THE LAST TIME I HAD A MORAL DILEMMA

Morality is a very subjective term. It varies across different cultures. Even among individuals raised within the same cultural setup, opinions on morality normally vary in accordance with race, religion and sometimes, educational level. I therefore acknowledge that the reader may not share the same view on morality with me.

The last time I had a moral dilemma was six years ago. I was an instructor in a university somewhere in Africa then. I was young, handsome and bohemian. Many of the students used to admire me. The very bold ones also summoned courage to reveal their feelings about me to my face. Quite naturally, the girls made up the largest number of the bold students. Among the girls, Becky was the boldest and perhaps, the most reckless. She was simply infatuated with me. She refused to pay attentiom during classes and instead, spent her time winking at me and making other grotesque gestures that could tempt even a bishop.To be truthful, somewhere along the line, I began to take an interest in her. My heart was resistant. But my body was weak.

The university rules and regulations frowned at an instructor dating a student. I knew about a couple of my colleagues who disregarded this golden rule and ran into grief. To make matters worse for me, I also had a girlfriend, Kaycee, who worshipped and adored me. I was most certainly caught in a moral logjam.

I summoned courage and invited Beck to my office after class one afternoon. I made her understand that she looked beautiful and that any man would be lucky to have her as a girlfriend. I explained to her that having a relationship with her was most likely to cut my career short. I also revealed the name of my girlfriend to her. Kaycee was not a student in my university. But her family was very popular in the city. Her father was a member of Becky's church.

The revelation had a magical effect on Becky who wiped a tear or two off her face, apologized to me, and left my office less confidently than she had entered. Initially, the temptation to recall her and withdraw my statements was high. But as time went on, I was convinced I took the right decision. Becky developed a very clever way of always hiding behind a classmate during classes. Suprisingly, she did well in the examination at the end of the semester. The matter effectively came to an end for both of us when she graduated one year later and travelled to London for further studies.

Till today, I have never stopped shuddering each time I consider what could have happened to me if I had obeyed my instincts.