Shakirat kareem

Nigeria

 Are We Healing Or Hurting?

2 p.m., we walked downtown, pushing our way through the ever-busy streets. For thirty minutes now, we had been enjoying our exploration of the city panoramas. Suddenly, the scenes started changing, and we found ourselves in a completely new environment.

50 meters from where we stood, there was a group of about thirty people who appeared to have taken the entire highway into a siege. This highway seemed to be clear, except for a few individuals like us, who were now observing from some distance. As I continued examining the scene, different images kept peeping into my sight.

In the middle of the highway, there was an enormous fire that was now consuming a heap of tires, thus sending a cloud of grayish smoke into the atmosphere. From this crowd, I could also see various banners flying into the air with different inscriptions. Some of them read: CHANGE NOW!”, “YOUTHS FOR CHANGE!”, “WE STAND FOR JUSTICE!”, “END CORRUPTION NOW!”, “STOP SEXUAL HARASSMENT TO OUR MOTHERS AND SISTERS!”, and “THE GOVERNMENT MUST STOP EATING ITS OWN PEOPLE!”

As I stared at them, trying to extract the exact words from their chants, I felt a touch on my shoulder. I turned quickly and looked confusedly at my friend, who appeared to have been calling me for some moments now. At that point, he moved closer as if he wanted to hug me, then whispered a question into my right ear: “Do you think they’re healing or hurting?”