My Sound Track of the year

My name is Nsikak Ndemekping, male and a native of Afaha Etok Ibesikpo in Ibesikpo Asutan Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

As an African, I was raised to show respect and this has shaped my life beyond what I can imagine. From lessons taught by my parents, I was told to hold the door for the person behind me. I was taught to knock before I open a door. I was taught to say excuse me when needed. I was also taught to hold the following words as magic words as magic words that can surmount every situation and problems please, excuse me, thank you sorry and pardon me,

As I reflect on the past year, one of my most defining moments is accompanied by the melancholic melodies of Billie Ellish’s “Everything I wanted”.

This is how it happened! I was taking a walk one evening around 5pm in my neighborhood where I reside. I met a man sitting on the bonnet of his vehicle – a salon car, on one of the lonely roads in the area. I greeted him “Good evening Sir” and walked on without caring to look at him. He responded as I had expected by asking me how I was doing and I responded that I was fine while still walking on without a care. He called me and beckoned me to come back, which I did. He enquired from me the reason I greeted him. I was surprise because I had not experienced anyone asking me such about my manners. I responded that that was how my parents brought me up and required of me whether the person is a stranger or known to me. The man told me that he had been sitting there for a long time enjoying the evening breeze but that all the people that passed by did not greet him except me. That my action; has kindled a desire and concern for him to know me more.

He immediately came down from the car bonnet, opened the driver’s door and pulled out some amount of money and gave it to me as a token of appreciation. I refused to collect the money as I was taught not to collect money from strangers as much as it was not for services rendered. This surprised him more as he expressed a shock that he had rarely found people with such uniqueness in manners. I thanked him and left.

Weeks later, I was in a banking hall when a lady walked up to the counter where I was and I noticed that the zip of her skirt was down exposing her pant to the viewing pleasure of a few young men in the banking hall who were catching fun watching her pant, while awaiting their turns to be attended to. I just walked up to the lady and whispered to her that her pants were exposed as a result of her zip that was down and that she should dress up. She just nodded and left into the female restroom, as I continued with my banking transaction and left.

One rainy day, I was heading home on foot, I did not have my umbrella with me and the rains had soaked my clothing. I saw a salon car approaching me and I noticed that the driver was not very familiar with the terrain of the road. Most roads in my neighborhood had potholes. Most, deep enough to get a car stock. With the heavy rains and the entire road surface flooded it was quite a challenge for the vehicle to drive through as I noticed.

I volunteered to help him by pointing and directing him on the best route to drive in order to avoid the pothole as he approached the biggest pothole that would have gotten him stock in the mud. I did not know who was on the steering wheel as the vehicle was tinted, but as soon as the vehicle drove off from the waterlogged area, the driver pulled off and called me.

I went to him fully soaked by the rain. I was not expecting a lift from him as we were both heading in opposite directions. He rolled down the side window of the vehicle and said “Ah! You again?” I looked at him and I could not understand what he meant by ‘…you again?’ I begged him to pardon me because I do not understand him. He immediately narrated that he was in the banking hall and witnessed me telling the lady whose pants were exposed to dress up in a very polite manner. He also said that I owe him no responsibility to have guided him off from the flooded road under the rain and that I was the same person that greeted him and when he offered me some money in appreciation I rejected it.

This remains one of my most defining moments because he enquired of my employment status and upon knowing that I was unemployed immediately offered me employment in his firm without an interview or perusing my Curriculum Vitae as soon as I told him that I was a graduate Architect. I was instantly taken to his site and offered to complete the building construction as the Architect in charge of the project without any supervisor supervising my work. The pay and the employment packages were very much satisfactory and I have enjoyed my sojourn with him till date. “Everything I wanted” by Billie Ellish fills my heart each time these memories resonate around me.

Another most defining moment of the past year that is worth my reflection happened in 2023. Early in the year, I had bought eight hundred seed yams from Atam in Cross River State – Nigeria to plant in my country home, Afaha Etok Ibesikpo. It was the worst year in my living memory. Nothing happened at its proper time. It was either too early or too late. It seems as if the whole world had gone mad. The first rains were late and when they came, it lasted only a brief moment.

The drought continued for eight good weeks and the yams were killed. The year had really gone mad indeed. When the rain finally returned, as it was what we prayed and hoped for. They fell as it had never fallen before. Trees were uprooted; homes were lost as the accompanying wind made away with the roofs of most houses. Deep gorges appeared everywhere due to gully erosion. No household was spared as every home had their own tragedy to tell.

That year the harvest was as sad like a funeral and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable and rotting yams. One farmer tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself in the farm.

I remembered that tragic year with a cold shiver throughout or whenever the memory is awakened in me. It always surprises me when I think about it later that I did not sink under the load of despair. I know that when the going gets tough and the tough keeps going, it is only tough people that can withstand it. I know I am a fierce fighter but that year had been enough to break the heart of a lion.

With the dream of a better future, my spirit buoyed by the vibrant rhythm of Burma Boy’s “Last last”. If we survive that year, we shall survive anything.