Tales from my backyard: How we innocently kill our loved ones

For some time now there have been a lot of stories about people committing suicide yet we seem not to care for each other. I want to draw our attention to our hypocrisy. We subtly urge people to do the unimaginable then turn back to show fake concerns.

I posted a suicide picture with the note “when the going gets tough” on my WhatsApp status to see how people who claim to be friends, loved ones and family will react. To my dismay, out of the about 39 people who viewed it, it was only two people who were concerned enough to discourage me from going ahead with such a thing. The rest were silent majority who were waiting to hear whether I have gone ahead with it so they can compete for the “who loved me the most award.” They will be the people to be the first to put my picture up on their social media pages and pour fake tributes on me. They’ll tell their contacts how they loved me and never saw me doing such a thing. They are going to eulogize me in the sweetest way ever as if I meant the world to them but what did they do when I posted the picture? They looked on unconcerned.

This is how we lose people we love when we can do something about their problem. I was not expecting them to give me money or something but granted I had wanted to commit suicide their words of encouragement would have gone a long way to help. I hardly meet people and talk to them but one night after going to roam, I went to an indomie joint I’ve been patronizing and met a young lady there. After she was done eating I offered to walk her home; this is something I seldom do but I don’t know what happened to me. On our way, I realized she was moody and not really interested in the conversation I was engaging her in. When she got to her destination, I took her contact and returned home. I later called to find out what was wrong with her. From what she told me I got to know she is battling suicidal thoughts because she feels the people who urge her on are rather suffocating her.

“Okay I don’t want to leave this world but I feel like the discouragement in my life is too much”, she told me. With the little trauma lessons I have, I was able to talk her out of that situation and now she is living a happy life. Who knows what would have happened to this young lady if I had not met or spoken to her that night.

Let’s learn to show genuine concern to the people around us. It’s of no use when they are dead and we pour out our hearts and words to them. If there is something we can do, let’s do it when they have the eyes to see, ears to hear and the strength to appreciate it.

By: Nii Okantah