Brandon can finally heave a sigh of relief as the year is gradually coming to an end. It has been a thoroughly eventful one for him. One filled with mixed experiences. He feels a little nostalgic on this beautiful Tuesday morning.
He is at home, and his mother and siblings have all gone out to work and school respectively. As he sits on his comfy blue-sheet covered bed, all he could think about is the different things he could have done this year. “But the year held a lot of unfulfilled plans” he thought to himself.
At the beginning of the year he made several resolutions and plans as most of the people in the world do every New Year. Over the past few years ‘resolution making’ has become his custom. Three years back he told himself “I will become a millionaire this year”, this thought was inspired by an advert he saw on a roadside billboard.
However, he has not been able to save up to one hundred thousand naira till this moment. Anytime he thinks of that resolution, he feels depressed. But he has resolved to not let it get to him again. “I will make it in the right” is one of the words he uses to encourage himself.
In his secondary school days, he has been a somewhat shy boy and relied mostly on his friend Donald for social tips. But all that is history now. He is a new person right now. He is someone who had gone through a lot of experiences. At age 25, he can beat his chest and say “I have been there and I have done that” to a whole lot of things. This year more than any other, he had had to make many tough decisions.
It started when he had to choose which state to do his national youth service. He was left with only two options to choose from and he got his choice. He was going to a city about 700km away from his home city of Port Harcourt. It was scary and exciting at the same time. Scary because it was a strange land, he had no family or friends in that place. And exciting because he liked adventures and it will give him the much needed break from the demands of his family. For him, it was freedom at least for a full year.
His family and loved ones were worried because the place he is going to his notoriously known for bombings and kidnappings. Each time they try to discourage him from going there, he would counter them with the question “are there not people still living there?”