I remember the first day I was posted for NYSC (National Youth Service Corps). It was a very wonderful day for me. It was a wonderful day for me as I had been waiting for that day to come.
I wondered about my safety because I have read some news and listened to things about the threats, security, and safety challenges. The picture of insecurity is somehow painted with fear.
I thought about it and decided to tell my sisters about it, they heard and were scared and asked me why I would ever accept such a thing like that.
I had to change it, one of them mentioned. It is strange at this point to even think of going there despite all the information I have been hearing.
I will be the one to decide where I want to go, I asked a few people who I believe to have accurate information about the area, people who are close to the place, interstate drivers who go to eastern Nigeria, and some who have been there before.
I was told that there is always a general lockdown on Mondays, and every other day is free like it is. I felt a kind of relief in my heart that didn't make much sense to me.
The confidence is probably due to the information I have heard from these few trusted sources. I told my sisters that I wanted to go to my assigned location, and they expressed disapproval.
I think I have an informed confidence about what it looks like as a result of asking. I wanted to explore so I wouldn't want anyone to ruin it for me.
It is good not to be pleased to hear such a piece of information, but they have to accept it like that. On the day I was supposed to report, I had already packed a few things that I would need, A few that I could provide for myself, and spoke to some people for financial backup.
Some turned up while a few others could not at the time. I left early so that I could get there before it was too late. It was a long journey so there was a lot of resting and waking up, games, and music inside the bus.
it was getting dark already when our bus developed a fault, we were still about 20+ kilometers away from where we were going. At that point, I had to check my phone and take it off do not disturb mode.
I noticed that I had a lot of missed calls already, There was a kind of feeling that came to my heart immediately after I checked those messages and I could not lie, they were not good feelings at all. Fortunately enough, I was able to get to where I was going at the night (00:15).
One of the things that I hope to avoid in life is to face things that challenge my safety. There was no threat from anybody and people are there living safely.
•It is important to give people information but people are now exaggerating information.
The way we talk badly about our country and what we read in the news every day can make someone afraid of coming out of their room sometimes.
Exaggeration of information about the economy, security, and health is becoming increasingly common.
**•It is not good to be misleading people. **
We should try to fact-check any information received, some people are creating (mostly video) content with incidents to gain attention.
We should try to give information that are reliable sources as much as possible so that we will not be misled.