By Amadou Kujabi
The demise of our daddy and our beloved brother left us in an unhealthy condition. It is very disheartening to lose a brother who is not only respectful but also religious, docile, calm, and hardworking.
To start, my brother (Ebrima) was the pride of the family. This was a result of his kindness and patience. He had a big heart that accommodated everyone irrespective of size, age, ethnicity, or religion. This, among several other attributes, made him so special, sociable, and approachable. As a family, we live in harmony and share many pleasantries and unforgettable memories therein. I may fall short in reiterating Ebrima’s magnanimity and his resilience towards helping humanity.
While I very well understand that to err is human, I will also be very prudent to point at the wrong and ill doing of my brother if there is any.
Verily, as a determined young man, whose ultimate objective was to rescue not only his family but also his friends, colleagues, and close associates from poverty. This was his clear intention. It would be sad to mention but unfair to ignore the stakeholders involved in my brother’s demise.
Additionally, migrating for greener pasture is a natural phenomenon, because human beings have lived with migration since the 7th century. Researchers would tell you that without migration, there would be limited space for religious propagation, acculturation, and even innovation. However, this may not be very relevant to me at this point. In a nutshell, some people may want to know the reasons for migration among the youths of our beloved country.
Consistently, migration comes in two forms, either a push factor or a pull factor. These are the two forms or types of migration. Basically, a country that can’t cater for her citizens may force her youth to migrate even if it will cost them their lives. This falls under the category of push factor, something is pushing them out of their place of origin. It is sad to say, but we are living in a country where 85 percent of the youth are unemployed or doing an undesirable job with low wages and salaries. This is the reason why many of our working population leave for greener pastures, even if it will cost them their lives along the way. It is in the same vein that my brother ventured on the journey so he could rescue us from abject poverty.
My brother took the journey with friends full of hopes and aspirations to fulfill the pending dreams and incomplete desires of the family. Eventually, their dreams were squashed due to a fatal sea accident that hit them along the way. It is sad. It is sad that their boat capsized in the high seas of Mauritania. While the hypocritical rescue team selected individuals, my brother helplessly drowned in the ocean. We received this unbearable news with a heavy heart and tortured mind. As I alluded earlier, Ebrima being the cream and pride of the family, his demise caused loads of mayhem, dismay, restlessness, and sleepless nights and depressing days in our family. Our father, who is in his 80s toward 90s couldn’t withstand the sadness and sorrow, started developing a lot of sicknesses, which resulted in his untimely death.
As Muslims, we took the faith and have the fervent belief that The Almighty is in control, but will not also forgive the stakeholders responsible for the demise of two people in our family within a span of two months.
