LAGOS: An Igbo Father of 5 Commits Suicide

[Prince]

When will wanders ever end in Nigeria?  We lament the deplorable occurrences in high places, by the reason which Nigeria is set on a slippery slope to damnation.  Yet, in the low strata, things are more hopeless.  The hereunder appearing news item shows what results when men lock their brains out and think with their Southern hemisphere.  This can\'t be love.  The woman\'s \"jewelry box,\" for which this brother made a woeful exit, is still intact, and open for business, universal business.  Now, we have 5 kids who, for no fault of theirs, are shot straight into hell, in a canon.

The Guardian
Father Of Five Commits Suicide In Lagos

RESIDENTS of Aradagun area of Badagry were on Wednesday thrown into mourning when a resident, simply identified as Uche Okafor, was found hanging in an uncompleted building.

Okafor, 43 years old and a father of five, was said to have committed suicide following a protracted disagreement with his wife over an allegation of infidelity.

Neighbours who spoke with reporters confirmed that Okafor had complained bitterly about a mobile telephone number found in his wife\'s handbag, which he suspected to belong to her lover.

According to them, the incident, which happened a few months back, later degenerated into incessant quarrels between Okafor and Happiness, his wife of nine years.

They said Happiness consistently denied the allegation, but all her explanations fell on Okafor\'s deaf hear.

On the eve of the incident, Okafor, a bricklayer turned motor park tout, and his wife were said to have engaged in a hot argument over the same allegation, but later resolved to retire to bed after neighbours\' intervention.

Happiness, a hairdresser, was said to have left the home for her shop early in the morning of Wednesday, leaving at home her husband and five children.

Less than one hour after Happiness left, and obviously not convinced about her explanations, Okafor dashed to an uncompleted building in the neighbourhood where he took his life.

His dangling body was said to have been discovered by passers-by who raised an alarm, which attracted neighbours and sympathisers to the scene.

The matter was later reported to the police. His body has since been removed and deposited at a mortuary for autopsy.

When reporters visited the deceased\'s house, his neighbours, friends and colleagues were seen in mourning mood.

A policeman met at the counter of the Badagry Police Station confirmed the incident.

[objobj]

Prince nwa nna, there\'s got to be other reason for this uche man to render his kids fatherless. His wife will be okay. As you said he definitely was not thinking with the right head; \'cos no matter what Happiness did he should have thought of his kids and found a way to make ends meet. To me, suicide is a cowards\' means of copping out of the down times of life.

[Chizi]

I feel like there\'s another line to this story. It doesn\'t sound right that this man committed suicide just because his wife slept with someone else. But If indeed this is all there is to it, then it\'s very likely he\'s under a spell of some kind. I doubt if anyone in their right mind will take such an action, especially not in our Naija, and even less so when there are children involved. Most Ibo men I know will kick the woman out of the house. Some will send the kids packing with thier mom, others will keep the kids and move on with life. Better yet, some will make efforts to get to the root of the matter, work things out and keep the family together.
This case sounds strange  to me because I know that most  Ibo men take pride in being manly; It\'s just hard for me to imagine that suicide will be an option in a situation like this, especially with regard to the children. It\'s unlike anything I\'ve heard of before, and I really do feel like there\'s something else to this story that we\'re missing.

[Susia]

Well,  The Guardian has said why they think he committed suicide, But I personally think that it has more to do than what was stated. Like Obj, he should have thought about his kids before taking his life.

[Prince]

I think it was Elton John that sang, \"I guess that\'s why they call it the blues.\"  I guess that\'s why they call it the news, good title, huh?

George Orwell\'s Animal Farm says, \"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.\"  There are suicides and there are suicides, but this one takes the cake, to borrow an American adage.

Like you guys, there\'s no reason for me not to believe that there\'s a lot more to this than meets the eye, pardon my cliche.  I wouldn\'t put it past Happiness to hire thugs to force him through the noose.

Objobj, I would have asked you to go solve the case, but for the long distance commute.

[Prince]

CORRECTION

Ladies and gentlemen, I\'ve just been informed, by Chizi, that the song I referred to above was actually by Sir Elton John.  I stand corrected.  Thanks a mil, Chizi.

By the way, who said two heads are not better than one?

[Honeybunnie]

Poor guy, who knows if his jobs had been enough to feed his children, he might also have been feeling like less of a man. But hey, the world moves on....with or without him!!!

[Prince]

I think that Mr Okafor\'s body should be flogged in a public square.  I wouldn\'t let him get away with the mess he just created.  Besides the 5 innocent lifes he has ruined, he added 5 more loads to already pathetic Nigeria\'s reality.

[Susia]

lol@ prince...... You never fail to crack me up. So the children are now loads ba?


*** I guess this post me made an Ultimate Member ***

[Prince]

You know it!  Sad, but true.