‘’Never you in your life lay your hands on a lady!!’’
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I have lost count of how many times my mother must have said this to me while growing.
This sentence is one which every growing young man must have heard.
This is regarded as the first ‘’rule’’ to becoming a ‘’perfect gentle man’’
I am yet to know who made that rule.
I was put to test last week Sunday,the 10th of March,as i was tested by maybe God,to see if I'm an upholder  of that ‘’rule’’.
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The current heat wave been experienced in Nigeria is one that has seen a lot of people complaining bitterly,infact some have said God is punishing us for allowing Tinubu become president. 😆 🤣 😂
Others say that the last person that entered Hades didn’t shut the door. 😆 🤣 😂

The most annoying part of it all is the epileptic power supply by  Abuja Electricity Distribution Company.
There are places in Abuja that haven’t seen light for days and in some places, weeks.

I feel mostly for pregnant women and babies, especially those who are unable to afford feul to power their generator.
I happen to be a victim of this as we can't boast of 10hrs power supply in a day where I reside.
This necessitated my visit to Rainoil Fuel station on that faithful day with the aim of getting feul to power  my generator to save myself from being ‘’roasted’’.

What that supposed to be an easy move turned out to be something else that saw me with blood stains all over my mouth.
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I arrived the Feul station with my two gallons of 25 litres each, anyone who saw me would have thought that I was one of these popular black market sellers.

I approached one of the fuel attendant, a black lady who should be in  her late20’s, her facial expression wasn’t friendly as she kept a face that seemed to suggest that she was the only one suffering the hardship experienced in this country.

I informed her that I wanted to fuel of #18,500 for each gallon, making a  total of #37,000.

As I wasn’t with cash I was asked to go make payment via my ATM using the POS provided by the Feul station.

After payment was made, I went back to her and handed the pos payslip to her.
‘’Na 35k fuel I go put for you o,the remaining 2k na for ‘’Gallon money’’ 1k each’’.The feul attendant said to me in very disrespectful and authouritative tone.

For some of us who may be hearing the word ‘’Gallon Money’’ for the first time,it is a kind of illegal fee collected by most fuel attendants before they can sell fuel in a gallon for any customer.

I told her that I wasn’t gonna pay for it and I insisted on that,afterall Nigerians has agreed on the motto for this year ‘’No gree for anybody’’.
I tried to compel her to fill up my gallon with the amount I paid for but this fuel attendant ‘’Kwechiri’’ oo.

A little struggle ensued between the both of us, and before I could say Jack Robison, this lady hit me on my lips with the fuel nozzle she used in serving fuel.

With Blood dripping from my lips, I could hear a guy shouting  from behind,
‘’Guy, no beat her o,na woman she be’’
‘’you no dey shame, you wan fight with woman’’.a lady said
‘’guy just  leave am, naso some ladies dey behave’’ another guy said

At first I thought my lips had become invisible as no one cared to take cognizant of that fact that I had blood on the upper part of my lip and my jaw.

There is this popular saying that ‘’Customer is always right’’, but I doubt if that applies to Nigeria ,because immediately the manager came around,he didn’t even bother to ask me what transpired, instead he joined the girl in insulting me.

Wetin man do man? I asked myself silently.

I was perplexed to say or do anything at that moment.

With my bruised lips and jaw, I carried my 2 gallons and left the station like a little child that was beaten by the mother,with one aim in mind.
Definitely not to come back for a retaliation but to create a new rule, NEVER YOU LAY YOUR HANDS ON A MAN.

If only we had a working government that will fix this power issue,my lips would have still be infact 😆😆 🤣 😂

As I preach the message of NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON A WOMAN rule to  my unborn sons, I promised myself to also preach the NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON A MAN rule to my unborn daughters.

Feel free to call me Ambassador of NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON A MAN. 😆 🤣 😂 😹

My name is Ikenna Okenyeka