I’ve been through horrible things. It’s amazing that I’m still alive. I’m a candidate of God’s grace. I choose to count my blessings today and thank God for the gift of life. I should have been long gone. But His mercy kept me. 

1998. A soldier put his gun on my chest during the Abacha years. I led students on aluta. Bonfires everywhere. Soldiers were called out. One pulled out his gun. Face to face. I could feel his breath. The students I led abandoned me. I turned my back and ran. I lived to tell the story.

1998. I had a fatal accident in a bus at Awolowo Junction, Bodija, Ibadan. Brake failure with bus at high speed. Somersaulted many times. Finally stopped with tyres in the air. I briefly lost consciousness. Then, I had the morbid fear of being burnt alive. 

I could see smoke. I crawled out through a window. Bleeding, but I didn’t even know. I started running. Then, I remembered my friend, DJ Korea, was in the bus. I ran back to rescue him. I shouted his name until he crawled out. Six people were cold. Dead. I lived to tell the story.

2009. I was going to work at Apapa. Coming from Yaba, where I lived. Slow-moving traffic at Tin Can Coconut. A guy in traffic. Supposedly selling gala or handkerchiefs. A green bag draped around his neck. I was half awake. Time was around 7am. Guy walked to my driver’s side. 

I was seated in front. He knocked on the window. Put his hand in his bag. Brought out a gun. Banged on the window. My driver was discombobulated. Elijah was his name. Confused. Scared. The guy thought we were uncooperative. It all happened very fast. He aimed his gun at me. 

Pulled the trigger. Time wasn’t enough to say any prayer. The click was loud. The gun jammed. He looked at the gun. He looked at me. He took another aim. Pulled the trigger again. I was twice lucky. No, I was twice saved. By grace.

I saw fear on his face. He started running. Jumped the median. Ran through traffic towards the ocean. I lived to tell the story. 

From bullets to a bus crash and even a sinking boat, I’ve escaped death more times than I can explain. But there’s one reason I’m still here: God’s mercy. 🙏 Read. Reflect. Count your blessings. Share on X

2011. Going to work around 6am. Gave my sister-in-law a ride. Around Customs Street, Yaba—not far from UNILAG—we saw a melee. Cars screeching. Bedlam. It was too late. I saw the guy. Right in front of our car. With bullets wrapped around him. Like the movies. 

Except that this was not a movie. Robbers. Fully armed. Shooting everything that moved. Had no time to think. I jumped out of the car. On motion. Forgot my driver. Forgot my sister-in-law who sat at the back. Everyone for himself. God for us all. 

I ran. Under a hail of bullets. Dodging cars that were trying to make a U-turn. Grateful none hit me. I saw a mosque. It was the time of the Muslims’ call to prayers. I ran into the mosque. All the worshippers scattered. My trousers torn. 

My sister-in-law couldn’t escape. She was strapped in her seat belt. Robbers came. Saw her. Ransacked the car. But left her. We lived to tell the story. 

2013. Going to Bonny on a project inspection. Hired a speedboat. With my colleagues. And two hefty guys for protection. Smooth takeoff from Port Harcourt. Gisting. Enjoying the fast but bumpy boat ride. My back towards our destination. 

It was late by the time we saw it. A canoe! Right on our path. No time to swerve. It was a collision. Impact spun our speedboat in the opposite direction. Canoe split apart. Former occupants in the river. A splinter from the canoe had pierced our boat.

Water gushing in. Engine silent. We were sinking. The only lady on the boat was already crying. My colleague at work was lamenting very loudly. It was the last day of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s 40-day fast that year. My colleague was telling God how he fasted faithfully till the last day. 

I wanted to tell him it’s not by fasting. I remembered my wife. And my little daughter then. I looked at my phone. Surprisingly, Airtel had signals on the ocean. That’s why I still use only Airtel till date. I started thinking of crocodiles. Dangerous reptiles in the waters.

We asked the driver to start the engine again. After a few hiccups, engine came alive. We made a dash back to Port Harcourt. That was the longest 15 minutes of my life. We made it. I lived to tell the story. 

I can go on. And on. I’m grateful that God spared me. If you think deeply also, you will find a reason to start each day. With a grateful heart. 

As long as we are alive, we still have hope, just as a live dog is better off than a dead lion. (Ecclesiastes 9:4 Contemporary English Version)