I THINK I'M ABOUT TO GO MAD!!

These were the exact words said to me by a young man on a Monday evening.
I was going back home (I stay off-campus) and I decided to walk the distance between my institution's Student Union Building and the School gate. With my earphones plugged in listening to Charlie Puth, I didn't pay attention as people passed me by on the sidewalk. Atleast until a guy looking to be in his early-mid twenties slowed down to say those words to me. I was taken aback and I couldn't say anything for a few seconds (I mean who just walks up to you and says that with a mirthless smile on his face). But my curiousity got the better of me, as always.
Our conversation went thus:
Me: Uhhh, why?
Him: I've been smoking for a long time now.
(Pause.... I let that info sink in)
Me: What's your name?
Him: Marcus.(real name withheld)
Me: What department are you in?
Him: (chuckles mildly) I don't trust you. The funny thing is, people in my department see me as this good guy. They wouldn't know that 'Marcus' could be doing this.
Me: ohhhh.
Him: what department are you in?
Me: lol, why should I trust you either?
Him: (laughs) it's not that, but there's the possibility you might turn me in. Just a few months ago, UNILAG expelled some students because of this and even UI at one time blocked the road to Poly Ibadan cos people usually bought and sold it there. And I don't want you to turn me in.
Me: I understand. (At this point I'm guessing he's talking about cannabis.)
(Pause)
Me: How old were you when you started taking it?
Him: I was in secondary school... (thinks for a while) I grew up on the streets you get? I had to do things for my self. I grew up on the streets.
(We just walk)
I want to stop it cause I know it's wrong and it's affecting me.
Have you ever smoked before?
Me: No, I haven't.
Him: Good, good. Don't do it if you haven't. And be careful. Peer influence is possible. Watch the people you walk around with. I can call out 4 people I've influenced since I got to UI and now they're regular smokers. (By this time we had already gotten to the gate)
(Pause)
Me: where are you going now?
Him: I'll just walk, walk (he waves his hand in no particular direction) and come back.
Me: okay... (We keep walking and I soon get to where I'd take a keke napep to my place) Marcus! (I have to call out to him cos he's obviously in another realm already) I have to cross and take a keke home.
Him: Okay. (with the mirthless smile, he turns and walks away)
Me: Bye. (But I'm sure he can no longer hear me)

The exchange got me feeling....humbled. It didn't seem like he wanted to make friends with me or even my acquaintance. He didn't even ask for my name. I guess he just needed to talk to someone at that moment and I was just the random person that felt right.
I did feel sad tho. I wish I could have done more for him. Maybe collect his number and try to help him through this stage in his life.(I messed up in that regard, I didn't ask for it)
While we walked I could realized he was 'disturbed'. I use disturbed and not deranged cos, he's a student for goodness sake! He wasn't wearing rags. But it did seem like he was on the brink of losing it. Throughout our interaction, he kept on giving long pauses where he'd just walk and think. (He also had extremely red eyes. One feature I noticed since I could hardly capture the rest)
I told a friend about the encounter. About the fact that I wish I could have helped him. My friend was like "you could have told him to go to a rehabilitation centre."
"What centre do we have in Nigeria?", I asked.
"Church", he replied.
That sounded funny to me then, same as now. Churches and Mosques are all well and good, but these people need a neutral ground where they wouldn't feel judged or any less of themselves.  I realised the crude reality that even when drug abusers want to change and do better, they aren't provided with the facilities and opportunities to do so.
Because honestly, do we have any functional rehabilitation centre in this country? If we do, kindly enlighten me for I am not aware. Major flaw (i)

We criticise smokers cause we feel we are better than them. I wonder if anyone put in the same situations they've gone through, would choose any differently. Major flaw (ii)

Mind you, I am not here to defend smokers nor their choices. I detest the act (my own personal prejudice). But I'm a social scientist, and I believe in objectivity when push comes to shove.
We need to give smokers chances to do better. Chances to get their life back on track( if they want to of course). We need to consider all the variables that contribute to their addictions; Broken homes, Poverty, Poor upbringing, societal factors, emotional traumas and all.
  It's not too much to ask that the supposed "Premier University" in West Africa, have a centre within its premises that caters to addicts. These are the things we should focus on and not how to bring the next rave act for a performance in the school (which I'm not totally condemning. But for what it's worth, it shouldn't be close to being a priority.)
One of the primary functions of a state is the welfare of its citizens.
We need the Federal Government to do better. But first off, we need to do better for we mirror our government. We shouldn't criticize addicts just because it goes against our religious principles of values. We need to help them see that we have their backs and we ain't judging. Quite a number of individuals who died from drug abuse, suicide and so on would probably have lived a while longer if they received proper care and advice. It's never a crime to be concerned about the well-being of the people around us.

On a final note, I wanna encourage you, my dear reader, to reach out to that person around you that is being held down by addiction. They might not admit it but they need our concern and care. Getting off drugs or any other addictive substance is not an easy battle and it requires contributions from others around. If you genuinely care about that your 'friend' as you claim to, you would help rid them of habits that pose dangerous threats to their health  (emotional, physical, psychological)

I don't know if I'll ever meet Marcus again, but I do hope our short encounter made a difference in the choices he made afterwards.

P.S The conversation depicted above can only represent about 75% of the actual occurrence. The rest have either being lost to forgetfulness or withheld based on my better judgement.

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LESS IS MORE (PART 1)

*Glossary available at the end of the post.

Tuesday afternoon, while trying to rest off the tension and stress of my first official exam this semester, I decided to check new notifications on my Whatsapp Messenger. While at this, I noticed a sort of literal sparring ongoing between two male contenders in a particular group chat. My interest was piqued. Not one to be easily interested in participating in such showy acts, I decided to keep mute and simply enjoy the interplay (kinda like the way one would sneak into a movie theatre when the lights are already dimmed, lol).
To some people it was irksome, to others much like me, we were busy looking for more popcorn. Then after a while of being a wallflower and simply observing, I started realizing a few things. Such as, People tend to equivalate verboseness with intellectual adroitness.
Don't get me wrong, I respect sesquipedalians. I admire their dexterity with words. But only when the words are in sync with the matter being discussed.
Often, just to earn the admiration of their readers or audience, many youths make use of bombastic terms without considering if they apply in that context. Consequently, they end up spewing, put simply, utter gibberish.I've had the opportunity to come across a particular guy who was so terrible with words but thought of himself to be an unquestionable master of English. It was such a ludicrous situation, one filled with mirth for me quite honestly. I never tried to correct him on his countless errors tho. It would have broken his ego. After Tuesday's event though, I felt I had to express my views on this someway, hence, a blog post! In my opinion, and that of many literary scholars, concise and succint words are always the best channels for passing information or expressing oneself. Of course it is never a bad idea to embellish one's writing with some grandiloquence once in a while, however, moderation is key. A sparse amount of lexiphanic statements in strategic places is enough to express the writer's acuity. Wordiness only diverts readers attention from the original purpose of the write-up and bores them in the end. Sadly, Not many people can detect when their writing is wordy. The basic idea is, when a word is dispensable, there's no need to include it in the sentence. Take for instance this sample sentences.
1. "The man ardently, vehemently and passionately refused to move his car" This is a classic case of wordiness. A much better Variant of the sentence would be;
2. "The man vehemently refused to move his car" (if the imagery must be painted ) Or better still,
3. "The man refused to move his car" The adjectives vehemently,ardently and passionately mean the same thing so using them all together is just wrong especially when the pattern is maintained throughout the text. I call it "word abuse" (just made that up, don't know if it actually exists. But you get the idea)
Picture a confident and charismatic speaker, saying sentence 1. You'd probably be clapping and saying "Punchline! Ride on! Tell them" Or anything else that would apply in this case. Everyone is guilty of it in some way.
And that is exactly why nowadays, folks are more bothered about expanding their English vocabulary rather than understanding the language's Diction and Grammar. Thus, there are tons of people possessing the knowledge of great many words, who aren't even able to properly pronounce half of these words.
I'm not a literary genius per se, neither am I a pedant. But I am a strong believer in the philosophy of "Less is more".

                  GLOSSARY
1. Wallflower- a Person who isn't socially inclined.
2. Verboseness- the excess use of words.
3 Adroitness- Skillfulness or ease of ability.
4. Sesquipedalian- A person who uses long words.
5. Dexterity- Skill in performing tasks.
6. Bombastic- Showy in speech.
7. Grandiloquence- Lofty, pompous speech or writing.
8. Lexiphanic- bombastic wording 
9. Pedant- A person who is overly concerned with trivial points of learning.
10. Sparring- A contest in words, to wrangle.
11. Irksome- Annoying, Irritating 

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HAVE YOU SEEN LOVE?

Hi sir
Hi ma'am
Have you seen love?
Errr not sure if he is a dude or a dudess
Buh i do need to talk to the fellow

Why is love so complicated
So kind yet so wicked
So straightforward yet twisted
So relieving and yet overbearing

So why love?
Why cant you just let the heart feel you
Without the aches that comes with you
The soul feel you without this burning and red fire
The body feel you without the pain that runs thru the veins

Hey love
You gotta answer me
Cos i am beginning to lose people around me
Not because my heart is cold
Infact it longs for more warmth
But because you manipulate and complicate matters
For simple beings

Pls do answer my questions
Maybe then
I will find peace
Which seems to have deserted me

N. Hassan

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