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PART ONE
CHAP TER ONE
Getting up from siesta, I felt like I had been on my
back for two weeks. Indeed, it was owing to the
Saturday all-night party I attended. I had dined and
wined like I had never done before. I went into the
bathroom, had a nice shower, and prepared myself for
the journey back to Rigabiu - a small town of about two
hundred kilometres from Kano, the centre of industrial
and commercial activities in the northern part of Nigeria.
Whenever I came back from Rigabiu to my lovely
Linda to spend the weekend with her, I hated going
back to that locality. It had none of the city's pulchritude
and western or modern frolicsomeness that I had been
used to while I was a secondary school student in
Lagos, and for all my close to seven years sojourn in
Britain.
Moreover, to leave Linda for five days in a week
was to me, like eternity. Rigabiu is the headquarters of
a local government. Our company was carrying on a
construction project in this area, – the construction of a
road that would link Hadejia to Kano, bypassing
Rigabiu. Consequently, after the day’s job, we always
pass the night at Rigabiu. We still had about three
more weeks before we moved to another location
where we could pass the nights if things went on as
planned.

I was about to call Linda to give me some food
when as if she knew what I have been contemplating,
she appeared and said,
‘’Bala, I think you will like to have something?’’
Truly, I needed food more than anything else. I was just
recovering from the adverse effect of drinks. I had taken
too much drink. Therefore, I needed a nice meal before
my peregrination to Rigabiu that was now a weekly
ritual. This was my routine and was bound to remain
that way for the rest of my one-year national service.
After I had eaten, I dressed up and was about to
leave. In fact, Linda and I had all along been staying
together for about three years and it was only in recent
months that circumstance had compelled us to stay with
each other for only two days in a week. And two months
gone, it remained only ten months which were not much
although to me, it seemed like perpetuity before I would
be done with my service year so we could live together
once more and to part no more with my lovely Linda.
We had planned to have our wedding not long
after I might have finished my national service. We were
unmarried and we were great lovers. Between us, we
had a baby girl from the relationship. She was two
years old
 Each time I was leaving for my station, Linda
would hug and cling to me, and kiss me several times. I
would feel her heartbeats like the hammer of a
blacksmith doing justice to stubborn steel.
‘Darling, how I wish you were never posted to
that construction firm for your primary assignment.
Without you, life is too boring in Kano,’ she murmured.
After reassuring her, I would tell her that there
was no sacrifice that was too much for one’s nation. I
would grope for words to explain that this would only be
for one year, after which we would be able to stay
together as before till death did us part.
Watching me as I packed a few things into my
bag, she started playing with my beards and planted a
kiss on my right cheek. Whenever she did this to me, I
always felt on top of the Himalayas.
Linda was gorgeous and very beautiful. She was
the type of woman every man would like to introduce as
his wife. I admired her long legs, good set of teeth that
glittered like diamonds. Her silky hair reminded me of
Amina who was my secondary school mate.
Amina was the first girl with whom I had fallen in
love. Those were my secondary school days when
every one admired my spirit of sportsmanship. She was
the daughter of one of the most efficacious political cum
intellectual elites in the country who was then a
commissioner and who had many a time represented
Nigeria and led Nigerian delegations to
international deliberations. He was unreserved in his
faithfulness and service to the nation, and would never
condone any act that violated the entrusted
commitment to the society from any of his comrades or
political associates. And it is an effulgent aristocratic
brilliance indeed!
It was during the inter-house sports, which was a
yearly event in our school. I represented my
schoolhouse in four events: relay race, hundred-meter
dash, high-jump and slow- cycle race. I came second in
the first three events but came first in the cycle race. It
was only when I finished the cycle race that I realized
that Amina and I have been silent lovers.
The slow cycle race was the toughest of all the
events that I had participated in. It lasted for thirty
minutes and the fellow who came second lost his
balance a few minutes before the race ended.
Excellence in the sport required concentration, energy,
and a good bicycle. Each participant was confined to a
track about two feet wide. The winner could be the last
participant to reach the tape if he is the only one that
never went beyond the two-foot wide sidelines of the
track and never touched the earth with either of his feet
until the end of the race. Going by the rules, the
contestant who kept all the rules, even if he arrived the
tape last, would be declared winner. I actually beat my
former record which stood at twenty two minutes, forty
seconds
Therefore, when at the end of the race my foot
touched the earth, it was a thunderous cheer that
greeted me from the spectators. All the students from
my schoolhouse came to congratulate me and share
the moment with me and the house in particular.
Students from my schoolhouse shook hands with me
and when it was Amina’s turn, she gave me a firm kiss
on the cheek.
‘You are great Bala,” she intoned. ‘’I knew you
would make it and give the house a good
representation for I have always watched you during
practice with keen interest, she added as she offered
me some glucose drink to take as it was glaring to
everybody that I was exhausted.
Since then, Amina and I became an appetizing
two-of-a-kind in the school. We did things in common
and those who did not know us well believed us to be
twins. Every one in the school acknowledged Amina’s
beauty, her gaiety, poise, and chocolate complexion as
a rare combination. When she spoke the English
language, one needed no telling that she had a foreign
orientation. She had finished her elementary school in
England. The blue blood that runs in her veins had
made her burglar-proof from many prying eyes in the
school.
The only unhappy and apprehensive moment for
me in the school was when her father withdrew her to
continue her education in the United States of America.
I soon got over it since I was preparing for
my final examination and would in a few months say
good-bye to secondary school life.
I have often wondered what would have become
of us if her father had allowed her to remain in Nigeria.
Perhaps we would have become something more to
each other or perhaps we would have broken up.
Secondary school love was not something as binding
as the kind of relationship that had developed with
Linda across the years. Linda was everything I would
have wanted in a woman. I was perfectly satisfied with
what I had in Linda.
Eventually, I left the room and bid my lovely Linda
goodbye. When I boarded the taxi-cab, she stood still
and would not move until the cab was out of her sight.
I reached Rigabiu at about seven in the evening.
What time it was did not matter to me since I knew
there was nothing to occupy me but to be in bed for the
rest of the night. As I was about leaving the motor park,
I ran into Bello.
Bello was the field engineer in the company
where I served and I was directly responsible to him.
Bello had gained a good reputation from the
management owing to his diligence, faithfulness and
hardwork. Moreover, there was never a time he had
betrayed the confidence reposed on him. He had just
completed his sixth year in the company at the time I
was posted there. I was posted to the company for my
one-year national service from the National Youth
Service Corps (NYSC) secretariat in Kano.

CHAPTER TWO
Bello was a good boss and a nice friend, too.
Whenever I made a mistake, he never failed to invite
me into his office to give me the best advice. On one
such occasion, he told tell me to keep-in with my
subordinates at work, and not be too critical of them
whenever they made little mistakes. It made them lose
confidence in themselves and definitely inhibited their
ability to achieve their utmost potentials. He would also
advise me not to fail to let them realize the problems
their stand-offish attitude would be to the company.
I had wished that people like Bello were in highoffices
in Nigeria and the country would have been in
an enviable position in the comity of nations of the
world.
Linda had told me on several occasions that it
was necessary to take my daughter Rashidat home to
her mother so that she could receive proper care. This
argument sounded convincing and, hardly could there
have been any disagreement. While I will be away at
Rigabiu, Linda would resume duty by 7a.m and would
not be back from work until after 5 p.m. Our major
trouble was how to look after Rashidat while her mother
was away at work. To solve the problem, we took her to
Linda’s mother in Abeokuta. That was how
our only daughter came to be in the care of my motherin-
law. I was grateful for this.
Bello offered to take me home and as we drove in
his car, he asked me if I was going straight home or
would like to have some snacks with him in his house. I
knew that even if I went home, I had nothing to do
except sleep. Therefore, I agreed to go with him to his
house. There we met two of his friends, enmeshed in a
discussion about Nigeria’s laconic political economy.
Since independence, the learned Chief has been
in the fore-front of the fight against neo-colonialism in
Africa and particularly in Nigeria. He had warned us
against these economic recessions that are now
bedevilling us. In fact, most if not all the Chief’s
concepts were logically comprehensive, but were
unfortunately presented to the people who, most of the
time were logically apprehensive of his concepts’’, said
Danmeraya.
To back up his argument, he had been
gesticulating during the discussion and regretfully shook
his head clearly disapproving of the indiscipline and
lack of patriotism being brazenly displayed by the elite
of the society as well as the apathy of the generality of
the masses.
‘’Dan, so you people are still on that subject,’’
asked Bello.
All right, let’s have some fruit juice’’, said Bello as he
went in and brought out some drinks for us.
Remembering he still had some roasted chicken in thefridge,
 he equally went to bring it to go with the juice.
‘‘You see, this is why I always advise you to keep
a poultry,’’ interjected Dan.
‘’That is for you agro-economists.’’ Bello replied.
‘‘Do not mind him with all his troubles’’ said Osuji
who had been quiet since we entered the room.
Dan was a teacher in a high school while Osuji, a
Police Inspector, an Italian trained criminologist.
As we continued with the drinks, Bello asked me if
I would like to go with him and Mr. Lambert on a hunting
expedition.
‘’When is that?’’ I asked.
‘’Wednesday, because it is a public holiday,’’ he
reminded me.
‘‘Have you been going on hunting games here?’’ I
queried.
‘‘Oh yes, and one of the local hunters always
accompany us any time we go,’’ answered Bello.
‘‘Is he coming on Wednesday?’’ I inquired and
Bello answered in the affirmative.
‘’ I think that will be beautiful since I would not
need to rush to Kano and rush back only for a day’s
holiday’’ I said.
‘‘Can you handle a gun?’’ asked Osuji.
‘‘No’’, I answered.
‘‘Then Bello can teach you how to handle one
because I went on a hunting game with them once and I
can attest to the fact that he is a good shooter; he is an
expert,’’ he said.
‘‘That will be lovely and actually worth experiencing,’’ I
replied.
‘’ Gentlemen, I think I will now have to go; it is
already 10.00pm’’, said Danmeraya.
When the appointed day came for the hunting
expedition, we were a team of four: Bello, Lambert,
Dogo, and I.
‘’Bala, Dogo is coming with us for the first time
because Shehu who normally accompanies us is
unavoidably absent owing to some ceremony taking
place in his family,’’ informed Bello.
The idea of hunting was not one that appealed to
me much but somehow, there was the strong pull to
experience this for myself. There seemed to me two
immediate benefits of the adventure. One, I would be
able to take my mind off Linda for a while, if I ever
could, and while away the time before my next trip to
Kano. Second, I would have something really exciting to
tell her about when I got back there. Whichever was the
stronger reason did not matter to me. I just wanted to
go.
Because I had something to look forward to in
Rigabiu, for the first time, time seemed to fly. Almost too
soon, Wednesday was upon us. I did the best I could to
hide both my anticipation and my dread. I was not sure I
was doing much of a job but no one seemed to notice
or comment on what they noticed.
On Wednesday morning, we set out in Lambert’scar. Lambert drove. Soon we left the city behind and
headed into the woods. I was very tense. Lambert
showed his dexterity, driving delicately in the woods.
When we were about eight kilometres into the bush, we
parked the jeep under the shade of a tree and we
started roaming the savannah woods in search of
game.
Not long after we started moving about when
Lambert set the ball rolling. The bang of his gun startled
me and I jumped in fright.
‘‘Let us go and fetch it’’ he said.
‘‘Fetch what?’’ I asked.
‘‘Oh, I have killed it,’’ he replied,
‘’It is an antelope.’’ Lambert confirmed.
Dogo was the first to follow the pathway and
closely coming behind him were Bello and Lambert. I
was behind them. The enthusiasm that I had earlier
showed started to wane.
I developed some sensation or rather some
tingling that made me feel like being sandwiched
between Bello and Lambert. I looked here and there to
be sure I was not being stalked by any wild animal
particularly a hyena. The savannah is notorious for
carnivorous animals and definitely, no novice would
pray to have an encounter with such an animal as a
hyena. They were reputed to be in large numbers in
these woods.
With the exception of myself, the team was
adequately equipped with skill and weaponry. This
made me personally uncomfortable, and I was torn
between exhilaration and regret. But I believed
somehow that the excitement over-weighed the fear.
Each of them went a different way and I did not know
whom to follow out of the three sharpshooters. I was not
sure with whom I felt safer – the two sharpshooters
carrying rifles on the one hand, or the lone warrior
adept in the use of local weaponry on the other. The
local man said he preferred the bow and arrow because
the sound of the gun scared away the animals.
Now that Lambert had shot at an antelope, there
was little hope there would be any game in the vicinity
waiting for his silent arrows. I recalled Osuji saying that
Bello was a good shot. I decided to stay close to Bello.
We moved cautiously from one place to the other
because the whole thing needed a vigil disposition. I
was beginning to ask why we had found nothing where
the antelope should have been when suddenly Bello
beckoned me to silence. I knew he must have caught a
glimpse of a game and I peered in the direction he had
concentrated his attention. I was suddenly able to make
out the outline of a large animal. From its appearance, it
resembled a carnivorous animal and the animal
seemed to have caught our scent. I knew from my
reading about animals that most carnivorous animals
had a strong sense of smell.
I crouched behind a shrub as Bello took
deliberate aim and pulled the trigger. The animal gave
such a terrifying roar that I almost broke cover and ran away.
Bello quickly called Lambert and Dogo with his whistle.
This was hardly necessary because they had heard the
shot and were heading back already. In a few minutes
they joined us. Bello announced that he believed he
had shot a leopard. We all stood waiting and listening,
not daring to move in order to perceive any bizarre
movement, especially because there could be another
leopard in company of the one Lambert shot. Predators
often hunt in pairs. Besides, we could not tell the extent
of the injury to the animal.
However, we had to probe to know if it was dead, so
that we could fetch it. To our amazement, the leopard,
though wounded in the forelegs was very ferocious and
we all kept a safe distance of about fifteen meters.
Apart from Lambert, Bello and the archer also were
both ready with a combination of weapons to deal with
any danger.
Unused to human presence, the animal, in spite
of its injury, roared menacingly, advancing towards us
with all the strength it could muster. Not willing to take
chances, Dogo pulled an arrow from the quiver on his
back and in one motion set it on his bow. Pulling it as
far back as it could go, he let fly, hardly taking aim. I did
not see the arrow in flight but did when it struck home
between the eyes of the distressed animal. It fell without
a further sound. Its legs quivered violently. It was so
natural to the hunters. To me, there were emotions that
I could not
immediately control. We had just killed a leopard. It
could have been the other way round. All my theories
about animal conservation took a second seat. This
was not a game reserve, it was the wild and we were in
danger only a moment ago. We managed to drag the
carcass all the way to the jeep. We were all panting
from exhaustion.
‘‘This is my first time of seeing a leopard at close
range since I have been going on hunting expeditions,’’
said Lambert.
This is my third time of engaging a leopard and I
will be too happy if one day I should be able to kill a lion
or a tiger,’’ said Bello.
‘’I pray that this should be my last time I will go
hunting. This appears to me the easiest way to commit
suicide’’, I contributed.
All of them burst into a roar of laughter.
Nevertheless, that was definitely not going to divorce
me of my personal opinion. I was wondering what would
have happened if that ferocious looking animal had
attacked me.
As we drove out of the woods, Dogo told me that
there were worse dangers than a leopard attack. He
explained that the snakes were the more terrible
predators. They moved around silently and could turn
up just about anywhere. Because they could climb, they
could attack from the air as well. As if these are not
enough, they could also spit. The venom in their saliva
could permanently blind a man. He told us of a bizarre event that had happened
on an expedition with a group of Europeans. They had
loaded their kill into their truck when one of the men
was bitten by a snake. As expected, he was terrified
because he did not believe they would make it to any
medical help in time enough. The other man had made
to shoot the snake but Dogo had stopped him. He
explained that if the snake was killed there would be no
solution to the venom. He had entered the nearby bush
and came out with some shrubs. He gave some to the
stricken man who did not hesitate. After about ten
minutes, he called the white man by his name thrice,
said some incantations and blew into the air. He
assured the man that the poison had been neutralized.
He told them to hold on and watch the spot of the biting.
Not long after, the same snake that had bitten the man
re-appeared and headed for the spot of the attack
where it immediately fell and died. The European was
too shocked for words. Later that day he said he would
never have believed it if anyone recounted such an
event to him back in England.
I did not know what to make of the story. I had of
course heard all kinds of voodoo tales but this one was
exceptional. Recalling a snake to pay for its crime! I
was only too grateful to be out of the woods. Besides, I
had a tale worth telling when I saw Linda later that
week.
Bello actually acknowledged Dogo’s
accomplishment as a hunter and wildlife expert.
When we arrived at our base, the news of our
games and the feat performed by the archer quickly
spread and a lot of people, some of them press men
came to interview us for different reasons. There were
differing sentiments some tending towards animal life
conservation and others towards the need for more
security against the predators. Most were just curious to
see a predator at close range and they fearfully felt the
animal’s skin as if fearful it would wake up and come
after them.
* * * * * * * * * *
Mr. Lambert is already due for his annual leave.
We all worked for the same construction company.
Lambert holds a Master’s of Science (MSc.) degree in
Civil Engineering. He had at one time or the other
worked for the company in some overseas countries,
and with over fifteen years experience in the
Construction Industry, he was definitely not a pushover.
The following Friday, I left Rigabiu to spend the
weekend in Kano and expectedly Linda was waiting for
my arrival. I arrived late and Linda was already in the
kitchen cooking.
‘‘Welcome darling, I am happy to see you, but you
kept me waiting and longing to feel your aura,’’ she said.
I explained how I missed the regular bus and had
to hike on a truck to get back to Kano. She inquired of
my stay in Rigabiu. I really had a story to tell about my
last experience in the bush, and she was happy that
none of us, suffered any mishap. She told me she
heard people discussing how some hunters had killed a
leopard in the woods where the local authorities had
assured them was not inhabited by anything more
dangerous than the hyena.
After dinner, I narrated everything about the
hunting expedition to Linda but she found it difficult to
believe that I was a member of the team. At night, I had
a sound sleep such that by the time I woke up I felt as if
I had slept for a whole week.
The next day after breakfast, Linda suggested
that we visit the Kano Zoological Garden to have
glimpses of live animals especially predators the likes of
which we encountered in the bush during our hunting
expedition in Rigabiu.
The Kano Zoo occupies a wide expanse of land.
And it is one of the most beautiful recreational centres
in Kano with irresistible picturesque surrounding.
With many side attractions, the zoo is Mecca to
researchers, conservationists and students of veterinary
medicine. However, Linda and I would only be visiting it
for recreation. We left for the zoo after I had freshened
up.
At the zoo, we were both captivated by the
deportment of the chimpanzees when we reached their
section. The biggest was the funniest. When teased by
the visitors and beckoned at to come out for a physical
combat, he would look at them contemptuously and
beckon them to come in altogether for a dead-man tellno-
tale battle. At times, he would jump about; beat his
chest to frighten away visitors and to show how
powerful he was. But seeing that the demonstration was
not impressive enough, he would pounce on the wire
perimeter fence used in confining them. This time, he
would win a bit of the contest since the pouncing was
strong enough to frighten many spectators and make
them scamper for safety. But the people won most of
the time. Eventually, each group left him to see other
animals, and some new visitors took over. Some would
wave him bye and wish him the best in his confinement.
When we were back at home, I was relaxing while
reading a magazine that carried the story of one of the
world’s greatest philosophers of the century. The
magazine was really worth reading, at least for the
rather short story about Plato, the great Greek
philosopher.
After I had finished reading the magazine, I went
to bed because I could not really say the state of my
health. I was in bed for about one hour and sleep would
not come. Somehow, I was disturbed mentally and I
was drained emotionally.
‘’What is wrong Bala?’’ Linda asked.
‘’I just find it difficult to sleep and my body would
not settle down’’, I replied.
Immediately, she was out of bed to fetch me
some water and some drugs to take. After I had taken
the medicine, I was fast asleep a few minutes after.
In my sleep, I had a terrible dream. In the dream,
it happened that I was about to put on my shirt when,
suddenly from nowhere appeared a falcon that tried to
snatch the shirt away from me; but, I would not let go. I
followed it outside and as I was about to jump up to get
hold of it, a leopard struck and caught hold of my leg. I
gave a terrible cry while I was also trying to extricate
myself from the hold of the leopard. As if the falcon
knew that she was the source of the calamity that befell
me, she dropped the shirt and immediately, the leopard
left me and ran away but not before, he had done a
great damage to my leg. I picked up the shirt and went
in. To my greatest surprise, the shirt was cleaner than
as it was when I bought it.
Linda’s call woke me from sleep before I realised
that it was all a dream. Getting out of bed, I went for
some water and I wondered at the kind of dream I had
in my sleep. I narrated the dream to Linda and indeed it
was the first time I had such a terrible dream in recent
times.
Well, I do not really believe in dreams and this
could have been consequential to my taking part in the
hunting expedition. Later on, as I was about to leave for
Rigabiu, I told Linda not to worry herself because
at most, I would be with her the following Friday
afternoon.
At the door, she planted a kiss on my cheek and I
was glad for this. I was stroking her at the back of the
neck.
‘’Bye’’ she said.

CHAPTER THREE
I quickly left without looking back at her because
since we became lovers, but for the great service to our
fatherland, we had not at any time stayed apart.
I arrived at Rigabiu without event. The following
morning, while at work, Bello called me into his office
and directed that I would help Lambert at the airport on
Wednesday at the time he would be travelling back
home to England for his annual leave.
I always gave due respect to Bello and I could not
have done otherwise. Therefore, I agreed to help
Lambert through all the formalities at the airport to
facilitate his departure. Moreover, it would give me the
opportunity of calling at Linda’s office to say hello to her
before returning to Rigabiu the same day. In fact, if
anybody had told me that Linda was going to prove
such a good company to me, I would not have
swallowed that easily.
I met Linda in England at a friend’s birthday
party. When I first set my eyes on Linda, I could not
resist her and more so, I could speak her native
language so well that she could not believe it when I
told her my Nigerian roots. We eventually became very
good friends and somehow one thing led to the other
and we came to live together in the same flat before we
both finished our studies and finally returned to Nigeria.
We had a baby while still in England and with this,
Linda believed her parents would have no choice but to
approve of our marriage. We would have been married
while still in England but for Linda’s parents’ threat to
disown her if she married a northerner, a baby gift from
Allah notwithstanding.
When we returned from England, I went to Linda’s
parents to discuss the matter with them and they were
somehow happy that though a northerner, I could speak
Yoruba like any of them and I even carried the
mannerism of a Yoruba man. I could not appreciate the
reason why they should detest any northerner or me for
that matter from marrying a southerner, their daughter.
However, on second thought I could not blame
Mr. and Mrs. Kosoko. It would have even been more
difficult for even Linda and me to marry if my parents
were still alive. How was I to convince my parents that I
was marrying Linda in spite of the fact that there were
many equally good and beautiful Hausa girls? Even till
now, I wish our parents and elders could understand
that love knows no tribe, race or religion just as laughter
has no creed or language.
The following day, we left Rigabiu very early so
that we could finish all the necessary formalities before
the jumbo jet would take to the air by noon.
The only problem we had was the five kilograms
of excess luggage that Lambert had intended taking
along as a hand luggage. After some protracted
argument, the officer in- charge allowed us to go after
the necessary formality. Lambert had just been checked
in when a man came to me and handed a purse to me.
‘‘The purse dropped off your friend’s pocket while
you were sitting down over there, I suspect,’’ the man
said.
I quickly took the purse to one of the immigration
officers around and explained the situation. The officer
was kind and he acted promptly by taking me to the
security checkpoint and I was quickly checked and the
purse scanned.
Now that they were satisfied, that it neither was
anything dangerous, nor did it contain any contraband,
they let me in to hand over the purse to Lambert by
myself. He was quite surprised to see me and very
thankful when he understood why I had come into the
plane. Having delivered the purse to the owner, I turned
to go. I froze at what I saw. There were no two faces
like that in the whole world.
Linda!
Linda? This was incredible! Linda in the aircraft!
Where could she be going without my knowledge?
Could Linda be going to Rome or London? Not
Linda….it couldn’t be.
Realising that I was sweating, I quickly brought
out a face towel to wipe off the beads of sweat that now
covered my face. Moreover, as I was sweating, I called
out to the woman I was sure was Linda, but she
turned away like she never met me before. Without
bidding Lambert any good-bye, I left the aircraft.
I quickly left for the home we shared, still in doubt
whether the woman I actually saw in the aircraft was
Linda or not. The house was nearer than the office and
besides it made more sense to me. If she was packed
and gone, the house would tell me just that. Besides,
my state of mind was not one to handle any surprises
that the office might have to offer. Making a fool of
myself would be hard to forgive if I dashed in there all
sweaty and found Linda at her table hard at work. How I
wished that was the case.
I let myself into the apartment and ransacked the
whole house. Everything about the whole house was in
perfect order. Nothing whatsoever was there to
corroborate that the woman I had met in the plane was
Linda. I decided to call her office. The phone would not
cooperate partly because my hands shook
uncontrollably and I banged the mouthpiece on the
cradle out of rage. I went straight to her office and I was
informed that she had requested for a three-day casual
leave and that she would only report back the following
Monday. I was dumb-founded. I went home and to bed.
A little more pressure to my blood vessels and
they would have burst. I thought of going to the police to
file a report. I could really not conclude if that would be
the right thing to do in such circumstance. At least I
recognized that we were not legally married.
and our plan had been to be married few months after
the completion of my NYSC programme, which was a
few months away.
That Linda could travel to London or Rome
without my knowledge was more than a puzzle to me
and how to decipher what could have happened was no
less than a mystery. I fell asleep from despair.
The banging on my door and the sound of
someone calling out my name resuscitated me. One of
our workers had come to check on me to see what
could have been my reason for not returning to my duty
post after Lambert had left. I was supposed to be back
in Rigabiu that very day and not seeing me the following
morning had made them to send somebody to look for
me in case I was involved in any mishap.
I would have snapped if I was there, I would have
told them that I was too careful for any eventuality. I am
only a victim of affectation and not what they had
anticipated. I told the young man to inform Bello that I
developed a chronic fever at the airport and hoped to
report at work on Monday.
This was the first time in my life that I stood before
a mirror and all I saw was a caricature of my usual self.
If Linda wanted to leave me, definitely, she will not
leave behind all her belongings. But she could not have
possibly gone to London or Rome only for the purpose
of shopping, or whatever the case, without putting me in
the know and moreover where would she have found
the money to take on a
shopping spree?
My mind was a beehive and every imaginable
idea thrived there. I cast my mind back to the events of
the immediate and distant past trying to recall anything I
had done that could have made her decide she could
no longer be by my side. Each search came up blank. I
tried to picture her face and replay her conversations
seeking any hint I might have overlooked. Perhaps
there were body languages I failed to detect or properly
interpret and had allowed to snowball into this. There
was nothing I could find. This made me all the more
dejected. It was not only the absence of Linda that hurt
me, the fact that she walked out …ditched me without
the slightest consideration for how I would feel that
haunted me. The ugly encounter on the plane was
degrading. She saw me only too well. Realizing that the
game was up did not make her bat an eyelid. She just
treated me like I did not exist. To make matters worse,
she took nothing that belonged to her or to me. She just
walked out and left me the whole of our lives together
as souvenir and relics.
Day after dejected day passed until it was
Monday. I waited until ten that Monday morning and
telephoned her office to know if she had reported for
duty.
‘’Yes, may I know the Linda you are inquiring
about?’’ came a voice at the other end.
‘’Linda Kosoko’’ I replied.
‘’ Hold on please,’’ she said, and after a moment, she
told me that Linda had not reported for duty.
After the enquiry, I decided to return to Rigabiu
and immediately left Kano. I arrived Rigabiu late on
Monday morning. And the first thing on Tuesday
morning, I went straight to Bello’s office to explain to
him all I had gone through since Wednesday. I
explained that I had told the man he sent to me that I
was indisposed because I could not tell him what was
really happening.
Bello was shocked. He felt sorry for me and
advised me to wait for some time to see if Linda was
going to write me to explain why she had taken such a
drastic action that she knew would affect me mentally
and psychologically. Not even when I lost my mother
did I feel this lost because I was too young at the time
to fully realize the extent of the loss when the beauty of
my life left. I only knew my father from an old picture
given to me. He was in his turban and in reality; I hardly
appreciated the image in the picture.
On Fridays we only worked a half day. It used to
mean much to me to do half a day’s work and be
allowed to run all the way into Linda’s waiting arms.
This was a new experience not to have anything to look
forward to on a weekend and beyond the weekend.
While everyone prepared to travel home, I wondered
what would be my purpose of travelling to Kano and
whether it would be any joy.
A different emotion took control of me and I
decided to go. When I arrived my house, I checked the
mailbox to see if some replies had come from any of the
companies to which I had applied for jobs. My present
company had made it clear to me that they could not
absorb me after my service year, because the financial
situation of the company was not sound and that
embargo had been placed on job placement. However,
they would give preference to me when they had lifted
the embargo.
I found a letter in the mailbox and surprisingly
there was no stamp on it. As I opened the door, I found
another one on my bed. Definitely, this one I knew must
have originated from Linda. She alone had access to
the house and perhaps she had returned and had a
good excuse for her actions. I quickly tore it open, very
eager to know the content. The message was short and
crisp -
Bala, I am sorry for the inconveniences my
parting with you might have caused you. I could
not help it and I wish it had not happened. I am
sure Allah will see you through the trauma and
may He guide and guard you through all your
undertakings, amen. Wish it had not happened!
I sat there numb as the truth sank in. Here was
the answer I sought all week. A letter that said nothing
other than confirmed my fear that she had walked
away. Somehow, now that there was no doubt and
speculation left, I felt at peace. I felt the anger building
up inside of me. I read the letter again. She had guts!
And who needed her unsolicited prayer? I hissed and
dropped the letter on the bed. Were it not for Linda’s
handwriting and signature on the letter, I would not
have believed she was the author of such a nauseating
letter and the most embarrassing statements, to say the
least. It was after I have read the letter that I fully
appreciated that Linda had indeed left me.
As for the second letter, it was anonymous. I
wondered why I was receiving an anonymous letter for
the first time. It read,
Dear Bala, you may find this letter disturbing, but,
I have taken it upon myself that I am duty bound
to inform you and to enlighten you the more about
your lady, Linda. Call me a friend in the shadow if
you like.
I was at the airport the same day you came to see
off a European, to play the same role you played
to a highly placed personality, too.
When you went in to deliver something, a stroke
of pity ran through my spine for I knew you were
going for the obituary of the love between Linda
and you. That has actually come to pass as if all I
know could be said to be true. It may interest you
to know that Linda had been involved with the
man for months before you came to meet her at
the airport and
you might not know that she was actually on her
way to London with the aristocratic man sitting by
her. Call the gentleman Mr. X.”
Mr. X had successfully brainwashed Linda that he
could not see the rationale for Linda’s association
with a Hausa man. Mr. X is Yoruba, Linda is a
Yoruba, all Linda’s friends are Yoruba, and you
Bala, are Hausa. This is the oddity. Hold your
peace, I am also Yoruba! For your information,
her custom-built-Japanese car would be ready for
delivery in few weeks’ time. This is worth a
handsome amount in whatever currency. I know
the person who went to deliver the cheque. If Mr.
X and Linda’s plan materializes, Linda is going to
be his third wife and Mr. X has already secured an
elegant residence for her in a posh area of the
city.”
I know by now, you must be thinking if I am
sincere or only trying to mock you, because I
know you will call me an enthusiastic prophet of
doom. Far be it. My knowledge of her association
with Mr. X is in fact imperative, but tentative
because I may soon leave Kano.
Then Bala, do you really think worthwhile ever to
have associated yourself with a woman who
categorically and unceremoniously ditched you
after cohabiting for a long period? A friend indeed is a friend in
need and a love in need is a love in deed. Bye for
now.
This letter was really a good piece and it became
the panacea for all my worries about the incident. Every
time I tried to contact either of her parents on phone
their numbers would be unavailable. I decided to write
to her father to inform him of the dramatic turn in my
relationship with his daughter and when it became
obvious that her father was not going to acknowledge
my second letter, I cease writing.
It is then that I realized that Linda threw dust in
my eyes for the reason she gave as the necessity for
taking Rashidat home to her own mother. The irony of
the whole thing is that, throughout the period Mr.
Anonymous claimed that Linda had been in association
with Mr. X, I never had an inkling what was going on or
reason to suspect in the least that Linda was double
dealing with me, apart from one occasion she said she
was afraid her parents would ever allow us to marry and
that they were only pretending to be indifferent about it
whenever they saw me.
I concluded that, it was money that made Linda to
do what she had done. On the other hand, she could
merely be heeding her parents’ order. If it was the first it
was bad enough, but if it was the latter, I believed that it
would have been decorous and more
honourable if she had done this in a more courteous
manner by telling me that she has agreed with her
parents to disagree with me on the subject of marriage.
Nevertheless, I was not going to let ‘maybe’
override my sense of judgment because I still believed
that Linda should not have given me such a surprise
with the agility of a panther and the temerity of a hawk.
In fact, it was bad and cruel. If I knew what Linda had in
mind, the episode or drama of togetherness could have
been a foregone issue. But fortunately or otherwise,
other people’s thinking are not physical objects of
feelings, to be given accurate and analytical mental
perception, which would have enabled me to educate
Linda that money and wealth are physical attributes that
violently and overtly change a man’s or a woman’s
liking for one another to hatred. And very
uncompromisingly, tribalism is the catalyst toward such
manifestations.
But the love that is wielded not on one taking the
other’s advantage, slowly, steadily and latently solidifies
to become a concrete bunker that no shrapnel of
sectionalism could pierce, or becoming a bush fire the
aggressiveness of which is so geometric in escalation
that no water of tribalism could quench. Love is a fertile
land where no seed of prejudice of miscegenation ever
germinates.
In spite of the hard stance I was adopting, my
heart ached for her. My spirit cried for her inwardly.
Linda, why have you auctioned the love, affection and
intimate moments between us? I query in silence.
I realised events must take their course. Now I
knew who Linda was and why she was who.

CHAPTER FOUR
Christmas was fast approaching, and, it gave me
a sleepless night thinking of what to buy for Rashidat.
To buy her something was not enough rationale for the
deep thought. It was a question of making her feel
beloved. Now that Linda could afford to get her anything
that could make her feel on top of the Himalayas thus
catapulting her into a position of making other admiring
children to ask their parents for the same Christmas
gifts. I was in a deep thought. There would apparently
be a contest for her affection and having more money
gave her an advantage. I thought the best thing was to
pay the best department store in the city a visit. This I
decided to do in the company of two of my friends so
we could jointly take a decision as to the best items I
could buy Rashidat as Christmas gifts.
The following afternoon, Kenneth and Musa were
at my place to pick me. Our destination was Elegant
Super Stores. If Rashidat were able to comprehend her
mother’s behaviour, she would not need to be told that
the profligate behaviour of her mother was nothing short
of a blot on everyone.
I had what I believed was enough money to buy
all I wanted for my daughter. All could not cost me more
than I had budgeted at the most. Alas! I was dead
wrong. I had visited these department stores once when
Linda and I were there to buy her a dress. This time I
was wrong for thinking prices never escalate
geometrically. The least I could do was to buy the only
dress that would suite my beautiful daughter and be
elegant enough to make an impression on her. And this
carried the price tag that I believe was scandalous and
other items I loved to also buy for her were shoes,
socks, handbag, and a hat. After expending so much
out of my pocket, I was not left with much money. What
remained now was taking the gifts to her in Abeokuta.
As we walk out of the stores, to the vehicle that
we came in, Musa stood as if transfixed like an Indian
guru in meditation. He followed up with one of his jokes.
‘‘Gentlemen, be ready to push this car so I can jumpstart
it, or else we are sleeping here.’’
‘‘What is wrong with the car?’’ I queried.
‘‘You know Bala, I have spent so much on this car in the
past few weeks and the mechanic keeps telling me,
‘Oga why you no change the car and buy one Japanese
car? Oga, Allah you go be elele for road with all those
big big fine ladies wey don baf come be like oyibo.’
Musa always chose the most terrible moments to
do this to us. In front of this supermarket where
everyone that mattered came to show off their wealth,
he wanted us to push his battered car. I fiddled with
my tie. The thing appeared to be strangling me
especially in the face of the humiliating assignment we
had to perform.
‘’My only error or accident of fate is that I am not
working in a place where I could make extra money so
that I could be able to buy those big Japanese cars my
mechanic friend kept advising me to buy’’.
‘‘So Musa, you will take a bribe if offered’’ I
queried.
Kenneth gave a toothy smile and said, ‘’ Look
here Mr. Have-been-to, this is Nigeria and remember
this whenever you want to detest red tapes. The only
thing our people know how to do is to dish out some
money to the man who is trying to hold you down.’’
‘’What do you mean by have-been-to ‘’ I queried.
‘’That is the phrase used to describe many of our
people who have been to overseas and have been
unable to divorce themselves from UK and America and
adapt to the realities of life in Nigeria. You can tell them
from the rest of us because every time something
happens, they tell you this kind of thing cannot happen
in so and so place.
‘’So, “I have-been-to” is a phrase commonly used
by affluent Nigerians to show their less affluent ones
that they are more civilized.
‘’Are you two prepared to push this car?’’
Snapped Musa, ‘’or must we continue to argue on what
the future holds for Nigeria?’’
I opened the bonnet of the car to see what could
be wrong with the engine. I first checked the battery
contacts and alas, I was right at this first choice
because it turned out to be that the positive contact
bracket of the battery was loose. I quickly tightened the
nut while both of them came to have a look. I could not
blame Musa because he was driving his first car and
had not gathered enough experience to be able to
handle minor troubles of a car on his own.
Musa graduated from Kaduna Polytechnic in
Business Administration and had, after his NYSC
programme, only worked nine months with a marketing
company, which dealt in general products and
maintenance services. He was handsome and stood at
about five feet ten inches tall and full of all the
idiosyncrasies that any manager would be proud to
have acquired.
I had met him by chance while waiting for a taxi to
take me home and he offered to drop me off. Since then
we had been friends and I also got to know Kenneth
through Musa and found him also to be accommodating
but he seldom threw himself into any argument with
anyone. He is an introvert.
‘’Bala, can you drive?’’ Asked Musa
‘’Oh! Good God, what do you take me for? I have driven
through many European cities and I have driven the
long distance between Kano and Abuja on one
occasion.’’ I countered.
‘’Yes, that is why we call you people ‘have-been-tos’,
but you thought I was mocking you the other time I
had addressed you so. Now you too can see that you
‘’have been to’’ many cities in Europe.
‘’Please let us go or do you two never have anything
important to engage yourselves in?’’ I shouted.
We left the department stores and I was driving.
The moment I shoved off I began to regret all my earlier
outburst about my driving abilities. This car was not like
anything I had ever driven. The steering was hard to
turn like that of a stationary tractor that lacked power
steering. The rear axle made a terrible sound as if a
commotion was going on in the housing. Anyhow, I
believed it could not pose any problem for me to drive.
As we proceeded to Kenneth’s house, I ran into
what I had never expected at the very time. I was still
praying to God to relieve me of the mental tension, and
the solitude, created by the woman I once called my
love. Now I accepted as true, that placing one’s
absolute trust in a woman could be a prelude to one’s
insanity. This condition coupled with the lack of moral
and financial strength from a family that was near nonexistent,
I thought the end was near for me.
I ran into him or he ran into me – well, whichever
way one looked at it, I knocked him down. I quickly
rushed out to pick him up and to see that he was not
seriously injured. While I was probing his body, Kenneth
was holding his bicycle, which the car has damaged. By
God’s grace, the man was not wounded but the bicycle
got damaged and looked like the alphabet ‘U’.
By our national standard of traffic regulation, the
opposite rule as always enforced was right. However, if
we were to go by the universal standard, and the
training the traffic regulating officers received, the
officer was wrong.
He had thrown both his hands up like somebody
dancing to the tune of Jamaican reggae and I had
perceived that gesture to be a green light for me to go
and for the other side to wait. However, this was the
other way round from what it appeared.
I parked the car off the road to be sure I was not
in any way obstructing other road users and to be able
to come to an agreement with the man whose bicycle I
had damaged. After some discussion with the man, we
agreed to bear the cost of repairing the bicycle and
Kenneth wasted no time in paying him off. With that, we
poured oil on the man’s troubled water and he went his
way carrying his bicycle on his shoulder.
After he had left, the traffic warden came into the
matter and we all realized that he wanted to play a fast
game with us.
The road minister, called traffic warden, who was
with us while we were discussing with the aggrieved
man but never said anything all along now said,
’Oga, as you people no de hear words, you no
see as you don cause accident now, abi? Or sef I no
think say you sabi drive well, I no think say you efen sef
get driver’s license. I beg wey your particulars.’’ He
shouted on us.
‘’ As I see una sef e be like say una don drink
burukutu or ogogoro.’’
This statement really enraged me and before I
could counter him, Musa replied.
‘‘Officer, why you wan do us like dis? At least you
know say we no know where we fit meet again’’
‘‘Na true you talk sa, but man pikin no go
smoke?’’ The warden asked. Musa brought out some
money and as he was about to offer it to the officer, the
second officer standing by shouted.
‘’What! You want to bribe an officer? You all must
follow us to the police station.’’
Kenneth quickly brought another note and tucked
it into the hand of the second officer while the first
officer whispered something to the second officer.
The second officer smiled and said ‘’una go add
something now. Bo, the money too small for the
offence.’’
Throughout the encounter, I was so surprised. I
had heard so many times about the habit of officials to
ask for and receive bribes in the course of discharging
their duties. I had assumed that instances of this would
be far between. I did not imagine it could happen in
such everyday situations and without any discretion.
Just ask for it and take it in public view. I was
disappointed. What if there was no money to give
them?
The little money I had on me was not enough to
take me to Abeokuta to meet my daughter. I
contemplated how happy Rashidat would feel to see
me. How also she would feel were she able to
comprehend all I had gone through since her mother
left me to fate. And standing before me were hawks
demanding the fortune I would spend in travelling to see
my lovely Rashidat. Well, for me, no abracadabra could
bring out anything from my pocket and at the same
time, I could not divorce myself from wondering what
the situation would have been were my friends not with
me. I shuddered at the thought of becoming a jailbird
because of my inability to pay an unofficial fine of a few
naira notes.
Musa replied the man
‘’The thing be say officer no know say money no dey
town, na austerity be the monster’s name, na only God
sef fit safe man pikin from the situation.’’
The wardens saluted as if we were their superior
officers. ‘’Ok, my brothers we go meet again,’’ the first
warden said.
‘‘Not in this kind of a situation’’ I countered and we all
laughed it off as the wardens waved us through and we
moved away.
Musa knew I was too scared to drive and he
never bothered to ask me to take the steering again. As
we moved away from the scene of the incident, I looked
back to steal a glimpse of the wardens and my hand
inadvertently touched my pocket probably to be
reassured that I had not been robbed of my last money.
At home, I kept turning and adjusting in the easy
chair I had retired to. Whereas I thought I would fall
asleep in a moment, my mind was not all that at rest,
and whatever I saw whenever I opened my eyes looked
like the traffic wardens I had left some time back. I had
started to feel a headache building, and I went to the
first aid box to take some pain relief tablets. I had a
sound sleep thereafter. Musa had earlier told me about
a party. He had suggested we should attend. Beyond
the party invitation, I was grateful that he put my welfare
in the forefront of his mind. He was not content to tell
me to let go and move on with my life. He equally
wanted to practically take my mind off my predicament
and also to facilitate my meeting someone to help me
forget. He had warned me to be ready by the time he
came. Just as if he knew I was going to sleep like a
baby
By ten that evening, Musa had arrived at my place
and it was his banging on my door that woke me up. It
was only then I realized that I had been sleeping for
close to five hours.
‘‘But I told you to be ready before I arrived at your
place’’ Musa queried me.
‘’You won’t believe that I found it difficult to rest
after that incident and I have developed headache
which made me to take pain reliever to get over it.’’ I
said.
I pleaded that he should wait a while for me to
have a bath and to quickly get dressed. In less than ten
minutes, I was ready for the party.
‘’There are two ladies in the car. They are both
undergraduates from Zaria and Lagos, and the irony of
it is that they are both political science students, I do not
mean politicians’’, Musa said.
‘‘Are we going together?’’, I asked.
‘‘No, I brought them to watch your house while we
are gone and having fun,’’ he replied.
‘’Then why didn't you let them in, ‘’ I asked,
smiling at his jibe.
‘’Who knew you would still be in bed, I had
informed them that you would be ready by the time we
got here,’’ replied Musa.
‘‘How far is the place from here?’’ I inquired.
‘’Roughly twelve kilometres’’ answered Musa.
‘’And how long are we going to stay there?’’ I queried.
‘‘Hi, Bala, why all these questions?’’ countered
Musa, ’’we have ladies to give us company and there
will be drinks, food and music, enough talking,’’ he
added.
When we reached the car, Musa called on the
ladies.
‘’Hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long? I am
sorry.’’
‘’You really did’’, answered Dupe, one of the
ladies in the car.
‘’Thirty minutes in waiting is in fact too long,’’
added Mero.
‘’I believe you ladies are not being sarcastic’’, I
contributed.
‘’No, we are not being sarcastic, indeed we have
been enjoying good jives from the car stereo ‘’ Mero
said.
‘’Musa, it must have cost you a fortune to install
this system in your car’’ contributed Dupe.
‘’Not so much, it’s a question of knowing the right
choice and believe me I am an adept at that. Now, let
us get to know ourselves‘’ said Musa.
‘’ Bala, this is Dupe, and here is Mero. Both are
political science students of University of Lagos and
Ahmadu Bello University respectively‘’, Musa said.
‘’Hello, happy to meet you’’, I greeted.
‘‘And ladies here you meet a good friend, Bala - a
civil engineer by training and he is on national
assignment, the NYSC.’’ Musa said.
‘’How are you finding the programme?’’ They both
asked.
“Well, it is not bad at all, and it is good to
experience it, and in fact, it is one of the best policies
that the then government had successfully
implemented. But for someone who was out of the
country for close to seven years, it is not all that a bed
of roses’’ I replied.
‘’That is well said, but some people have altered
the acronym to read ‘Now Your Suffering Continues’.
What do you say to that, Mr. Bala?’’ Asked Mero, rather
jokingly.
‘‘Well that depends on how the individual
perceives it. But for me, I will not say it is a bad
experience per se in its entirety. I should rather say that
the service is good, but what the government should
give a priority is to build an egalitarian society and that
should start by introducing agrarian reforms and I
promise you the whole country will soon be
transformed. Then NYSC would be good in cementing
and realizing its objectives. But as it is now in the
country, many members are not as committed as they
should be.’’
‘‘Every citizen wants to be a class on its own and
careless of the goodwill of fellow country men and
women. Look, a day is coming when revolutionary
reforms will exterminate all the reactionary forces in this
country,’’ said Mero.
‘’What sorts of revolution are you talking about? If
the type of revolution you are talking about is the one
that will create awareness; moral leverage; eradicate
illiteracy, corruption, ethnic bias, I will support that. But
if it is the one that will merely make the inferior to be
equal to the superior, I think it worthwhile to remind you
of the saying of a wise man... I cannot readily
remember his name. He says that ‘inferiors revolt so
that they may be equal and equals that they may be
superior. Such is the state of mind which creates
revolution. If that reasoning is still valid, then, the
revolution that we need now is a moral one that will
make the individual citizen to be awake to his or
her responsibility to the nation.
‘‘It is only then that we can live in peace, have a
refined society, see development that will put our future
generation on the right path, hence, the idiographic
ideological exemplification from our generation to their
generation; mutatis mutandis. ‘’ Dupe explained.
Musa punctured the discussion by telling us that
we have arrived the place the party was holding. As we
were preparing to get out of the car, there was light out
and the place was thrown into pitch-black darkness.
‘’Gracious God, why the blackout again?’’
enthused Dupe.
‘’This is one of the reasons why I always ponder,
never getting any satisfactory answer as to why we
cannot at this stage of our development sustain
uninterrupted power supply’’
Mero quickly countered by saying that not that
she was holding brief for the electricity company, but
some of their workers were sometimes deliberately
throwing the people into darkness for their own ulterior
reasons. She continued that, there were many things
one had to put into consideration, like illegal tapings of
electricity, overloading, default in payment of electricity
bills even by government and some of their agencies.
And another major problem that many people discount
is the nation’s rapid rate of industrial development that
our electricity generation capacity has not been able to match. ‘’So I believe it
would be unfair to undermine the efforts of the Board’’
Just then, the whole place lit up again. Power
supply was restored. They could hear the thunder of the
generator in the background. Everyone seemed to have
the machine these days. Musa left us in the discussion
to find out the arrangements made for invited guests. In
less than ten minutes, we were seated.
The celebrant came to our table and Musa
introduced us to him.
Suddenly, Musa pointed to a man, a South
African.
‘’How did you know that?’’ I queried.
‘‘He once came to our company as a
representative of his company, and it was during
discussions that I got to know his nationality,’’ answered
Musa.
‘’How long has he been here’’ I inquired.
‘‘He has been in Nigeria for four years and there
is no hope of going back until after the collapse of
apartheid in that country.’’ Musa answered.
‘’I believe it is high time the United Nations
Organization (U.N.O.) addressed itself to this question
of apartheid policy of the white minority in South Africa.’’
Mero began.
‘‘Well the apartheid policy is one of the questions
that defy answers or I would rather say it is sheer
hypocrisy by some of the U.N.O. members with veto
powers’’ I replied.
‘‘The irony of it is that these countries are the
ones always talking about human rights abuses in other
countries; and yet they are blind to all the criminal
activities of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Man is
born free; nature is hostile to man; yet, man is still
foredooming man to perpetual domination for man’s
own hegemony over others. God, save man from
destroying the human race.’’ Iyabo contributed.
Iyabo was another friend of Musa that had joined us at
our table.
‘’I believe a big gun is hosting this party’’ observed
Mero.
‘’Why do you think so’’ I asked.
‘‘At least you can see that they have a heavy duty
stand-by power generator in case of any power failure.’’
explained Mero.
‘’Well that should not be surprising, at least, we all
know that this area is millionaires haven.’’ I agreed.
There were so many flashy cars around and the
owners wore all sorts of assorted textile materials of
which most were either imported from India, Austria or
Switzerland, and all of them were in the company of
beautiful women. I marvelled at the huge amount of
money the host must have expended on hosting the
party. Bottles of wine littered the whole place and for
the first time in my life, I witnessed wine being opened
indiscriminately.
Gifts were offered to all the guests with the
celebrant’s names embossed on them. Pens, face
towels, gold-plated necklaces, hand chains and wrist
watches all were embossed. This was the first party of
its type that I had attended. We could not be less than a
hundred and twenty in attendance. It bothered me how
much the man must have spent while some Nigerians
have no place to sleep or something to eat.
‘‘What does the host do for a living?’’ I asked
Musa.
‘‘He was formerly an executive in a bank. In short,
he was head of the foreign exchange department
before he rose to become the bank’s area manager. He
retired to establish his own business after putting in five
years of service. Now he has a pharmaceutical
company, an import and export business, and owns a
transport firm with about six dozens Brazilian made
luxury buses in the fleet. To cap it all, he is also a
member of the board of many companies. So money
could be anybody’s problem, surely not Mr. Spencer’s.’’
Musa narrated.
Another man who I later gathered was a bank
director also came in and the celebrant quickly led the
man and his beautiful woman to a special area. The
woman was the cynosure of all eyes as everybody
looked in her direction. The woman was tall and full of
smiles and it was only when I looked very well that I
realized she was someone I knew. Apparently, money
had graced her with more beauty that made everybody
look her direction.
Linda!
I almost called out to her.
She was Linda indeed.
For me, time stood still. Everything around me
became a buzz. I wondered if she had seen me in the
company of the girls and Musa. The conversation
around our table continued unabated but I was not a
part of it. I did my best to control my mind as it whirled.
Events flashed past my eyes. There stood the same
woman I had loved and lived with for years. There stood
the beautiful mother of my child. Now there seemed to
be a big chasm between us, just like we never met. I
had to assure myself I was not dreaming. Her eyes
went from one end of the hall to the other. For a while,
her eyes rested on our table and seemed to linger. Had
she seen me? Was the guilt of her action going to sink
in at last? The light in the hall was deliberately not
bright. Her eyes finally moved away from our table and
down the hall. I tried to seek out her company but could
not tell which of the moneybags that milled around her
was the source of my pain.
The buzz around my table continued until Musa
realised that something was amiss. He followed my
eyes and saw Linda. He nudged me in the side and
tugged at my shirt. I looked at him and saw the concern
in his eyes.
“I did not know…”
In answer I nodded. He would not have suggested
such an outing if he had known it was sponsored by
Linda’s new man.
“Common folks, drink up. Time to go.”
“Oh! So soon?” Groaned Mero.
“Just as well. The best part is gone,” said Dupe.
“It’s almost four in the morning, would be five-thirty by
the time we get home. “
There was no way we would get home that late
even if we walked. What was paramount in his mind
was to get me away from the party. He had no previous
plan B, but now he had one.
Back home, I asked Musa to kindly take the girls
home without me. I needed time to be by myself.
Something went wrong somewhere and I felt like
thinking it out by myself. Thoughts flashed through my
mind. I could not fight it, I just sat back and let go
myself.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘’Now, all members should go to stand ‘B’ for
registration,’’ said the camp commandant to all the
NYSC members just arriving at the Orientation Camp.
This was a unique day for all the corps members.
Most of the members were just posted to the northern
part of the country for the first time. Moreover, many
could not just believe that they had left the southern
part of the country because they were fed with
information that the whole of the north had been taken
over by a fiercely encroaching desert. They were
equally told to expect weather that is extremely hotter
and more unaccommodating than any other place on
earth.
Each one of us received his or her beddings and
uniforms. The Camp commandant gave a good
welcome address that received ovation from all the
participants.
‘’Now, you are all in a military camp,’’ shouted the
commandant. “You must all behave accordingly and
follow orders to the letter. For your information, I am not
going to con…’’
He suddenly stopped and pointed his staff to our
direction, beckoning one of us.
‘’Yes, you! Come here,’’ roared the commandant
as if he had caught a glimpse of a soldier who had
deserted the army.
‘’Yes, you!”
Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to make this
man a scapegoat for you all to know what we call
discipline in the armed forces.
‘’What is your name?’’ Screamed the officer.
‘’Dr Bayo Olowojaye,’’ answered the culprit.
‘‘Because you are a doctor, you assume you can
disturb others while instructions are still going on?’’ He
whooped again.
‘‘No sir, I was…’’ Said Bayo, trying to explain.
‘‘Shut up your mouth. So Nigeria must not know
peace because you are a university graduate? Do you
think you are still in your university campus?’’
Nigeria !” Exclaimed Bayo who was more
bewildered than surprised at the statement. Yes
Nigeria, don’t you know this camp is a mini Nigeria.
Yelled the officer again.
‘‘Na wah o’’ murmured some of the corps members.
‘‘Na which university you go sef?’’ he queried Bayo who
replied that he attended University of Ife in Ile-Ife.
‘’Oh! That is my Alma Mata. You people should
know that Ile-Ife is the cradle of the Yoruba race.
Congratulations, Dr. Bayo for attending the best
university in the whole universe.’’
The whole gathering gave roaring cheers which
the officer acknowledged and jokingly added that Dr
Bayo should also join the army to be a tough man like
himself which also received cheers from the crowd.
That put paid to the situation.
‘‘The training you are going to receive here is to
mould you and to help you in tackling most of the
problems that you might come across during your
primary assignments and when you eventually enter the
labour market to contribute your own quota to nation
building….’’ He lectured.
‘‘This na wah o, abi this people no no say we no be
soldiers’’ intoned one graduate engineer standing
behind me.
Altogether, the audience was rather quiet. In fact,
who would make trouble and face military drilling that
any of us was definitely not going to enjoy? The
Commandant left his subordinates to attend to us.
Before we dispersed, each of us received a
booklet that contained rules and regulations that we
were to abide by during our stay in the camp. In fact, it
was a comprehensive list of military idiosyncrasies.
I was enjoying a sound sleep, my first in the camp
when I heard the reveille.
‘‘Be quiet’’, shouted at the crier by many of the
corps members who had reluctantly bundled
themselves out of bed to begin the early morning
exercise.
The crier was adamant and continued with his job
and even blew harder on the trumpet. The louder the..
......

 TO CONTINUE

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