In my whole life, I have only heard gist like this. I have never really experienced it, till recently. I was walking down the street with my friend from KFC. We were doing our regular Friday eat out, so we went to KFC to buy chips and chicken so we could go home and eat while watching movies. Nothing beats eating in your comfort zone and devouring the food and chewing the bone of the chicken. You know what I mean *winks*.

Anyway, as we were walking, I just felt/heard a stampede building up behind me. People started jumping from everywhere to join the already accelerating crowd. I heard voices shouting, “Ole“, “Thief”, “Armed robber”. My brain quickly remembered one article I read. The writer said, if you hear “Ole! Ole! Ole!” in Lagos and you see people chasing, there is a high percentage that some people do not know the thief and anyone could be mistaken for the thief. So what do you do? Help yourself by doing one of two things:

1. Join them in the chase and be shouting “Ole” or Thief.
2. Duck, hide, move away from the madness and be still.

Well, I chose the second option as I couldn’t be doing #fitfam exercise that I did not bargain for. My friend was laughing at me when the drama moved away from us. He said the way I disappeared was epic. I couldn’t even take the risk. The chasers looked angry. As usual, I got curious. I started walking slowly towards the scene and I noticed people had converged around two guys. They were beating these guys mercilessly. It was like the guys were the reason for any misfortune they had experienced that week. It was not funny o… People were beating any part of the body they could reach with anything they had… It was like if they could beat the hem of any of the thieves’ garment, all their problems would disappear. Even small children came around and were beating the guy. One small child, I estimate to be no more than 4 years came and was shouting “Put tire, tire…” and I was shocked. It occurred to be that this wasn’t the first time he was witnessing such a thing and left to that child, the only justice would be to adorn the thieves with tires as jewelries on their neck and set them on fire.

I was curious to see what they stole. I silently prayed in my heart that the thing they stole should be worth it o, cuz this kain beating… chai. That’s how I peered further to see the 2 bags they stole from the babe. I was weak. Apparently, the purse was empty or maybe another individual that was forming “beating the guys” had slipped something into his pocket. I don’t even know. All we saw were papers, an empty purse with her ID cards and another bag of clothes.

Those boys choped beating. It was like the frustration therapy for those that had chased the thieves and caught them. Some people ran out of their houses to just beat the guys. It was after a while of beating that police showed up and saved these guys lives. In my opinion prison cell is better than that kind of mass beating o.

I learned that quick success never ends well. Either the money doesn’t last or you get hurt getting it. The quickest route to success is determination, work and consistency. As Timi Dakolo said at Headies 2015, do it till someone notices you. If you are doing anything worthwhile, I admire you and I believe in you. The foundation for a high rise building takes longer to lay than that of a bungalow. People may not see you while you are laying the foundation but trust me they would notice the high rise building. Burj-al-arab took almost a decade to achieve it’s iconicity. Anything Iconic and worth celebrating takes a while, don’t be dismayed. Get up everyday and take a step that brings you closer to your goal achievement.

Soar, Fly, Run, Walk, Crawl… whatever you do, don’t stop moving!

Make the best out of this new year.

But seriousness aside o, do you think Jungle Justice is an apt punishment for thieves?

Photo Credit

Love,
Einsteinette.