Walking towards Ojuelegba-UnderBridge this morning, I saw people forming crowd around this boy. I cleared my way through the crowd to see the boy- a danfo conductor, scratching his body and rolling on the ground, groaning. In the mutterings of the crowd, I could pick that the boy has been cursed with juju by a passenger- an old man who he insulted after dropping him off at the wrong bus-stop. Quic
kly, I remembered that palm-oil should relieve him (My grandma once told me palm oil would neutralize any juju). So I ran to the nearby canteen and begged the women who were also standing with arms akimbo- watching and clapping their hands sympathetically. I returned with a plate of palm-oil and one of the Area Boys collected it and with others, he was forced to drink it. I clenched my fists to subdue my shivering, as my mind prayed for his recovery. I have never seen this kind of thing in my life except for Nollywood films.
Suddenly, the boy gasped and coughed out the oil. As if the oil was a madness multiplier, he started throwing himself up and landing on the ground forcefully. The Area Boys grabbed him and he jumped out of their hands, fell, and then continued scratching and rolling. People were shouting, hands clasped across theirs heads as they wonder who would have cast such spell on the boy. We all kept watching, befuddled and one man screamed from the crowd "ero ito alaboyun si lenu jor (let him drink the urine of a pregnant woman jor)" I have never heard of such before, but some older women among the crowd nodded in agreement that the urine of a pregnant woman would neutralize the spell on him. Unfortunately, none was around. We stood there, Area Boys/conductors started sermonizing: "eko nla lele yi je fun gbogbo wa o hmmm. Ta ma bu passenger ta mo iru eyan to je (This must be a great lesson for all of us o hmm. It's time we checked the way we throw insults at passengers who we don't know who or what they are."
Soon, I spotted a pregnant lady- in her NYSC uniform- dragging herself behind her big tommy and was moving in our direction. Quickly, I walked out of the crowd to meet her half way. "Copa shuun. That boy there is dying and the elders said we need the urine of a pregnant woman to revive him. Please there is a public toilet there where...."
I didn't finish my explanation when she turned back and picked a race. She ran faster than Usen Bolt.
People trooped in and out of the crowd and nothing was done to help this boy. One conductor and I got talking and he told me that he was there when the man said "enu to fi bu Orisa noni wa fi wa be pada (It is the same mouth that you've used to insult the deity that you'll use to beg him)."
"Where is the man now?" I asked.
Nobody knows where to find him, I was told.
Time went on, and a man came around us with a bible and started praying. The conductors were shouting amen, some mockingly. I was trying to connect with the prayers, too, from within me. Suddenly the boy's madness tends to bow to the prayers as he became calm and then calmer. I sighed, rubbing my palms in gratitude to God Almighty. The Area Boys were shouting "Hallellu o." The boy then sat up and the man who had prayed bent at his face and was trying to talk to him. He shook his head and stood up and said that the boy's responsible for his calamity. Then he left. I was about taking my leave too when suddenly the boy returned to the madness. This time it was more than what I could stay to watch again. Whoever did this to this boy, if you are able to read this- I beg you in the name of Eledua Orisa Nla, please have mercy on him. He has learnt his lesson.
Suddenly, the boy gasped and coughed out the oil. As if the oil was a madness multiplier, he started throwing himself up and landing on the ground forcefully. The Area Boys grabbed him and he jumped out of their hands, fell, and then continued scratching and rolling. People were shouting, hands clasped across theirs heads as they wonder who would have cast such spell on the boy. We all kept watching, befuddled and one man screamed from the crowd "ero ito alaboyun si lenu jor (let him drink the urine of a pregnant woman jor)" I have never heard of such before, but some older women among the crowd nodded in agreement that the urine of a pregnant woman would neutralize the spell on him. Unfortunately, none was around. We stood there, Area Boys/conductors started sermonizing: "eko nla lele yi je fun gbogbo wa o hmmm. Ta ma bu passenger ta mo iru eyan to je (This must be a great lesson for all of us o hmm. It's time we checked the way we throw insults at passengers who we don't know who or what they are."
Soon, I spotted a pregnant lady- in her NYSC uniform- dragging herself behind her big tommy and was moving in our direction. Quickly, I walked out of the crowd to meet her half way. "Copa shuun. That boy there is dying and the elders said we need the urine of a pregnant woman to revive him. Please there is a public toilet there where...."
I didn't finish my explanation when she turned back and picked a race. She ran faster than Usen Bolt.
People trooped in and out of the crowd and nothing was done to help this boy. One conductor and I got talking and he told me that he was there when the man said "enu to fi bu Orisa noni wa fi wa be pada (It is the same mouth that you've used to insult the deity that you'll use to beg him)."
"Where is the man now?" I asked.
Nobody knows where to find him, I was told.
Time went on, and a man came around us with a bible and started praying. The conductors were shouting amen, some mockingly. I was trying to connect with the prayers, too, from within me. Suddenly the boy's madness tends to bow to the prayers as he became calm and then calmer. I sighed, rubbing my palms in gratitude to God Almighty. The Area Boys were shouting "Hallellu o." The boy then sat up and the man who had prayed bent at his face and was trying to talk to him. He shook his head and stood up and said that the boy's responsible for his calamity. Then he left. I was about taking my leave too when suddenly the boy returned to the madness. This time it was more than what I could stay to watch again. Whoever did this to this boy, if you are able to read this- I beg you in the name of Eledua Orisa Nla, please have mercy on him. He has learnt his lesson.
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