The countdown has just begun.
This is the only time we seem to be truly awakened that the days of the year doesn't stop counting. August folds up to usher in the Ember months.
You hear people say ''oga o, this year is almost gone sha'' as if the year wasn't going before now.
Doubled profit making is the goal for the latter part of the year as this.
(Singing)
Ember ko ma ko wa l'ebi lo
Ember ko ma ko wa n'ile lo
Osu ''BER BER BER'' la de
Baba l'oke so wa ninu ibanuje
Ember ko ma ko wa n'ile lo
The lines above simply translate ''God keep our homes and extended families safe during the Ember months.''
I can't say specifically who sang that song but It's been popular ever since I was young especially at this time of the year.
Very soon, everyone will start singing this Good Women song too:
''Odun n lo s'opin o baba rere (the year is going to an end good Father)
F'iso re so wa o t'omo t'omo (protect us and our children)
Ohun ti yo p'awa l'ekun o l'odun titun (whatever will make us weep in the new year)
Ma je ko sele si wa o baba rere'' (may we not experience it good Father).
I don't know if it's only me that sense this, but there seems to be a lot of bloody stories attached to these months: September, October, November and December.
Most people tend to thread extra carefully. Some don't even joke with fasting and prayer in the last four months of the year. They esteem these months more than the first eight months and they feel they need God's protection more at this time.
To add salt to injury is to hear about the death of someone or to hear about an accident case that claimed lives, fear of people get heightened. People will start sympathizing with words like ''they just don't want this person to enter the new year, may we not be victims of bad circumstances during this period o'' and so on.
I presume careless people suffer the most during this times especially at crowded areas or market places. For a stranger to touch or hit them slightly, the money on them would have disappeared.
Some people even carry bags loosely at bus stops. Let's now say commercial vehicles are scarce and it's getting late, before they rush at the available taxi or bus to secure a seat, fiammmmm, everything on them is gone, even neck chain sef.
I remember the method this pick pocketers use sometimes ago, they would walk up to you and tell you something is on your shoe or tell you there's a stain on your trouser and before you could bend to check if there's anything there, they would have removed your phone or your purse neatly.
It's as if these people get smarter at this time.
Scams flying up and down.
All you see is desperation in people's eyes. They want to get what they've not gotten since the beginning of the year in just less than three months by using diabolical means.
The sellers in popular markets would be able to narrate their ordeals better. How they receive fake alerts after selling goods worth half a million naira. Oh, Goodness!
The most scary story about Ember months is kidnapping and rituals. They fill up the dailies and the internet that someone went out or someone travelled and hasn't gotten back.
There are warnings from the Federal Government and several media houses to members of the public to board vehicles at the motor park only but some people still want to economize and risk their lives. Now that the transport fare has even hiked, I wonder if some people would be able to afford park fees.
Very soon, you will hear from the Inspector General of Police that he has deployed his men to different parts of the country to see to the protection of lives and properties during Ember months.
Can they really protect us?? Well. I really can't say.
Whatever blood spilling stories you might heard or seen at this time of the year should not scare you.
Yes, and please allow me to rephrase that. Don't be Afraid! Don't Fear! No shaking😉
It's not as if nothing good doesn't happen at this time o. Infact, merry moments are attributed to the EMBER months. People get married, move to their new houses, people give birth and celebrate other greater achievements. I could vividly recall I got my admission in December too. Lol
Trust God who has been keeping you all these while to keep you and take you through this year again unhurt.
Do your best by being watchful, careful, and prayerful.
Leave Ember and it's bloody superstition and be empowered by your creator to have total Victory.
I hope this sparks your Faith and swallows your fear.
Virtual hugs🤗🤗🤗
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