Friendship Born in Adversity

Life walks in mysterious ways, and with different encounters comes with it loads of surprises to let out of its bags, one of which is regarding human relations, friend acquisition, and the like. Through the years, I've come to bond with some people and even become good friends when, at first glance, I would have doubted such would have ever played out, probably because I'm not the type who easily wins over friends due to my introverted nature, but one particular life-and-death encounter led to a friendship I never thought would emanate, and in this article I'll be telling you all about it.

A couple of months ago I wrote about the undeserving kindness I received from a total stranger, which went on to highlight the power of humanity and the power of a stranger's kindness in saving my life from a near-death experience. While in that article I mostly focused on the way I was rescued by a total stranger from the trap of a notorious terrorist, what I didn't mostly delve into details about was the fact that the encounter created a bond between us, leading to a friendship with not just me and the man but his entire family.

So the friendship came at a point when I was faced with death, and I was almost certain that very day would be my last, as the vehicle I was on was being stopped by boko haram during my state on yobe state. While I was there shivering and waiting for my fate, the man had held my hand and made me feel at peace, and the reason for that isn't far-fetched. As I stated in that recount back then, before we encountered the terrorist during the course of our journey, my teacher instinct had played out in not being able to contain the level of mistakes the man's son was making while trying to read a book.

While on my path, I was only doing that innocently as an individual who's passionate about teaching and inspiring young minds. I didn't know that act would go on to save my life, as the man decided to repay my kind gesture towards his son with savings on my life by lying to the terrorist that we're distant relatives. Since the terrorists were mainly on the lookout to adopt strangers and not members of their tribe, his fast thinking and act of defense went on to save my life, and I couldn't even believe my eyes that I'm still alive.

There and then I made up my mind that I'm forever indebted to the man, and even though he didn't have a phone for us to share contact and interaction further after that day, yet we spoke at length after we arrived at his village, where I told him about where I stayed and worked in the capital. He went on to tell me he has a brother who stayed in that neighborhood; he had told me he'll visit me when next he visits the capital or send his brother to me, and I was pleased that we'll at least find ways to communicate, because I immediately left the village after that conversation, not waiting to fulfill the main purpose of my visit.

Fast forward to few Month after our encounter, on one faithful day, I was told by my school proprietor that had a visitor, and on seeing the person, the face doesn't look familiar at all, but then I tried as much as possible to find out who he's, and that's when he told me his brother who stays in the village I visited the last time told him about me and he had decided to move all his children to our school, telling me his brother spoke highly of me and he believed his children would have the best education where I'm.

To cut the long story short, that's how I went on to have close ties with the family. The children are always free around me, seeking help anywhere they're not thriving academically, even outside school. On most occasions, they sometimes come to my olace to play or help out with some of my house chores, and their parents are always fine with that, knowing their wards are in safe hands. On several occasions too, I was invited to their place, discussing, eating, and having a great time as though we're one big family or had known each other for years.

Going forward, the bond grew stronger, and on two occasions, the man who had saved me that very day visits his brother and gets to meet again for me to thank him further. He was pleased to see that his brother's family and I had bonded well even more than I did with him, even though till when I finally left the state, he still didn't have a mobile phone, his brother did, and on few occasions we contact one another, and I do ask about his brother and his family.

And the man had to tell me to brace myself because whenever he travels down to Lagos, then he'll be paying me a visit, which is something I'm looking forward to. It's intriguing to see a friendship that grew at a dreadful point in time and goes on to create such a bond that extends to the entire family.

All photos are mine.