Sometimes in 2018 while I observed the compulsory national youth service corps (NYSC) in faraway Kebbi State, about 12 hours drive by road from my place of destination. Of course, it was a strange land, and I was the stranger. I got to work and did the usual ward rounds and began my clinic. We were two resident doctors and had another two visiting doctors who only ran clinics during the day. A nurse walked up to me and asked me to help them establish intravenous access by inserting a cannula into an elderly patient's hand. This got me a little concerned as it was unusual of nurses in the hospital and even North not to be able to establish intravenous access, especially to an elderly man.

The last corn cultivation I engaged in was in 2022, and the farm size was an acre of land. I was not actively involved since the farm location was two hours away, and thus, I had to pay workers and supervisors to take care of the land. Another challenge was not having access to a tractor early, and we had to plant in mid-August. The yield was fair but could have been better. 

The drought, however, took us all by surprise, and since July 19, 2024, when the heavy rain fell last, not until August 20 did we have another rainfall. This was a similar scenario in most parts of Nigeria, and many farmers cried and lamented while a few fetched water in buckets and containers to the farm. The question was, for how long would a micro-small-medium-scale farmer enjoy the little drops from the buckets of water?

Needs remain unending, and resources are limited. We wish we could get everything we wanted, but life is not a bed of roses. The dream of every young man in his thirties is to have a car at least, and maybe a roof over his head. I had been driving since 2009, and when I had to go without a car for about a year, I could barely survive. So, I saved up some money and added it up with what I got from the sale of the previous one, which was faulty. With some extra money from my job, I was able to raise a fair amount.

IMAGE CREDITI do not abuse people even the little angels. But, I was compelled to call this young adult 'stupid'. Probably you could be the judge of my reaction after a brief narrative. Permit me to give her an incognito name, Joy. The summary is that I have helped Joy out of financial messes which ranged from urgent travel to see her sick mom, rent, feeding and transportation, and a few others. A good number of them were given to her on credit. She is an adult and has a paying job. I offered her to come on Hive to make a few impacts and earn rewards but she declined with the excuse that writing was not her thing. Her loans went high and out of empathy, I went against my loan limits and supported her, especially since she was as a child from a single parent.

There was an instructor I had in high school who was notorious for getting drunk and misbehaving afterwards, mostly in words and actions. There was one morning we were called from the hostel and told to assist the tutor in lifting out his car that fell into a gutter. Well, he came in during the late hours of the night. The school compound was quite large and definitely had no traffic during such hours. Your guess is right; he must have lost coordination and landed his car into the gutter. Thankfully, the tutor didn't lose coordination on a highway that was just outside of our school gate. There is a popular safety slogan that says, "Don't drink and drive." We all know many accidents have been caused by drunken drivers, and beyond the havoc done to the drivers, it leaves a permanent scar on the innocent victims.