by Emeka Oparah
Our health and our wealth.
It’s not like Prince Abubakar is suddenly being turned to canon fodder or some kind of symptom, but his passing, just as he approached the verge of winning Kogi’s gubernatorial election, is quite instructive, in many respects, one of which I treated in an earlier post i.e. Onweghionyemauchechukwu (no one knows God’s plan).
I thought I should equally discuss the other aspect before the matter goes cold with the harmattan wind coming so fast and furious this year. Perhaps, my last reference to the departed Kogi Prince will be to say his demise is emblematic of how people treat their health with levity in these parts.
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The story I’m about to tell you happened over 15 years ago-a true life story. On my way home one evening, I used to work in Cadbury Nigeria then, I stopped by a shop owned by one of my townsmen, Chief Paulinus, who, by all standards, except perhaps health standards, was a wealthy man. He owned two shops, a hotel and a piggery in Ojo and lived in Ogba, from where he covered his businesses daily.
He offered me a cold bottle of star. I gladly accepted the drink, which, by the way, I have quit drinking over 4 years ago, following the onset on my foray into the world of fitness and the discovery of the very civilized cognac, Hennessy-a better option in quantity and quality(debatably so).
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Anyways, while doing justice to the bottle of larger, which actually led to another bottle (like one thing always led to another), I looked down and saw my “brother’s” swollen feet. Alarmed I asked him what happened. Take a listen:
Me: Bros, what the matter with your feet?
Him: Nwanne, enemies! Enemies want to waste your brother.
Me: Which enemies? What did you do?
Him: Ask me O! I don’t know but God knows them and He alone will fight my battle.
Me: What are those marks (looking closer)!
Him: Hmmmm…if not the Mallam, who removed the bad blood inside my legs, I would have been dead by now.
Me: Mallam cut you??? Whaaaaat?
Him: Emeka, relax. Igaghi aghota ihe na aga (you won’t understand what’s going on).
Me: No way, my brother. You took a big risk. How are you sure the Mallam knows what he’s doing? Did he sterilize the tools he used? Chineke nna mekweerem ebere!
Him: Emeka Nwannem, I’ve seen hell.
Me: Did you go to hospital?
Him: I went everywhere before resorting to this Mallam. In fact it was after his treatment I was able to wear these special sandals.
Me: Which hospitals did you go to?
(He couldn’t mention any. Obviously, he was telling lies!)
Anyways, to cut the story short, I pled with him to come to my office and see our company Doctor. Thankfully, he did. Dokun Adedeji, our Doctor, my friend, suffered a double paroxysm of petrification and angst, when he checked and found Chief’s blood pressure way beyond human tolerance.
Dokun was so alarmed he begged me to seize Chief’s car keys, because he considered him a walking corpse who, in the course of driving, could pass away and then waste innocent passers-by and other motorists.
Then, he asked him to slow down. Don’t wake up before 6am, and even if he did, he shouldn’t get out bed before 6am (as against 4am when he set out to Ojo to his Piggery to start his day). Then, he should take his breakfast of mainly fruits and vegetables, make sure he returned home before 7pm to take a walk around his Ogba area before dinner. Then, he must eat light dinner, preferably vegetables and fruits or any light food. Avoid alcohol and red meat, in the interim. He must go to bed not later than 9:30pm.
Chief did as instructed. He also did an X-ray examination of his heart, which revealed an enlarged heart and a risk of CVA. Of course, he was susceptible to stroke and diabetes, what with his massive size (145 Kg)
Dokun prescriptions combined with De Paulinus’ change in lifestyle, and the grace of God-I must add-helped and saved him from untimely death. He’s reading this post, because he actually asked me to share his (since you’re a storyteller, he teased) after hearing of Prince Audu’s demise.
If I didn’t stop by his shop that evening, if he didn’t offer me the beer, and if I didn’t look at his feet, may be, Chief would have gone the way of Prince Audu.
Let’s look after ourselves to avoid avoidable sudden death.
Emeka Oparah is a social commentator and public relations professional. He is on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
