I saw this big cloud of smoke somewhere faraway. My heart started beating fast; “Not another fire incident!” When I got closer, I saw it was one of a trailer’s tyres that caught fire. My heart became calmer and I made mental observations about how I was beginning to fear fire incidents. My frequent fire “experiences” haven’t given me any choices. Most of these experiences have been mere observations from afar, but the one that happened last week was not just a mere observation.
You know, this happened since week, but I kept feeling very uncomfortable not writing about it, because I knew God wanted me to send a message.
Yes, the popular Onitsha fire incident!!
The car I entered from Akure made me automatically stressed and tired. Firstly, the car was smoking and the smoke was entering the car, affecting those of us sitted at the back because of lack of proper ventilation. Secondly, the driver was trying to avoid traffic congestion at Benin, so he followed another road which turned out to be longer because he almost missed his way.
Seeing that bridge was a delight to me because I was tired of the journey. I wanted to get down from that car. We entered Anambra and my body was literally itching to reach the park where he was supposed to drop us. Then normal question came to mind….
“What if the park you’re supposed to enter a bus to your destination is before where you’re dropping? Isn’t it better to call now and ask for directions?”
“True. Good point”
But I was tired. Lazy. Too lazy to bring out my phone
I was hungry too. I just wanted to get to the park, probably get something to eat and then continue my journey.
So I let the laziness take over. I decided to drop where everyone was dropping, even if I might have to transport myself back.
Did I say I decided? I think I was still in the middle of deciding when we saw people running. Well, I was a bit attentive because the peeps in the front seats were gisting, and it was something interesting. They stopped talking and starting looking outside. I looked too. At first, we thought the police were chasing some young street boys. One woman in the car even made a joke about how one of the boys was running. We tried asking, nobody was answering us. Commotion everywhere. Car drivers were also trying to drive faster. I think that was the moment we all heard the shoutings clearly….
“Oku! Oku!”
I’m not really good with Igbo but I understood instantly. The first thing the passengers in the car did was to get down and start running. There was hold up, so it was kind of logical for them to do. Not for me though, because I just didn’t think getting down was the best thing to do; with all the commotion. I started panicking; the fire phobia thingy. The first thing that’ll normally come to Chisom’s mind is the Nigerian government, but at that point, the fire was too bad to start thinking about the government. Everyone was thinking about “life”.
Anyways, road cleared. Or did it? I think the driver was just “chooking” his head wherever he saw space. We were just entering different streets, anything to get away from the fire, but the fire kept spreading. During all these, I was trying to get my bags out of the boot. After a while, the driver parked somewhere and three of us remaining in the car had to come down and start running.
I didn’t know where I was. I brought out my phone to call and ask for directions to my destination.
I got the directions
Everyone around me was tensed but I summoned the courage to ask where I could get a bus to my destination.
“Sister, sit down and relax. Na that place the fire start”
That statement didn’t hit me until I had sat for 5 mins.
I could’ve rebuked that laziness, made the calls and gotten down exactly where that fire had started. I’ve read the news about the fire, it’s pretty bad. I couldn’t believe I was there, talk more of even having a near miss.
God saved me. I’ve been thinking about it. I could’ve been in that fire. Whenever I think about it, I get emotional. It’s unexplainable. It might not be a big deal to you, but it is to me.
So, this isn’t protons and neutrons. It isn’t hydrogen. It isn’t something you can explain with a big bang.
So, if you want to explain your existence or mine with a big bang, then I think you should explain the miracles too. No! You can’t subscribe to the belief that individually different human beings were created from a bang. Growth, intelligence, free will, coincidences, miracles; are still acting according to a “big bang theory”? I just wish you’ll understand that it’s God and always God.
God created me. God loves me. God saved me.
He loves you too
And He created you for a purpose. You are not just merely existing because of some bang.