on the ground”. The phone broke to pieces.
“Move, you are under arrest” the officer said. “Under arrest for what?” I asked. “You still dey ask abi, you still dey ask”. BeforeI could say Jack Robinson, a hot slap landed on my face. It was at this point my wife and my child came out screaming and crying.
It all happened so fast. They all gathered to assault me. “You dey resist arrest abi? You think say you dey wise abi?”I tried to wiggle my way out, more like I tried to wrestle my way out. I managed to get on my feet then I heard the shot and felt a very sharp pain at my back. Two shots straight to my back. I landed on the floor bleeding heavily. The police unit seeing what they had gone hurried to their car and drove away.
As I bled to my death, all I could think about was the fact that I wasn’t going to be there for my daughter, that she was never going to get to know me, that I was never going to really know her. She was just eight months old and she has already been rendered fatherless. I was not going to be there to protect her, guide her, play with her, give her fatherly advice. I was never going to. I could not hear the shouting and screaming around me. I could only hear the thoughts in my head. The thought of my wife being alone in this journey added more pains even I breathed my final breath.
This was how I found myself in the land at the other side. Killed by the ones who are supposed to protect me from killers…
Pelumi King
NB: This story is purely fictional. Any relation to real names and real events is purely coincidental.
