THORN IN A FLESH - The Genesis!

It was a Saturday morning, April 20, 1991; the family of Mr. and Mrs. Seidu welcomed a bouncing baby boy. They became parents for the first time. That day was the happiest day of their lives. A motor park and town market that was constructed opposite their residence was also commissioned that day. Who could tell whether it was a good or bad sign? But I believed it to be a good sign- progress/new beginning.

On the eighth day, he was named Kazeem Olawale. Ten years later, Kazeem had learned from both parents but the street was yet to have an impact on him. Wait! This is not a narration on behalf of Kazeem, I AM SEIDU KAZEEM OLAWALE, this is the street life and experiences of others on the street.

I grew up in an area where your strength determines your life span. I wake up with the street that never sleeps. I held my first AK 47 rifle when I was 11 years old. Don’t be
surprised; my dad’s friend was a mobile police officer at the time. Still at 11 years old, I witnessed the death of a neighbor caused by a stray bullet. Gunshots were part of the wake-up call in my hood.

January 11, 2001 was the day I made my way into the streets. Finally!, I'm happy to be part of the movie. I joined the group of kids hawking inside the motor park and the town market. I was hawking Nylon-packed Water popularly known as Iced Water. I blended in within days and came up with my style of advert which goes thus; “ICE WATER TUTU REEE, O TUTU! O MUNI LOKAN BALE!”

There is a saying that “a journey of a thousand miles starts with a step”. My rugged life became a reality when I was assigned a task by a mentor in the motor park. He was a bus conductor and a big fish drug peddler and arms dealer. My mission: to transfer the evil tool (Gun a.k.a. English) which is also called ISHO (Nail) within the oriented. My job was to hide it in my iced water cooler and deliver it to the client.

On a tough Sunday morning, I set out to deliver a package of such but was miraculously stopped for search just few meters from the park. Fortunately, the commanding officer said “Eh! Abegi leave this small boy. E sabi anything?” my conscience struck me as I was freed. But nemesis will always catch up and it really did caught up with me as I unconsciously hit my leg against a stone and fell down with my cooler wide open. Something happened!!!

*To be continued…

Author: Seidu Kazeem O. 

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