It was a sunny day and d time was at about 1:28pm. With that time,one could tell the intensity of the sun. It was so briskly hot that even the A.C in my car was abnormally working,whether it’s the gas that got finished,I don’t know. The market was located almost on the outskirts of a town;Ilorin the kwara state capital in Ilorin west local govt.
This was not the first time of me going there but one would wonder,what is he going there to do? Is he not a guy? Well,I grew up in a family where irrespective of ur sex,you are meant to do any available job within your reach. So going to buy food stuffs in the market was neva a big deal for me (laughs). I started going to market with my mum from childhood as a follower who is anxiously looking for where to go and pass time,at-times I enjoy going with her when I get something to eat during harvest period when fruits are new to the market or during xmas periods when we are driven to the market to make our choice of cloths and shoes. Even the old women who sell food stuffs started off with calling me names like “Omo customer” “Omo Mama e” and likes of it since they always see me with mum constantly. Although I was not the only kid who goes with her but mine was an exceptional cos am so special (chuckles).
Going to market then was neva a big deal even for my sisters but nowadays if yhu wanna send anybdy to d mart,you must make a notification in days and also you must make transport available with a huge sum of money to go with. Nowadays my mum complains a lot about how my elder sisters goes to the market with huge sum of money and yet come back with food stuffs that does not even get to fill up a small bagco sack that sells for #50 now. Well I hardly go to market these days cos am a big boy now (winks) and besides I am usually nowhere to be found to be sent to the market and so my sister or the maid does the going. “The problem of low goods bought my sister says “is attributed to the bad economy of the country when their is a constant drop in the value of our naira. Recently what I do for them is driving whosoever is going to the market and help in assisting by carrying heavy stuffs to the car.
On this fateful day,I drove my mum as usual to the market and little did I know that a lot of renovations has been put in place. Usually parking and even double parking are allowed on the road but this time,it is an offence even to stop on a spot for one minute. It is a welcomed improvement as their is no more traffic congestion on the market roads but now it is a very hard situation for people who go to market with their cars.
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On the other side of the entry into the Oba’s palace,their is a small lot there where cars usually park,I recently discovered it and I drove there. On getting there,it was a space of war,the survival of the fittest. Now I discovered that there were some local security men who were standing there and ordering people not to pack there. As a sure boy,I drove there and like they said to every other person, they told me not to park,I got down,walked to the man,tapped him on the shoulder,mumbled some words into his ear and gave him a handshake. Now every other car owners was anxiously waiting for him to say “oga abeg carry ur car comot,dem no dey pack here” but they were surprised at the drama that happend afterwards. I tossed the sum of #200 into his hand while I wntd to give him the handshake but no body noticed.
“Move back!,move back! Oga go drive ur car come!,come enter this place!,see space for here!,enter!,enter!!” At this juncture evrybdy was amazed and then like a king,I drove my Camry 2.2 LE into the free space. Some other people noticed what happend;that they will have to pay their way to get a parking lot,they also did same. I was not the first tho! And besides our country is already corrupted so it was not a new thing.
Now mum and my sister have gone into the market and I was chilling in the comfort of my car fully airconditioned. Now I tot it was just to get a few stuffs that mum went for not knowing it was a real shopping they came for. I waited so long as i have almost played all the CD’s I have in my car. The sun too was not friendly as my AC was working out of hand,it was not even chilling again and it was seeming warm.
I was looking outta my glass constantly and I noticed a lot of haphazardous movement in the market. I noticed the beggars first,a quite number of them have repeatedly come to me asking for money,what baffles me most is that some came back even after I have given them something,I don’t know if it’s intentional or maybe my car looks new. Some painful moments I felt was also wen I looked out to see a crippled woman on a tri-cycled wheel bike with 3children begging for alms under the scorching sun;”Who yansh dis woman come give am belle abeg? How he even take do am?” Dis was all d questions that was stroking my mind. Now I took a clean look again and to my greatest surprise I noticed two guys throwing punches at one another still in this hot sun,what was the cause of the fight remained a mystery to me as it seems they were one of dis boys popularly called “Agbe-ro”. The market was so busy on every side,the traders were not smiling,customers were wearing a strong face,their is noise and chaos everywhere. I noticed small children hawking petty goods on their heads exposing themselves to dangers and risk,I saw mad men and women with varying degrees of madness,I noticed a long que of beggars and I felt sorry for the situation of our country. I tapped myself and remembered I was in the market as tears was about dropping from my eyes,”truly I said,the world is not a bed of roses”.
««««««NOW TO MY ORDEAL»»»»»»
I have waited anxiously for mum to no avail and now I was beginning to loose my temper,and so I decided to go check her in the market since I was familiar of the places she goes to get her stuffs although its been long I last visited. I was just about leaving my car when a car came from behind to park behind mine. I looked keenly,it was a lady,before I approached her,one of those local securities walked up to her to tell her the same thing he tells everybody,I was waiting for her to leave but it seems she is not new to the game after all,she tossed sometin into the man’s hand as he stretched his hand into her car and accepted it and not looking into his hand,he put it straight into his pocket,that has won the woman the space where she parked. Now I had to walk up to her to let her park in since she is just coming to shop and will waste more time pending when I will be ready;she refused me moving out for her to park in while I park behind her,the argument ensued for quite some time and after much argument I considered her because she promised she was not gonna waste much time and also because she had more years on her age than mine. I allowed her and then I zoomed off into the market…………………………
YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED??????????
(WATCH OUT FOR FINAL PART SOON!!!!!!!!!)
REALITY EMPIRE 