A mouse trap was noticed by a rat in a farm setting. The rat as a matter of urgency ran to the cow to report the case.But the cow mooooed at the rat saying: “that is none of my concern”The cow didn’t take the matter seriously because the mouse trap can only
catch a mouse and can do nothing to a cow.

The rat informed the goat but the goat didn’t see the matter as a momentous one, so it didn’t put its mind to it.

Then the rat informed the cock and cock crowed in laughter saying “Mr. Ratu ratu, am I supposed to be on the lookout for
some trap that has a mouse name attached to it? You and I know that a mouse trap is none of my business."

The rat went back disappointed that its problem wasn’t taken seriously by the other members of the farm. The night fell and everyone went to sleep. Suddenly the mouse trap sprang and caught something.

The wife of the farmer went to the trap which was obviously in the dark. But she was bitten by a snake. The mouse trap had caught a snake by the tail. The woman screamed while the farmer came in with a cutlass to kill the snake then rushed his wife to the hospital. She was discharged from the hospital the next day and was brought back home but with a fever.

Her fever was severe that she only craved for chicken pepper soup. So the farmer got the cock and slaughtered it for a good pepper soup for the wife.

The wife didn’t get better but her health deteriorated. The farmer killed the goat to entertain those who came to visit his wife at home. The farmer’s wife eventually died on the third day.

And the cow was made to lay down its life for the funeral ceremony of the late farmer’s wife.

The rat was perplexed at how events had turned against those who refused to help in times of trouble.

This is the situation of Nigeria and Nigerians. If we do not take each other’s problems as ours, a day will come when we shall all be victimized by the same thing we kept sweeping under the bed. We are all walking on broken bottle tops that should not be ignored yet we all pretend not to be seeing them.

If we continue on this note, a time will come when it will no longer be about who is SAFE but about who is NEXT.

Let's all learn how to always look out for each other.

By Prof Chijioke