What do you think about smoking or smokers? or are you one? read this and enjoy the lovely piece by Mulkah Fola HunterTokun
“Having to queue up at the banking hall on a Friday afternoon around 3.30pm is one of the things I dread doing. I was just left with no choice because I had promised to transfer some funds to my sister through one of the First Bank branches.
“I counted about twelve people ahead of me and I was busy wondering how much the cashiers had to count that’s taking ages. My conclusion was that they definitely needed more cashiers. Of course, I wasn’t the only one who was getting agitated as I noticed that a well suited up middle aged man, 2 people ahead of me, just kept stepping out of line. One glance at him, and you would think he was the popular Pa Kasumu.
“Moments later, he finally excused himself and headed towards the gents.‘Oh!’ I thought, ‘maybe he’s pressed.’ Few minutes after, I heard a loud beep and some words of cursing, followed by what sounded like chanting. All from the direction of the gents. Could you possibly hazard a guess at who could have been the harbinger of this chaos?
“The man who just left, of course!!!
“He came out all wet, his chanting now clearer,
‘This, this…this is embarrassing! This is discomfiting! This is Discombobulating! This is dishonouring! This is degrading! This is humiliating! This is demeaning! This is mortiftying! This…this is abasing!…’ I wasn’t wrong about the pa Kasumu countenance I had observed in him afterall!
“ Everybody in the banking hall burst into reeling laughter! I guess his manner of utterance of this oyinbo repete was on one hand enough to stir up the laughter, but on the other hand, he was a sight to behold! He was completely wet, as in, from head to toe! His jacket was dripping water unto the tiled floor, and so was his trousers!! Infact, u needed to see him!
“Guess what really happened as I later learnt? He was trying to be a ‘courteous and civilised’ smoker. Hmn hmnn!!! So that explains why he left the line. I thought something could be rather wrong too as he was fidgety. He felt the urge to smoke. Fine! He wanted to be ‘civilised’ about it, but unfortunately, the bank does not like the smell of smoke! He he he!! They had a sprinkler system installed in the gents, and his smokey cigarette got it triggered off! Oh my!! What a day for this guy! Am so sure he won’t ever smoke again!” This is a modified narration of a colleague at the office.
“I don’t think so! That incident might not be enough to serve as a deterrent to him. It’s not an easy thing for an addict to quit anything, be it cigarette, drugs, prostitution, homosexualism, or whatever vice even though most times they wish they could stop. I only pity his family because they will suffer more from passive smoking.” I countered.
“Passive smoking!” I thought aloud. Memories came in torrents.
My service year.
I served in the Northern part of the country. Precisely in the capital of Kebbi State. With the Ministry of Lands and Housing, Gwadangaji. I guess we all have an idea of how some of these ministries run…a lot of times, people had little to do, so you see them hanging around the walkways, the stair halls, the sidewalks, the porch…practically everywhere, a sizable number of them doing what? Smoking!! The unfortunate part of it is the fact that one has to pass through these alleys to transit between offices and whether liked or not, one commits the ‘offence’ of passive smoking unwittingly.
Again I recall Abba’s dad. Abba was one of Mr. Musa’s children whom he had begged me to teach to speak English. He worked at the Ministry and was also a chain smoker.
“Mr Musa, why do you smoke?” I confronted him. He was driving me to his residence to take kids as he did Mondays,Wednesdays and Fridays.
“Hmn?” He was apparently caught unawares.
“Would you like Abba, and probably Amina, your daughter, to become a smoker like you?” I pressed further.
“Definitely not! I will kill them! They know they mustn’t do it. I’m an addict, not because I like it, but because circumstances have pushed me. Mulkah, am sorry, I won’t be able to give you the details.”
“What if they pick up your cigarette stubs and try to experiment? Anyway, I really don’t need the details, what I’d candidly advice you is that you quit smoking! I know you know it’s bad enough for you, but I doubt if you know that its worse off for your family as they become passive smokers.”
He had just pulled up outside the compound, so I got down. I really wondered about what will become of his children. Of course children easily pick up habits of people closest to them, and knowingly or unknowingly make them role models.
Now back in Lagos, get to the parks and see them in droves! The drivers, the conductors…the agberos…well maybe not all of them, but most of them are chimneys, and they affect passersby and passengers one way or the other. Many times, I confront the security man at my residence why he sells cigarettes. He said: “E dey move well well!” What a reason! He doesn’t smoke however, but his fellow mallams do. “So u know say e no good to smoke?” I asked. “ I know now, but them dey always ask for am, na why I dey sell be that.”
And don’t even think only the downtrodden smoke in Lagos (stale gist!)Tshhhh! This one is meant for only your eyes o … I had a lecturer…He doesn’t live in ‘Mowe’. But we used to call him chimney! The ceiling of his office was no longer white by the time he was moving to another office…For those who know him…I no dey o!!! 🙂
Do we really know the import of passive smoking? Passive smoking is the exposure of someone, involuntarily to another person’s smoke. It is also called secondhand smoking. Second hand smoke is made up of gases and particles that are very harmful, especially to children because they are very sensitive and vulnerable to it.
Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke at home can easily develop bronchitis, pneumonia or any form of respiratory infection. They will have less developed lungs that have a reduced ability to function well.
Temporary effects of passive smoking on children are shortness of breath, coughing, sore throats, pressure or tightness in their chest, wheezing etc.
They are more likely to suffer ear infections, fluid in the ears, chronic middle ear disease or “glue ear”, which could lead to some loss of hearing.
They can suffer from possible cardiovascular disorders and various types of cancers in childhood as well as in adulthood.
They are more likely to die in infancy .The risk is twice as high If a pregnant mother smokes.
They are at a higher risk of developing meningitis.
So, daddies, and mummies; aunties, and uncles; brothers and sisters; friends and foes. Do u truly like these for your kids?
Ok! Something brings about passive smoking- smoking itself! Do you know that in the United States, from reliable statistics, tobacco smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable death? This cannot be far from the truth worldwide. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema(dilated air sacs), and cancer(particularly lung cancer, cancers of the larynx and mouth, and pancreatic cancer). It also causes peripheral vascular disease and hypertension, all developed due to the exposure time and the level of dosage of tobacco.
Interestingly, cigarettes sold in developing nations tend to have higher tar content, and are less likely to be filtered, potentially increasing vulnerability to tobacco-related disease in these regions. So Nigerian smokers, emurasi o!
When tobacco is smoked, nicotine causes physical and psychological dependency. Tobacco use is a significant factor in miscarriages among pregnant smokers, and the incidence of impotence is approximately 85 percent higher in male smokers compared to non-smokers, and is a key factor causing erectile dysfunction (ED).With all these information, wont we still ask that why do people still smoke and hardly think of quitting?
For those who have been having a hard time quitting, there’s good news: Always remember that there are only two good reasons to take a puff once you quit. You either decide you would be going back to your old level of consumption until smoking habit cripples and then kills you, or you decide you really want to withdraw and make it last forever and keep away from the next free puff! Sorry, hope you were not expecting a list of how-to’s?
Sure in the long run, if you still find it difficult to quit, then you are definitely waiting for when it will be humiliating…embarrassing…discomfiting…discombobulating…dishonouring…degrading…humiliating…demeaning…mortiftying…abasing…All for grammar! Well, methinks that if a smoker doesn’t achieve the feat of quitting. Indeed, his black lungs, teeth, ceiling board and burnt fingers et al, will testify!
Let’s live a smoke-free life. Ciao.
Filed under: Health Talks, Real life stories, Ways of light | Tagged: Allah, day to day, Depression, Family, fear, Habits, haram, Health, health FACTS, Knowledge, Matters for dicuss, Mulkah Fola HunterTokun, sin, smoker, Smoking | Leave a comment »
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