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Once upon a time, there lived a man called Mali Shader. Mali was from Nigeria. He was a black man known by everybody in the community of Eyaen. He was known for his great love and mercy towards the people of Eyaen. He never got married because he didn’t like women. The first time he fell in love was in secondary school, but the girl cheated on him because of his skin color. After that, he vowed never to love another girl again, believing that they couldn't handle his love.
Mali Shader was a great student and also a very good farmer. He always provided food for the poor and sold some to market women to make money. Mali had a dream of becoming a great engineer. At that time, Nigeria was under the rule of colonial masters, meaning the British controlled the country. The British people looked down on Nigerians, seeing them as inferior and often treating them as such. They took advantage of Nigeria because they were in power and set the rules and regulations for the country. They treated Nigerians as nothing more than black monkeys and sometimes took them away to serve as slaves in their land.
Mali was afraid to express his dream of becoming an engineer because he knew the British would mock him or even sell him into slavery. He kept his dream to himself until one day when he met a black man named Mercy John. Mercy John was also from Nigeria and had been taken as a slave. However, he managed to escape when he arrived in the USA, where he met a man named Tom Hanks, who helped him achieve his dream and gain citizenship in the country.
Mercy John told Mali Shader not to worry and that he would help him achieve his dream of becoming one of the best engineers in the world. Mali was very happy to see his dream coming true. He went ahead to tell his family, friends, neighbors, and everyone in the community that God Almighty had answered his prayers through Mercy John.
However, Mali didn’t know that some of his friends were not happy with his good news. They went to the British authorities and lied, saying that Mali had threatened to kill all the British people if they tried to stop him from becoming an engineer. When the British heard this, they were very angry and reported it to their chief. The chief asked who Mali was and where he was from. When he learned that Mali was from Nigeria and lived in Eyaen community, the chief was not happy, but he didn’t take any immediate action.
Mali’s friends, James and Paul, were surprised that the chief didn’t do anything about it. They decided to leave the situation alone. Later, when they saw Mali approaching, they walked away because they didn’t want to be friends with him anymore. Mali was surprised to see his childhood friends leaving when he was coming to play with them. He didn’t understand what was happening, so he decided to visit them one by one to find out what the problem was. However, they told him to leave and that they wanted nothing to do with him anymore, calling him a bad person and even a lizard.
Mali was upset and went back home to check himself in the mirror to see if there was anything wrong with him, but he didn’t find anything. The next day, Mali went to see Chief Mercy John to discuss the promise he had made. Chief Mercy gave him the good news that he would be leaving on Saturday of that week and advised him to prepare everything he needed for the journey. Mali was very happy and decided to tell his friends again that he would be leaving on Saturday. His friends were furious and planned to kill him before he could leave.
On Friday, Mali bought everything he needed for his journey and packed all his clothes and shoes in his big bag. However, Mali didn’t know that his friends were watching him, waiting for an opportunity to poison his food. But since Mali didn’t leave his house that day, they couldn’t carry out their plan. Instead, they decided to visit him and pretend that they were no longer angry but just jealous of him for leaving them behind. They told him that when he became an engineer, he should bring them to stay with him. Mali, believing they had reconciled, said that he would surely do so.
The time was around 9:45 when Mali's friends came over. Mali said, "Now that you have come, just help me arrange this room," and they did. Mali’s friends, Paul and James, remembered that they brought something for him, so they decided to offer it to Mali to eat. When Mali opened it, he saw that it was jollof rice and one big piece of meat. Mali was very happy that his friends had actually brought him something before he was to leave. Mali never knew that the food was poisoned. He ate the food, and when his friends saw that he was eating it, they were very happy and decided to go back home. Mali thanked them for helping him arrange his things.
The next morning, Mali could not wake up. His family and Chief Mercy John were outside, calling his name, but he did not respond. They decided to call some boys to break the door so they could see what was happening. When the door was broken, they saw that Mali was dead. There was a big commotion everywhere. When James and Paul heard that Mali was dead, they were very happy and decided to celebrate at their house.
However, Mali's spirit did not rest. He began to haunt his friends, James and Paul, urging them to confess to the whole community that they were the ones who killed him. James and Paul were not happy, so they decided to see a native doctor to get a charm to stop Mali's spirit from disturbing them. But the native doctor told them that he couldn't help them and that they should confess their sin to the community, as Mali's spirit was too strong to be charmed.
James and Paul then went to a church to ask the pastor for help, but the pastor told them the same thing. James and Paul were restless until one day, while walking to the market, they saw Mali's spirit again, telling them to confess, or they would die. They finally began to confess, and one of the market women went to the British authorities to inform them. The British followed her to the place where Paul and James were confessing. After hearing everything Paul and James said, the British asked them, "Aren't you the ones who told us that Mali wanted to kill us?" They replied, "Yes." The British then asked why they killed Mali, and they confessed that they didn't want him to succeed or leave them behind, so they poisoned his food.
The British decided that Paul and James must die for killing someone. Paul and James begged for mercy, but the British had made up their minds. They ordered their servants to take Paul and James to prison. On Friday, Paul and James were brought out for their execution. Their parents came to beg for their lives, but the British refused, saying they would suffer for their crime.
James and Paul's parents went to Mali's family to beg for help, but they too refused and told them to go home. On that fateful Friday, around 12 noon, James and Paul were brought out of prison to the market square. They were tied to a pole, and the British chief said, "This is an example to others. If anyone tries this act, they will receive the same punishment." The British then ordered their servants to shoot them, and each was shot five times. They died, and their bodies were brought to their parents' house. Only then did Mali's spirit rest.
This story is to tell you that you should not share your success with everyone. ❤️
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The corrected version addresses spelling, grammar, punctuation.
