Glamsquad Dec - Jan 2021

FEATURE
G
The
World
On A
Cusp
When I boarded a plane
in January for the UK, little
did I know that life, as I
knew it, would change - in mere
six months! My three months’ stay
stretched to six months and life
can never be the same again!
The world is on a cusp,
burgeoning into a form no one
can envisage. The vulnerability of
humankind is now made more
apparent. We are nothing but tiny
flakes in creation’s existential makeup.
When Covid-19 surfaced in
Wuhan, China, I had packed in
Nigeria, ticket in hand, with plans
to have a rest after retirement from
‘Vanguard’ and interment of Victor
Bello, my only brother. Until that
point, rest and time was all I had in
mind.
The weather, on arrival in London,
was chilly but welcoming. London’s
paved streets and shopping
arcades often have a therapeutic
impact. And, I was bent on taking
long, meditative walks, window
shopping and just spending the
days in nothingness; that is, until
I had cleared my mind and
decided what story life’s next
lamView
With Remmy Diagbare
chapter would open.
But how could I have known that
life was just about to take a new
turn? The twists and turns of life
that we never can plan! Except
knowing that a master crafter, the
Supernatural Engineer of the fate
of all of us holds the reins.
Death stalked the streets — an
unseen enemy ravaging the world!
Daily deaths, in the thousands,
flashed across the news. The
enemy was everywhere. It could
be you and it could be me. There
was no way to tell who incubates
the enemy; Science and the
‘privileged race’ were confounded.
They dropped their arrogance and
their entitlement of intelligence
and superiority vanished in the
face of Covid-19.
For the first time, they were
as flamoosed as the rest of us.
Where was their boast? Where
were their ----; those who deny
the very existence of God? Now
confounded, they look up for
solutions. Everyone seemed to
scurry for a vaccine...
Then, the conspiracy theories
began swirling. They pelted Bill
Gates, Microsoft’s founder, in
New York, USA, accusing him
of wanting to manipulate the
world’s population by first killing
us, then introducing a vaccine
to prevent more deaths. Poor Bill
Gates, unable to stop the constant
accusations, despite his generosity
to the world, especially suffering
Africans. Or, what could one say?
Having shelled out billions of
dollars to eradicate polio and
more for effective control of
malaria, the world wastes no time
in labelling him
‘the monster’
whose greed
and intent
to kill off the
weak link for
a stronger
utopian
community
has propelled him to
launch Covid 19! Please, world!
Give the man a break!
Well, by now, we know that on
March 23rd, Prime Minister Boris
Johnson introduced a lockdown
- following France, Italy, Germany
and the rest of the world. In a whiff,
all the shops emptied. You could
not get toilet rolls, hand sanitizers,
bread and other essential
household items! Everything
disappeared as the fundamental
human trait of survival took
primordial positions.
In the United States, as in Africa
and everywhere in the world, the
basic instincts of survival is the
same. It’s our common humanity;
it doesn’t matter if you are Black or
White, Yellow or Brown. Survival first
is as primitive as the early years of
our shared human ancestors - the
cavemen! It’s a hunt for self that
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