The Buckler

Everybody tagged him "Mummy's favourite" 
His mother had five children 
Three girls and two boys 
He was the first boy 
He was also the black sheep 
He had a ruthless streak from childhood 
Twice at the age of ten, he attempted to 
kill himself 
The first time, he plunged a broken bottle
to the right side of his own head 
He lost a lot of blood and fainted 
His mother was in the kitchen when it 
happened 
She found him lying in a pool of his own blood 
She rushed him to the hospital 
She had no idea it was a suicide attempt 
She assumed he had accidentally stumbled
into the bottle 
That was what she told the doctor 
"The bottle must have broken when he fell into it" 
Nobody assumes a ten-year-old would want 
to kill himself 
He was discharged three days later 
His mother made a lot of fuss over him 
A few months later, he crawled under the bed 
and in his room and inserted a fork into the 
electric socket He thought electricity would 
touch him and he would die 
The shock was too terrible He dropped the 
fork after a few seconds He couldn't hold 
on long enough to die but the shock taught 
him a life lesson He was a sociopath
It suddenly dawned on him that if he was 
not afraid to die, he could anything to anybody 
and damn the consequences 
The worst-case scenario would be to kill him 
and he was very willing to die 
From that point on, he began to tow a very 
dangerous path 
He became a harbinger of sorrow
He was already in JSS1
 He stopped going to class 
He started joining a group of boys who gambled 
on card games and dice in the abandoned 
school bus or behind the chapel at 
Loyola College Ibadan 
His academics suffered seriously 
At home, he began to steal money and 
anything of value
The gang he mixed with had a lot of 
older truants who told him to bring his mother's 
gold and his father's silver 
"We will sell it and you will have more than 
enough money to enjoy your life" 
He started sneaking mufti into his school bag 
He would change in uncompleted buildings
and link up with his gang to shoot pool or 
play video games in several joints all over the 
city 
His father was abroad and his mother had to 
cope with five children He brought so much 
sorrow and tears to the family that it was 
decided he had to leave the house 
His father threw him in the boarding school 
at the age of fifteen 
He had failed his JSSCE and forged another 
result to fool everybody that he passed 
The boarding school took him 
He became worse He started smoking and drinking 
all sorts that year 
Academically, he found ways to cheat the system 
successfully
Of course, he failed WAEC woefully, 
he also failed GCE 
His younger ones caught up with him academically 
and overtook him He was headed in the wrong 
direction and nobody could reason with him 
All he did was wake up, smoke, drink and go to
 hotels and bars to catch up with friends
Somehow he also had girlfriends 
His mother always wondered at that time what 
any reasonable girl saw in him 
He had no future, he was useless to himself and 
he was a reproach to the family 
He was offered admission twice 
He pretended he was going to school but he spent 
his school fees
At a point his father disowned him 
All his friends moved on in life 
He was twice almost lynched for stealing 
Once he stole a gas cylinder 
(He was going to sell it) 
But as he was going, someone accosted him 
He dropped the cylinder and ran for his dear life 
The second time, a guy
he knew in secondary school told him an 
uncle sent him some mobile phones 
The guy told him to help get a buyer 
He got a buyer 
He took the friend to Mokola area in Ibadan 
Suddenly he didn't feel like proceeding 
with the transaction 
He pointed the shop to the guy and turned 
around
Next thing he heard were screams of agony 
It was a trap by the police 
The guy was arrested and the phones confirmed 
stolen but by then he had disappeared into the 
hills around the Cultural Centre 
The guy didn't know his house 
That was the second escape 
It was also a turning point for him
He got a job at the University of Ibadan 
Post Graduate School's record office 
Searching for student's files and records 
He saved enough to obtain a NECO form 
and a JAMB Form 
He studied by himself and cleared his papers 
He took the result home to his mother 
He said "Mummy, I want to go to school now" 
His mother didn't think of the past 
His mother didn't give him any condition 
His mother ran everywhere 
She got him admission into a good university 
He had wasted the years between 1998-2004 
His mates had graduated and started working 
He went to school!
Nobody believed he would actually study 
His Father instructed the school to send his 
transcripts straight home after every session 
One hint of mischief & his support will be 
terminated 
His mother kept praying, encouraging, crying, 
urging him on 
He graduated as Mr. Brains in 2008
CFA, as she is fondly called, carries GSW 
before the Lord in prayer every day 
Till today, the fragrance of her prayers are 
all over my life 
She told my siblings "I am not her favourite" 
I was the prodigal son who squandered all 
and yet couldn't exhaust the love of the Father 
WOW!
I love you Mum 
You received the Word from the Lord concerning 
my life and watched over it to see it come to pass 
You are the reason I have never been 
self-conscious about being a Christian 
You gave me my first Bible and told me 
Never to disobey or be ashamed of the Holy Spirit
You told me several times that I will see that
 the Word of God can never fail over my destiny 
You are right Mother, as always 
Today, I celebrate you 
I celebrate the God who gave me beauty for Ashes
 I celebrate your God, the one who made me a 
vessel of Glory 
Happy Mother's Day!

Ps: When I see people who suddenly found
themselves stumbling in one spot and refusing
every form of help or encouragement or opportunity
to move forward
I remember those days
You never know you are in darkness as an unbeliever
Until you come into the light
Jesus made all the difference in my destiny
Stop stumbling around in the dark!
Come to Jesus today!