One day a certain man found himself before a massive spread of nostalgia-spiced dainties. He let himself gorge on the pleasant memories and didn’t know when he blurted out: “Oh that someone would get me a drink from the waters of Bethlehem.” Immediately, some lieutenants nearby who heard the longing in his voice, got up and went to do something about a wish they were not specifically ordered to grant.

The three gentlemen hazarded their lives to fetch a cup of water from the well in question. They returned, all bloodied over because they had to fight through a formidable garrison of soldiers to fetch just a cup of water for their leader. When they offered their leader the water, he refused to drink it.

He spurned the gift procured at such a great cost. What he did next consolidated his position as their leader indeed. He poured out the water as some kind of offering. God forbid he would drink water procured for him through such a sacrifice. His thirst, whatever the embellishment placed around it, was not worth the blood of his lieutenants. He appreciated the gift but drinking their blood was not part of his contract with them as their leader.

Yesterday, we chronicled a list of eight Nigerian beneficiaries gifted by the #EndSARS movement. Who is spurning this gift given to these beneficiaries? What lessons can be taken from the example in our story on what one must do if a gift procured at great cost must be spurned?