Na Thief! Na Thief!

 

I was thinking this morning… Last week, I set out for an hour of early-morning brisk walking around my old Warri neighbourhood ahead of a busy day preparing for my dad’s funeral.

I breezed past Okere Road, Robert Road, Okandeji Street, Igbi Street and connected Ometan Street towards Bazunu Road. As I got to the junction between Ometan and Bazunu, I took a left turn into Lower Erejuwa Road and headed towards Upper Erejuwa. Just a few steps in, I saw people running across the road, shouting “Ole! Ole!” as they dashed into a narrow street. A woman taking her son to school, who had been walking away from the direction of the scene suddenly made an about-turn on hearing the shout of “ole,” and they both ran to join the growing crowd of onlookers and beaters.

“Warri!” exclaimed another woman walking beside me. “Instead of mama and pikin to go school, dem dey run go look thief,” she concluded. As I smiled and continued my walk past the scene, where the crowd had already descended on a young man, I remembered a near-miss incident from years ago.

An ijesha/Ijebu lady spotted an old friend at a popular market in Warri after many years apart. In excitement, she began shouting and pointing, “Nateef! Nateef!” calling out to her friend Lateef. But everyone around thought they heard “Na thief! Na thief!” In seconds, the atmosphere changed. People grabbed planks and rods and began running toward poor Lateef. When the woman realised what was happening, she screamed at the top of her voice: “No be thief o! Na Nateef!” Thankfully, the misunderstanding was quickly clarified before the situation escalated.

The story, though humorous in hindsight, is also a sobering reminder of how easily people can become victims of mistaken identity or wrong labelling. Lateef could easily have been beaten to death simply because someone heard Nateef as “Na thief” in a volatile neighbourhood. And that is not just a Warri street reality; it is also a life lesson.

In life, many people carry labels that were placed on them by rumours, assumptions, misunderstandings, or the loud voices of the crowd. But the truth about a person is not always found in the noise of public opinion. The Warri street reminds us that not every shout of “thief” reveals a thief, and not every label tells the truth.

James 1:19 (NIV) "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." Because sometimes, the difference between “Nateef” and “Na thief” is simply the patience to listen carefully before we react.

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey