My Diary

Chapter 03

When I became a teenager and started to understand things much better , I wanted to start making my own money and stop depending on my parents for every little thing , I just don't like asking my parents for things ( even though I know they will happily provide ) . I wanted to do something with my life , something productive that I can earn from to buy things I want , assist my parents and even help others in need . I see and hear about people at a very young age , achieve and turn their dreams into reality , accomplishing their goals and being successful and famous . I really want to make it at a young age and become successful and famous too . That gave me the drive to start doing something now because I can't wait for my dreams to materialize , I make it happen. So , I started to do some research on the internet on what I can do as a teen to earn some cash .

(Thank God for the internet ! )

First on the list was babysitting , you must be thinking ; " You can do that and gain some extra bucks " . However , in this part of the world , I don't think it can work out . I will tell you why , for instance , if the child I am babysitting falls sick , they will blame me , they will say that I'm a wizard that is trying to kill their child and I don't want that ( That's the 'African mentality ' They think that their enemies are out to get them , who could blame them anyways , a lot of evil is happening ) .

" Babysitting is ruled out , so what now ? ". I thought to myself

I can't go look for a job even if I want to because of the situation in the country , there is a lot of insecurity and my parents and over protective , they fear that I might get lost or even get kidn*pped , it's unpredictable what can happen and that's why I am always indoors , I only go out to school , church and to run an errand .

As a result , I thought of something that I can do at home and still get to earn money . I learnt that people write books online and get paid and I love to write . Right now , I have written two books , Killing Me Slowly and A Christmas To Remember , I have not made any profit out of them but it doesn't matter , I just really love that people all around the world get to see my work and appreciate it ! I have not given up yet , I still believe that I can still make it and become famous .

Writing books is not the only thing I like doing , I am into song writing too even though I hardly get to write these days . I also love singing and acting , I see them as a way I can express myself , my feelings and emotions but ' they ' are telling me " it isn't for me , I can't sing or acting doesn not suit me " But I know better , I know I can do it , I can be whatever I want to be , l can do this ! I will prove to them that they are wrong . I always dream of being an amazing actor and a famous singer and also a business man , I know I can pull it off .

Obviously , my childhood was quite boring , I'm always indoors , I only get to interact with people my age at school . I didn't get to have a normal childhood because of the terrorist activities that was happening In Yobe , we were staying before , even now , the state we are currently living in is not a safe haven either, there have been crisis happening , fights and killings between Christians and Muslims and k********g too . Recently, a few months back , a bus with passengers travelling was ambush by gunmen and it was reported that these gunmen killed some Muslims who were In the bus and this resulted into a clash between Christians and Muslims again , it was really serious , schools had to be shut down for a while , a curfew was imposed . It looked like it was not ending anytime soon but thanks to the prompt response of the government and security agencies , it stopped even thought lives were lost in the crisis . The truth is that nowhere is safe anymore , we just have to put our faith with God .

Despite the insecurity and other challenges we face as a country , we , Nigerians know how to have some few laughs and have fun . In the villages ,there is the Argungu festival it's a fishing festival where a competition is held and yes , it involves fishing , whoever gets to catch the biggest fish wins . There is also the yam festival involving people celebrating for that bountiful harvest . There are so many festivals celebrated that I don't even know of ! ( I know little about this festivals , I can't give in full details what happens in these festivals)

Basically , people meet at a particular and set time to celebrate , eat , drink , dance and sing all night under the moonlight or at a fire place when it's dark . Children also meet to listen to stories in the evening ( tales by moonlight) .

Now , in the cities , things are done quite differently , It's more lavishing . During marriage ceremony and other occasions , food most be present ,there is a lot of music and dancing and you must definitely see people spray money in the air. This is the typical Nigerian occasion and people attend this occasion for various reasons , some come for the food, God ! You need to see how people quarrel and argue about food , others come to just flaunt their attires to their 'enemies' , some come to rub elbows with rich people , the list goes on and on ( There are people who come wholeheartedly )