A brother indeed.

An intense kinship built for staggering moments of discouraging adversity

How are you my friend

How do you do, my friend?

Listening to these epic song by the Nigerian Artiste Johnny Drille conjured up memories of you in my mind and I realized I was smiling to myself unnecessarily.

Genuine friendship is tried and tested through the fires of affliction and persecution. You have indeed shown that after all the storms you are indeed a brother, for our relationship has transcended from the threshold of friends into an everlasting brotherhood of immense proportion.

I remembered the first time I met you ( ENEMO SUMAM) while we were much younger as children. It was at High Standard Comprehensive Schools. You looked fierce, abusive, confident and very rude. I even saw you on quite a few occasions fighting with members of your class and beating them mercilessly. This unfortunate incident I saw you participating in a couple of times made me anti you and never wanted to have a brush with you.

During these times, when I meet you in the street, I often keep my distance because I now have an image of you as being a fighter and I always taught even at such a tender age that you were nothing but trouble. This made me keep my distance from you over the years.

However all these seeming negative perceptions of you changed when you came to our school (VICTORY GROUP OF SCHOOLS) to enroll for the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE). After this, we became quite a thing. And I think what even drew us closer and finally cemented our friendship through the walls of time was the fact that you were an Art student and you hated Math with passion just as I did.

We finally broke the ice and became close the day you absconded from class before the Math teacher, our principal then entered. Eventually our friendship grew without leaps and bounds. If I remember vividly, you were probably the first person to give me a birthday gift and lo and behold it was a book that has endeared my heart ever since you made that gesture.

Then the Sapphire saga hit and you were there.( I narrated this story in my previous work so I won't bore you with the details here) After that we went to your mom's place and you made us a very delicious sandwich with a cup of hot tea to accompany it. Guy!!!, I must confess, you are a good cook and have missed your meals quite badly.

I remembered you giving me an audio message called Dancers At The Gate of Death. It actually came at the right time in my life as I was about making salient decisions. It kept me in check and constantly reminded me of the negative repercussions of having sex with a lady I am not married to; it also helped in ordering my steps in my relationship with God even though I haven't encountered Him at that time. In fact, it practically reordered my life and kept me in tune with God, especially when I just gained admission into the University to study for a degree in Law.

Going through memory lane, I remembered when Sapphire was giving me hard and difficult times, you were there holding me up and pouring encouraging words into my soul. The times in which we wrote JAMB together in 2012, 2013 and in 2014 precisely. We actually went to different schools and you insisted that if you didn't see my score you wouldn't believe that the results were poor; finally when you saw mine you believed they were.

You honestly just have your way of building confidence in me even when I never had such in myself. In fact, meeting you is one of the most incredible gifts God has bestowed on me on this side of the divide. You always made me feel like I am the most intelligent person you have ever met. In fact, you just have your way of inflating my ego in superbly healthy ways.

Unfortunately for the both of us, we had issues in WAEC in 2012 and had to write again. You wrote WAEC GCE in Rivers State that same year while I wrote WAEC in Bayelsa State again the following year and joyfully we both made it.

I remembered we gained admission together to various universities of our choice; while you went to UNN to study History, I went to Unilorin to study Law. Our 100 level days were fun and quite interesting as we both made it almost a daily affair to always talk to each other, borrow each other's money, call each other and even give daily updates about life and living across our various campuses. Then we entered 200l and we began to drift apart as we were now bamboozled by a lot of academic work. I brought this to your attention and we worked things out and began talking frequently again. Seeing you at home during semester breaks was always a delight and a platform for sharing a smorgasbord of stories and experiences with our various girlfriends and all that you know.

You always made me feel like your university was the best, cause you were always on my neck about what you guys address yourself with (Lions); you will be like “lions this and lions that” and honestly it was getting to me but I almost always let you have the floor so peace will reign no matter how temporal it maybe.

Then in 2018, you graduated while I was going to my 500 level. I was very happy and hyperexcited for you because of this feat you have achieved. Then my time came in 2019 to graduate but it was a different ball game for me as I wasn't able to. Gradually a course of 5 years for me ran into 10 years right before my eyes. I tried all I could to stop this intellectual pattern but it was like pouring water on a duck's back.Despite these storms of invisible black clouds I was fighting, bro you were there for me everytime time.

I remembered sometime in 2019/2020 when I was at HybridFX working as their Office Assistant. After a couple of months working there and knowing the establishment has come to stay, after all it was registered by the C.A.C, I reached out to you and informed you about the Lowest investment package of #50,000 naira; this made you invest that amount for a three months period because of the relationship and trust we share. Then in January 2020, you started calling and disturbing me about your money, started issuing threats and calling me names, something you have never done before. Honestly I was shocked to the bones, because of the level of basal distrust you showed to me at this stage in our relationship. I knew something was fishy, and that you have been told that I didn't invest your hard earned money like I said I would, but have rather squandered it on a riotous lifestyle, by friends and enemies who were jealous of what we share despite being in physically different places; something you know I detest with the whole of my being. Your calls became too frequent; it was like you were on a suicide mission to destroy the battery of my little phone, with constant calls, and because of that I resorted to never picking your calls again. Honestly this hurted me so badly, painfully realizing that money, just mere paper called currency, could create a bridge of perpetual separation and hatred between us. Then you told your mom to tell my Aunt that you will involve the police and they will come and arrest me and bring me in for questioning if I didn't pay you your money. Then the last straw that broke the camel's was when you sent Jovi, to come to my parents rented apartment, to deliver your message of fear, terror and intimidation to me. But fortunately for me,I met him on my way home from work that faithful day. We tagged along and went home together; on our way, he informed me that you wanted to talk to me about your investment R.O.I and why it is being stalled. When we arrived home that evening, he put a call across to you and when you answered, he gave me the phone so we could speak; only for you to start ranting and telling me about my life because of money. During this call, you told me that you will mobilize the police to arrest me and cough your money out of me if I don't pay on time; I was shocked and devastated cause I never expected that to proceed out of your lips after so many years of faithful friendship. I remembered telling you that guy, if I end this call our friendship has ended also, and you said that's fine with you, provided I paid you your money. Subsequently I refused to pick your calls, deliberately every time you called. And then finally I was paid close to #280,000 including the initial amount you invested. Of which I informed you asap via calls and you were hyper excited. You instructed me to remove some amount for myself and transfer the others to you via an ATM which I did on that same day at U.B.A bank. You were very excited when you saw the huge yield in capital and R.O.I, and you transferred more money to me, as a token of your genuine appreciation, for my deliberate effort in helping to grow your money. After this I kept you in the dark for more than three months, by not picking your calls. One faithful morning, during this wilderness experience, you sent me a very soulful and deeply repentant text around 4:00 am in the morning, telling me how the chasm between us has resulted in you having sleepless nights and how your conscience has been beating you non-stop since our financial fracas. You asked for forgiveness from a deeply repentant heart, with regret of what our friendship holds dear for you, (you sent this message twice to two of my numbers.) I refused to forgive you despite all your pleas, but when I reached out to a friend, she told me to forgive you, despite the fact that you betrayed my trust deeply, and that I should move on with my life. I took the horn gallantly, with chivalry and this misunderstanding has strengthened our relationship, way above any other goodwill will make us understand ourselves. Even my mother told me that I should forgive you, for what you did, and of course I did, despite unbearable and simply indescribable bleeding in my heart.

I remembered vividly during those fighting years of you calling me and saying, “guy, you no dull lol, Waty de happen na. People when no know half the book when you know go school after you and them graduate, but you never fit graduate, guy, Waty de happen na?.” All this you said from a standpoint of genuine concern. You never for once complained that I was the one responsible for my woes, rather your words were always seasoned with salt and grace. I don't remember you hurting me with words in those trying seasons of my life.

There was another time in which you called, and we spoke for quite a while. It was during this time, you told me to come to MFM Church, international Headquarters in Lagos State, as my condition is now obviously a product of supernatural wickedness. I was actually excited when you suggested that I come to Lagos. This was because I hadn't been there before. This suggestion put me on my toes and I was making enquiries from various friends, both in Lagos and Ilorin, where I was studying but all I got was, “am sorry, but I can't help you.” And due to lack of a place to rest my head I couldn't go again and eventually this plan fell through.

Those times it seems I don't feel pain, you were there helping me feel it and instantly fixing it also.

I honestly can't remember the number of times in which I called on you for assistance. You literally came through for me in all of them and in most amazing ways. You were a beacon of light in my darkest of times and knowing you as a friend has been a blessing right from my last session in secondary school.

And thanks for always being there for me in various aspects of my life Man.

I love you so much Bro.

Chiaoooo and Gracias for your time.