Nkiru Oh
Disclaimer: all the names in this write-up bear no semblance to any one living or dead.
Some things have been baffling me. Don't get me wrong. I am a Christian. I believe in the Trinity. I also believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior! But there are things yet indescribable and incomprehensible to me! Wish any one would explain. The existence of Ghosts and man's ability to see them with his mortal eyes are some examples.
A conversation I had with a co-worker few nights ago opened the floodgate of these all-time stories. Luther told me about an incident in his village several years ago: Tinkom and Gbenga were friends. In their late twenties, from same town but different villages, resided in different cities. One day, Tinkom got sick, died and was buried. Eight days after his death, three days after his burial, Gbenga went home and, as usual, visited Tinkom's parents in their village. He told them Tinkom visited him eight days ago and had been in his house ever since. Tinkom's parents knew Gbenga was too responsible to play with their loss and pain. The father called his brother, Tinkom's uncle, to bear witness. Gbenga repeated his story. There was an outburst of fresh wailing which confused and scared Gbenga. Shortly after, they took him to Tinkom's grave. Tinkom had died eight days ago, the same day he visited his friend, Gbenga! Gbenga was speechless. When he got back to the city, Tinkom was gone and never came back!
That reminded me of what happened back then in our school. One beautiful afternoon, there was pandemonium on campus. Nimbi, our female security guiard was hysterical and inconsolable. We were told her younger brother's ghost visited her. Bintu, one of our classmates, swore to have seen the boy-ghost: A young man came to Nimbi crying. When Nimbi wanted to hug him, he pulled away with the excuse that he had a fever. Said he's been sick and hasn't eaten for the past three days. Bintu warned Nimbi against allowing 'these player-undergrads' to cheat her out of her hard-earned cash. When she learned that the visitor was Nimbi's younger brother from out of state, Bintu collected money from Nimbi, went and bought him rice and beef-stew. All the while he ate, the young man was in tears. Nimbi also crying, could not leave her job but asked him to go to their elder brother in town who was a doctor. He agreed but asked Nimbi to ensure she came to the village that weekend. As he stepped out to board a taxi, Nimbi called their brother at work to inform him of Koside's status. The phone fell out of Dr. Abel's hands three times before Nimbi finished her story. Koside had died three days earlier and his corpse was in the morgue! The family knew but had not yet informed Nimbi! The Saturday Koside asked his sister to be home was the day fixed for his burial!
So while our eyes were almost popping out of their sockets, Bintu told us why she wasn't petrified. She experienced a similar incident some years back: One evening, their grandma visited from the village and slept over. Bintu's mother was in the hospital, in labor with her seventh child. Early the next morning, Bintu's father got ready to go to his safe at his store to withdraw some cash. At the door, he met four of his kinsmen from the village. He was surprised they already heard about his wife's safe delivery and came to rejoice with him. The sad look on their faces stopped him in mid sentence. He then insisted they should tell him their mission. His mother had fallen inside a well and died the previous evening! He laughed sarcastically and warned them of their foolishness in playing with fire. Bintu's father took his kinsmen inside to prove to them how insane they and their story were! They searched the entire house but their visitor was gone and never came back! Scary, these stories, right? Do you have any story to share?
Disclaimer: all the names in this write-up bear no semblance to any one living or dead.
Some things have been baffling me. Don't get me wrong. I am a Christian. I believe in the Trinity. I also believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior! But there are things yet indescribable and incomprehensible to me! Wish any one would explain. The existence of Ghosts and man's ability to see them with his mortal eyes are some examples.
A conversation I had with a co-worker few nights ago opened the floodgate of these all-time stories. Luther told me about an incident in his village several years ago: Tinkom and Gbenga were friends. In their late twenties, from same town but different villages, resided in different cities. One day, Tinkom got sick, died and was buried. Eight days after his death, three days after his burial, Gbenga went home and, as usual, visited Tinkom's parents in their village. He told them Tinkom visited him eight days ago and had been in his house ever since. Tinkom's parents knew Gbenga was too responsible to play with their loss and pain. The father called his brother, Tinkom's uncle, to bear witness. Gbenga repeated his story. There was an outburst of fresh wailing which confused and scared Gbenga. Shortly after, they took him to Tinkom's grave. Tinkom had died eight days ago, the same day he visited his friend, Gbenga! Gbenga was speechless. When he got back to the city, Tinkom was gone and never came back!
That reminded me of what happened back then in our school. One beautiful afternoon, there was pandemonium on campus. Nimbi, our female security guiard was hysterical and inconsolable. We were told her younger brother's ghost visited her. Bintu, one of our classmates, swore to have seen the boy-ghost: A young man came to Nimbi crying. When Nimbi wanted to hug him, he pulled away with the excuse that he had a fever. Said he's been sick and hasn't eaten for the past three days. Bintu warned Nimbi against allowing 'these player-undergrads' to cheat her out of her hard-earned cash. When she learned that the visitor was Nimbi's younger brother from out of state, Bintu collected money from Nimbi, went and bought him rice and beef-stew. All the while he ate, the young man was in tears. Nimbi also crying, could not leave her job but asked him to go to their elder brother in town who was a doctor. He agreed but asked Nimbi to ensure she came to the village that weekend. As he stepped out to board a taxi, Nimbi called their brother at work to inform him of Koside's status. The phone fell out of Dr. Abel's hands three times before Nimbi finished her story. Koside had died three days earlier and his corpse was in the morgue! The family knew but had not yet informed Nimbi! The Saturday Koside asked his sister to be home was the day fixed for his burial!
So while our eyes were almost popping out of their sockets, Bintu told us why she wasn't petrified. She experienced a similar incident some years back: One evening, their grandma visited from the village and slept over. Bintu's mother was in the hospital, in labor with her seventh child. Early the next morning, Bintu's father got ready to go to his safe at his store to withdraw some cash. At the door, he met four of his kinsmen from the village. He was surprised they already heard about his wife's safe delivery and came to rejoice with him. The sad look on their faces stopped him in mid sentence. He then insisted they should tell him their mission. His mother had fallen inside a well and died the previous evening! He laughed sarcastically and warned them of their foolishness in playing with fire. Bintu's father took his kinsmen inside to prove to them how insane they and their story were! They searched the entire house but their visitor was gone and never came back! Scary, these stories, right? Do you have any story to share?
"We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey."
