I watched the sun gently moving to its resting place. Meteorologists call this moment “the setting of the sun”. The day has been so stressful for me,the last work being a four hour practical in the laboratory. All was constant until my roommate tapped of with a newspaper…
“Kay, you must see this”. He flipped open a page and I glanced at the title. It was worth seeing. Truly a way to relax.I eased out a smile because the titled read
…..”THE NAIRA SPEAKS!”…..
I thought it was metaphoric until I read in between the lines, then understood the words were straight forward…I relate to you…The short story…
Mr Agbaje was a fifty six year old merchant. He was quite successful and was well comfortable in life. But on the 6th of May 2012, something unusual happened to him. “A non-living spoke to a living”!!!
Mr Agbaje was walking down the busy street of ikeja Lagos. He walked briskly as he had an appointment at an office in medical road. About 200 meters from his point of destination, the unusual happened…
Mr Agbaje sighted a ten naira note on the dirty road. Having heard so many horrible stories about money making rituals and the likes, he ignored it and continued walking.
“Mr Agbaje, Mr Agbaje” a voice called out. It sounded unique and alien sort of.
Mr Agbaje turned back,he could not see the person who was calling him, and so he continued on his journey.
The voice continued, “WHY ARE YOU NEGLECTING ME” .
Mr Agbaje looked confused he still hadn’t figured out the person calling him.
The voice continued,”MY HEAD ACHES,MY BELLY RUMBLES,MY LEGS ARE BROKEN…AND STILL YET YOU SHOW NO SIGN OF PITY!”…
Mr Agbaje was now confused than ever. Was the heavens speaking to him or was it a ghost? He tried to move forward but
“The voice called out again, “YOU HUMAN ARE SO CALLOUS,YOU MADE OF LIKE THIS,AND YOU ARE GOING TO NEGLECT ME,YOU GO TO YOUR CHURCHES AND MOSQUES AND CLAIM BORN AGAIN,BUT YOU KEEP DYING IN SPIRITS EVERYDAY!.
Mr Agbaje has now dropped the polythene bag he was carrying on the ground. Sweat seeped endlessly throughout all his body pores. He was too confused. He shouted, ” Demon, I cast you out in Jesus name…I burn you with the Holy Ghost fire…’…..
HUMAN,the voice continued…”YOU ARE TOO WICKED,NO WONDER WHY IN YOUR WORLD THINGS LIKE FATHER DENYING HIS CHILD OR THINGS LIKE GREEDINESS,SELF-CENTEREDNESS ARE THE ORDER OF THE DAY….YOU WICKED HUMAN PUT ME IN THIS PRESENT STATE,MY VOICE IS CRACKING,JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE”.
People now gathered surrounding Mr Agbaje. He seems helpless, like someone caught between two worlds; Human and Spiritual. His heart pumped faster, his breath rate increased. His adrenal gland was now secreting faster than ever and its product of adrenaline was now being transferred to every angle of his body….Mr Agbaje shouted…”where areyooooo…..uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
“The voice replied. YOU HUMAN HAVE TWO EYES YET YOU ARE BLIND THAN A STONE,YOU ONLY VIEW THINGS AT PRESENT; YOU NEVER LOOK AT ITS FUTURE. AM RIGHT AT YOUR FRONT….HELP ME…ME…ME….SOMEONE JUST MATCHED MY ACHING HEAD!
“Mr Agbaje started searching the terra firma and people watched with enthusiasm. “Where are you”? Mr Agbaje shouted where….
The voice spoke once more but now faintly “I AM A PORTRAIT OF A NIGERIAN HERO LYING ON THE FLOOR,A WICKED HUMAN KEEP MATCHING MY HEAD…HELP…
Like a thunder strike Mr Agbaje found it. It’s been lying on the floor since…Everyone including himhad neglected it…
A TEN NAIRA NOTE….
He picked it up and held it dearly in his palms;he cleaned the dust and studied the note. Indeed just has CBN had promised,the ten naira was made from polymer. Polymer is strong, durable and cheap. But Nigerians have torn this ten naira Mr Agbaje was holding. Numerous rolls of cello tape ran across it. Now he understood why the voice complained of aches….
Crowds were now swelling. Rumors were being told of a man who is speaking with spirits. Seeing is believing they say,so numerous people are here to see for themselves…
THANK YOU MR AGBAJE ‘ the voice finally said.I HAVE SO MUCH QUESTIONED MY CREATOR WHY ME. WHY MUST IT BE THAT IT’S ONLY ME THAT HAS TO SUFFER? NORTHEAST THERE LIVES MY ELDER BROTHER “THE DOLLAR”,HE IS ALWAYS HAPPY. AND EVEN NORTHWISE,MY FOSTER FATHER “THE POUND” LIVES THERE. HE SUFFERS NO FATIGUE. ALL OVER THE WORLD NAME THEM “RUPEES,YEN,KRONES,EURO ETC…THEY ARE ALL MY BLOOD RELATIONS. THEY SUFFER NOT AT ALL. BUT WHY ME?I GET SQUEEZED,TORN,MATCHED…ITS ENDLESS…EVEN SOME YEARS BACK,OUR MOTHERS(CBN) INTRODUCED 25% ARMOUR(POLYMER) FOR ME AND MY TWIN OF N5,N20, N50. BUT HUMAN STILL PENETRATES US. THEY TEAR US EVEN WITH OUR ARMOUR. OUR MOTHER ALSO MADE 100% ARMOUR (COINS) FOR US,BUT NIGERIANS REFUSED TO USE US…THEY JUST WANT TO HARM US. FROM THE ONSET OF CREATION,MAN HAS BEING WICKED AND THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO BE TILL THE END OF TIME. OUR MOTHER MADE RULES PROTECTING US, BUT HUMAN HATE US LIKE DEVIL. THEY STILL MADE PARTIES AND FLUNG US UNTO A GRAVITY THIRST EARTH. WE ARE MATCHED,SQUEEZED, TORN. THE WOMEN AMONGST THEM PUT UP ON THEIR HAIR, BREAST. BUTCHERS USE BLOOD STAINED HANDS TO CARRY US, SO ARE FISH-SELLERS. THE BUS CONDUCTOR MISHANDLE US. I CAN EVEN HEAR CRIES FROM MY RELATIONS IN YOUR POCKET,”THEY ARE NOT WELL ARRANGED”. IT SEEM NOBODY COULD HELP UP,AND THAT’S WHY WE CHOSE TO NOW SPEAK FOR OURSELVES.
TELL YOUR PRESIDENT,GOVERNORS,SENATORS,COUNCILLORS, CHAIRMANS AND CITIZENS THAT WE NEED FAIRNESS. WE SERVE YOU GOOD;YOU USE US TO BUY VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING. WE ASK OF NOTHING FROM YOU,NO FOOD,NO WATER,EXCEPT FOR A GOOD SHELTER(PURSE) AND YOU MAKE SURE WE DO NOT GET TORN OR MISHANDLED BY TURNING UP INTO CALCULATING SHEETS…WE WANT FAIRNESS…IF YOU CONTINUE MISHANDLING US,WE WOULD STRIKE AND INFLATION WOULD WRECK YOUR ECONOMY…WARN THEM….., WARN THEM….. WARN THEM…
With those last words the voice died and it never spoke again…The whole crowds didn’t hear a single thing of what the voice said; only Mr Agbaje heard it. Reporters were now buzzing about. Flashes from camera kept glowing from the paparazzi fleet…And in a short while,Mr Agbaje became a National celebrity….
Last Night,he recalled the incidence on a joint broadcast of Nigerian television and radio. I hope by now Nigeria would have grasped the VOICE’S message and take heed to the warning….
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Kay Greins @kodeya
A Grein mind with a Grein ideology, and believes in a GreinWorld.
I love writing; you say its an art, I say it is an hobby. I think my greatest influence has being Agatha Christie, but my best novel is "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo........Go to Kay Greins's profile, and read more of his/her posts.
Hmmm. I see the creativity behind this, but the story was not well narrated. It was hard connecting with the protagonist. Paragraphing issues, tense confusion and punctuation errors.
But – I see the creativity. Well done.
Just tidy it up.
Quite funny.You tried
Nice and clear. U kan do more.
You are creative, i agree with you on that.
Thanks so much.
Normally I don’t take punctuation seriously, but am working on it
Thanks for pointing out that we need to keep the naira clean, though the world is going cashless now sha.
nice story, take to d noted comments.
Nice story. Apart from typos and punctuation issues, that capitalization kinda aches the eye. Funny and lesson filled. Well done.
It’s a ten naira note for frack’s sake…but then it’s the most ideal. Someone would have picked it up, were it a 1000 naira note-ritualistic or not.
Nice one here, but you need to clean it up…the Caps were hard on my eyes, put them in italics or something…. nice message. well done…$ß.
This tale is hillarious in places: even now i can hear my relation crying inside your pocket. It is rumpled. Well done.
may the naira cry out to those stealing it to stop- good work