...Then they'll Huff and they'll puff and they'll blow their lungs out!

To satisfy my frequent bouts of craving for nostalgia, I often use Facebook to stalk catch up and keep in touch with my faithful friends from Secondary School. Thanks to this wonderful networking site, I have been reunited with people I never thought I’d meet again in this lifetime. I haven’t seen many of them since graduation mainly because everyone scattered in different directions to pursue tertiary studies.

Unfortunately for me nobody from my set (or even the entire school) ended up in my corner of the globe. So you’d understand how excited I get when they write on my wall or when their mini-feeds read new photos uploaded – it means I have a window to peek into their seemingly more interesting lives and see what I’m missing out on .

It was during on of my daily perusals that I came across the one piece of information that has spoilt my day and possibly my entire week. Not one, but two of my dear friends have taken up the most dreaded of all bad habits - SMOKING!

Suddenly I feel even further detached from them. They have become strangers to me – these are not the responsible girls I knew and adored years ago. I feel like I have lost my friends already.

I remember how I used to feel when I saw packs of Benson & Hedges on my father’s desk. It broke my heart. Although I was young and naïve, I had learnt in primary 2 that smokers were likely to die young. So everyday I cried thinking daddy may not come home today – he would have died smoking in his office. Those were some of the most miserable years of my life. My friends, I’m sure their parents don’t know. How terrible would they feel if they found out?

Maybe I still haven’t gotten over the uncertainty, insecurity and fear of losing someone special. I was the happiest person when he broke the habit. It wasn’t easy for him and I know he suffered but he made it through. At the time he quit, nicotine patches or gums weren’t even invented so you can imagine how difficult it was then. Now that there are helpful alternatives, why don’t people take advantage of the privileges and stop?

When I look at my parents’ generation, many people smoked – possibly because it was in vogue in their era. In that time, the side effects of smoking were unknown. People thought it was a harmless activity. However, now that all this information is clear, people are consciously taking up the habit.

Now when I think of these girls, the first thing that comes to my mind is “What else has changed with them? Do they drink now?” I am so worried for them…

Its not that I don’t have friends that are smokers, there are a few among my colleagues and classmates. But none of them are Nigerians let alone Hausa girls; not that Hausa girls are better mannered than others, it’s just not a normal thing to come across. Maybe I’m just being too sensitive. After all, this is the first time a friend is picking up the habit while I have known them.

I don't want to lose my friends early. I want them to be there for me in the future like they were in the past. I want to be able to take care of our grand children together. These are smart intelligent girls that would most likely make it big in their disciplines. I want them to live long enough to enjoy the results of their suffering.

Why would any sane person pick up smoking in this day and age? After reading about devastating side effects? After seeing distressing images of the possible fate of your health? Even with clear evidence of the potential complications? How do you sleep peacefully at night knowing that tomorrow, you shall shorten an innocent person’s lifetime from your secondhand smoke?.

I find smokers selfish! Selfish to the people that love and care about them. Selfish to the people they may give cancer through secondhand smoke. Selfish for wasting money when there are other people elsewhere in dire need. Ungrateful for the health they have that others are desperately begging for.


PS: Exams are officially over! Special thanks to everyone that wished me well in my last post. Depending on how results come out, I am probably done with my Undergraduate Degree! I feel so liberated!