Violent Tempers . . . another serious issue

I have often heard that men from the Northern part of Nigeria could be really crazy when angry (my apologies to the Northern bloggers, please). I’ve heard about the violent tempers of these guys who could behead anyone who got an inch close to their wives or their cattle! I have also heard that if medals were to be given for having violent tempers, then my Northern brothers would be natural gold medalists. I came so close to observing a flagrant display of violent temper at its best sometime last week on my way to Surulere, Lagos to see a client. I was seated in a commercial bus and I watched in horror as a car ahead collided with a motorcycle. For an instant, I thought the man on the bike was dead or something. He had no helmet on for chrisakes! But he wasn’t. In fact, he turned out to be a policeman wearing a uniform that had MOPOL clearly printed on it. Alas, he was a mobile policeman! Along with the other occupants of the bus, I prepared for the drama that was about to unfold before us. The MOPOL guy seemed not to have felt any pains at all judging by the manner in which he got off his fallen bike and raced to his assailant’s car which had now parked a few metres ahead. By the time the driver got out of his car to assess the damage he had done, the policeman had reached him and the next thing I saw was the man on the ground and the policeman pummeling him with blows meant to remove all of his teeth if possible. The crowd that had now gathered screamed and begged for this new assailant to have mercy on his victim. The pleas seemed to make matters worse as the MOPOL pulled out a dagger from his belt and . . . No, he didn’t stab the driver, but I bet he would have if only there hadn’t been so many witnesses. Man, I was scared. As my bus slowly moved away from the scene, I managed to catch the policeman’s face and noticed his tribal marks. His angry voice and accent further proved that he was a Northerner. I sighed and silently thanked the good God that had restrained him from using that dagger.

'Temper' simply refers to 'a tendency to get angry easily and suddenly.' It’s no doubt a vice we all have to live with one way or the other. No one existing on this planet could ever lay claim to never having had a reason to get angry at one time or the other. Even babies do get angry. At least my daughter does. Jesus Christ himself got angry sometimes in the Bible, so we certainly do have a right to get angry but what really determines maturity is the manner in which we control ourselves whenever we get angry. Unbridled tempers have broken so many homes, caused so many wars and so many untimely deaths. I don’t think I have seen any good effect violent tempers have ever had so what’s the point of accommodating it anyway. I’ve come to believe ‘controlling temper’ remains one of the greatest personal wars we all have to fight. Even if the war can’t be totally won, it could be controlled to a reasonable tone.

Let’s quit the preaching and teaching and come to the real world now. I made a purchase over the weekend and somehow it still makes me laugh. Guess what? I bought a dog – a puppy actually. (No, that's not the picture of my dog. I've not had the chance to get a good photo shot yet.) A friend’s friend was desperate and needed cash real bad. Now he has a bitch (that’s a feminine dog’s name, right?) that just put to bed like two months ago and the she-dog’s got six puppies. I had a little cash to spare and so I took the deal, so I’m a proud owner of a puppy and she’s a she. That means in a coupl’a months and with the best cross-breeding with either a male dobberman, an Alsatian or a German shepherd, I could be rearing bad-ass dogs like DMX and shit. Sometimes, it’s good to act on impulse . . .sometimes. My pup’s got no name yet. I’m still thinking of a perfect name. Suggestions are highly welcome. See you around.