29/09/2026
When the storm brought the strangers to the red shores, they called the land "empty." Tayo had lived there all his life, fishing the coves and speaking to the wind in the language his grandfather taught him.
The strangers brought tents, papers, and rules. They told Tayo their god was bigger, their words were smarter, and their claim was stronger. In exchange for "teaching him," they took his boat, gave him chores, and laughed when he mispronounced their words.
He tried to curse them once, and they locked him in the shed for three days.
Years passed. The strangers built houses with glass and gates. Tayo learned to cook their food, fix their machines, and smile when they photographed him for their brochures: "Our Local Guide."
But at night he still walked the beach barefoot, because the sand remembered his name even when the strangers didn’t. One dry season, the water pumps failed. The strangers panicked.
Tayo quietly walked to the old spring his grandfather showed him, cleared the stones, and brought water back in buckets. No one thanked him. They just said, "Good. Now the system is working again."
When the company finally left, they took the glass houses and left the gates. Tayo did not burn them. He opened them. Children from the village now use the empty buildings for school.
He teaches them both languages — his grandfather’s and the strangers’ — but he tells them: "Learn their tools, don’t become their tools." The island is not "discovered." It was always here.
Moral:
Power can rename you, claim your land, and call it civilization. But it cannot erase who you were before they arrived. True strength is to learn from those who come to rule you, without letting them own you.
I am Lawrence Ogbokor
I supply rice and cows to all states.
Location: Kano
WhatsApp/Call
07069171624
09010948106
