The Boy Who Wanted to Go to Enugu
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There was a boy who wanted to go to ‘Enugu’. But, Not having enough money for the trip, he decided to go to the motor park (the bus station) to beg for a free ride.
On talking to the bus driver, he was told that there were no free rides, but he could be given a job to earn money to pay for his trip. The job was for him to get passengers into the bus. The boy agreed and began calling passengers to fill the bus to ‘Enugu’. Once the bus was filled with passengers, he got paid.
In the meantime, he slept in the motor park. Soon enough, he was proficient at calling passengers and became the darling of the motor park. He earned quite a bit of money every day and was able to sustain himself. His popularity endeared him to many. He sometimes got to buy meals on credit, and on some occasions the meals were given to him for free.
Soon enough, he had enough money to travel to ‘Enugu’. However, with his income and the perks he was enjoying in the motor park, he was no longer interested in going to ‘Enugu’. He decided to settle down to the life in the motor park!
You see, in the first place, his reason for wanting to go to ‘Enugu’ was to find the ‘good life’; and now, the boy believed, he had achieved that, right there in the motor park. Unfortunately, he didn’t know a better life was awaiting him in ‘Enugu’. He ended up as a motor park tout: sleeping in the motor park, barely having enough to eke out a living, doing whatever he pleased, living an unruly and misguided life, and, being accountable to no one. What a life!
Friend, ‘Enugu’ in Igbo language of South East Nigeria, means, “on the hilltop”; and the bible says in Psalm 24:3, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?”. ‘Enugu’ in our story signifies the abode of God, that is, Heaven; and not the coal city in south-eastern Nigeria! The boy in the story represents you and I; and the motor park, represents the world and its system of operation.
Just as the boy started out wanting to go to ‘Enugu’ to obtain the good life, so should we seek for a good life in the ‘mountain of God’. The bible says in Psalm 16:11 (KJV), “In thy (God’s) presence is fullness of joy; and at thy (God’s) right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” However, when the boy experienced…
