Broh

PART II The candle was almost gone. Its flame trembled weakly, throwing shadows across the room like ghosts of a life John could no longer touch. He stared at it the way a lonely man stares at the last thing keeping him company. Outside, children laughed. Their voices drifted through the night air—carefree, innocent, alive. Life was happening beyond his walls. People were falling in love. Families were eating dinner together. Dreams were being built. The world had not stopped for him. John shook his head slowly. It never does. For a moment, his mind wandered to his mother. He could almost smell the familiar scent of powder and perfume. He remembered the warmth of her embrace. The way she cupped his face every morning before school and smiled. “john, be good.” Just two simple words. Two words he spent years ignoring. Two words he would now trade everything he owned to hear one more time. A sharp pain settled in his chest. Not because she was gone. But because he finally understood what she had been trying to protect him from. He had been warned. By his father. By his mother. By teachers. By elders. By life itself. But like many young men, he believed consequences belonged to other people. Warnings were for those who failed. Not him. Not John. He thought he had more time. More chances. More tomorrows. Until one day, tomorrow stopped waiting. And now, in a room lit by a dying candle, he sat alone with the one thing he could never outrun: Regret.

Oyedepo is a Yoruba pastor. Adeboye is also a Yoruba pastor. Why is the former not criticized by Nigerians?. He is not criticized because he is neither a bigot, nor compromised. He speaks truth to power like a true Christian.