On the issue of the student in Bayelsa State who drowned over the alleged ₦300 bet, let me share my personal experience on how I almost drowned over a similar thing.
In 2008 (I was in Secondary school), I traveled to my uncle’s place in Ondo State for a month-long holiday. He was a farmer and I was joining them on the farm. In one of the farms, there was this Creek that we usually cross through a bridge.
There was a day we (myself, one of my uncle’s sons and his younger sister) were returning from the farm and decided to catch some rest by the creek – the water was flowing – literally gushing.
One talk leading to the other, I told them I could swim across the creek (I wasn’t really good at swimming but because the creek was narrow, I knew that if I dive and throng myself three times, I would have succeeded) and they doubted me. The guy said if I could swim across, he would give me #40.
Because I was confident in my ability, I jumped into the water and before you could say jack, I was already at the other side. Seeing that I did it successfully, he said he would give me another ₦40 if I could swim across it again.
For me, the money was never the motivation. I just wanted to display my skills and prove that I could swim.
Again, I dived into the water and this time, I probably missed my steps and before you know it, I was struggling to find something to hold. While this was happening, both of them burst into uncontrollable laughter. I was already drowning, but somehow, mercy prevailed and I managed to find my feet and held onto a major stone and managed to climb up.
I didn’t even ask him for the money he pledged because that wasn’t the motivation.
I have been seeing comments on the issue of the student who drowned and I am tempted to say that he didn’t choose to swim because of a meagre ₦300. A lot of times when people take on such adventures, it’s because they believe in their abilities and they want to actually prove that they have such skills. I want to believe that that was not the first time that the young man was swimming but fate had other plans – it’s by the mercies of God that everyone of us is living.
In the Bible, when Goliath terrified the Israelites, King Saul made a pledge or what some could tag a bet that whoever kills Goliath will smile to the bank. When David learnt of this, he jumped into the offer – not necessarily because of the ephemeral gains, but because he was confident in his ability – he had done some exploits in the past and with God, he can do this again.
I sympathize with the family of the young man who died and also discourage young people from playing with water bodies. But the assumption that he died because of ₦300 bet does not hold water. It’s just by the mercies of God that we are all living.
Stanley Ugagbe can be reached via stanleyakomeno@gmail.com
