Growing up with secret

Secret

Danny's childhood unfolded in the harsh environment of Mile 1 Diobu, a notorious waterfront slum in Rivers State, Nigeria's Niger Delta region, during the late 1980s. He shared a single room with his five siblings and their parents. His father, a low-level civil servant earning a meager 3,500 Naira, and his mother, a petty trader, struggled daily to make ends meet. The area was infamous for its gangs, where children as young as nine got involved, and violence was an everyday reality. Police raids swept through indiscriminately, ensnaring both law-abiding citizens and criminals alike.

Despite his financial woes—his salary barely covered the commute to work—Danny's father did his best to prioritize education for his children. Yet, they were often the only ones with unpaid school fees, drawing mockery from wealthier classmates. When Danny was nine, his mother left, reportedly overwhelmed by his father's insistence on having more children amid their poverty. Thrust into survival mode, young Danny began hustling, selling sachet water on the streets while his peers attended school.

Gangsters his age noticed his grit and tried to recruit him, but Danny refused. Threats followed, yet he stayed resolute. Meanwhile, those same kids fell deeper into trouble, landing in prison—a fate that hardened Danny's resolve to steer clear. Unbeknownst to him, a woman in her late twenties had been watching him closely. One day, she sent him on an errand to fetch items for her. Upon his return, she forced herself on him, raping the unsuspecting child. This marked Danny's traumatic introduction to sex, and she continued exploiting him for years until he was relocated.

After leaving the slum, Danny moved in with his aunt, a woman seething with hate and jealousy. His father had been transferred to another state, and his mother, tied to her nomadic trading business, was then in a remote village without basic amenities—leaving the aunt as the default guardian.

She professed to be a devout Christian, but her actions told a different story. She hopped between men, did no honest work, and lived off the money Danny's parents sent for the children's upkeep. On Sundays, she'd weep dramatically in the front row during church services, seeking "redemption," only to sneak off afterward for illicit encounters with the pastor. She maltreated Danny relentlessly, beating him at every slight provocation. But Danny clung to his dreams, enduring the abuse until one day his father visited. With no phones or modern communication back then, visits were rare and unannounced. Seeing the boy's plight, Danny begged to be taken away.

His father agreed, relocating him to his new state of residence and enrolling him in school. But the man was a notorious womanizer, squandering his improved earnings from the transfer on affairs rather than his family. Danny trekked miles to school daily, persevering until he earned his West African Examination Certificate. He then pushed on to university, studying Computer Science—a grueling journey that ended with a Second Class Upper Division degree and a job at a federal agency. Eventually, Danny married and welcomed a beautiful baby boy.

The lesson here is clear: we all face immense challenges, but how we confront them defines our path. Had Danny joined the gangs, he might have become a thief or militant like so many others, ending up dead or imprisoned. Growing up in a broken family never dictated his future because he set his sights on a goal and refused to waver.

Today, countless youths fall into cultism—by choice or peer pressure. If parents planted seeds of discernment early, teaching the difference between good and evil, and the destructive toll of gangsterism, much of society's turmoil could be avoided.