Greetings!
Sometimes, I reflect on my past actions, decisions, and sacrifices, and I smile because if it were to be now, some of these would be difficult for me to undertake now.
During my NYSC days, I was privileged to lead a religious body in the local government where I served. Despite the role's demands for strictness, I was very flexible. This flexibility allowed me to interact with all kinds of people. Though I spent 90% of my time at church, I was never seen as overly "churchy."
There was a lady from the batch before mine who was among those that handed over the baton of leadership to us. She was very strict and did not tolerate nonsense. As our Liaison Officer, she ensured anyone who failed their tasks, especially during CDS, faced punishment. I admired her strictness and often sought her advice on issues related to my position because she preferred to provide quick solutions. However, 80% of the corps members in the local government disliked her and often reported their grievances to me, hoping I would caution her because we were close.
It was like an internal war, the rants, hatred, malice and grudges were out of this world and I was caught in the middle, unsure of how to resolve the issue...Because she's a churchy person and someone that handed over to me, my half self was on her side and because I'm currently leading the people and very flexible, my other half with was the people....in a nutshell, in between.
I didn't even think of praying, even though I believe in prayer, I felt the issues needed a one on one talk.
One unforgettable day, I decided to organize a meeting for everyone in the community, which was the headquarters of the local government and housed many corps members. I sent a bulk SMS inviting everyone. Normally, only the church members would have come if I were very strict and religious, but this time, everyone assembled at the venue—a school classroom of an Anglican church in the community.
They came, sat down, and I began to share simple truths about life, such as: "Someone who is very far from you can never step on your toes; it's only those who are close enough that can do that...." I begged everyone to let go of any grudges and let the closeness that brought us together unite us again. Everything was going fine. People responded one after the other, pouring out their grievances, some were channeled directly at me too and we were accepting everything to let peace reign.
However, one guy, who seemed like he had taken hard drugs, burst out in anger and began to speak harshly. This incited others, and before we knew it, the earlier peaceful talk turned into a community-like fight. Since I had called the meeting, everything fell on me. We had to separate the fight, which lasted about 20 minutes before everything calmed down.
Guess what?
Everyone left the scene that day with anger, hatred, and grudges. But the next day, which was a CDS day, we assembled at a junction to take one bus. Surprisingly, everyone came with apologies about what had happened the previous day, and the atmosphere was joyful.
It amazed me because it seemed as if an angel had appeared to everyone in a dream to make peace, or maybe the fight was all they needed to settle their scores. Lol😂
Thanks for reading.
| All images are mine |
