I am dedicating this post to all the good men out there. I know you exist.
In 2012, I went for a program in Lagos. I was going back to Aba. The bus loaders told me they were going to Aba. I paid and waited till we were set to go. The bus took a lot of time to get filled up though, so we left around 10am.
From one trouble to another, the bus kept stopping on the way and we got to Onicha around 8pm. The other passengers told me that the bus wouldn't take me to Aba. They just gave me a ticket to Aba with Onicha's fare. I was weak. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't imagine being stranded in a place like Onicha. I looked up and brought down my head. Still, I knew not what to do. The guys at the front row told me I can't get a bus to Aba by that time. Chai! I used my eyes to reach Aba but obviously, not with my legs.
The lady beside me was only the person I had been talking with since I got into the bus. "O gini ka I ga eme ugbu a?" She asked me. I told her I don't know what to do and I had nobody in Onicha. She told me she would take me to her house and I was so grateful. My heart calmed. As we were on the River Niger Bridge, she told me she wasn't going home anymore. She changed her mind and was going to see the boyfriend first. I kept quiet. Was she taking me along? I didn't know. We got to where she told the driver she was stopping, she came down and told me "nne, ngwanu. Bye bye". Oh God! I was ired but on a second thought, I told myself she didn't owe me anything.
You know nah, this babe was stranded and all those young guys were casting side glances at me. The man on the same row moved closer when the girl alighted. "I thought you are supposed to follow her" he asked. I opened my palms to him. I didn't know what to say. He was stopping at the next junction. He tapped me, "so be m". I was in a conundrum - the decision has to be made. Do I have even time to think? Oso! I jumped down and followed him. It was a decision of the devil and the blue sea. I had a choice to follow him or get to Upper Iweka where they told me mkpamkpa na akpa.
He noticed I was scared. I was walking like one who so many demons were chasing. He said to me "I am coming for my elder brother's wedding. I live in Lagos with my family. You did well by coming with me. I couldn't leave you with the way those guys were casting glances at you like anu oriri(meat)." His brothers came to pick him up and his introduction of me as his friend and seeing his brothers calmed me a bit. I got to their house and saw the wife-to-be and my spirit jumped down from where it had been hanging. I was given water to take my bath, food to eat and a big bed to sleep on. They took me to the park in the morning to continue my journey.
I was so blessed with such a man. Months after, he called me and asked why my number wasn't going through? I told him I lost my phone and was using my dad's phone at the moment. This man asked for my account number and sent me money for a replacement phone. Umunne m na umunna m, it is a pity, I lost his contact. That man never asked for anything extra from me.
There are very good men. I can testify to that. I have met a whole of them. I can beat my boob-less chest and tell you there are good and responsible men on this earth. With all of life's gra-gra, please don't give up hope and think there are no good men, asi ocha, they exist. Don't let the bad ones ever change your conviction. Never let irresponsible and useless ones make you generalise about men. Keep being open-minded, no matter what someone with a penis did to you. All penis carriers are not the same. All men are not the same.