I Watched My Best Friend Die Inside and Did Nothing. I Still Carry That Guilt.

This was back in 2019, when I was 27 and living in Jos. My best friend, Danladi, was the only person who knew I had lost my job and was hiding it from my family. We grew up together in the same compound in Bauchi, went to the same secondary school, same university. He was like a brother.

One evening, he called me sounding strange. Not drunk, not angry , just empty. He said, "Baba, I don tire. This life sef." I laughed it off, told him to sleep it off. I was busy chasing a side hustle, didn't have time for his wahala. I told myself he was just going through a phase.

Three days later, his elder sister called me crying. Danladi had taken his own life. He left a note. In it, he mentioned my name , said I was the only person he trusted, but he couldn't reach me. I replayed that phone call in my head for months. The way he said "I don tire" , I heard it, and I ignored it.

Omo, I still think about that night. If I had just gone to see him, sat with him for one hour, maybe things would be different. But I was too busy with my own problems. I learned that sometimes the people who seem strongest are the ones drowning the loudest. If your friend calls you sounding off, drop everything. Go and sit with them. That call might be the last one they make.