I haven’t written for nearly a year and today, I think I have a need to do

Nigeria will inevitably happen to each of us, either now or later, if we do not actively participate in changing it even from our small offices.
It could be your turn to frustrate someone today, with another person waiting to frustrate you tomorrow.
The system is in decay and we are all contributors as well as victims of these decays.

Eight years ago, I applied for my transcript, a requirement for my admission. I submitted my request for the transcript three months before the applications deadline, but heartbreakingly, I missed the deadline. During those three months,
I exhausted every possibility to ensure the transcript was delivered on time, I begged, when that yielded nothing, I pleaded to some close staff for help,
I remember two of them speaking on my behalf, it yielded nothing,
my brothers also called, still nothing was done.

At certain point I had to hire a generator for a federal institution to counter power outages that was used as an excuse. Still all these efforts yielded no result.

As the deadline approached, I cried until I had no tears left. It became clearer and clearer to me that I was deliberately being delayed,
So, I summoned the courage to approach the rector’s office to report to him directly the negligence of the deputy registrar academics. My brother also called the Rector,
Luckily, the rector intervened, but by then, I had only a week until the application deadline. He summoned her and I was assured my transcript would be ready in few days.
When I requested to send it via speed post to meet the deadline, my plea again fell on deaf ears. She also refused to give it to me to post by myself.
my progress was halted for an entire year because of one or two persons sitting in one office.

The transcript eventually arrived the destination , long after the deadline, because of my surname and because my brother was already known by the office for frequently checking on the arrival, He was contacted when it arrived and they handed him the transcript.
This was how I managed to apply for admission the following year, without their frustrations.
The people who caused me such pain never said Sorry, they didn’t seem to mind halting a young girl’s future for a whole year.

When I began studying abroad, in a country with efficient systems that checkmate abuses of public offices and where students and teachers receive respects that were due to them, I could request my transcripts through email and receive them within 24 hours, before I graduated, I had over 10 copies of my transcript , I requested for one almost every semester. And with no further charges after tuition was paid.

Last night, I read a tragic story from that same woman who lacked empathy and felt no remorse for interrupting my progress. She lamented how the healthcare system in Nigeria failed her family, resulting in the loss of her sister. She detailed her struggles navigating UNTH and encountering unkind staff until her sister passed away. Just as I was called stubborn for fighting for my future, she was called rude for fighting for her sister’s life, it takes kindness to not walk in people’s shoes and be able to empathize with them.
Sadly, her experience isn’t unique; my family endured something similar with my dad three years ago in the same hospital , but we swiftly transferred him to a private facility in another state.

While I sympathize with her loss, I share this as a lesson for everyone,
I have held the sadness that came with that frustration for so long , It has been 8 long years and I haven’t forgotten a single detail, that’s what trauma feels like. I didn’t use social media to taunt her office, I’m wondering why she is using social media to taunt UNTH.
In Nigeria, Those who have the ability and the responsibility to help can always choose not to, with no consequence.
No one has monopoly on nonchalance, she is just realising. UNTH served her just 12 hours of the coffee she serves others, and the internet is on fire, mine was 3 months of hot tears plus a prize of putting my life on hold for one year. Some of you can never take half of what you give out.

We all must learn that in a decayed system such as ours, we need to be really careful how we treat people in vulnerable situations, The systems abroad do not tolerate misconduct as we often do here. Be cautious about how you treat people; you might be the Nigeria happening to someone today, but do you know the Nigeria that could befall you tomorrow? What goes around often comes around.
If we do not collectively and consciously tackle these systems, they will continue to affect us all.

Remember, Your power ends where another’s begins. Your tears are not superior to those of the vulnerable house helps who endure your daily abuse, nor to the young student you frustrate, or the family whose your negligence cost them a loved one.
There will come a day of reckoning and the evil you do even casually will hunt you.

Please Be careful, everyone!