James Okina Wrote On Facebook.

I WRITE WITH A VERY HEAVY HEART AND I WOULD LIKE YOU TO DO ME THE FAVOUR OF TAKING YOUR TIME TO READ TILL THE END.
The events that unfolded on thursday 16th of June just got me thinking deeply.....

I was in a very happy and yoppy mood this afternoon and could not wait to break the goodnews to the children, not knowing dark clouds were about to gather. I got to the 'suya arcade' in Gbobiri met some of the street children there to take them to the program "Dreams Come True" organized in commemoration of the day international day of the African child Organized for them , at the verge of leaving with the ones i had met, i saw some more, a few meters ahead and decided to go and call them, getting there i discovered one was lying on the bare ground with his eyes partially opened, flies were all around and his clothes were nothing to write home about,"whats wrong with him?" i threw a question into the air directly at no one and i got"he is not feeling fine", immediately i leaned forward to feel his temperature and my hand was met with nothing but an icey cold feeling, i jerked backward because i found that very strange, i reached out to Anthony and Emmanuel who were with me to confirm what i saw and as swiftly as possible we got him a change of clothes, we tried to make him stand which wasnt possible, because he was quite oblivious of his environment and the only unconscious action he could make was breathing.

left with no other option i yanked him up and slipped him unto my arms, i would admit that he had some weight, but i didnt even take that into consideration, we immediately headed for the road leading to the venue for the programme with his arms hanging lifelessly and before i knew what was happening, a crowd had gathered far more than i would imagine, some came close enough to ask questions others stood afar off staring, a lady out of the crowd quickly, brought out the sum of two thousand naira,by now i was all drenched in my own sweat i quickly boarded a cab with Anthony whilst the Emmanuel headed for the programme with the other children.

We got to the general hospital in less than four minuites, i got out of the cab in no time and ran into the lobby, to alert any personnel i could find, while trying to get someone, Anthony brought him in with a personnel who directed him to a room and there be was laid on a wooden bed.

We got the doctor who came to do some tests and was checking the results, next thing i heard her scream 'Jesus!!' and i ask
'Ma! Please whats the matter? ' His blood sugar level is at 2.5!' she replied and immediatly she entered into the room opposite the one we were in and i followed her, she wrote a list and asked me to pay the sum of one thousand naira, then she grabbed some plasters and what looked like a drip and entered the room where the boy was in again, after setting up she tied his arm with a tube and was looking for a vein for about 5 minuites, i asked her why it was taking so much time and she said "His veins have collapsed"i didnt know what it meant for someones veins to collapse but that sounded pretty serious.

After about 15 minuites of thorough search and after they pierced his skin so many times, a vein was finally found which they administered the drip through, but i notice something that got me worried.... he didnt flinch to all the piercings made in his hands while they were looking for a vein. Well i was glad that he was very calm now and something was being done.

I and Anthony decided to sit in the corridor after a while, a lot of thoughts raced accross my mind sitting on that bench,but i tried to keep the picture of him being well, my arms where visibly shaking uncontrollably and i noticed it had been that way since i got into the cab and it wouldnt stop untill two hours later.

About forty minuites later, we were just seated where we were when a doctor who just walked past us called for the doctor on duty with a loud voice, we turned immediately and noticed she was standing by the room that had the boy, we rushed to see what was happening and we saw that the boy was breathing heavily, they immediately the doctor instructed the nurse to lace him with oxygen, which they did and after the nurse did, we didnt leave the room again we sat on the next bed, we wernt looking at him though, and while we were talking we heard a very loud gasp! I ran to his bed side with excitement thinking he was returning to consciousness, as i got to his side i didnt see him breath for the next 8 seconds, then he gasped again and it took another 5 seconds then he gasped again and it took another 15 seconds he gasped again and almost effortlessly he didnt the same thing twice and then at 5:27pm he took his last, i had gone to call the doctor and the only thing she said after heaving a deep sigh was "tell the nurse to take out the oxygen", i refused to believe she meant what she said, i told the nurse what the doctor said and left the building to pray outside, i spent four minuites really praying as intense as i could and as i was returning back to the room i met the nurse along the hallway and she muttered "that boy is no more" i rushed to the room and it was real, we still tried and he was gone! He died with his eye still open.

Wow! Anthony turned and asked me "so is this how people die" immediately i thought to myself "was he born again?" Lest he suffers in this world and sufer in the next one! I thought hard to enquire of myself if he had given his heart to Christ before now

I started thinking.... he could have been a lawyer or an architect or an electrician, a preacher! Either ways he could have added value to lives and fullfiled his purpose on earth, he was gone! I thought to myself wow! Like i fell into a trance i saw the day he cried his first on earth! An adorable baby some people would kill for! Everything stopped moving around me,time passed swiftly and when i checked the time again it was 6:27pm he was already becoming very strong and stiff i had to close his eyes with my still visbly shaking hand.Anthony had to leave because he got a call although that wasnt very easy for him. Finally after waiting for what looked like 5 minuites for the chief Supretendent of the hospital to come so hebe taken to the morgue and i can leave, at few minuites past 7:pm, she said i could go. I thanked them and left.......

When i got back to Gbogobiri i met the children there and they couldnt wait to ask after thier friend, i ignored thier questions and almost in a whisper i asked "what was his name" "NDUKE!!" They chorused, i now broke the news to them, they were quiet and thoughtful, and i could see the fear in thier faces and read the thoughts of "am i next?" Wow wow.. i thought and prayed that he should go to somewhere more beautiful.
I later learnt he had taken tramadol in overdose the day before, and had been lying where i met him since the day before, since the day before??!!! What! And no passerby even thought to do something, people claim these children are heartless and wicked but i started thinking at that instant about who was more wicked, they were even people who were willing to stop me from taking him to the hospital, with statements like " what if they ask you questions" i didnt know when i shouted at one!!! And that silenced the others.
I learnt a very important lesson, which was "yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future but today is a gift and thats why its called a present" what we do with it makes all the difference.
I bet if i met Nduke right now and asked him if he wanted to come back he would say No! which is because its a lot peaceful where he is now.........as opposed to the troubled world he lived in, with no one to care or look after him.
Rest in Peace Nduke!

I promise that you would not have died invain. My convictions about street children were strengthened and i am most certain that i am blessed with this burden, i now understand the urgency of my work here, because in my very presence A person became a thing, not being addressed as he but 'it' not as 'boy' but 'corpse' it pricked my heart.

He was so lovely and he was barely 11 years old, i hope that one day i would see him again.
Every Child out there is our collective responsibility and we shouldnt act like nothing is wrong going about our normal routine, if we continue this way, a day would come when we would have bloody streets and God would hold us responsible for everything that happened under our nose.

Its not something someone has to tell us it to do, and besides we are not going to be doing it for them but ourselves. My heart so heavy, words are inadequate to express my deepest thoughts.
But whats resonating in my mind is the fact that theres no better time to act but now!

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So LONG A LETTER .

Quite a sad but touching story
Keep up ur good work

wow

so touching.

please keep up the good work

may God reward you greatly

Lots of words to say but don't know where to start buh RIP to the dead

God bless u abundantly for the good work..rip lil man