A Dozen Indomie Packs For Dinner

Now this was an unusual evening.Simply because ordinarily,i would have sent my gateman to get it.Get what,you might ponder?Indomie Noodles,Nigeria's favorite & arguably cheapest meal.Enjoyed by both rich & poor.Easy & quick to prepare as well.

On that thursday night,i was in the mood for this national bestseller.Like i said,i would have sent Bashiru,the pleasant car-washing custodian of my compound's gate.

Instead,i decided to stroll.This was because,sadly,i hadn't done any exercise in a long while.Even my dust-coated cycler could attest to this fact.

So i said to myself: Use this opportunity to walk & stress your legs,albeit for a 60 metre distance.

I ended up in a provisions-stocked corner shop two streets away.Now,the reason i went this far was because i was trying to seem like a 'serious stroller'.This was less embarassing than exercising only to the mallam's kiosk about 10 steps from my house.So i decided to patronise a store farther away from home.

When i got to the indomie store,i noticed this little girl sitting all alone.She couldn't have been older than 5 yrs old.Seriously.From her look & stature,anyway.I looked around,my eyes searching for this kid's mum whom i was sure was somewhere around.No one else in sight.

''Uncle,what are you buying?'' abruptly halted the strain on my roving retinas.

My surprise,was replaced with an involuntary smile.This cute kid was kept in charge of this gigantic(well,in her eyes)store with hundreds of items.The pressure she felt must have been like that on a newly appointed CEO in a failing company nearing extinction.Wow.However,she looked very confident.

I suspended my thoughts to answer.'Chicken flavour?',this self-assured mini CEO continued.

Her questions showed no sign of easing up as she asked the following ''How many,uncle?'',''What of eggs?''

I was almost in laughter,watching this confident store manager.I then thought to myself.If this was,say the States, her mum would have been behind bars on charges of child labour,neglect etc & I for suspected paedophilia.

But in our dear nation,it's perfectly normal to the vast majority of citizens.It's probably regarded as ''infant empowerment''in many homes.We don't even give a 2nd glance to(or stare in surprise at)kids on our streets selling oranges,washing windscreens etc.I know the general view is that it's due to poverty,but it has simply become culture for most.

Well,back to the baby entrepreneur.I was so impressed with this kid's marketing & managerial skills that i decided to buy a dozen packs,instead of 2 as i originally planned.

Chicken flavour,of course.