Sleeping in commercial vehicles to and from
people’s destinations have become the commonest one would notice aboard a ‘troski’
aside from the multiplicity of ‘supposed’ preachers going about what has become
their usual activities-a new found smart money-making move; albeit not all of them on a regular
basis.
Men and
sometimes women wielding Bibles accost passengers on board ‘troskis’ especially,
and begin preaching what I call, ‘common knowledge’-things everybody knows
already by my judgment……All they do is quote a few versus-sometimes in their
quest to explain these verses end up misinterpreting the entire text, repeat a
few of the famous ten commandments God gave to Moses and his people and then
conclude with a prayer for safe journey, deliverance in people’s marriages,
breakthroughs in their finances and the like.
Then
VOILLLLLAAAAAA!!!!!!!!The time for offertory follows.
“If
you are touched and want to support God’s work, just give any amount God puts
on your heart for the ministry, your life would never be the same”-the usual
lines they recite.
A number of
times some passengers would sympathize with these preachers, who sometimes have
very questionable outlooks and visages
by dipping their hands into their [purses-mostly women] to reach for
some money after which a litany of blessing pronouncements would be made to
these good guys in the troski.
It was quite
late that evening, we had just closed from one of our many rescheduled lectures
one Thursday evening from the Ghana Institute of Journalism; the clock had just
chimed half past seven, night had fallen, and the chirping of the birds was as
loud…….
Workers were
returning home from work in their characteristic huge numbers causing massive
human and vehicular congestion from Sankara towards Madina.The bats around the
military hospital were flying all over the place as if they had just been
released from cages, flying at heads-height, and the traffic lights took
forever to turn green. Sitting between an old drunk and a deep-sleeping woman I
suspect was a trader at the Makola market, judging from the white turned black
apron she had on, it was going to be a terrible journey,[ I thought to myself.]
Though I
occasionally dozed off in troskis, I felt it was a bit weird to sleep under
circumstances that prevailed in the bus that evening. The windows were wide open,
the lights off, yet it was incredibly hot in there. People’s sweat and breath
generated a lot of sickening heat and stale air collected in the troski [encrypted
at the rear,[CHOP YOUR HOUSE MATTER], made it practically impossible to gasp in
some fresh air. It was an old, near-rickety one.
As if that was
not enough ordeal for the poor school boy, tired and weary from a long day’s activities,
it was time for money collection, the conductor, what we locally call,[mate],had
just stretched his arm over towards the last seat to get his monies.
MY WOOOOORRRRD!!!!!!EEEEEWWWWWW!!!!What
offensive odour emanating from the underarm of this rascal-looking mate, who
was sporting a black sleeve-less shirt.
Quickly I pulled
off my hanky to wrap over my nose-the pressure and torture had reached its zenith.
The drunk to my left was as well fast asleep and already
drooling………………………………………..to be continued
Continued-He
exclaimed,
Mate: ‘massa massa, me sika asa ooo’…
Drunk: Wonfa nky3 wo papa
-predictably so,the mate would not have any of
that,he exploded,
Mate: hey hey hey blaa,fa me sika ma me…hwe,saa de3
naa mo y3 no-give me my money, you people are fond of it, you had money for
alcohol.
Master Abass, the driver parked on the shoulder
stretch and asked the drunk to alight abruptly; he would not move the troski
unless the man got off. ‘Then things some’…..typical driver-mate style.
Sitting next to him, I had to give way, while he
moved past on his way down the troski.Ear-deafening exchanges erupted all over
the place causing more stale bad breathe on the bus. Those who were lamenting
their lateness were at it,those who were heavily blasting the drunk were at it
too. It was getting late; the man would also not off the bus, acting all drunk
and absent minded.
It took the goodwill of a young fair female nurse,
returning home from the military hospital, to arrest the situation which was
almost warming up for ‘blows’. She had to get home quickly enough to feed her
three year old baby and get enough rest before the next day’s activities.
She paid the 90p Mr. Drunk was eluding, before
driver Abass moved the near-rickety troski.This didn’t go without some
tongue-lashing by the passengers on the bus though. In an attempt to forget all
the conditions there were in the bus, sleep came knocking. My eyes grew heavy
and nature was gradually taking over, only a phone call from my mother saved
the situation, and before I hang up on the phone and say jacckkk! A scarfed
above middle-aged woman rose from her seat, and forward facing us, with her
back towards the driver’s end and holding a book looking like a Bible, she
asked us to close our eyes and pray.
She was a female preacher who was at her usual.
“Brothers and sisters, she began, God has plans for you,
there are a lot of evil manipulations in this world today, the Bible says thou
shall not steal, you would not kill a fellow man.If you pray, you would get
your breakthrough”.
All through
the ‘sermon’ I was thinking to myself, everything the woman was saying were
pretty much general knowledge, she didn’t add to existing knowledge, as the
scholars would say, these individuals who pose as preachers needed to be stopped
in their tracks at some point. I wondered if I could expose the smart
extortionist models these people most of whom are [fake-without mincing words]
use to get monies from unsuspecting heaven seekers.
The point I was waiting for came; I knew the plea
and request for offertory would come, so I recited;
“Please
if God places on your heart any token to support the ministry, just give
it.Your life would never remain the same”.
Visibly astounded in the troski, the other
passengers burst into uncontrollable laughter. They were amazed I took the wind
out of the preacher woman’s sail.hahahahahahaha.
A mild frown wore on her face; she was dumbfounded
for a minute. I had bitter-quoted her evening, she might have said to herself.
No one would give her even a coin. She turned and
subtly sat back on her seat and lay her head on the seat behind which she sat,
the next two bus stops was Okponglo,where she alighted, I am sure prematurely,
for I had totally ruined her night.
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