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Choose Life – Anti Suicide

Published

6 years ago

June 10, 2018

Eric

By Olamide Adenuga

Please let us spread this message. You don’t know what the person next to you is thinking of doing, YOU CAN SAVE A LIFE! I CAN SAVE A LIFE! WE CAN SAVE A LIFE!

There is but one step between life and death.

It is sad, but the truth is that as human beings, we have come to the point where we choose; should I live or should I die? Should I take my life or should I let it be? The pressures of life at times brings us to our knees, that we no longer see the way forward, we no longer see light at the end of the tunnel, but please my dear friend, no matter what has happened to you or is happening to you, no matter what the pressure is, no matter what you are going through or what is going through you, I ADVICE YOU ALWAYS CHOOSE LIFE.

We meet people everywhere, everyday, but we don’t know what’s going on in the minds of these folk, we don’t know who is on the brink of taking his/her life, that the right words of encouragement will make such a person have a change of mind, my favorite book says; “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver”. Don’t let that pretty dress fool you, don’t let the smile on that lady’s face fool you that she has it all together, don’t let the confidence on that young man’s face fool you, dude may have a lot of pressure all bottled up inside, all the appearances may be nothing but a façade.

Suicide has always been from time immemorial, but in recent times, it has become a disturbing, a really disturbing trend. Almost every now and then we have repeated instances, it could be outright, it could be attempted, but the statistics are really scary, not because life itself is scary, but because someone somewhere chose to give up on life. My dear friend, don’t give up on yourself, don’t throw in the towel, please I advice that you choose life.

A young and promising doctor jumped into the lagoon, a final year student decided to hang himself in his room, a young bank executive approved some loan and things went south, he couldn’t take the pressure and he took his own life, a young lady was jilted, she couldn’t handle it, so decided to poison herself, so many of such cases. Fine, the pressures are there, pressures are always on us in life, but always have in mind that; “when there is life, there is hope”.

Someone reading this piece is probably telling me to shut up; “What does he even know? It’s not easy for me at all; he doesn’t know what I am going through. Don’t tell me, be strong, be a man, take it. See Olamide, you don’t know what I am taking”. Sir, I still advice you choose life, there are people who are going through worse and they are still fighting, they are hoping, they are believing. See it as just a dark moment in your life, it will come to pass. If I can make it through the night, there is a brighter day.

And to folk having it really good at the moment, please accept my congratulations; things are going well in your favour, business is moving on really smooth, your kitchen sink doesn’t stink, hooray comes out of your water fountain, and flowers grow right on the tiles of your living room. But when pressure comes, no one is immune; you only have to stay strong and positive at all times. I once heard of a rich man who took a heavy loan to expand his business, but things went against the run of play, the tides rose against the business, he suffered a shipwreck, he couldn’t take it anymore and he decided to put a bullet in his own brain. So no one is immune, stay strong, be optimistic, and be positive.

So please no matter what you face in life, I implore you, I beseech you, I plead with you, I beg of you to choose life always no matter what; be it you lost a job, business gone bad, jilted in a relationship, you were duped, your hopes were dashed, overwhelming family pressures, expectations truncated suddenly, whatever it may be, PLEASE DO NOT QUIT LIVING.

You have the power to say THIS IS NOT HOW MY STORY WILL END. I’m no therapist but I promise you this: I will listen. I will care. You can always talk to me.

Don’t give up because of one bad chapter in your life. Keep going… Your story doesn’t end here

Always be positive, and believe that good things will come for you. YOU WILL WIN!

Featured

Stay Away from CBT Centres, JAMB Warns Parents, Threatens Arrest

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

As this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) begins on Friday, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has vowed to arrest parents found near any Computer-Based Test (CBT) centre during the 2024 UTME exercise.

The directive was issued at the final briefing of the CBT centre owners, which was held virtually on Wednesday, 17th April, 2024.

The spokesman for JAMB, Fabian Benjamin, said this directive became necessary following the intrusive disposition of some parents during the Board’s previous exercises.

Benjamin, who quoted JAMB Registrar Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, said any parent, who disobeys the order would not only be arrested but his ward would also be disqualified from sitting for the examination.

Oloyede explained that this measure became necessary as it has been discovered over time that many of these intruding parents are facilitators of examination infractions while others have, by their actions, disrupted the Board’s examinations in the past.

He added that some miscreants also disguise as parents to infiltrate the centres to perpetrate all forms of infractions.

“The Board’s helmsman noted that going by the extant national policy on education, a candidate for the examination must have attained the age of 17 years.

“Therefore, it is evident that these parents had not allowed their wards to pass through the classes as defined in the document, hence the desperation to follow their wards to the examination venue with the aim of compromising examination officials.

“At any rate, it is clear to any discerning observer that these parents deserve to be sanctioned as they had obviously ‘smuggled’ underage children into the ranks of those scheduled to sit the examination,” the Board note through a statement.

Furthermore, the Registrar said all arrangements have been concluded for the conduct of the 2024 UTME, which will be held in over 700 CBT centres across the nation.

He disclosed that the Board expects a seamless exercise but it has nevertheless made adequate provision to tackle any technical glitch that might occur in the course of the examination.

He, however, warned that if a session experienced any technical challenge, candidates in subsequent sessions would be allowed to sit their examination as scheduled while the candidates in the challenged session would be rescheduled for the last session for the day or the following day or even further depending on the centre schedules.

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Oyo Govt Demolishes Operational Base of Yoruba Nation Agitators

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Oyo State government, on Wednesday, demolished a building serving as the operational base of the Yoruba Nation agitators led by Modupe Onitiri-Abiola, in Ibadan.

Onitiri-Abiola, one of the widows of late Bashorun M.KO Abiola, had declared the creation of the so-called Yoruba Nation in a video posted online, which has been widely condemned.

Last Saturday, some armed men in military uniforms invaded the Oyo State Secretariat, with the motive to forcefully take over the State House of Assembly, before they were dislodged by the combined efforts of police and troops for the Nigeria Army 2 Division..

Mr. Fatai Owoseni, Special Adviser on Security Matters to Governor Seyi Makinde, confirmed the demolition of the house located at Toye Oyesola Street in Ibadan South West Local Government Area.

Already, no fewer than 29 suspects – including a lecturer – arrested in connection with the foiled armed invasion were on Wednesday arraigned by the police before a Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan.

In a case with charge number Mi/520c/2024 between the Commissioner of Police and the 29 suspects, they were accused of a seven-count charge of treasonable felony, unlawful society, illegal possession of firearms, and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.

Inspector Bakare Rasaq, the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, said the offence contravenes, and is punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

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PDP BoT Queries Damagum, Anyanwu’s Continued Stay in Office

Published

14 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Eric

The Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party has queried the continued stay in office of the party’s acting National Chairman, Umar Damagum, and National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.

Recently, many party members have raised concerns about the ongoing tenure of Damagum and Anywanwu in their respective positions.

Previously serving as the PDP National Deputy Chairman (North), Damagum assumed the role of acting National Chairman following the court’s suspension of the party’s National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in March of the preceding year.

With the National Secretary being selected as the PDP candidate for the Imo State 2023 governorship election, the South zone has been grappling with nominating a replacement. Despite this, he, along with other party leaders, contested and retained the position of party secretary after losing to Governor Hope Uzodinnma.

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