Stop Looking Down On People

Tí a bá ka ẹrú, inú ẹrú a bàjé.

Meaning : If we count slaves, they will be sad.

The above statement was taken from a certain Yoruba literature text for children. I can't remember the title or author of the book but I can very vividly remember the story, even though I read it over forty years ago.

It was a story of a very rich man that had many slaves, lots of farm lands, herds and properties, but only one son.

This son was very arrogant. He always looked down on his father's slaves and made them feel that their slavery under his father was because they were being punished by God.

One day, this son asked his father to count the slaves. Since he was going to inherit them after the father's death, he wanted to have an idea of the wealth to be inherited. However, his father told him, "if I decide to count my slaves, they won't be happy". "Who cares?", he said. "Are they not just common slaves?". For a long while, the father ignored him. He persisted for days, pestering his father to carry out this exercise once and for all. After much persuasion, the father agreed to do his son's wish with a lot of fanfare which of course, made the boy feel happier.

The father invited a lot of guests. Since he was a rich man, he was also very influential and everybody, including other neighbouring villagers, obliged and attended. The guests were seated. The slaves were also present and the son was seated beside the father when He (the father) stood up, cleared his throat, and said :

"Today, I want to count my slaves, I want to know how many they are, so that when I'm gone I won't leave anyone in doubt of who the slaves are, but before I do that, I would like to show you all who my first slave is. He then grabbed his supposed son by the hand and lifted his hand up for everyone to see. Haba, the boy was flabbergasted!

"Bàbá, do you not know whose hand you are holding? It is me, your son!" Then the father faced him and said: You're the first slave that I ever bought, and I bought you when you were just a child. Since I didn't have any child of my own, I trained you up as my child. As far as I'm concerned you were my child until you reminded me that you were actually a slave."

The boy began to cry. "Do you now understand what I meant when I said 'if we count slaves, they won't be happy'?"

Friends, what is it that you have and think those without must be unfortunate creatures?

You got married at twenty five and you think your friends that are not yet married must be serving some punishment from God... they must have been wayward in their youth. Oh, maybe they are too ugly or they are not "wife material", right?

Well, have you seen a scenario where someone got married at 30 and finished having children at 35, while the person that got married at 25 began to have babies at 35? If you haven't, please ask me, I will tell you. In fact, let me tell you now. A man married his wife when she was 37 years old. Some of her friends that got married at 25 are still looking for the fruit of the womb till today and guess what, their last child will be 10 this year.

Dear sister, you got married and have children but you began to look down on your friends that are yet to have - may be they aborted too many pregnancies when they were younger and God closed their womb, you think to yourself. Oh, may be it's a generational curse. Oh, you must be special to God that's why he decided to bless you beyond them?

Well, sister, have you heard of a situation where a couple adopted a child, trained the child and that child became the president of a country, while other people's many biological children are still looking for jobs? If you haven't, please ask ALI BONGO, the president of Gabon.

My dear intellectual brother, you started your own business from the scratch and you've grown it to a household name while your friend is still roaming about town. So, you think that friend of yours is an empty headed fool? You think he's a low lifer and a cursed man?

Sir, have you heard real life stories where this empty headed, good for nothing, low lifer man became a governor of a state, while that once thriving business collapsed and the business mogul began to grasp desperately at another chance of survival? If you haven't, please ask LAM ADESINA, former governor of Oyo State.

Friends, please drop those shoulders! You are nothing but pencils in the hand of the creator (due credit to Super Story).