The Freedom Within Nollywood

I was at a point in life where I had to choose.

The options were:

- Go home and go to sleep.

- Stay here and stay awake.

Option 1 was the safe route, with no surprises. The only downside is that it was an extremely boring option. Option 2 was probably what I needed the most, but it was also an extremely dangerous one. A lot of people would have chosen 1 over 2, but I chose 2 over 1.

"What are you doing?" Lee said as he approached me. He wore a black hoodie and a pair of jeans and carried a backpack slung over his shoulder. "You're still here." His eyes darted around the room, scanning for anything out of place. "It's already 3 AM." Lee was an acquaintance from work who knew I quit my job earlier today, so he invited me to his secret hideout in this supposedly condemned building downtown. He told me there would be some fun things happening here tonight if I wanted to join him and his friends. I wasn't expecting anything big, but what happened next exceeded my wildest expectations.

"Yeah, thanks for showing me this place." I said while putting away my phone into my pocket. Even though it was late at night and only us two were left in the building together, I didn't want to show interest in whatever Lee was doing. If he noticed any sign of curiosity on my face, that might prompt Lee to do something rash like showing me his secret stash or inviting me to join him in some kind of illegal activity that he must've been doing here every night before the place got closed by the police a week ago. That's why I pretended to be busy until he asked me again what I was doing here in the first place. Then it dawned on me; maybe being bored at home was not such a good idea after all?

"Well....you see....I don't have anywhere else to go now." I responded hesitantly as if it were a lie. "And neither do you apparently." It was more like a statement than a question because Lee seemed like someone who didn't care about what other people think about him and just went ahead with whatever he wanted to do regardless of how others perceived him. There were times where he would do something reckless without considering the consequences when we worked together at Starbucks last year during the holiday season when customers often inquired about our jobs; Lee would always answer their questions recklessly even though employees weren't supposed to divulge work-related details to the public.

As I pondered whether or not joining Lee was a good idea, my mind wandered to the state of crime in today's society and how technology affects it. Crime rates keep increasing, and it seems that efforts put into lowering crime rates are not enough. Bank robberies still happen, and innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire. Undercover detectives sometimes manage to infiltrate these gangs and arrest criminals, but there are times when they can't tell the difference between real and fake robbers. This unfortunately also leads to the arrest of innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The world faces other challenges too, such as the global warming problem, which continues to worsen despite the best efforts of scientists, activists, and governments. If humanity fails to address this urgent issue, future generations, including children, may not be able to live on planet Earth anymore, eventually leading to the extinction of the human race.

With all these thoughts racing through my head, I questioned if joining an underground group with Lee was the right thing to do, or should I focus on tackling bigger issues like crime and climate change in society? The decision weighed heavily on me, but ultimately I had to choose my own path.