Not Yet My Time

After the school switch, my dad said I would have to be going to school from home until he could get money to rent a place closer to campus. From my house to school wasn’t very far, but with the heavy hold-up, it was always stressful.

Normally, I take a taxi from my school route every day. This particular day was a Tuesday. I was very tired, and the traffic was much worse than usual. It was during Ramadan period, last year March. They were renewing the road from Abuja to my state capital, so the construction workers had blocked one lane. That alone made the traffic unbearable.

When I got close to my bus stop, the road became free, so I took a tricycle to my junction. When I dropped, I noticed something strange the tricycle driver had used the lane they were still working on. Not just tricycles, other cars were also using that lane.

I crossed the first lane safely. While crossing the second lane, I made one mistake I didn’t check left and right. I only checked the right side and entered the road with the mindset that once the tricycle coming from that direction passed, I would cross.

I was walking slowly.

The next thing I heard was people shouting.

Before I could fully understand what was happening, a speeding truck was coming from my left. I froze immediately. At that moment, I started praying because I believed I would die that day.

Then something hit me.

I told myself, I can’t let this truck hit me. If it hits me, how will my parents recognise my body? My mum won’t bid farewell to her daughter. My dad will cry. Everything rushed through my head at once.

The only option I had was to run forward and let the tricycle hit me instead. If I tried to go back, I wouldn’t make it.

I started running and jumping.

I remember flying and hitting the tricycle glass. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor. People were around me. I could hear them talking, but in my head I thought, I’m already dead. They say dead people can hear sounds.

Then I realised I could open my eyes.

I stood up immediately and ran home.

By the time I got there, someone had already told my dad that he almost lost his daughter that day.

From that experience, I remembered a quote from Emotional Intelligence 2 where the author said you have the choice to make things work out for you. If not for African myths and religious beliefs, I would have said you can fight death especially when it’s not yet your time.

Many young people are no more today, not because they had no chance, but because they didn’t resist when they could.

That day, I did.

And it wasn’t yet my time.