Area Boys

I am very much aware that the mere mention of ''Area Boys" some of my Peeps would pee in their boxers, no doubt there have been unpalatable stories associated with these members of the society. 


But, it is not the case in some of my encounters with this fearful looking members of our society, though some of them are lazy or knee deep in drug abuse, but there are some that are the results of society neglect.


A recent encounter with the last set of Area Boys and my interactions with them did change my perception of some of the stories making its rounds about them.


In a country where only few are super rich and the rest who are professionals, artisans and non-artisans are barely making ends meet, where government refused to wake up to alleviate the pains and sufferings of the populace, the resultant effects are the people we acronymed AB.


The issue here is that the stomach is not jealous of how much you have in your wallet or purse but revolts when its not fed on time, Area Boys must answer the call of their stomach too and at the same time be responsible for their family needs. 


They are from the Scavengers to Traffic control Volunteers, anything that can generate alms from the public to feed the pounding pains of the stubborn stomach.


Like the Yoruba adage: Once the stomach is happy, half of our problems are solved.


At close range they do have their par lance but if you are street wise, you can jolly well throw in one or two of such to awaken their awareness to the fact that you "Don Jazzy" too.


Once they are comfortable with you and realize that you would not go down without a fight, you are both on the same page, they could be extremely helpful in abating your anxiety in an extremely bad situation, Car stuck in the rain, flat tyre in the middle of the road, fire outbreaks, trans-loading from a broken down vehicle to another, and many more of such situations.


They are the invisible Man Fridays on our roads with little or no hope for the next available meal to sustain them till the next day of their hopeless lives.


They are the best praise singers for a Naira.


They are the sacrificial lambs of our Political decadent Society.


They are the good boys gone bad, due to the inefficiencies of our government policies.  


The next time you see an Area boy, fear should not be your reaction but pity, because they are the ones we left behind.


Do you think Area Boys deserve our trust?