A Garden of Eden - By Obi Ginikanwa

Many people have acute reservations about the popular or notorious (depending on your perspective) Nollywood creation, “Nkoli Nwa Nsukka” because for some it is a classical bad Nollywood movie (believe me there are worse ones) or because it portrays Nsukka in a bad light but whatever the case is, one thing is certain, Nkoli enwero “swaggering” and that was why Magnus left her after he came back from Onitsha with little money and plenty of swagger.

So many people, especially girls, were quick to condemn Magnus and called him wicked and callous but truth be told, he knew not what he was doing because he is simply doing what everyone of us will do or does or is doing.

From time immemorial, man has been in constant search of something better and feels no compunction leaving behind whatever he terms old and anachronistic for something better, somewhere greener or someone fresher. Adam and Eve decided to leave the Garden of Eden after the serpent showed them Las Vegas, the Sin City in its full glitz so they wasted no time in bidding farewell to the fiery angels guarding the primal garden. So armed with the knowledge gotten from an apple (must be a very expensive apple, let’s say one for ₦1m because face it an apple that can get you high on knowledge should and must be more expensive than any hard drug you can think of) they went to somewhere better but what they did at Vegas is what we don’t know because whatever happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Being our common ancestors, they did not just pass down sins to us but also their seemingly inordinate desires so now it is not uncommon to see men desert their girlfriends once they go from ashy to classy and can afford a trip to Brazil for Copacabana New Year Eve festival or holidays to Miami where the sun melts morals and hot girls clad in bikinis burn the conscience.

It is not wickedness; it is simply human nature like MJ would sing that as time progresses and we get elevated, our tastes also transmute. Simply put, taste is relative but one thing is constant – human beings always want the best; it is what we consider the best is where the conflict arises but whatever the case, we always want the best of our circumstances. The best carpenter at Obiagu wants the most beautiful orange seller while the school certificate holder feels he cannot go for anything less while a graduate will feel it is highly insulting and demeaning to go for an uneducated man (especially if he is not moneyed) and let us be truthful, at the end of the day, what determines our taste, most times, is money.

After the hassle, the hustle, sleepless days and restless nights, we want the best houses, best cars, best foods and women like Beyonce and yes, Kim Kardashian. So if he calls you the best, you are most probably the best his money can buy. By the time he leaves NSK for Onitsha, he will realize you have no “swaggering”. Your face will bring not the glamour but the gloaming to his life, your voice will stop being music to his ears and when you open your mouth, he catches a glimpse into your soul and pinches his nose like my UNN night class friend.

Don’t worry, you neither developed halitosis all of a sudden nor did you lose your beauty but Mammon, the god he now serves just showed him someone seemingly better. However, not all of us worship Mammon in truth and spirit. Some of us still spare time for the Word of God in Proverbs 5:18 “so be happy with your own wife (girlfriend). Enjoy the woman you married when you were young; let her love satisfy you completely. Let her love intoxicate you always. But don’t go staggering into the arms of another woman”.

I read and respect the Bible but my friend is yet to be converted so he has a message for the girl he now worships her footprints. He said “despite your adorable lineaments – fairly complected soft and supple skin, almond eyes, full sensual and vermillion lips, statuesque figure and dignified carriage, when I make my millions, I will dump you.”