I went shopping on Sunday after church services all alone to relax and take some gratifications. It was a new week after I got paid in the school where I was a student teacher. Then I was filled with extreme ecstasy as I began to contemplate how I was gonna make use of the stipend I’d received.

After scaling my schedules according to preferences, I finally made a decision to visit a renowned shopping complex in Okene. I got there successfully via a friend of mine who gave me a free ride with my belt tied to my waist to experience what took me there.

Immediately, I settled down and ordered a soft drink and fried rice. I saw my secondary-school classmate coming in with some group of policemen standing rigidly at his back as one of them held him firmly, wanting him not to move. I was astonished at first sight, and I began to question myself about whether he was the guy I knew.

Bayodele was a diligent guy during our high school days. I couldn’t remember any day he was called out for falling victim to any ugly scene. The thought of what I knew him to be made me disbelieve my sight and keep questioning my brain. I stood up from my place, wondering what he had done to get handcuffed.

“Hello ma’am, please, what’s the offence of this young guy?” I solemnly asked one of the receptionists standing close to me.

“He’s one of those who came here last night to rob,” she replied.

“Jesus!” I expressed my surprise loudly.

“Do you know him?” she asked me softly, with a light wink from her lids. I explained how I knew him and we sat down for a chat.

“Talk to me dear, what were you told about him?” I asked keenly, as I stretched my throat to grasp her forthcoming prose.

“He lost his parents two weeks after he finished his secondary education,” she said, and that sad news left my mouth widely opened. “He later ventured into bricklaying, which made him popular. He left bricklaying as he didn’t earn enough,” she continued. According to him, robbery was the only option for him, which one of his blokes introduced to him.

After her narration, I appreciated her for her time and said, “There’s always a positive route to earn a living, regardless of one’s background; never should a man think that the only way to be great is by plying through negative routes. Always think right and big as the best is yet to come.”

Bayodele’s life choices were his biggest mistake. You are a product of your own choices. She went back to her desk and I went home with a burdened and heavy spirit.

Tell us: How do you feel about the way things turned out for Bayodele?