I'm sharing this message due to a thread I read last night where
it was reported a Nigerian higher Institution student committed suicide after
being allegedly told to repeat a year by the school authorities. As the manner
is with most Nigerians, the victim was lampooned and mocked by most commenter on the thread, even when they didn't travel in the victim's shoes. Only a few
could even type the now-redundant RIP. I pray his soul rest in peace.
(This true life story was shared by anonymous)
I've got a somewhat similar experience
though I didn't go the extra mile the Nigerian student went. I was withdrawn
from my normal shift duty to cover a new project that will require my being on
permanent duty for over 3 weeks. I was mandated to draw the HSE plan for the
project, conduct safety talks at appropriate intervals and give situation
report to my department on a daily basis. On this terrible day, I had gone to
the job site even before the contractors had shown up. It was a Tuesday- a black one for that
matter.
When I arrived the site and saw no
workers around, I elected to seat with some other workers in a stormshleter- a
little building operators seek little comfort whenever there are running the
plant. While waiting for my colleagues to show up at the job site, some talks
started. It was around money, the Rat Race, Women, etc.....but financial
management or the lack of it was the MAIN ISSUE. After listening for some time
my consent was sought on the matter. Believe me, I spoke passionately. As I
spoke for over 10 minutes, narrating my financial struggle from the day I was
employed to the present day, and my beliefs about financial discipline, the
role of women in our lives, etc.
I had this Motorola radio in my hand.
It's a means of communication within the department. A lot of top guys are also
linked to it. Some managers, senior colleagues, junior ones, even casual
workers by proxy are tuned into this departmental channel. Now the radio on me
was kinda a little defective and I've improvised on it by tapering it with a
tiny binding wire. Somehow the wired rested on the SPEAK knob, and all along,
while I thought I was having a discreet convo with some persons, ALL my
communications were heard by EVERYONE who was on the HSE channel. Some of the
details I had revealed were regrettable mistakes I wouldn't want anyone beyond
that group to hear. So far as the binding wire depressed the speak knob, and I
didn't know, I was on channel air- interrupting every other call in the
channel, in an emergency channel. I didn't know. I later realised mobile calls
were made by my superiors to my mobile phone but I hadn't seen them as the
phone was on SILENT mode, hidden away in my coverall. All attempts to have me
stop was of no effect.
All this while the contractors had not
arrived for work. I've found another work. LOL! Firemen and other HSE
professionals were dispatched to physically stop my programme. SMH. I knew
there was some troubles when I saw a team of firemen running towards me in a
manner similar to their response to a fire emergency. I looked around and
didn't spot any fire in the operational area. One of them was even laughing.
They motioned for my radio and removed the binding wire, stopping my programme.
SMH. When they told me what happened, I almost dropped dead. My blood pressure
rose; my heart tripled it's rate, my feet quaked, my mood dropped and I wished
the Earth would open up and had me swallowed.
My God! What have I done to myself? I've
shared on radio issues I'll consider too personal. The shame, The
embarrassment. Will my colleagues even stop mocking me? Why? I wished I hadn't
come to work that day. I had never felt such pressure. The pressure almost
choked me. How do I go to face my colleagues? My superiors? How do I erase
these details from the minds of my colleagues? How do I go back to the control
room? No one could describe the pressure I felt.
When the pressure became too much, I had
to distract myself and play some Enya music like Caribbean blue, Orinoco Flow,
etc, to relax me. The more I tried, the more my mind wondered back to the
issue. Immediately, I felt what most suicide victims felt before committing
suicide. Once in my lifetime, I had found myself in their shoes and it wasn't
palatable in the least.
Ours is a society that has failed to try
to understand depression and people. We suddenly become experts at advice
whenever people commit acts that we feel were improper. We don't mind abusing
and denigrating them even when we've not understood their struggles,
depression, anxiety and deep worries. We simply condemn; we simply
attack.
If I had done the worst, the extreme,
God forbid, the same attacks would have landed on me. SMH. Now, I'm NOT in any
way supporting or encouraging suicide; I'm simply saying we should endeavor to
show sympathy and empathy to people whenever they can't seem to handle the
pressures of life and quit.
Whatever you're passing through at the
moment, don't give up. There's still hope and life ahead. There's still light
at the end of the tunnel. When pressures seem too tough, seek a true friend and
confide in, OR seek some other means of relieving the pressure. It could be
some serene sort of music. Don't just give up. Suicide is a temporal solution
to a permanent problem. Think about your loved ones and the pains and gloom
they'll experience.
Man that's born of a woman is of few days
and full of trouble. Job 14:1. But with determination and patience, all worries
and sadness will give way to peace, serenity and joy. And when you observe a
person to be in deep depression, don't judge them. Simply help them. A word
could save a soul. Call and encourage that friend passing through unemployment,
marital crisis, temporal barrenness, admission delay, etc. Give someone a hug.
Send an email. A text message could also suffice.
God bless you all. And have a great
day.
Good morning. Please, let's share; it could save a soul.
Source: Nairaland
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