Jude - An adventure into Earth!
"Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy" - F. Scot Fitzgerald
"It has done me good to be somewhat parched by the heat and drenched by the rains of life" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged..." - William Palmer, quoted in David O McKay, 'Pioneer Women,' Relief Society Magazine, Jan. 1948, 8.
PART II PART III PART IV PART V PART VI PART VII PART VIII
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PART
I VERY
EARLY REMINISCENCES
They call me Jude and this has been my name since form four until now. Only my
childhood friends call me 'Debo. How I came about that
name is my secret, I woke up one day and I thought, how nice for me to be called
Jude. Yes, my name is Jude. Please call me by no other name.
Oftentimes I wonder about my personality, especially my memory, I seem to get to
understand sound and sight more than most people I meet. The faintest I could
remember about my childhood was when I was a kid and my stepmother came around
to my paternal grandma's house. The joy I felt on seeing her and the happiness I
perceived she felt on seeing me was such that I hugged her with fondness but she
hugged me just for a few seconds, her face turned stern and quickly went to
greet Mama Eleni(Comfort Talabi Ogunade) inside the
house. I happened to be outside at the time playing with other kids in the
neighbourhood. I wondered what was wrong (only God knows how little I was when I
started dialoguing in my mind with myself)
This stepmother was to play a major role and hitherto had played a major role in
the life of everyone who and were connected with my childhood within my nuclear
family and even in my extended family.
I was born Adebo Adeleye
Ogunade and since I was born on Sunday, my father
seldom called me Sunday.
The house I remember I grew up in belonged to my grandfather of whom much had
been told me as I grew up, No. 6 Apebi street , Ijebu - Ode. The six that time was written in white with a
black circle background. Standing tall in front of the house was the Igi - Ose a big tree at that time,
not as big as Iroko, but big to a child's mind. I was
forbidden to play with its leaves. Many at times had I tried to play with its
leaves and at every occasion was I met with serious disparaging from Mama Eleni. It was on a fateful day that I was playing with
its leaves that she came disparaging again and I quickly reminded her that other
kids do play with its leaves to which she replied: "they may play with the
leaves but you cannot play with its leaves, you are Omo Apebi (Apebi's Son). That tree is the tree whose leaves are use to
install Chiefs and Kings of Ijebu and as your
grandfather was a custodian of the rites of chieftaincy and kingship, you must
not play with its leaves" to which I answered; "I hear mama, I won't do that
again." That settled it, I never played with its leaves again, but then,
cardboard paper took the place of the leaves. That was how I learnt my first
lesson of the traditional importance of leaves to the Ijebus.
The fan game, how did we play it, Or should I say propeller game? Get a leaf
that is not dry, tear of one end until it reached the midpoint, turn it over and
tear off the opposite end until that one also reached the midpoint so that you
have adjacent leafy and adjacent stalky sides. Punch a
hole on the leafy side close to the midpoint with a strong broomstick and face
the direction of the wind. You can then run with the wind rushing at your face
then you will feel the bracing effect that comes from the wind rushing at your
face and the propeller on your two fingers dancing in a circular motion to the
silent tune of the wind. It was a one - boy show that I enjoyed a
lot.
Mama Eleni, that was the name of the woman I grew up
to know as my mother, but she was my paternal grandmother. More or less the
reason I mentioned house in the preceding lines and not home, I had never lived
in a home, never loved in a home, I was never brought up in a home, in fact, no
one really brought me up, I and my eleda mi, brought
me up.
Although Mama Eleni as I knew her was a down-to-earth
sincere and candid personage, she never for once, as much as I knew, said any
unkind words to any person unless she was outrageously and repeatedly provoked.
It was one of those experiences that made me know that I am not her direct
child and that my mother "abandoned" me when I was just five months old.
Actually, my elder brother 'Dapo, Adedapo Ogunade, did something
sinister that made Mama to be so angry such that she told him such disparaging
words to the extent that she mentioned that our mother left me ('Debo) when I was just five months old and it was she who
brought us up.
My brother 'Dapo, my eldest brother is 'Bunmi. Adebunmi Ogunade, was such hero of mine that his disappearance has
left me empty ever since. 'Bunmi was purported to have
left the shores of Nigeria, when he was under the custody and a worker in a
distant uncle's (Uncle Kunle Ogunade) factory in Aguda, Lagos
State Nigeria, to Belgium or Germany wherever since 1986, in fact two weeks
after I gained admission to the Ogun State University,
and up till now, that I am writing this book, 2005, I've not heard any word from
'Bunmi!.
'Dapo, at the time was someone who had little patience, he wanted things done
immediately, that is to say, he wanted to eat at the time he was hungry and was
not ready to hear that the food was not ready and might go to any extent to
initiate force in order for Mama to bring out food immediately.
Mama Eleni, really suffered at the hands of Dapo at the time. One particular incidence that is still
very fresh in my memory was when Mama Eleni was eating
and Dapo had to throw a palmful of sand into her food
to the extent that Mama Eleni wept and ate the food as
she wept like that, I was shocked! Was Mama Eleni
being punished for her part in ensuring the sending out of my mother from my
father's house or was it childhood exuberance on the part of 'DapoThe readers will be left to judge themselves as this
story unfolds.
My mother "abandoned" me when I was five months old (that was what I was told
from as early as age four or five). However, the events that unfolded in my life
said otherwise: my mother did not abandon me but was forced to abandon me, my
mother lost both her parents when she was just in primary school and when they
perpetuated such wickedness against her, she really did not have anyone to come
to her aid, advise her or rescue her.
Well, my mother not only "abandoned" me but also two other children and went
away with one. The eldest one at the time was only five years old - Adebunmi Ogunade; the next was
four years old - Adedapo Ogunade; she went away with the third - a girl of two years
old - Adewunmi Ogunade.
Adewunmi Ogunade - may the
peace of God be upon her and the foetus of her womb - was purported to have died
during childbirth when I was doing part-time assistant lectureship at Yaba College of Technology, in 1998. She was taken to Kunle Ogunade for assistance, the
same person under whose custody my eldest brother disappeared without trace
since 1986. When the news was broken to me that my sister died
during childbirth, I asked to see the burial ground or the dead body of both the
baby and the mother, but my brother 'Dapo told me that
even he was not shown any and in fact they could not! Well, nobody advised me to
flee Nigeria few months afterwards and I, the baby that was "abandoned" at five
months old, the biographer!
My elder sister, the one I followed directly and whose name has already been
mentioned was allowed to go with my mother! One may be tempted to ask; but why
did his mother abandon him? Well, according to what I gleaned from my father's
correspondences: there was a divorce in a law court which gave the custody of a five month old baby to an ageing grandmother and the same court allowing the
woman to take a two year old baby along with her as she packed out of her
matrimonial home. Definitely, that was not justice; this to me was a clear case of miscarried justice.
Actually, my mother is an Egin, for you to be an Egin, you must have probably come from the Eastern
Yoruba Area, from Ondo
State specifically. My mother's father (my maternal grandfather was an Akure man) actually hailed from Oke Aro, whilst my maternal
grandmother was from Ondo town.
In those days it was actually rare to see marriages between extreme locations of
people of the same ethnic group succeeding, such was my mother's. My paternal
grandmother had preferred someone close to home ' Ijebu - Ode' but according to her, that person was still
schooling when my father was ready to get married and since my father was
equally interested in Caroline Adelanke (my mum) a
marriage was arranged.
This marriage (according to the story my mum told me when I searched and found her
some sixteen years later), was greatly desired by my paternal
grandfather. Baba Apebi,
wanted my father to marry a virgin. My mother was one before she married my
father and that my father showed great commitments and that when she wanted to
give birth to 'Bunmi there was great pain on account
of her virginity and he (Baba Apebi) was enraged to
have learnt that the western doctors had performed some operations. Baba Apebi, could have recited some incantations and the baby would
have come out easily without any problem.
In fact, according to my mum, my father showed great commitments whilst Baba
Apebi was alive, but Baba Apebi died in 1966, about a month after Adewunmi, my elder sister was born. Immediately after the
burial ceremony at which my would be step mother (Felicia Taiwo Akinyemi- Onasanya) was also
present, my father had the freedom and now the opportunity to start seeing other
women for no one dared disobey Baba Apebi.
One of those jaunts landed him in the hands of his former girlfriend who his
mother (Mama Eleni) preferred to my mother in the
first instance anyway.
There was an instance several years later afterwards when I was in the secondary
school, (I had actually done some fasting and prayers for myself, friends, family
members, my country etc.; I used to attend Deeper Life Christian Ministry in
those days and being the Chapel Prefect of my secondary school - Ijebu Ode Grammar School - I had to make sure that the place
of worship was kept neat. Forget the junior students they rarely worked. In
fact, I used to sweep the former school mosque that used to be the place of
worship for Deeper Life Christian Ministry, myself; for according to the
students it was not within their rosters. I, being the chapel prefect must make
sure that the visitors did not come to meet the place dirty. Moreover, I just
joined them that time) a disagreement ensued somehow between my father and
step-mother. It was in such exchange of word that I overheard my step-mother
saying: "was it not you?" "I didn't know what you a married man wanted from me
when you were married with children but always came calling at my windows at
night". I then was alarmed to hear this, being just in my teen years, a
Christian and inexperienced. Well, those words still ring in my ears till today.
I should think that the relationship between the two of them started immediately
after the burial of Baba Apebi. It was then that, as I
perceived that Mama Eleni started plotting for my
father to take a second wife (in those days marrying many wives was the usual
thing, Mama Eleni herself, was the third or so wife of
Baba Apebi, I should think). Perhaps, my father, being
the last-born was her choicest child. She could not bear the thought of her
dearest child being persuaded away to a far away place as Eginland. In those days, vehicular transportation was not as
rampart and journeys to such places as Ondo, Akure, etc were made on foot, canoe or long lorries that you
need to roll the engines in front before they could start and sometimes take
several hours and even days, or weeks to complete.
Invariably,
a marriage was arranged! Why? I believe Caroline Adelanke was just cheated out of her matrimonial home by
evil forces. Moreover, no one could come to her help she lost both her parents
when she was in primary school. I do wonder now how she is still able to retain
her sanity after so many woes befell her and I'm forced to think that she has
one of the most stable minds around, in fact, she is a miracle, and I admire her
greatly.
My father got married but the woman must live in our house. In my mother's
house? In an Egin woman's house? Egin, according to what I learnt from various people the
Egins are natural trouble makers, don't dare oppose them or obstruct them, and
no Egin woman will allow her husband to bring another
woman to the house. An Egin woman cannot and will not
share her husband with another woman; such was the case with my mother. Fighting
or I should say, battles ensued, real battles, physical and spiritual.
The court decided that there should be a divorce and that my mother should pack
out of her home and that she should not be allowed to take her five months old
baby boy along but could take the two-year old girl and that the suckling
five-months old baby should be left under the care of an ageing Mama Eleni.
Well, she left and came back several times afterwards according to what I was
told, to check how her children were faring and whenever she came fighting
usually ensued between my mother on one side and my step mother and father on
the other side. It was during one of such fights, that my eldest brother (-Bunmi) who was yet to be six years old could not take his
mother plights, beatings, and humiliation again, said: "Mummy please don't come
to our house again if they will be beating you all the time." According to my
mum an old woman in the neighbourhood told her to listen to what her little son
said. That was how I did not know who my mother was until I was sixteen plus,
when I decided to go out in search of her to be really sure I had a mother and
when I knew her I was surprised to find her mentally strong and happy. When I
asked her why her parents could not come to help her, she said she lost them
both when she was in primary school!
That is the story of Adelanke Caroline. What still
baffles me till today is why should my father marry someone who already had a
baby for another person out of wedlock? From the little analysis, I made up my
mind to believe that since Felicia (my step-mother) could not contain the shame
and the ridicule associated with her not being able to find a father for her
unborn child, she made up her mind to snatch whatever man came her way.
Considering the fact that there was only a year difference between the child,
and me I'm forced to believe till this day, that my father was and perhaps still, under a kind of spell. There is no attention to love here. Love was
between my father and mother before and after they were wedded. This love
produced four children. Afterwards, Felicia came to our house or my father's
life and for me, our lives, to destroy the joy and love of a family just because
a man somewhere whom she had conceived for was not ready to accept the
pregnancy. Therefore, Felicia to cover the shame of bringing forth an
illegitimate child had to find a way to father her child. It was whilst I was in
secondary school that I got to know this man, whom one day 'Femi Olanrenwaju (Felicia's son)
took me to see his dad and I was surprised to know that the mum knew the
whereabouts of 'Femi's father all along. All this
whilst everybody thought Felicia's father was the father of 'Femi.
It was later when ruminating on the pros and cons of my life that I realised the
import and the impact of Dapo's behaviour on Mama
Eleni. I wonder what my mum had told a four year old
boy - that was the age of Dapo when our mother was
forced out of her matrimonial home - to the extent of creating so much hatred in
his heart towards Mama Eleni. I used to believe Mama
Eleni was my mother until she started poking me with
the fact that my mother "abandoned" me when I was five months old.
The fact still remains in life that almost every human being stands to justify
his or her actions and in situations where something went wrong between two
partners, either is always quick to blame another for the wrong doings and
inadequacies.
Thank goodness that I had the courage to venture out to look for my mother and
thank goodness that the situation I met her was enough to squash and put to lies
the numerous falsehoods perpetuated against her whilst I had not met her.
Nevertheless, the question still hassles my mind: What if my mother had died
before I was old enough to have the courage to go out in search of her. Well, my
father's family story about her would have held in my mind and perhaps I would
have grown up with bitterness misplaced!
Dapo really showed Mama Eleni. At the age Dapo was doing
all these, I was too small to understand the reasons for his actions. I am not
sure whether his bad behaviours towards Mama Eleni was
a result of what our mother told them ('Bunmi and
Dapo) or natural course of justice was just using him
to make Mama Eleni see the consequences of her part in
her son's wrong choices and decisions.
EARLY EDUCATION AND THE ITALUPE YEARS
I started the normal lesson that everybody in my area at the time attended before starting primary school. I started Baba Olopa's lesson; a light in complexion, pot bellied and moderately fat man. Well, Baba Olopa, may his soul rest in perfect peace was invariably my first teacher. Olopa is the Yoruba word for Policeman - name derived from the stick, characteristically carried by every policeman in those days - in those days, Policemen were disciplined and that man instilled such discipline in his pupils, as he was a retired police officer who decided to set up a lesson to teach kids around his area. He had a large class at the time and we were divided into groups and I was at the ABD class (A, B, D.) the beginning class of learning, we were first taught the Yoruba alphabet and the numbers before moving to the English Alphabets and the numbers, the class, the beginning class was referred to as ABD. Well, Baba Olopa was a good teacher, he made us at that very early age (I started this school when I was barely four years old!) to read and memorise all the alphabets and the 123 both in English and Yoruba. I was one of his favourite pupils. He specifically called Mama Eleni one day when she was passing to the market - our school was not far from the main night market called Oja Ale (Night market - Oja means market in Yoruba and Ale means night) but had people who sold things even during the day. (I wonder whether the Ijebus with their knack for trading and business will ever allow the market some day sleep since its night has been converted to trades!) - to talk to him that she should try and enrol me in school as soon as possible because according to Baba Olopa, I was an exceptionally gifted child.
The next school year found me at Italupe Primary School (Owned by the Anglicans). I was not there to attend school but to be tested for admission. I was tested academically and I passed, but when I was told to put my hand over my head to see whether my hand can reach the other ear, I tried and tried but was only able to reach the tip of my ear, well, I have a small one anyway. So she was advised to come next year, so I was not happy, I felt discouraged but Mama told me that next year I would be able to attend school and I asked when is next year, she replied: "when we sleep and wake up several times". Well, that settled my mind.
The next year, I was six years old and I started school. My days at Italupe Primary school were very interesting ones. I was usually pleased with all the 100/100 that showed up regularly on my report card and thanks to - Bunmi, my eldest brother (although not so academically endowed) who was always pleased and happy whenever I collected my report card and there were hundred, hundred all over! 'Bunmi thus became my first inspiration! I grew up to love academic records and 'Bunmi loved it whenever I am noticed, recognised or awarded a prize for my academic performances. The brotherly bond between 'Bunmi and me was stronger than the bond between me and the rest of my siblings.
There was this boy about my age whose name I've forgotten now, but whose brother is 'Soji Mebude a close pal of 'Bunmi. This boy had a birthday bash and Mama Eleni allowed us to attend. I was four years old at the time and I had just recuperated from a bout of sickness. After the party and on our way home, I started vomiting and considering the fact that I felt like passing out faeces at the same time, 'Bunmi and 'Dapo took me somewhere. I started vomiting and passing out faeces at the same time, and as I was doing this, 'Dapo moved away, it was only 'Bunmi who stood by me, and 'Dapo even moved farther away when he noticed that I was struggling with a particular worm that was struggling between my anus and the outside world. I was enthused when 'Bunmi moved closer and used his hand to physically remove the worm - a long one at that - from my anus. I felt relieved and that act etched itself on my memory till today. I wish 'Bunmi is here right now, to really see that I am appreciative of that long time favour! To see how honestly and greatly I am becoming despite all the vultures, crows and bats flying over my head day and night and despite all the hardships and trials I go through day by day (Thanks, Jesus Christ.).
- Bunmi was usually proud of me, in fact 'Dapo, Yemisi (my first cousin) who attended the same school with me, but who were of higher classes used and 'Bunmi used to call me to read to their mates who could not and who were five or four classes ahead. I should believe it was a form of motivation for them in those days I should think, at the time because what would you think of yourself when a six year old boy came to read things to you whilst you were about to write a common entrance. That, I think, gingered them to achieve. Well thanks to Baba Olopa!
I moved to the next class, primary 2 and I had about three teachers, the last of them Mr. Adebanjo was very good to me. He was a student - teacher and I was lucky to have him as my class teacher, always telling us to memorise poems, and now when I think about the wordings of those poems they are such that inspire. He really inspired us.
I was sitting quietly in the class one day whilst having classes with Mr. Adebanjo that I saw a white double cabin Volkswagen kombi bus drove into the school with a characteristically hooting of horn as it approached my class, it stopped in front of my class and lo and behold I saw my dad descending from the car. I ran out of the class and went straight to his waiting arms. We went inside the class, had a chat with my class teacher, paid my levies and left.
That was the first time I would see my dad with a car! I was so proud of him. He left and promised to come back for me at the close of the day. Well, I was disappointed that I could not ride in his car, his promise of coming back was taking lightly because he had told me several times that he would come back and never showed up until after three or so months when he came to give money to Mama Eleni, I was sceptical. As the school was about to close for the day, I saw my father's car entered the school compound I leapt up for joy and my class teacher forbade me from going out until the bell rang. Well, shortly afterwards the bell rang and I jumped out to meet my father in his car. I was proud that day, I felt very happy, and I asked him to allow me play with its horn.
I became about the third or the second child in the school whose parent came to look for with a car. I felt I was in a class of my own. We drove off to Mama Eleni's and prayers were said for the new car and its owner (my dad) then we went to Mama Nta ntebo's place. Prayers were also said, and Mama nta ntebo was somehow richer than Mama Eleni but I think younger too. As I learnt, Mama Nta ntebo was my grandfather's cousin. And many of my uncles and including my father spent time living with her when she was in Kano and Kaduna. In fact, almost all the older generations of the Ogunades speak Hausa, only few of the new generation speak Hausa, but I have gone international adding English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Japanese, for now, to my fleet of languages.
The next time my father came to school was with my brother 'Bunmi and 'Dapo, he brought them to take their common entrance exams! 'Bunmi and 'Dapo did not start secondary school as I thought, they were made to repeat their classes, 'Bunmi was actually supposed to continue to the secondary school level, but was made to repeat primary six so that he could go with 'Dapo. Well, the reason as I found out later was to help my step mum in her drug store and her mineral and beer off and on licence business. The fact that brother Jelili who was supposed to be our houseboy and Kole and Adeolu my father's apprentices were around was not enough to take care of Felicia's businesses, she used everybody to the fullest! In fact, Brother Jelili worked hard in those days.
My father slept at Mama Nta ntebo's place and on Saturday, he came to take my brothers and me who had slept at Mama Eleni's to the venue of the exams. The exams lasted several hours with a break in between; that was my first time of eating slice bread and taking tonic fanta. Whilst they take exams, I was in the car waiting for them and at the same time praying for their success (I started praying on my own since I was four years old). The examination ended successfully, my father dropped me off at Mama Eleni's where I lived and drove off in his car with 'Bunmi and - Dapo to Ibadan where they lived.
I continued school as usual and the attendant respect I earned from my mates and teachers since my father came to the school in his car even made me more ready to excel academically. One thing that had engraved on my mind at that early age was my knack for acting.
I was a fine actor. There was this teacher called Aiki Soja. A very great man who was always inspiring his pupils, I was initially not his direct pupil, but when my class teacher, Mr. Adebanjo left after his teaching practice, we were added to his class and he immediately saw something unusual about me. At that time, I don't know if it still exists now, at the end of every school year, there were prizes for good pupils who had excelled in academics and also the time for end of year entertainment.
This entertainment included play-acting and for primary 2 pupils, Aiki Soja (not his real name, but an alias) was in charge. We were asked to perform the play about the Biblical story of David and Goliath. Several primary 2 pupils were put forward to act this play and out of those chosen to act as David, Aiki Soja believed my performance was best. Also, acting plays in those days involve memorising passages, songs and even poems and I never knew about prompt in plays until I entered the university and at that time we were made to memorise passages, songs and poems, many of which I still remembered till today. It was during the rehearsals for that play that I so much pleased Aiki Soja with my performance. He swooped me up and carried me high up in his hands and down unto his shoulders and cried and shouted and sang carrying me around on his shoulder saying: - Omo nla ni ele yi - (This is a great child). That day I could see joyful gladness written on his face. It was no doubt during the main play I received so much applause form the audience that many of them threw money at me on the stage and were very much pleased with my performance. I received so much accolades and handshakes after the play than the rest of the classes and pupils in the school. One thing that impressed me was that Mama Eleni was all smiles that day and she was proud of me and of course when I got home, I ate one of the most sumptuous meals I had ever tasted and throughout the week my wrongdoings and pranks were seen with eyes wide shut!
'Bunmi and 'Dapo left for the secondary school when I got to Primary 2, I became the only child of my father living with Mama Eleni and they did not come to No. 6 Apebi Street during the holidays, they had to go to my father and step mum at Ibadan. In those days and in an environment as Ijebu - Ode it was common to see children coming around to play in the evenings. In fact, most evenings children of surrounding households would come around to play. This is usually after the pots and plates of the evening had been washed and most evening meals are often eaten with you inviting your friends to dinner or your friends inviting you to dinner and when the supper are served at different intervals, you ended up eating or tasting two to three different meals per night. One such friend is Ahmed.
Ahmed was my friend at the time, he was my playmate, although we attended different schools, he had to attend a Muslim primary school whilst I attended an Anglican primary school. After school hours we played together, I did not start an afternoon coaching class until I was in primary 3 at Italupe Primary School in Ijebu - Ode, so I was usually very free to do whatever I wanted to do after school. (I had to repeat this class when I got to Ibadan, as I started the Baptist Primary School, Oke Ado, Ibadan, from primary 3).
Ahmed's mother was a good cook and at the time very light in complexion and was beautiful but one thing I disliked about Ahmed's father in those days was the incessant beatings she gave to Ahmed's mother. Ahmed's mother really suffered from Uncle Ganiyu. This was spouse abuse to the fullest, real beatings with good cane, the woman would plead, would beg but the man would not listen but was always beating Ahmed's mother. For what reason, I really did not know all I know is that most times in the afternoon, he would come home with his Vespa motorcycle and the next thing is the shout of agony from Ahmed's mother! On one of such occasions I asked Baba Kaduna, my eldest uncle and a very wise man, in fact, my friend, about these beatings and he told me it is to beat out madness from her, and I asked again, what madness?
Baba Kaduna told me that women, especially beautiful women are prone to abuse by men who are powerful and rich. When these men had sex with them, they at the same time put in them a medicine (juju or talisman) that will make them collect good lucks from other people and give these good lucks to those who had put the medicine in them. Baba Kaduna went on to tell me that most of the time, some of these people whose good lucks had been stolen by adulterous women to give to other men become mad. That some of the mad people on the streets are people whose psyches and souls are being used to make some people rich and therefore it is proper sometimes to use a cain, a special cain he said, to remove the madness from her before the husband have sex with her. "Won ni lati fi egba gbon were to wa lara re kuro" "it is proper to use a cain to remove the cobweb of madness from her body.
Children in those days, both boys and girls would form circle on the floor, would tell tales, jokes, would recite poems and memory verses, and act plays they had been taught at schools. It was usually a thing of nice pleasure to hear different stories, as Ananse (the Twi word for Spider) is to the Ashanti and the Twi speaking people of Ghana so is Ijapa (the Yoruba word for Tortoise) to the Yoruba speaking people of Nigeria. All the clever, smart and cunning tricks and manoeuvre is attributed to Ijapa and most stories that were told wound themselves on the legendary adventures of Ijapa. Also physical plays were enacted and most nightly entertainments were done usually when the moon was high up in the sky, the full moon was usually our favourite choice for it beamed its radiance and we, like her wards played under her watchful eyes.
Gbadigbadi was usually one of the most likeable plays in those days. Its song was like this: - Gbadigbadi, idi po, bi mo ri-idi ma gba" - etc. This means "slapping of buttock, sounding of buttocks, if I see a buttock, I will slap" Well, children formed circles, sitting with legs crossed as in Yoga postures most times or in any other posture as was individually convenient. A person would sit in the middle or even among us and lead the song whilst others sang in unison after him/her. A small stone was usually held by who would be going about the circle singing (he sometimes led the chorus) and would try to cleverly and stealthily leave the stone at the back of anybody in the circle. You had to be very alert so that you would know when he left the stone behind you and immediately stood up so that he would not slap you on his next round to you or you may end up having a good slap on your buttock. Woe betide you if you have grudged him earlier in the day or refused to favour him in one thing or the other earlier on in the day, he would just make sure that the slap was more unpalatable for you. The person slapped must then take up the stone and start the next round of the gbadigbadi play. This would be done until we were all tired or when it was time for bed.
Very interesting, is it not? One particular story I really liked in those days and which had so much impression on me and which I used to think about a lot even when I was in my teenage years is the story of the tortoise, the dog and the other animals of the Animal Kingdom. It goes like this:
Once upon a time, there was a great famine in the land; the famine became so severe that there was no food to eat! Then the younger animals had a meeting and the council of young animals decided to kill their parents for food! For the parents found it difficult to provide them with food. All the animals agreed and subsequently killed their parents one by one. The dog however, had a better idea, he refused to kill his mother and instead, climbed up the skies and hid his mother there. After the young animals had all killed their sources of livelihood and were later dying of hunger, the tortoise somehow noticed that the dog was putting on weight and looking well fed and wondered how the dog was coping. He decided then to investigate and study the dog's secret. He soon found out that the dog disappeared into the forest every evening, tortoise then decided to investigate further and went ahead of dog's path in the forest the next day to wait for the dog and find out his secrets. The dog not being in the know that he was being followed and spied on, got to the spot where he usually called his mother. He called the mother, the mother came down from the skies and gave him food and went back. The tortoise was enraged and said to himself, after all, this dog did not kill his mother as we all agreed to do. Sensing that he might not be able to eat since he had killed his mother, and that he might even die of hunger, he surprisingly appeared to the dog whilst the dog was savouring his meal. He then threatened the dog that unless, from then on, they shared the food until the famine is abated; he would expose the dog. Well, the dog not wanting to be exposed decided to allow the tortoise part of the meal and subsequently, the dog and the tortoise went smoothly through the famine period whilst many other animals perished. There are many important lessons to be learnt from this story but the one that I really thought out for myself was that I should not rush to do what most young people do because of needs, wants, youthful exuberances or the fact that they want to measure up to their peers or impress them.
Now, I have come to the conclusion that many decisions made by young persons are
really affected by the body chemistry - emotions and many of the decisions even
though are intelligent ones, may not necessarily be wise ones and may lead to
bad choices, fatal perhaps and may lead to unhappiness in later years. For the
future may then ask the youth how it has extravagantly expended its energies and
resources.
Well, I passed to primary three, my primary three was very hectic for me, my position in class dwindled to about 16th of 27 pupils in my class. Before I got to Primary three, I won academic prizes at the last speech and prize given day and the reason my position dwindled then would be explained. I had this class teacher in primary three whose only interest was in getting his pupils to pay the school levies and he did it by intimidating, abusing, and insulting them. There were no school fees in those days because, UPE (Universal Primary Education) had been introduced years before (a frontline Nigerian politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whilst Governor
and Minister of the Western Region of Nigeria, introduced it), thus, all other
monies paid in the school were levies and not
fees. This teacher could not
understand why, someone like me, whose father had come to the school to pick up in his new
vehicle could be lagging in paying levies, and not only did he make a great deal
of fun of us especially me, who could not pay fees on time, but also bared us
from coming to school.
Mama Eleni had no money save the ones given to her by
her children for her upkeep and as such could not afford to use the money to pay
school levies. I had to wait till the end of the month if my father would show
up to ask him for the money and sometimes, if he should do two months without
showing up, I would be coming in and out of schools for the levies.
It was during this period too that I had trying times as a growing little boy I
was very adventurous like most other boys, always wanting to jump gutters,
barriers, play football and wander into surrounding bushes and sometimes
forests, all these left me with wounds that would not heal easily.
Mama Eleni had to spend most evenings tending my
wounds. The wounds that I hated most were the ones on the ankles, the knees and
the toes (they became sores most times). The subsequent mending with rags soaked
in hot water usually made me scream, well, 'Debowale
(an
elder cousin of mine) and her sisters were usually at hand to hold me tight so I
would not struggle or run away whilst Mama Eleni
mended the wounds. All these
made me become disinterested in school. There was one day I drifted away from school to play. Mama Eleni got to know and she gave
me a severe beating I never forgot. It was later in the night that day that I
told her the reason I refused to go to school. That the teacher usually made fun
of me that I could not pay my levies whilst other pupils whose father could not
afford bicycle paid fees whilst me whose father own a car and sometimes drop on
Monday morning in school could not pay and because I could not afford another
poking at me, I drifted away to play. Well, the next day saw Mama
Eleni in the school to chat with my class teacher,
afterwards my father also came after finding out that my result after the end of
the second term of primary three was a far cry from my result in the previous
class. He then paid all the levies, and enrolled me in my class teacher private
lessons. Well, I passed the third term coming third in my class and 22 out of
121 in the whole arm. Well, that year, I did not win any prize and was my last
year at Italupe
Primary School.
NO. 6 APEBI STREET
Enough of the story on academics and now to my cousins, those who lived with me whilst I was at No. 6 Apebi Street, Ijebu - Ode. To them I was a darling, the kind of attention, care and love showed me then by particularly Anti Sade and Anti Yemisi was such that whenever I was away from them I felt sometimes depressed.
Afolasade particularly liked me so much that whenever I was sick, she would somehow be uneasy. Most times, when she came home meeting me asleep, she would not mind feeding me whilst I was asleep. Many at times I had woken up with the taste and the smell of Suya. (Suya is a barbecue sort of delicacy, but I bet, better than the barbecues) Afolashade was not only beautiful inside but very beautiful outside, up till the time I left secondary school, and having lost contact with Afolashade for years, I still used her beauty as a yardstick for most girls that I came across. I could not count how many number of times she had proudly taken me on her back in her numerous jaunts. Talking about escapades, I vividly remember this guy called 'Se popo meme, Oko Sade.' This guy could not leave Anti Sade alone, he could come even in the night and coming to think of it, he was handsome, and also at that time, was the son of a local rich man.
Number 6, Apebi Street, was a home to many children at that time. Hanging on the wall in the long Baba Apebi's parlour were several well framed photographs. There was the photograph of Baba Apebi's father (my great grandfather), Chief Ogunade Ogunbona, with Baba Apebi's photograph beside his - Chief Josiah Macaulay Adekoya Ogunade, standing majestically at the northern side of the parlour. These are the two pictures that immediately you opened the door to enter No. 6 Apebi Street, you would see staring at you high up (high enough for a child's mind) in the face. As you entered the parlour and on your right was the photograph of Baba Kaduna (Baba Kaduna, according to what I was told, was the firstborn of Baba Apebi) on a horse. Baba Kaduna was versed in the use of herbs, I was never sick whenever he was around almost all plants were herbs to him. Well, I interacted with him when I was very small, he died around 1975, I was seven years old at the time. I remembered that I used to ride in his 404 peugeot car to his farms somewhere along Okun Owa (Okun Owa is via Ijebu - Ode, a rather small town compared to Ijebu - Ode), I loved it whenever he was around. He loved little children and he particularly liked teaching me things, most of which came handy later in life. Baba Kaduna as I learnt later was a very strict personality and he never allowed his step brothers any share of this father's, safe those specifically willed to each wife's children ensemble. I was told his mother was very rich and of his grandchildren, Adeniyi Ogunade who became my school mate when I was at the University of Lagos, told me that even Chief Obafemi Awolowo used to be his paternal grandmother's houseboy, I never investigated this further. Baba Kaduna was a very rigid man, his physical appearance resembled much the picture of Baba Apebi, he looked more like him than the rest of his siblings that I know of. (I never knew Baba Apebi in real life, he died two years before I was born.) Baba Kaduna was also the only issue from his mother to Baba Apebi. Despite his rigidity, he was really soft towards me, even when he was stern with other people and kids, he gave me freedom to demand anything, ask any question and was always lamenting the fact that I was too small to learn most things he could have taught me. There was a particular case in which some people tried to steal his land. He took them to court and the court ordered them to demolish the building. The people involved sent so many emissaries to beg him, he blatantly refused to listen to anyone of them. They even sent Mama Eleni to him, Mama Eleni would prostrate, knee down and shake to the left to the right and beg Baba Kaduna several times, even he refused to listen, the last time Mama Eleni would beg him resulted in Mama Eleni weeping seriously for Baba Kaduna to forgive these people, yet he refused.
Baba Kaduna died a few months after, what became of the land, of the people and the court case, I did not know. A lot of unpalatable story had been told me all along by various people concerning Baba Kaduna, many if you could think critically about centred on his not being generous to his siblings. Well, he was not so good to them, and many bad things that would happen to anyone of them were quickly attributed to Baba Kaduna being after them. One thing that really etched itself on my mind, he was nice to me and was my friend, and when I heard that he died, I felt pained within me as I remember our numerous outings and discussions.
His death however brought two important dignitaries in our area to No. 6, Apebi Street. I was surprised to find out that the man on whose lap I loved to sit and in whose car I loved to ride and who used to succumb to so many life questions from me was a good friend to Rev. Seth I. Kale and Chief Adeola Odutola. Chief Odutola was for a long time, one of the richest Ijebu - man and a great philanthropist and as I learnt and Rt Rev Hon. Seth I. Kale was for some time the Anglican Bishop of Lagos, Nigeria.
His burial also brought me into contact with his numerous children. One of them used to ride in a Subaru car in those days, we immediately became friends, and another one would be my friend at the Unversity of Lagos, where I read Accounting. He was a lecturer at the Mass Communication Department, Dr. Delu Ogunade (R.I.P.). He gave me many books to read and I was always welcome in his office, I could remember especially a book by Niccolo Machiaveli 'The Prince' and which I borrowed out to his nephew, Adeniyi Ogunade, and according to Dr. Delu Ogunade before his death, Niyi never returned the book.
There was the photograph of Baba Kaduna's mother standing high up on the wall beside Baba Kaduna's. I never met this woman, but I was told that she gave her junior wives a hell to handle. She never took gladly her husband's acquisition of other wives.
On the wall adjacent to the Baba Apebi's picture on the left hand side and closer to the end of the wall was the picture of Mr. Adeyemi Ogunade, I really did not know him, safe that one day some soldiers came calling at No. 6 Apebi Street with a coffin containing his remains. I being so childish went to leak it to Mama Eleni that they have brought the dead body of her darling son, Adeyemi (a lowo lodu bi iyere). The kind of reaction that ensued from her and the kind of commotion that followed made me to vow that never would I report any ill news to anybody again. Nevertheless, even if I did not leak it out to her immediately, the soldiers were in, she would still be saddened, and pained that she lost a son. Mr. Adeyemi Ogunade left two kids and a wife: Abidemi and Esther. Two pretty little girls at that time, although one was my age mate A great evil was perpetuated against these kids as much as people still perpetuate evil and wicked deeds against all those whose parents and mothers were not around to care for them, I mean orphans and abandoned babies and kids.
Not only were these kids starved, maltreated and malnourished after the death of their father, it took my uncle (Mr. Felix Adediran Ogunade) to forcefully remove these kids from the clutch of suffering at the time. The last straw that led to this was when my step mother put on the stove and forcefully shove the buttocks of these kids to the burning stove just because they decided to eat the food available in the house when she refused to give them something to eat whilst she already fed her own children well. Imagine the buttocks of 7 and 9 years old kids, girls for that matter; on the burning stove! It took the other tenants to telephone uncle - Diran who then came to fight with her and took the kids away. Nothing came out of it, my father could not even do anything to reprimand her after this, I wonder what the kind of father I had then, but I also faced so many maltreatments, many of which will be written in the course of this series about my adventure into earth.
Life is a series of mysteries, unanswered questions, good and noble deeds, and of course wickedness. My stepmother was a wicked woman, a very wicked one at that, I had to live with this woman from the age of 9 (nine) till I was 16 (sixteen) and I bet you, it was hell, truly hell.
The Ghanaians living close to us in those days used to ask me if this woman was my mum and if this family was my family. I was really really abused and maltreated and starved. Nevertheless, and even at that time I usually came top in class and usually came home with prizes at every speech and prize giving day, and when I felt I could not take it any longer, I left home. I was forced to leave home. The extended family waded in, talked to my father, my father agreed to be giving me money every week for my upkeep even at that, my step mother insisted that I should be seen outside out of the gate of the house, and that my father should either come to see me where I lived or he should go outside to give me money. How much did my father give me every week, ₦5(Five Naira) an amount that was not even enough for a day's breakfast that time and even then there were instances of weeks I went without collecting anything and if I had to, I had to weed and clear bushes and shrubs before I would collect anything from my own father. I was then forced to go to the street. I could not afford to be delinquent, after so much advice from Mama Eleni and Baba Kaduna, about life and nobility. and considering the fact that I had read good books whilst I was still in primary school, I braced my mind up to be the best that I could be. I decided to work and work hard, I did many menial jobs: washed cars, carried opepe, mahogany, araba etc. at sawmills, help build houses by carrying sand and bricks. I did all sort of menial jobs to see myself out of secondary school and not only did I pass, I passed excellently, and I went straight to the university many of my classmates are still amazed at me till this day, glory be to God in the highest.
So much for the parlour of Baba Apebi. At that time I used to have a friend called Seun and we used to play together at this lace shop close to the first lane of Apebi street. Her name was Iya alaso (meaning, a woman who sells cloths) and of course, not her real name, most people in those days were called names based on their profession. She was always holding a cane, and at about the time we were growing up was this song by Ebenezer Obey: 'ki ni iya alaso ta tongbegba dani, tabi ewure fe je leesi ni; when this, as much as this could be translated, is translated it means: "What is the cloth seller doing with a cane? Do goats eat lace?" That was how we used to sing especially I and the other boy (Seun). And also 'Owo apekanuko, owo, C. A. S. H. cash, cash, apekanuko owo. That was the genius of Ebenezer Obey at work, actually, he sang that song when I was growing up and we had nothing to do except to go to this woman's shop and sing Obey songs. The elderly ones liked it then, to us we were amusing ourselves, and to them, perhaps we were showing signs of intelligence, learning and alertness to our environments. All I know is that whenever Seun came around, we would go up to the Iya Alaso shop and start singing Obey songs.
Living at No. 6 Apebi Street, brought in its numerous night calls, it is not uncommon for us to be woken up in the middle of the night. Yes, it is either during the Olobirin Ojowu's festival or during the Agemo festival. The Olobirin Ojowu's is a festival that celebrates women and their attributes, especially their jealousy and envy attributes. The festival was established to commemorate a particular event of which story, little remains in my memory.
The Agemo festival pools together the sixteen most powerful medicine men or are they Babalawos or juju men or custodian of Ijebus' war arsenals, I really don't know; of the Awujale. These Agemos usually came for entitlements from Baba Apebi when he was alive. After his death, they still came and I'm not sure if they've stopped by now. They came during my years at No. 6 Apebi Street. Whenever they came, palmwine must be served, kolanut must be presented with some other gifts, especially Aromatic Schnapps. I have lost counts of how many times I have encountered these custodians of Ijebu spiritual powers and cultures. One thing I know for sure was that they came almost every six months when Mama Eleni was alive. Even at the time, when it was not Agemo seasons, they would come to say hello and leave. I don't think they come to Ijebu - Ode for even to buy something in the market without paying their usual courtesy call on the house of their Apebi. Baba Bajelu an old man, a very old man who used to come at every Agemo season is deeply embedded in my memory as a bald-headed man and very talented at dancing. This old man was really a dancer! Mind you and well versed in Ijebu spiritual warfare! Whenever he was around, prayers were usually said with libations. He used to come with an iron-like staff in his hands. This staff had speckles of bronze and silver dangling around it and as Baba Bajelu danced, these speckles shook and make a synchronizing sound with the movement of his body as he held the staff for support whilst he danced. Baba Bajelu was such a delight to watch even at that old age when I knew him, I wonder what delights those who knew him in his hey days could have savoured.
Olobirin Ojowu, gon, gon, gon ti gon gon! I think that is the 'trademark' of the big drum, the symbol of the Olobirin Ojowu! This is a very big drum that is usually beaten whenever they parade the street of Ijebu - Ode during the festival. Two heavily built men would carry the drum on their heads in an horizontal position, whilst the third person would beat the drum and I think the three took turns in beating and carrying the drum. They usually came at the beginning of every Ojowu season in the night, they would come to No. 6 Apebi Street for prayers and the blessing of the Apebi. They usually came with a big stone, bigger than a basin whose diameter is about 66 centimetres. This stone is very big and smooth. Perhaps big to me because I was a kid then. This smooth stone is decorated with two multi-coloured eyes. According to what I was told, these stones are two, but they usually go out with one. I don't know how heavy these stones were but there is a legend that it is only those who are initiated that could carry the stones to wherever they go and mind you: I was also told they breathe!
It is common for Oro (a kind of festival that forbids women to come out at specific interval of day or night) to come out in those days than the rest of the other festivals. Mama Eleni was forbidden to see them. Mama Eleni would send the eldest male in the house at the time to give them their kolanut and if there was no mature male around, Mama Eleni would answer them behind the door, telling them there was no one in the house at which instance they would tell her to come out with her back facing outside, presenting their gifts to them.
Female folks see only the Olobirin Ojowu in their entirety. The female folks were permitted to see Agemo only during their dance to the Awujale.
SW8/1103 OSOSAMI, IBADAN
My father came home to Mama Eleni on a certain Friday afternoon and told Mama Eleni to get me ready for Ibadan, but that, this time, I would start staying with him. It was such a shock and impromptu message that Mama Eleni, pleaded with my Dad to allow me to at least finish my primary school at her place, at which my Dad replied that he did not like the manner at which my last school result was and as such he thought Mama Eleni had no choice because she was not capable of grooming me. Well, Mama Eleni had no choice, I left for Ibadan with my father. I was somehow happy and sad at the same time, happy because I was going to a big city like Ibadan of which I have read so much in books and sad because I would miss Mama Eleni. I wept bitterly and Mama Eleni wept too. Mama Eleni specifically told me to face my studies and that I should take whatever my step mother would do to me and that I should not fight with my step siblings. (I never knew what was in stock for me) that I should always say my prayers as I used to do with her and that I should always be an Omoluabi. I realised the import of Mama Eleni's admonition the second day I arrived at Ibadan.
Actually, few weeks before my arrival, my step mother (Felicia Taiwo Akinyemi Onasanya) had committed a great atrocity. Yes, not only to the living but also to the dead. As I have aforementioned, Esther and Abidemi were made to stay with us because their father passed away. The mother had to leave, the children stayed with Mama Eleni for some time and later were transferred to Ibadan to stay with my father and step mum. My father, according to the Ijebu tradition, being the direct younger brother of the deceased, must take custody of the kids and and wife of his direct elder brother. However, modernisation took over and only the kids stayed, the wife must be allowed to search for a new husband.
Esther (may her soul rest in perfect peace) and Abidemi, were not used to the meagre dishes and food given to those who were not Felicia's. Somehow, I felt shame and anger when I who did all the household chores was given less or same quantity of food as my step siblings who did little or no household chores and who were at least four and nine years younger than I was. Such was the maltreatment that Esther and Abidemi faced during their short spell at my father's. Esther and Abidemi I supposed were not used to such maltreatments and often used to help themselves to the remaining foods whenever they were hungry, at which instance Felicia would beat them severely. I should believe that my step mum thought the beatings were not enough to the extent that one day she put on the stove and shove the buttocks of the two little girls to the burning stove! It took the intervention of the neighbours who called Uncle 'Diran - our uncle who rushed to the scene to the surprised of Felicia, and that was the last time Esther and Abidemi stayed with her. Uncle 'Diran told me years later that only he knew how much he spent in medical bills and if not for his brother (my father) he could have ended it in the law courts for his doctor was furious about the case.
We got to the house towards the evening time, I was not at all enthusiastic about my intending stay with my father after all. I felt bad leaving Mama Eleni. I was then introduced to my step siblings. I was first introduced to 'Segun, a very gentle, lovable and brilliant step brother, who greeted me with fondness and smiles, 'Yomi who perhaps for his age, first refused to greet me but later greeted me then 'Femi, who became my good friend in the house. I was given food to eat then afterwards I went to the sitting room to watch the television - that was my first time of watching television, though, I used to see one without picture somehow down the allay on the Apebi Street in Ijebu - Ode. In those days, the Information Service Department used to bring their vans to show films to the people of Ijebu - Ode, where we would gather at Itoro Hall. It was during these periods that I came to know such screen name as John Wayne etc. Also, the Lever Brothers, PZ and many other of these household toiletries company used to show films as promotional codicil of their products.
The second day started, I was assigned to sweep the corridors, the staircase, the third room where I and my brothers stayed, although they were in the hostels at the time; to make sure the kitchen was always clean, with no plate unwashed at any point in time, to wash the toilets and baths everyday! What a heavy work load for a boy that was barely ten years old. The only work I used to do at Mama Eleni's had been perhaps to sweep the outside of the house! I should say that the abuses and maltreatments started immediately the same day my step mum called me and asked me to go and buy a keg of kerosene. She gave me a 50kobo note that was somehow dirty. I actually did not know anywhere then, just the second day of my living with them. How can I get kerosene to buy. Well, she asked me to go and buy kerosene from a house across the road, well, I went and did not see any kerosene to buy and when I reported back to him that there was no kerosene, she then told me to go and search kerosene anywhere to buy, even if I had to comb the whole of Ososami. Well, I went out in search of kerosene, I went as far as Ring Road, I really searched every where for kerosene. I left home about some minutes past five and did not come back until after ten in the night. The kind of fear Felicia put in me and the menacing look on her face when she angrily told me that I should not come to the house unless I came with kerosene made me strive to look for kerosene. A woman even wanted to sell kerosene to me but immediately she saw the dirty 50kobo notes she immediately changed her mind. I would have still been searching for kerosene, for I have no sense of time, I thought it was still something around eight without knowing that it was already some minutes to ten, if not for an old woman who saw me on the road, asked me questions and told me to go back to the house and told the person who sent me that kerosene is finished. I did not know the courage that came upon me, I went back to the house as the woman advised and lo and behold, my father, step mother, and some of the tenants were waiting for me on the balcony. Well that was the end of it, nothing came after that. I had come back home. I wonder what would have happened if I had got missing. Or was I an object of serious spiritual attack. Well, thank God for that old woman that appeared from nowhere.
I ate a loaf of bread and akara and I slept, I was worn out, seriously worn out, I slept only to be woken up the next day with cain from my sleeep, my offense, I was still sleeping at 6.30am, as I was supposed to wake up around 5.00am. The next day came with weep and cries and tears tearing down my cheek. I had not even begun my troubles. I never imagined the other troubles that came calling on my head.
I was asked to attend Baptist Primary School, Oke Ado, Ibadan, I and Femi started school at the same time, Femi was also supposed to be in class 4 like me, we were given test for them to know the class we were worthy to be, I passed my test, Femi failed his, and then Felicia had to beg them to accept the two of us, well, they refused Femi to even be in class three, he was asked to go to class two, but Felicia 'begged' the teachers and they allowed us both to be in primary three. Felicia actually succeeded in having me demoted to class three. I was put in the morning class and Femi was asked to be in the afternoon class.
Baptist Primary School, Oke Ado, Ibadan was a nice school for me, a great school with extremely good teachers. There was an event that happened to me, the reaction of which I cannot still resolve till today. I was asked to be in Mrs. Oluwole's class, the same class as this boy who, immediately I entered the class, I could not put off my face or attention from, and he was just also starring at me. Immediately the short break bell rang, as was the usual practice in those day, we thronged out and I went to see Brother 'Bunmi who just came from the hostel and was told I was in school and therefore came to look for me. As I finished seeing brother 'Bunmi off I just saw standing not too far away from me, this boy that had been starring seriously at me in the class the other time. I walked towards him and he also walked towards me and before anyone could say what, we were involved in a fierce fight. That was my first fight in the school, at the end of the day, there was no victor no vanquished as brother 'Bunmi, who had noticed me fighting and had come back, not to separate us but to cheer me beat this boy, had ruled. After this fight, we introduced ourselves, he was called Oluwaremilekun Ikuesewo. We became friends, very good friends, 'Remi should be a medical doctor by now. We became quite close for I noticed then that when he fell sick I somehow also fell sick and the day he did not go to school, most of the time, I was also not in school. Remi's mother was a teacher, his father worked in Okitipupa and owned a volvo and peugeot 404. 'Remi was a very brilliant boy.
Our class was moved from the block adjacent to Ebenezer Primary School, Ebenezar Primary School is very close to my our school, the main road divided the two schools, to the other northern block of the school close to Aresa - Aresa used to be an open piece of land reserved for youth relaxations and exercises, a kind of youth centre in those days. Mrs. Oluwole our class teacher was a very gentle and beautiful woman, who painstakingly made sure every pupil in the class learnt well.
My class or should I say my crop of friends: Adeleke Aderohunmu, the first person that ever came to the house to look for me. He actually met me being punished, I was asked to raise up my hand and close my eyes for what offense I cannot remember very well, but if my memory serves me right right now, I was making noise with my step siblings whilst Felicia was entertaining her visitors; Rasaki Mustapha, Abiodun Fasoro, Layi Obasa, Remi Ikuesewo, Taiwo Owoeye, Edmund Igbozuruke, Rasaki Ramoni (very funny guy) and this big boy whose name I have forgotten now and who used to bully me about, but was my friend! The girls, Modupe Ojotu, Funke Adekunle, Funke Adeniji, Funmilayo (I had two Funmilayos as friends), Tutu, and Titilola Fashanu, and of course: Anti Kehinde.
Mrs Oluwole was one of my primary school teachers to make the first impression on me about English language. On that fateful day, we were asked to read about lion and the mouse. Well, I had always been pronouncing 'king' as it should be pronounced, but when I was asked to read a particular paragraph where I came across the word 'kind', of course I pronounced it as 'keend'. 'Remi Ikuesewo had read his without hassels, I did not know that I was not supposed to pronounce k, i, n, d as keend. When I came across the word in that passage I pronounced it as 'keend', I read kind as 'keend'. Mrs. Oluwole immediately asked 'Remi Ikuesewo to stand up and read to the class hearing again and 'Remi pronounced kind the proper way. After 'Remi finished the passage, I still pronounced kind as 'keened'. I told Mrs. Oluwole that the word has the same spelling as the word 'king' except for the 'g' which in this case was replaced with 'd'. Mrs. Oluwole then made me realise that even though two words might be written or spelt alike in some way, they might have different pronunciations.
My step mother used to have a store facing the youth centre directly (on the other side of the road). She used to sell drugs: tablets, pills; electrical parts, and drinks. My father bought a Volkswagen Igala for her which she used in running around and when there are plenty of crates of minerals to be bought from the wholesaler, she used my father's Volkswagen double cabin kombi bus.
Not too far from Ososami Street and on the other lane at the back of the store facing the youth centre is the Imalefealafia Street, this street contained as much life as Ososami Street and housed more Ijebus and Ijeshas than the Ososami Street. There was a barbering saloon that is close to the Apostolic Church.
There was one day we went as usual to the baber shop for hair cut, I've only spent one term at Mrs. Oluwole class we were in the second term, the barber then mentioned that the hair looked nice, I must surely be a good pupil in the class, the barber observed aloud. On hearing this, my step mother immediately replied: 'Oh, this one, he is a dull head' and I quickly replied, 'I am not dull, it is a new school and I came 11th in the class.' There and then I resolved in my mind that, that would be the last time of having such a poor result. And throughout my stay at the Baptist Primary School, Oke Ado, Ibadan, I cannot remember the time I was 4th in the class. I was usually between 1st and 3rd position except in Primary Five when Grace Omokhabour took the second position and I went to fifth position. The excruciating event that made me go so far in the class would be explained later.
On a fateful afternoon, I just finished eating the afternoon meal and I heard the usual hooting of my step mother's car and looked downstairs, I saw the car filled with crates of mineral. On getting down to greet her she told me to unload the crates of minerals from the car and carry them upstairs on my bare head with no 'osuka'. I thought I did not hear her well, and I asked her again to which I receive a good slap on my cheek. Well I carried 10 crates of minerals one by one on my head from her car downstairs to the third room which doubled as her store in the house as well. That was how I added the porters job of off loading crates of minerals and cartons of beer to my household daily chores. Considering the fact that I was nine years old, a feeble and frail looking boy and not used to the tediousness of life I was just introduced I fell terribly sick with constant daily headaches and whenever I complained to her that I had headaches she would use a hard comb to even beat me on the same head several times, telling me that she did not believe me and that I was looking for an avenue to dodge work. Well, this continued like that for a week. On the second week of such baptism and introduction to such a sturdy and hard life, she asked me to grind pepper to a fine paste, you dare not grind pepper for Felicia without it being very fine in texture you would receive slaps for it. Grinding pepper on the grinding stone was one of my house hold chores in those days and not only were there ordinary dried pepper but also tomatoes and onions, with my head banging aloud within me like a church bell, I pleaded with her that I was having headaches and sick, she refused and I had to grind these things into a very fine paste that day, I remember that she even beat me well on my aching head with another bout of hard combs raining on my head. I felt sick, terrible sick that same day and I was on the verge of death and I did not go to school the next day and same for the rest of the week. I spent almost a week at home. During that week, my crop of friends at school came to see me at home at the behest of Mrs. Oluwole, I felt loved by that kind gesture from them. That was the first time my classmates would come in group to say get well soon. Of course, my step siblings would have told them at school that I was sick, since we attended the same primary school.
My dad came home one day and in his car was this dark in complexion and cute girl and immediately she saw me she was very glad and happy, I did not quite remember her but there was this feelings that I knew her somehow then my dad told me that she was my sister and that her name is 'Dewunmi. We became friends easily she was about two years older than me, I at least had a play mate. Well from my ruminations later in life, I found out that my dad actually intentionally brought her to be my playmate thinking that it was because I had no play mate that I fell sick without knowing that I fell sick because of Felicia's maltreatment. According to the story my dad told Felicia over food that day, he said he had to take her away from her mother's paternal great grand mother because she was not being cared for. So 'Dewunmi was taken away from Oke Aro in Akure without my mother's knowledge, who was at the time married to another man in Lagos.
My schedules remained as they were except that 'Dewunmi, on her arrival, shared the work in the house with me: swept everywhere, washed the clothes, washed the cars, carried the crates of minerals and cartons of beer, ground peppers (even though we had grinding machines, whenever it was beans or egusi we had to eat, Felicia most times preferred us to grind the peppers for those with our hands), and wash toilet and bathroom.
About a month after 'Dewunmi's arrival, Segun, my friend, (a brilliant and lovable boy) step brother fell sick, terribly sick, and his sickness drained my father's savings. I actually went with my step mother to so many spiritual churches looking for the cure for Segun's illness; one that I clearly remember was a prophet that said Segun was an Emere (Abiku) child and she should stop wasting her money and that he would die. Felicia continued anyway to look for cure for Segun illness, Segun was her first child to my father, but Segun became so fearful in her sickness of even his mother, that it was only my presence sometimes that he wanted. He refused her mother's or father's presence, even when he wanted to go to the toilet, he would prefer me to go with him than any one of them and was usually afraid. His mother became even more afraid because she could not communicate with her child again.
It was on a fateful day we were watching the television, there was a play going on, and it turned out that one of the actors in that play died and at that instance something told me that Segun, who had hitherto been finally admitted at the hospital, had died. I looked everywhere in the house, everyone was silent, and later that fateful Saturday, my father came home very drunk, that was my first time of seeing my father drunk and he gave me a dirty slap for not greeting him properly. In the night Felicia came home to break the news of Segun's death. Everyone was sad, I particularly, became sad, because Segun used to share my household chores with me and whenever we were hungry there used to be a box of wires where we somehow get money from to buy food. That box was the box that contained so many of my father's correspondences and from where I learnt so many things that happened between my father and my mother and at the same time correspondences with his brothers
CAPTAIN ABIMBOLA'S HOUSE
My step mother compelled my father to leave that house and we started living at Orita Challenge when I was in Primary Four. We left that house, I left friends, left 'Debo isale (downstairs), 'Dewunmi, 'Yomi, (that was how they were called in those days). It was a nice coincidence that the names we had upstairs were replicated downstairs. 'Bunmi, 'Dewunmi, 'Debo, 'Yomi. Those tenants living downstairs are called Olasimbo. Their father Mr. Olasimbo used to work for Nepa in those days, his children shared almost the same name as ourselves. Such coincidence still amuses till today. I missed 'Remi Ikuesewo, I missed Adeleke Aderohunmu, except when I saw them in school. I missed table soccer, we used to have house by house league in those days, I missed people to tell my step mother that the work she was giving me was too much.
We started living in this army captain house. Captain Abimbola. He was not living there, and soon we were joined by other tenants on the flats downstairs and on our left. Mr. Joseph Carr - a Ghanaian goalkeeper, occupied the flat next to us (he had a characteristic cap the he usually wore to matches)with his other compatriots who were also footballers. He used to teach us some football tricks and the Twi language in those days. Everybody liked soccer in our family, any little time we had on our hands saw us in his flats learning soccer, twi language, telling us about Rawlings, and football clubs in Ghana. The flat downstairs and directly underneath Mr. Joseph Carr's flat was occupied by Mr. Halliday, who had a daughter called Ilanye. I think they were from Port Harcourt. The flat directly under us was occupied by Mr. Femi Ologbenla.
I tasted hell in that house, with scarcely anyone around in the neighbourhood to check the excesses of my step mother. It was maltreatment and abuses galore. Mr. Joseph Carr and his brothers often asked me if these people were my parents, to which I answered yes and he said it was a lie that if they were my parents they would not be treating me like that. One day I came home at the end of third term with my report card, he saw my record and was shocked to find me having a very good result despite the abuses that were usually meted out to me and I remembered that he said I should not worry about my future that my future had taken care of itself.
We had many Ghanaian families living on the same street as us. There was this
man who worked for Sony or is it Sanyo? I cannot really recollect very well now. His nephew and niece or children: Steven and Fatima used to be my friend. Steven was a very brilliant boy we used to have discussions on many national and international issues. At that age people may not believe the depth of our
understanding and grasp of social and political issues. The distance from Oke
Ado to Orita Challenge is nothing short of 30km. I had to walk this distance to the house everyday from school. And I must be at the house early enough to fix the household chores if not "igbaju and igbamu" (slaps and beatings) would
design maps of uncharted and unknown places on my body and face. Well, that was my lot in those days. The distance was made bearable by two beautiful minds who were my school mates: Abiodun Fasoro and Oluwayemisi Omilabu. - Biodun Fasoro was my classmate, we were in the same class for about two sessions, and Yemi Omilabu was in my class for two sessions or so. The pupils were usually rotated according to their performances and distributed into various classes. We had four classes in each arm. None of them really gave me a tough time academically, except - Biodun Fasoro who used to have occasional spark of brilliance and intelligence and hence gave me some tough competition at times. Yemi Omilabu was nowhere the first three. He used to manage the first ten though. These guys not only allowed me to board their buses or taxis with them but also assisted me by giving me food to eat. The route was usually, from Oke Ado to Idi-Ope when it was - Biodun Fasoro's turn to help me with transport and Oke Ado to Ring Road close to Shodeinde Brothers when it was 'Yemi's turn. And of course, 'Banji Agunbiade! How can I forget Banji Agunbiade! Well, thank you friends! Well, 'Yemi's option was closer to the house than 'Biodun's. Usually, 'Biodun's most of the time had food to go with it, but 'Yemi's house was farther up inside the Shodeinde Brothers' area and I had to walk some few minutes before getting to his house after dropping off from the main road. Then it was usually that, if I had no one to help me with food during the break time, I had to choose 'Biodun's option but if I had someone (I had a lot of friends in those days partly because I was very good academically, so I helped them with their studies and partly because they were just kind, they wouldn't want their friends to look hungry) to give me food during the break time, that meant I would choose 'Yemi's option for
by that I would get home quickly and at the same time, I would have had enough
strength to do my strenuous household chores. Primary Four saw me in Mrs.
Ibikunle's class (A very good woman whose husband was the secretary of the
Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) at that time). Mrs. Ibikunle called me one day
and asked me if that woman who lived with my father in the house was my mother
to which I replied yes (I had been warned many times to always tell people that Felicia was my mother - alas, people were not blind and stupid!!!). She said "oh no, 'Debo I know they must have told you to tell anyone that but tell me the truth is she your mother?" Then I shook my head. She then told me to call my father the next day. When I told my father, my step mother told him that perhaps I had done something bad in the school that she would go instead but I immediately cut in (I wonder where the courage came from) that she specifically wanted to see my father! Well, my father got to the school the next day and had a chat with my class teacher and the next day, my father changed my school uniform (I hitherto went to school in tattered school uniform), bought a school bag for me(Hitherto, my hand was my bag), bought a school sandal for me (I hitherto walked to school barefooted) and I had a nice hair cut, not only that my father said I should say "Thank You" to her and he asked me to go to take some ripe and fresh maize for her from our garden! Thank you Mrs. Ibikunle, I wish all teachers were like that. But was it not obvious: My step mother used to drop all of us in the school every morning, in a brand new car and my step siblings had everything neat and I everything dirty; yet I went to the house after every end of term with the best result usually not only in my class but also at home! Thank you Mrs. Ibikunle once again. I would forever remember you for good! Of course I was one of her best students. After Rasaki Mustapha and 'Remi Ikuesewo, definitely it was me and most of the time the only bane in my coming first in the class was Rasaki Mustapha.
My
dad had a twist in his business when I was in this class. Of course after all
the money spent on Segun's sickness!
It should not be a surprise to my reader
why I chronicle the happenings in my life solely on school, using school as my
clock for the passage of my early years. I loved school, it was the only place I
felt loved (even though I receive occasional canes, but those canes were worth
the strokes on me. They were given with love, with authentic correction, not
haphazardly and not just for the sake of it and not for spite as it was done in
the house I lived) many times did tears swelled up my eyes whenever I heard the
gong of school closures for the day.
Such memories of early childhood maltreatments do not usually, go quickly.
Well, one afternoon my brother 'Bunmi came to the sitting room and asked me if I would like to go to Ghana. I said why? He replied that Mr. Joseph Carr was not happy with the way and manner in which my step mother was maltreating me and he was afraid that I might die and that it would be better for him to take me to Ghana. I replied my brother only on the condition that 'Bunmi followed me. 'Bunmi said he was not interested and I also replied that since I would miss him I better not go and I told him that I was not going with Mr. Carr.
Really, 'Bunmi was my best friend, my saviour for he sometimes had to question my step mother why she treated me the way she did. Well, little could he do. Some time later on in the year, Mr. Carr left the flat next to ours.
Mr. Egunjobi, a broadcaster with NTA Ibadan came to occupy the flat after Mr. Carr left. I had good relationship with her children. He however used to be indifferent to the kind of treatments my stepmother meted out to me. Even though his wife usually complained to him about it and most of the times, his daughter (I've forgotten her name) used to call me Omo Odo (House Help). I cannot blame her for the way I was usually treated was nothing short of Omo Odo.
One day, a fateful Friday, my step mother told me she would like to come home late in the night and gave me some money to buy some things for her and that she would need them to cook in the night. I said ok, I did my best to make sure the money did not get lost in school and I also made sure that I bought all the necessary ingredients afterwards. On getting home I had to do all the household chores as was the normal practice but along the line around 7 p.m. I got very tired and I slept off. My step mother did not turn up until around 9 p.m. and when she showed up I had to be woken up with electric cable raining all over my body. First offence, I could not come to open the gate for her to pack her car, second offence I was sleeping at that 'early' hour of the day, third offence I was not awake to welcome her but instead I was sleeping. She beat the hell out of me that day. To put salt upon injury after the beatings and the usual packing things from the car and the preparation for her to start cooking, she asked me for the change of what I bought, in my confusion, I said there was no change, I received a very dirty and banging slap I had ever received all my life up to that point. And the beatings started all over again, I ran out of our flat ran to the compound wailing, weeping and shouting for help. Mr. Egunjobi, just then could not take it any longer and came to intervene (perhaps because of his wife or because my wailing was not allowing them to sleep, he looked usually very reserved, quiet but sometimes friendly). Even though Mr. Egunjobi asked her to stop, this woman continued the battering up and down; sometimes I wonder what strength she had to beat me several times in a day, she seemed to take pleasure in seeing me battered or unhappy. Well, Mr. Egunjobi asked her to calm down and Mr. Egunjobi sat on the pavement at the back of Mr. Halliday's Flat (by this time the whole compound was awake), he asked me where the money was I said it was on the refrigerator, my step mother immediately cut in that we have checked the top of the refrigerator and that there was no money there then he being intelligent, took my mind through the things I did that day, especially just before I slept and I related how I had done when I came back from school what I did and what I did not do, it was then that I remember that I hesitated in putting the money on the refrigerator for I was afraid that perhaps my step siblings could take the money and that meant I had to be accused of stealing it. So it was afterwards that Mr. Egunjobi asked me to check my pocket. Lo and behold, the money was in my pocket! Well, the fear, the anxiety and the confusion did not make me to actually remember that I did not put the money on the refrigerator after all. Thank God for Mr. Egunjobi, well, that could have mean that I had to sell minerals on the streets of Ade Oyo Tutun to get the money back.
Life was becoming difficult for us in the house, my father had to borrow some money from Uncle 'Diran, he bought a Peugeot 504 station wagon and started plying the routes of Lagos-Ibadan-Seme (Benin Republic), combining it with his electrical work. For by then the work was not coming as expected and he had to do something meanwhile.
He usually went during the first day of the week and coming back sometimes on Friday or Saturday. Well, I could not recount the agonies I used to go through during the periods of his absence for my step mother sometimes abused me less whenever my father was around. Well, even if he was around, little could he do and he was not usually around. Rain or shine I had to work, I had to make sure I finished the work in the house; I was by this time still in Primary Five and most of the time one of the best in my class (only God knows how I coped!).
On that fateful day, it started raining heavily and I had not finished washing the clothes, and at the same time, the Water Corporation taps were not flowing, that meant I had to get the buckets, the kegs and the drums (barrels) outside to get rain water from the corrugated roofs' run-offs. Well, I complained that it was raining heavily and there were thunderstorms and that it was very dangerous for me to go, but she insisted that there was no water in the house and that I did not expect her to go into the rain to get water for me. Well, I started collecting water and putting it in the various containers in the house, climbing the staircase and getting more and more soaked in the rain. Well, when I went to carry the second to the last keg of water and was going along the slippery pavement I slipped and I fell backwards, immediately I reached the ground, I called the name: Jesus, I could not move, it was raining heavily, I laid down on my back, of course I was not aware of my environment immediately, but afterwards, I continued to call Jesus Jesus in my mind, some few minutes later I became aware that I was laying flat in the rain in the middle of the pavement, I tried to rise but I was very weak, but I just call the name of Jesus again, and I rose up, and when I got to the room, she asked me if I've finished filling the containers with water, I said I was about to finish and that that was the second to the last keg of water, and she asked: 'and what have you been doing since' I replied, 'I fell' and she said: 'why won't you fall when you will not pay attention to how you are walking in the rain.' Well, I did not go down for the remaining keg of water anyway (it is not actually easy recounting these stories, but I have to write!)
'Bunmi Ogunade, my brother, he taught me so many things a boy should know, how to iron, how to lay the bed, how to wash, and how to read with my mind. In those days they ('Bunmi and 'Dapo) only came home on holidays. Whenever they were around, well, good for me that meant the household chores would then be shared by the three of us; my step siblings at the time did little or no work. Well, before 'Bunmi and 'Dapo came back for the long vacation, I had 'infuriated' my step mother, and because of that, I could not eat in the house again and my father had to give me separate money for me to feed myself. My father had to comply and he started given me 1naira every week. Out of which I would buy a tin of geisha and I had to use only two tins within a week. How did I survive this agony, well, I would take one fish from the tin of geisha and some of the tomato sauce in it, mix them with hot water and make eba with which I ate, thank God for the refrigerator, I used to put the geisha inside the refrigerator and sometimes my step siblings used to go there to eat it up or eat part of it. This was before my brothers came back from the holiday and when 'Bunmi came back, I told him what went wrong that I �infuriated� my step mum, 'Bunmi was very annoyed. If my readers would ask what I did to infuriate my step mum.
One day, I came back from school feeling very sick and with it I had to the household chores, I managed to do the little, I could do, and considering the fact that I could not take it again, I told my step siblings that I was sick and that I am feeling very feverish, and that I could not do the rest and that I needed to rest. But knowing that there was no way I could rest in that house even if I was not sick, I decided to lock myself in the third room, this I did, but then when I realised that there is no way they would not come to disturb me I locked myself inside and pushed the key outside down the door to the sitting room. Well, of course she knocked and asked me to open the door but I replied that the key is not with me and when she asked for the key, I told her that the key was outside and when she opened the door she started beating me and telling me that I was incorrigible to have done that but I answered that I was sick and that was the reason why I was not able to do the rest of the household chores and that I had done the little I could do, but she went on beating me, and of course I went back to the household chores still sick, very sick and feeling feverish (this woman was heartless). Well, when I could not take it any longer, I went back to the third room, locked the door against myself and this time wrote: 'Aye yi ma le o' on a piece of paper which I wrapped around the key and still pushed it through the door again so that they could see it. After she could not hear me knocking things around as was the case when you are doing household chores, she came and started beating me again and I opened my mouth and I said: 'Aye yi ma le o' well, she became 'infuriated' and started beating me. And she said: 'you, what have you seen in life that you're saying 'aye yi ma le o' well, she beat me still and after my rounds of weeping and wailing I went back to the household chores, well, some few minutes afterwards she came with paracetamol and some malaria tablets which I took then I continued with my household chores but she never said anything to me until my father came back at the weekend and she told my father her version of the story, I was not ready to tell my father anything anyway, at that instance she told my father that she would not be cooking for me again and that I should find my own pot. That was why I started this two geisha per week business and which was reduced to one and when 'Bunmi and 'Dapo came back for vacation, they of course joined me and we started cooking our food which consisted of hard and dried corn and beans (that would take years to cook) and if we were lucky, bread, if she decided to give us some bread.
One thing that I was afraid of was what my brother was becoming as to his ideas, he was not bad academically anyway but 'Bunmi was very ambitious, aggressively ambitious, he believed he could go all along and achieve his goals not minding the consequences, he believed he was above consequences. Really, I admire 'Bunmi greatly, what wisdom do you need in a young man in the way of the world that 'Bunmi did not have, he was perfect for the world, he could have made it greatly if he had been brought up in Italy or the United States. Years later when I came across Mr. M. O. Adedeji, my principal at Ijebu-Ode Grammar School (May his disciplined soul rest in perfect peace) - he was also my brother, 'Bunmi's Principal at Ijebu - Ife Community Grammar School (what an act of fate!) (the reader will get to know how these coincidences worked for my good later in the story); the children even the entire M.O. Adedeji's family could not believe that 'Bunmi was my brother! They would spend time telling me tales about 'Bunmi's exploits at Ijebu-Ife Community Grammar School.
One day, we went to buy bread somewhere close to my house, and I was surprised when he asked me if I wanted to eat an extra bread and I said where am I going to get the money to buy bread now. 'Oh! You wait and see' was his reply. I was surprised at the manner in which 'Bunmi took the bread from the shelves and no one detected it, I was very much against this and I said I was going to report he if he would not return it, when he found that I was serious, he quickly returned it, and was insulting me that he would not take me out again and that he would not go out to buy something with me again. This act, made me start praying earnestly for 'Bunmi, I was very alarmed. Well later in life I realised that it was not really his fault, it is the fault of the society (I was different for so many reasons). Those who really know 'Bunmi Ogunade used to disbelieve that we shared the same womb. Well, what was my conclusion, 'Bunmi was just becoming conscious of his environment when his mother was snatched from his father and from him and especially from me! ('Bunmi liked me a lot and was just five years old at the time), he grew up to find out many interesting ills and wrongdoings being perpetuated on the helpless and the weak! He must have made up his mind not to be helpless and weak, not only this, how do you expect a five year old boy who was forced to suddenly start calling a stranger 'mummy' instead of she who suckled him! Well, that is our society. Psychologically at the back of 'Bunmi, only those who steal and get uncaught get rich and they become important personalities in the society.
My fear for 'Bunmi then was that even though he was sure he could not be caught what if someone set him up? ('Eniyan lo ni ki ole wa ja, eniyan na lo ni ki oloko wa mu.' Aye o o) It is human being that tells someone to go and steal and it is same human being that will tell the people to go and catch him. LIFE!)
I am even surprised at the Yorubas, we have a lot of proverbs ( for example, 'Gbogbo wa lo le eni ti won ba mu ni barawo,' 'Olowo o se olorun asiri re lo bo') that somehow extol the virtues of stealing and other shameful acts which if I should investigate properly, perhaps also entrenched in other African and other world's societies. Is it their faults? When in those days, people steal, assassinate, and plunder in disguise of war! Even in history books, we praise Alexander the Great, we praise Colombus, we praise Napoleon for sacking cities, killing people and we call that heritage! Armed Robbery Heritage? Murderers' Heritage? We wander and walk on grounds that were once battle grounds where billions have been killed in various in inhumane circumstances where many have been buried alive and we pray for peace instead of us to pray for the appeasement of hurting spirits and souls and we see disasters happening all around us and we are quick to point accusing fingers at corruption, witches, wizards etc. when we have not truthfully addressed our obnoxious past we call heritage! Thank God that some selected sanely people used their wit and time to keep Hitler in check. We were civilised a bit in that. I believe most religions have done a lot to confuse us as to our intended purpose on earth and how life will be good for the people of the world (I think the world needs a new religion, a religion where stealing and plundering will not be entrenched in its books, a religion where not only one person will be a superhuman but where everyone will be superhuman, a religion that will not only preach peace but be peace, a religion where we will not need a saviour to save and deliver us from those who will touch us for ill but which will make us such that no one will dare touch us for ill so that no one will dare hurt us in the first instance.) and if I talk they will say: 'the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof' (Does that mean we should maim, kill, plunder another as if others too do not have a Lord as if others too are not human beings, as if other too do not have emotions and passions!). No wonder there is corruption everywhere, no wonder people steal and now hide under the cloak of brotherhood, fraternities etc knowing fully well that their fellows will come to their aid in case they get caught (I was surprised recently when a secondary school boy came to me in order for me to get him a software that can steal money. He thought his family is in dire need of money because of a bad thing someone did to his family and he believed getting money in this way will make him save his family, I really tried to persuade him not to go this way and of course I told him I don't know programming to that extent and if I should know programming to that extent I would not teach him. No matter how much I told him about the consequences of his intended actions, he was always replying me with 'all fair and square' within his statements, I was amazed and decided not to talk again and I said bye to him. That is the situation we find ourselves in the world now!
Life was terrible for the three of us for those periods we found our own pots! We had to go into the bush to get firewood to cook (we dare not touch the stove or the electric kettle), we had to go into our little farm to get maize from the farm and get some beans to go with it; which in turn we would spend hours cooking! Well, our father coincidentally got a new contract and my brothers, 'Bunmi and 'Dapo started following him to work in order to cut cost of apprenticing and somehow we had money to better our pots! Well, one day, 'Bunmi came home and called me and 'Dapo and said: well, 'E be la n be osika' that even though what this woman was doing was not good but we could not continue like this and that the money our father gave her was not only for herself and children but also for us that we should just go along with me and beg her for 'infuriating' her (Only God knows what my father had discussed with 'Bunmi?). When I heard this, I was annoyed, really annoyed, but then I loved and admired 'Bunmi (even though we did not sometimes agree on certain life's issues) and I owe him a lot, I decided to follow his advice and we went and begged her and we became her friends for some time but within two weeks, everything started all over again.
One day, 'Bunmi took a quotation from Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' 'the white man is very clever, he came quietly and peaceably with his religion but we are amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay, now he has won our brothers and our clan can no longer act like one, he has put a knife on string that bound us together and now we are falling apart' he said it loudly to the hearing of our step mum, she got the message (I suppose) but I got two messages! Was 'Bunmi trying to tell me he was now very good at putting English quotes in his head whilst I put only Yoruba akosori? Well, I told myself that I am going to surprise this man. (I started regarding him as a man even before he became one; this guy was a real 'Man'.). Well, before he left for the third term I asked him to please leave his literature books for me, I told him the ones he would not use that term, well, 'Bunmi left everything for me, he told me that even though he would need some of them, he would gladly leave everything for me and that he would always get books when he got to school. 'Bunmi left all the books, Shakespeare's Julius Ceaser, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth; Wole Soyinka's trials of Brother Jero; Cry the Beloved Country; Peter Abrahams'; Chinua Achebe's and many other books. In them he intentionally wrote some inspiring quotations which he told me to also try to memorise. I devoured these books, not only did I devour these books; I also put many quotations from these books in my head. He came back for the long vacation and the first thing he asked me was if I had read the books he left for me I said yes, but I never told him that I had also put some quotations in my head from them. One day, he was asked to do something by my step mother whilst he was learning, well he got up took the broom and started sweeping and he immediately started the same quotation from Chinua Achebe's 'Things Fall Apart' I did not allowed him to finish, I took it from his mouth and even completed the quote for him, he was perplexed, the broom in his hand dropped and he called 'Dapo, and he asked me to repeat the quotations again which I did and this time I added 'Dapo's favourites 'turning and turning in the wilding gyre, falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall apart the centre cannot hold, mere anarchy is loosed upon the world' well, they were surprised, 'Bunmi said, 'Look 'Debo, you don't need to go to A level, A level is not for boys like you, just do your JAMB exams, I am sure you'll enter university straight and immediately he finished saying that I added other quotations I have gleaned from Shakespeare. Later when I got to the final years of my secondary school I could not stop being thankful to 'Bunmi and the writers of these books, they sharpened my intellect and I was above my classmates in all respects! Even when I was preparing to enter the University I had made up my mind to join the Seadogs Confraternity founded by Wole Soyinka, his writings really got into me, well when I got to the University, Nigeria's universities started having cult crises and moreover, Deeper Life Bible Church took over and I had no time for such again! My secondary school mates were still surprised to this day that I did not belong. Many of them used to remind me of what I used to tell them when we were in secondary school and I used to reply them (omo ti ko ni iya ki d'egbo eyin).
The second message I got from this particular Chinua Achebe's quote - 'the white man is very clever' - was that perhaps my step mother used to come to see my dad when my mother was away perhaps to the market or somewhere and of course whenever she came she would definitely meet 'Bunmi at home who was four or five years old at the time and of course she would bring presents and told him not to tell anyone that she came and of course 'Bunmi would have collected the 'Greek gifts' which eventually landed him in the hand of a stranger for mum (Well, that was my thought in those days and even now, I don't doubt it either)!
Well, soon after Mr. Carr left, Steven, his sister and some Ghanaians living very close to us also left, maybe Steven left for Benin or somewhere, I cannot really say, I've forgotten but he told me he would be leaving our area.
I actually got to Primary Six at this time and as such I started preparing (in my mind only anyway) for the common entrance, I had wanted to do the common entrance in primary five, and as usual, after my father had promised to give me the money to do the common entrance in Primary Five, when the time to pay for the common entrance came, he denied ever promising me that. Well, thank God I did not pay for the common entrance in Primary Five anyway, one of the teachers (I won't mention his name) 'ate' the money and 'Remi Ikuesewo and the like, whose parents gave them the monies for the exam were disappointed.
Chief 'Bola Ige - my father wired his house - (Former Governor of Oyo State, and former Attorney General of Nigeria) had continued the Chief Obafemi Awolowo�s tradition of Free and Compulsory Education of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) and had even taken it higher to the tertiary level and made formal education free at all levels (I will always thank UPN - Unity Party of Nigeria- that was what it was called then for this gesture, even though I am not interested in politics, I will always advance the course of their ideology wherever and whenever I can! Thanks!), and had established many new schools which we dubbed: 'Bola Ige Schools,' well, these schools were new and most of them that time did not have many facilities and I could not imagine myself attending a school without adequate facilities and I was hoping to get one of the old schools where I could use facilities such as the library, laboratories etc (only God knows how much I had planned how I wanted to live my life even before people taught I know something about life!).
As was the manner for every pupil, we were given our common entrance forms and were told to give them to our parents to fill for us when we got home. Well, I told my step mum and dad that we have been given the form and that we should fill them and bring them to school on Monday. My step mother had earlier on told me to fill in Oke Ado High School as the school I would like to be, and I knowing fully well that this Oke Ado High School shared the same compound with my primary school and was not far and moreover, I love reading books and the more books I read the more happy I become, I decided to hatch a plan that would take me to another school instead of the one close to her shop, one that will be far away from her shop. I had been told I could not go to the boarding house and that I would be a day student and moreover in the UPN controlled states; most boarding facilities had just been banned! Luckily enough for me, there was one not so far away from our house at that time at Orita Challenge and which I had earlier gone to check the house number of the nearest house to it.
When I filled in the necessary data and showed them to my 'parents' they agreed with what I have filled but were surprised that I used pencil to fill it instead of a pen! They asked me why, I told them: 'Oh, the teachers asked us to fill in with pencil at home and that when we come back to school they will themselves fill in with pen so that we will not make mistakes' - they took it (of course I had prayed to God about this). When I got to school I erased the Oke Ado High School that they wanted me to fill and I filled (replaced) it with Eyinni High School that I wanted to go which was older had bigger library and tradition. So when the results came and they found out that it was Eyinni High School instead of the Oke Ado High School I had filled in their presence they were askance and I told them: 'Oh! That's what they do, you will fill in one school and they will put you in another.' Of course, it was sometimes like that, not in my case anyway, the school had the policy of making sure the brilliant pupils had the school of their choice and I was one of those brilliant pupils.
Later on, I met Mrs Adeoye, (who lived near our area) assistant to Mrs Adeyeba who asked me if I got the school I chose I said yes, and I said thank you ma! She told me that she asked me because 'Remi Ikuesewo my close associate in school did not get the Government College he chose despite the fact that the school tried what they could.
Talking about Mrs. Adeoye, well, that will come in the next batch of the story, what a good teacher she was!
Mrs. Adeoye, my very good Assistant Headmistress (Mrs Adeyeba was the headmistress that time)must have noticed something peculiar about me and of course must have discussed this with Mrs. Ibikunle. I actually cannot remember how come Mrs. Adeoye got to know so much about me but I suspected that Mrs. Ibikunle must have intimated her about my circumstances. Well on a fateful day, they decided to hatch a plan, of which they never knew I had an onion of. Even though I was not the 'Bell Boy' I just found out that that week the onus of getting the bell ringing at the appropriate periods fell on my lap and I had to do this conscientiously, but along the line something developed (I came late that particular day, of course I had a lot to do at home, so someone else had to bell) - the clock stopped working - and from their own point of view, I spoilt it. But I knew that I did not spoil the clock deep down in my heart it was not until the issue was dragged to the extent that they asked me to call my parents and they specifically asked me to call my mother to school that intuitively, something told me of their good intentions!(I love my teachers, I love and appreciate everyone who has had me taught! I have vowed since the encounter with the golden heart of Mrs. Ibikunle that I will never join my mates to make jest of my teachers or speak unkindly about them in open or in secret as was the case with most pupils and students in those days - Thank God I kept to this - even when I was at Ogun State University and I was having some problems with Mr. Ayanjimi and even at the University of Lagos when I was having problems with my final year registration, I never listened to any suggestions that my colleagues were giving me as to what I should do against my lecturers. My colleagues could not really understand me, yeah, they did not know where I was coming from. Such is the respect I have for my teachers and I will continue to respect them.)Well, there was no mother to call (I never knew who my mother was until I was sixteen, even at that I had to go out in search of her myself!).My 'parents' got to know of what happened - my step siblings reported the case - I had to tell them my version of the story and I told them they asked me to call my mother not anybody but my mother. This actually created a problem for my father, finally he reluctantly asked my step mother to follow me and impressed it upon her to make sure that she pretended to be my mother! Well, she dropped us off in school and went her way but she came back at around 9.00a.m. and I was called to the staff room. The first question I was asked was: 'is this your mother?' to which I hesitated in answering but because I had been told (warned!) what to say in case such a question arose, I said, yes. Meanwhile one of them had sent for Mrs. Ibikunle and when Mrs. Ibikunle came I was asked the same question again and this time with all due respect to Mrs. Ibikunle I said NO and an emphatic one at which my step mother started weeping and begging on my behalf. Actually, Mrs. Adeoye had threatened to expel me from school (I was in Primary Six, first term) even though I did not actually feel threatened about this because I know there is no way they could actually expel one of their best pupils from school because of a clock, being a little boy, I still felt bad about it. Well, the situation was dragged back and forth and back and forth and when it was getting towards the break time whilst they were still insisting on seeing my real mother and my step mother was still weeping and begging them to forgive me that I was her son, they decided to left me off the hook! Well, by this time I was actually weeping and sobbing and I had noticed that by this time Mrs. Ibikunle's eyes had started becoming watery. I was left off the hook on the condition that, I buy another clock for the school, I changed my school uniform, get a school bag, get a shoe and barb my hair (the last time I changed my school personal effects was when Mrs. Ibikunle compelled me to call my dad and she actually talked to my dad about me - that was in primary four)! Whao! I was a bit relieved but I know that I had to sell minerals at the Adeoyo Hospital at Ring Road to cover the costs of these things. Of course selling things had been one of those things I had learned the hard way! I had to come back from school, change my school uniform and off I would go! Actually, whenever I went to sell things for her, I used to make small gains for myself, the soft drinks prices were not actually fixed, sometimes Pepsi's may be cheaper than Coca - Cola's and which made me get extra income for myself. One thing I appreciate about this was that whenever I went like that to sell minerals for her, she relieved me of some household chores. After some time, 'Yomi, her son joined me in the mineral business, but shortly afterwards we suddenly stopped the explanation was that our daddy did not feel good about it. Well, I felt bad about this, first, I had money in my pocket, second, whenever I went out to sell, I usually pray so that I finished selling quickly and the time remaining I spent reading the story books that I used to hide in my pocket whilst enjoying rest somewhere.
My readers have not yet asked how I spent my days I suppose? Well, I spent my days working like a houseboy or slave boy (I read a book called Slave Boy when I was in Class Two at Ijebu-Ode Grammar School).
Mondays were usually hectic and tiring. I usually woke around 5 a.m. in the morning and slept around 9 - 10 in the night and when I was not lucky past ten or 11 and at Christmas, I sometimes slept around 12 p.m. or 1 p.m. Not to talk about when my father or mother had to travel early in the morning then I had to wake up as early as 4.00 a.m. or 4.30 a.m. The routines were usually, sweep all the rooms except my father and step mother's room, wash the toilet and bathroom (they must be shining!), as for the bathroom since it was not tiled I had to scrub it with brush and sometimes with broom, it usually got slippery and that my step mother hated sometimes she used to 'jokingly' say I intentionally left the bathroom without scrubbing it so that she could slip and fall. Well, I made sure I carried out my routines conscientiously and it was only whenever she looked forward to finding fault that she complained unnecessarily. I had to wash the car everyday, she used to drive one Volkwagen Igala and when my father bought the Peugeot 504 Station Wagon, she ended up driving two cars: the Volkswagen double cabin kombi bus and the Igala. Washing cars for my step mum is like washing a plate or washing whatever in the house, I had to scrub the tyres with brush so that the ebony beauty of the tyres would show, put my hand underneath the car to make sure all sands and mud were effectively washed away, you would have seen how my less than little hands (I started this routine as early as 9 years old) struggled to detach the sands and the mud, sometimes I used to wash the cars fully on weekends, for during the weekdays she used to tell me that I should just wash the body and the tyres and I should forget the other places because she could not afford to be late for her appointments. Not only this, I had to wash clothes, invariably everybody's clothes, occasionally she omitted my father's for sometimes my father used to wash his clothes himself or she washed for my father. Well, I did not usually cook food but I was allowed to prepare Eba (according to them, I could put poison in their food). Well, the plates must be washed and washed clean whenever they finished eating not only that, there must not be even a crumb of bread on the dining table and I had to make sure the kitchen was clean always. It was not unusual for me to carry about 20 - 30 crates of minerals per day and there was never a day in those periods that I did not carry at least 5 crates of minerals every day sometimes without any cushion (osuka) on my head, I could not forget how many times I had carried Coca - Cola crates on my bare head, thank God I usually left my hair unkempt I could have suffered more for the base of most Coca - Cola crates were usually left not totally closed allowing for two parallel lines of wood making someone's head to ache. Well, the Pepsi crates were better to carry they were better because lines were much close together hence less pain to the scalp. Slaps and beating would sound on me whenever I mistakenly broke any bottle, or plates or whatever. As for being careful with things I learnt it the hard way for not only did I get beating whenever I broke anything, sometimes I had meals skipped to keep me careful. There was a day I was very tired that as I was carrying the crate of soft drinks on my head I accidentally fell, whao, she immediately called for my scalp, I was severely beating. In the evening we had to get to the farm, well, I usually did most of the work there also, I actually became a good agric student afterwards for when I got to the secondary school Agricultural Science became one of the prizes I usually won during the speech and prize given days, I was Mr. Kumi's (our teacher - a Ghanaian) darling boy. My classmates did not know then that most of the time he taught in class I found it easy to associate whatever concept or principles with my experiences at home.
Wednesdays usually found us attending church: she took us to the New Salem Church that was formerly in Aresa, an area very close to my primary school at Oke Ado Ibadan, not far from her brother's house 'Uncle Pius' former foreman at Leventis Motors, Ibadan. The father of sister Fadeke, who usually came to play with me and Mama Eleni when she was schooling at Ijebu-Ode, I used to enjoy her company and in fact I still see her in my head right now over 30 years ago! This church, I could say never gave me anything worthwhile in terms of spiritual development; we did not usually go to this church on Sundays though. Sometimes the pastor of this church usually preached whilst reeking and intoxicated with alcohol and I used to be surprised why this man should preach against sins and yet he drinks. We used to come back very late sometimes we used to spend time in Uncle Pius' house where we would be playing with his children. We would get home late around 9.00 p.m. feeling tired and I dared not sleep in the car for whenever I sleep in the car she used to slap me and sometimes hit my head against the dashboard or the door, telling me she was not my driver and therefore I must not sleep in the car. (Readers, this story must be written, it is not easy writing this story but I must write, who knows, someone out there may be facing the same problem and my story will inspire such and make such to choose life rather than commit suicide - I attempted committing suicide when I was in Class Three at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School, thank God for a reptile, I would have died since. More or less the reason I like reptile now even though people usually feel somehow towards reptiles; of course I used to feel like that too until one saved me from committing suicide. Now I love life! Even though I feel sad when I see or think of sins committed up and down the alleys of life by men especially in the name of God! My heart bleeds because of this!)
The same routine applied to Thursdays (except when 'we'(she) joined the Celestial Church of Christ when we moved to Ijebu - Ode)
The same routine applied on Fridays, on Friday we specially cooked beans for according to her since she gave birth to twins she must cook beans on Fridays and this would be followed with a lot of preparation and the grinding of the pepper to use in cooking this on the grind stone. This pepper would be so dried that I need water to soften it and even at that I had to also grind onions and tomatoes on the grind stone and when I ground she would be displeased with a couple of slaps to go with it if I allowed her fingers to trace any coarseness. I must make sure that I ground whatever she asked me to grind on the grind stone smooth.
My father used to come home on Fridays or Saturdays in those days and if my father should come on Fridays or Saturdays, she sometimes punished me less and some things I could have been slapped for were usually overlooked even though when she beat me my father did nothing about it.
Saturdays were usually the d - days that I scrubbed all the scrubbale floors, cleaned all the louvers whether dirty or clean, washed all the three cars effectively cleaned and went to market with her. And when we went to market, she did not mind slapping me in front of the market women, calling me all sort of names and insults if I dared allowed just one person to be between us whilst mingling with the crowds she always wanted to see me beside her or directly behind her. Not only this, we would also go and buy the crates of soft drinks and cartons of beer to sell for the next week.
Sundays, of course we went to church. We tried many churches, but my father never attended any other church but the Anglican Church (St James' Cathedral, Ibadan). No matter how much she persuaded my dad to join her in her numerous churches that she took us to, my father never bulged. I am sure it was only on two or three occasions that my father ceremoniously followed us to her church. Even though I preferred the Anglican Church to any other church that time, who dared disobey her when she asked you to follow her to church? Well, one of the churches she took us to was the Baptist Church at Oke Ado, Ibadan. My primary school's church. I really enjoyed this church; actually my father consented to our going to this church. I liked the Sunday school's teaching at the Baptist Church; I used to enjoy it and the numerous prizes and gifts I won for answering questions from the Bible. I came to love the personality of Jesus Christ, I really liked this man called Jesus the Christ, I used to pray that I would want to be like Him and I strived in those days, despite the problems and confusion about my step mother attending church and her behaviour towards me, nevertheless I liked Jesus Christ and I loved attending the Baptist Church at Oke Ado. But one thing I found out even at that time was that the week we went to church, whichever the week would be the week that my weekly report card would not be as I wanted! Yes, the weeks I did not go to church would see me coming first or second in the class whilst the weeks I went to church found me coming third or fourth or fifth, I never knew the reasons or had explanation for this in those days until many years afterwards. I was spiritually minded in those days, I became even more interested in anything spiritual from my early childhood when I used to pray with Mama Eleni and later on on my own before I left her. Even when I got to the secondary school I became so much interested with esotericism that I asked Victor Okobieme (He used to bring the 'Rosicrucian Digest' for me to read in the class) to take me to his father because when I asked him to tell me how he came about those magazines he told me that they were his father's. When I got to Victor Okobieme's father, I told him I would like to be a Rosicrucian, he said I was too small (I was not sixteen) to be a member and that most of the things I read in those magazines I might not understand them. I said no, I understood all, that I have even started practising astral travelling and some other things, he still refused, I begged him, really begged him, I even started weeping but he refused! After begging him for about one hour, I left his house feeling very dejected.
More or less, I loved church, I loved going to church. I used to be very glad when anyone should come to me that oh 'Debo let us go to church but along the line as my eyes got opened and wider about life and mankind, I reduced my going to church. Even in those days that I used to go to church, the only thing that interested me most was when we started singing praises to God, I love God, and I love singing praises to God. I was usually surprised the kind of feeling I used to have when I sing praises to God. Now, I feel somehow about churches, about hypocrisy going on around, if you have ever been sensitive or brought up the way I was, you would have easily seen the hypocrisy, the selfishness, the greediness of most people who go to church now! God! Please send another saviour! (Thank you (God) for Jesus Christ anyway!)
My father was a very active individual, he rarely rest! He was usually up and doing, if he was not hunting, surely he would be fishing (we had a nice stream, running adjacent to our house) and if he was not fishing he would be farming (we had a little garden too). He would go out early in the morning to check whether his net had caught something, most of the time he used to catch big mud fishes, sometimes a fish would fill a metre-wide basin. 'Bunmi usually followed him to fish. He had a very large net that he used to catch those fishes and of course, fishing hooks. It was all excitement one day when the net caught a snake! Whao, the twins were very excited, almost everybody except me. I was afraid that they would kill the snake and give me to eat, which of course they did! Well, his hunting expeditions never gave him anything than Oya (sorry I don't know the English name). So we had series of Oya at different intervals. Sometimes the fishes were given to our visitors and in those days we used to have some of them. I used to think that those visitors usually came whenever we had just caught a large fish and of they would go with it. There was this particular uncle, Adedoyin Ogunade who used to have the luck of coming to visit us whenever my father had caught a big fish. Seriously, for a long time I used to think he timed those visits. I later stayed with him briefly when I was at the University of Lagos. Another uncle of ours, Uncle 'Yomi was such a regular caller at our house and whose car I washed almost every weekend. Those weekends would find them reeking with Guinness, my father enjoyed Guinness. It was his favourite alcoholic drink; rarely did he take any other alcoholic drink except the Stout. Whenever he had won a good contract, he would come home asking for his Odeku! He did not drink as a habit but drank occasionally, it was rare for him to drink any other beer and when he did, he drank Star Larger Beer! Well, thank God I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: I neither smoke nor drink anything that is injurious to my health again! Praise God!
Uncle 'Sola (may his gentle soul rest in peace) was another constant visitor to our house, he invariably grew up with my father's family. Almost all my uncles had one or two things in common with him. He was also an Imose man. He used to work for Dunlop? Whenever he came, he used to complain of how much my step mother maltreated me to my father and sometime it nearly caused a disagreement between the two of them (don't mind them, they thought I did not overhear them). Shortly afterwards, our family moved to Ikangba in Ijebu - Ode afterwards anyway
Just before we moved, something happened between my step - mother and Uncle 'Yomi (my step mum's eyes were too much on money) which necessitated uncle Yomi from coming to our house at that time. Well, he went off for sometime, but you know, you cannot really flush your childhood friends from your mind. When we moved to Ikangba in Ijebu - Ode, he continued his visits.
Mrs. Oladokun became my class teacher in primary six, within a short while her family moved to a place close to our house. Whao, when I got to know this, it was play galore for me. Immediately I finished selling my soft drinks, I would just go to her house to greet her and of course, she would give me food to eat. There was this gentle man who just came from abroad living in one of their flats, he brought so many electronic gadgets and that gave me some interests in electronics. Although we had our own share of electronics in our sitting room: radio, television, kenwood and its accessories, this man opened my eyes to more sophisticated electronics and I learnt a bit about those things whenever I paid a visit to Mrs. Oladokun.
My father never attended any other church but the St James' Cathedral (Anglican) at Oke Bola Bye Pass. He was a member of the 'Morning Star' men's fellowship. According to him, they rotate their monthly meetings in the houses of their members. His turn came when I was in Primary Six. The weekend before the Sunday meeting in our house, I had to work very hard, cleaned everywhere, our sitting room was spotless, clean and neat. Of course, in those days, my step siblings usually made the sitting room dirty and I had to be cleaning it at intervals but this time it was different I could not believe that my step mother could so restrain my step siblings to the extent that none of them was able to venture into dirtying it as they used to do. Well, on the day, there was plenty to cook, plenty to eat and there were prayers said up and down, singing, eating, drinking. One of the songs I remember them singing which I loved and which still rings till today goes like this: 'Irawo Owuro l'oruko egbe wa 2x, Awa nsise lati gba ade ogo, Irawo Owuro l'oruko egbe wa' (Our group is called the Morning Star, we are working towards receiving the crown of glory). That was the last time the meeting fell on my father's shoulder for shortly afterwards the family (Excluding me, I joined them afterwards) left for my father's house, which he bought outright from the Ogun State Housing Corporation at Erelu/Ikangba via Ijebu - Ode.
I was in Primary Six when 'Bunmi and 'Dapo were in the final year of their secondary school. During the long vacation to their final year in secondary school, it happened that 'Boye (Adeboye Adegboyega Ogunade) and 'Lana (Adelana Adediran Ogunade) - my cousins - became more frequent in our house. 'Lana stayed not too far away from us, whilst 'Boye lived in Abeokuta (I should believe the two of them: 'Lana and 'Boye attended Egba High School). Adeboye was a laureate during his secondary days, he was very good academically (I was surprised when I came back from the Youth Service at Egwuena Girls' Secondary School in Abiriba, Abia State in 1993 to find 'Boye in somewhat insane countenance (The National Youth Service Corps is an avenue for fresh tertiary institutions' graduates to serve their country) that buttressed my doubt that my brother 'Bunmi, perhaps ever even left the shores of Nigeria!). He read Psychology at the University of Jos. Adeboye spent days with us during his short stay and he was ready to stay longer but as you know, my step mother was not as willing as we were to make him stay, so he left us.
I was acting a play in school, of course, it was our final year, and we were doing our last year in school party when 'Bunmi showed up! 'Hey 'Debo, look, I just came back from school, I just finished secondary school and I said I should come and see you in school! They said today is your final day in school and I am sure you'll win a prize I just came to cheer you!' He said with elation. 'And what part were you acting in such a play, I don't like such part, don't play such part again' he added. Well, after the play, our prizes were distributed. I was happy that I came third in the whole school at that time! Of course Rasaki Mustapha and 'Remi Ikuesewo had taken the first two prizes respectively! 'Bunmi was all joy; he collected the prize from me and opened it. 'Oh! This small books at least they could have given you people something of more worth than these, considering the fact that this is your last time in school.' He said, immediately he added 'But you, why didn't you come first? I am sure 'Remi Ikuesewo came first' but I immediately replied: 'Oh! Rasaki Mustapha came first again and how did you expect me to come first with all the rigorous routines at home' 'Well, I know but I always think you can do better, well, this is not bad, I am proud of you' he said. Then we left for the house!
There was this Charles, not Gbolade Olaniyan but this dark in complexion Charles who came to admire my interest in Nature Study and in other sciences. In those days we did General Paper or was it General Study? Well, we had all the sciences lumped up in one paper. I used to top the class in this subject. Mathematics (it was called Arithmetic until we got to Primary Five) was 'Remi's domain, sometimes we used to do 'co-operative society' in which I would teach him General Paper and he would teach me Mathematics. I never saw eighty something in 'Remi's exam's scripts, he used to have his marks in Mathematics in the range of nineties. It was the same with me in General Paper but whilst Remi would get seventy something in General Paper, I would get sixty something in Mathematics. In those 'co-operative society's relationships, I sometimes got some seventy something in Mathematics. Well, Charles would be surprised to learn that I read Accounting in the university, even in those days, my secondary school class mates like 'Dare Kuku, 'Tony Ejorh and 'Tokunbo Omodein and the rest (especially some of my seniors at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School) thought I was out of my mind to have gone to read Accounting but it was not their fault, they did not know where I was coming from. I learnt very early in life that you have to cut your coat according to your size (cloth) (this was one of the things my step - mother ingrained in our ears - I thank her for that) and I would not say because I was equally good in the sciences I would go to read medicine as my other colleagues did. Where would I get the finances? Even the accounting, the so called powerful people of this world nearly frustrated me out of it! Moreover, I did all sort of menial jobs to see myself through it! Could you believe a final year student of accounting carrying sands at the beach to make a living? Well, readers, this was one of those things I did to survive (or exist?) in those days since I could not compromise my Christian principles or go against my moral standards; of course I went the hard way but it paid for me at the end of the day. Thank you God for not making me go in the way of the world! What I was supposed to have finished in 1990 I ended up finishing it in 1992! Well, I will get to this story later on, God willing. Sorry Charles, your 'Debo Ogunade did not have his first degree in any of the sciences but in Accounting, not to worry, I am back in sciences now anyway!
Yeah! Talking about Oluwaremilekun Ikuesewo, he was my very good friend when I was in primary school. Even when he was reading medicine at University of Ibadan, I still took out time to look for him. In fact, I used to take time to look for my primary school close pals in those days, Rasaki Mustapha was never at home. 'Remi Ikuesewo was the closest to me that time. Throughout the years I was in Primary School especially when we were still staying at Ososami, I always made sure to look for 'Remi if perchance I did not see him in school. I loved him, I was thinking when I grow up I would marry his sister (Olayinka Ikuesewo)! I loved his sister too. In those days I used to think of her a lot. But look at me, psychologically my step mother had already made me incapable of asking anything from anyone so there was no way I could ask her, more or less I was a small boy, woe betide me if someone would know that I feel somehow towards the opposite sex, not only this, even if I had been born in a very free society, I love books too much!
Well, one day just before the family left for Ijebu - Ode (I did not leave with them at first, I joined them later on) 'Bunmi came to the sitting room to meet me and asked me when I would like to get married in life. I was surprised by this question but I replied and I calculated my age then and what I would like to do and decided that I would get married at the age of twenty - two. The kind of expression on 'Bunmi's face clearly told me he was not happy with such a plan (perhaps in his mind he was thinking that this boy knew little yet about women). He then asked me why, I said since I did not know my mother the best thing is that I should get married on time in order for me not to be running after women! He then smiles and told me that a man should get married after the age of thirty and that I particularly should get married around the age of forty or forty something and by that I would have been very well matured and wise to manage a home. Forty! I exclaimed in my mind! He left the sitting room immediately. Well, as the years wore by I realised the 'Bunmi's suggestions and for a truth I was forced to agree with him. Especially for my case for all these will be unfold later on. I did not have a 'girlfriend' when I was in the university and even when 'Dare Kuku (whilst he was a medical student at OSUTH - Ogun State University Teaching Hospital) told me that I should start 'doing' it ('sere be' - this was a Yoruba's slang in those days, sorry I won't explain it in English)
Well, it panned out the way I had planned it, I got admitted to Eyinni High School and I loved it there. My principal Mr. Jeje (pronounced Jayjay) was a very disciplined man. We had a shield called the 'Discipline Shield' that used to be the prize per week for the best behaved class in terms of punctuality, neatness, orderliness, quietness and of course academics. I was in Mr. Aderibigbe's class. He was also our Mathematics teacher (He made me take Mathematics serious, thanks.). He liked me a lot; I was also one of the best students in the class. It was beatings galore one day when most of us in the class failed a particular test in maths (his own class) he beat nonsense out of us that day. It was something else in my case, when it came to my turn to be beaten, he said 'you 'Debo open your scripts what did you get?' '2', I replied, he said 'you, you scored 2, 2 over 10 aren't you 'Debo Ogunade?' I said 'I am sir' so, why did you score '2'. He could not believe it. He beat me more than the rest. He beat me severely that day but thank God I could remember that I scored over 91 percent in maths during the third term it was only Abiola Azeez, that scored 95 percent in the whole school. When I was doing my WASCE (West Africa School Certificate Examinations) some four years afterwards, I remembered this man and how he beat the hell out of me that day, I told myself I better have an 'A' in Maths for I would not want this man to see me in future and ask me what did you get in Maths and I would say something that he would not be happy with. Well, thank God, for Mr. Adedeji (My school principal at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School) who asked me to come to the boarding house free of charge when I got to my final year in the secondary school, hence I was able to study well for my examination and I had 'A' in five subjects including Mathematics. I had started fending for myself (I was finally frustrated out of my father's house by my step mother when I was sixteen) just a year before leaving secondary school. God willing I will get to this story later on.
My school uniform consisted of a white shirt and deep green shorts. I was happy to at least have a new school uniform, a new school bag and pair of sandals to go with it. You could have been there to see me; I appeared neat and new whenever I went to school, I made sure, for I had made up my mind to be different no matter what, that I would always be neat and that my primary school situation would not repeat itself.
There I met new friends, many of them, Sesan that could dribble through any defence when we played football, Ndubuisi Isibor that was a kind of 'Genius', Abiola Azeez, Akingbade, Adedolapo Idowu - Koya (Adedayanpo Idowu-Teba, they spoiled this name for him!! Courtesy Akingbade), Taiwo Olunuga, 'Dayo Ajayi, 'Dapo Aduloju, Augustine Awe and many others. It was an exciting experience for me. I loved it at Eyinni High School and I thanked my stars that I made the bold decision of choosing rather than allowing people to choose for me (It was years later when I was at the University of Lagos when Dr. 'Dokun Jagun borrowed me a book called 'DIANETICS' by L. Ron Hubbard that I knew the secrets of my power of choice devoid of negative auras). Considering the fact that we just came to school and we just knew ourselves, we used to play and make noise a lot. I, for one, had always liked making noise since the time I was in primary school. Of course no one would play with me at home but at school I was free from my step - mother's prying eyes so I could be free and express myself. I was always on top of my voice at school. My primary school teachers in those days did not help it either (thanks, I have a loud voice now, it would help if I should become a public speaker), maybe because I was one of their best pupils, sometimes even when my names would be among noise makers they sometimes beat the rest and leave me off the hook.
It was at this time that I was watching a film and that film made me to fall in love with the Oyinbos (white people, white men). I really fell in love with the whites to the extent that in my undergraduate's days when people used to talk against the United States and its policies I used to boldly defend the Americans. Olusegun Mayegun (Erstwhile NANS president) dubbed me 'CIA' agent! And I did not care that time even if Dr. Jagun had also thought so. In that film, I could not believe it when a father went to his son's bedroom to actually beg his son! I said what! A father apologising to his son? (Even at that time I was not allowed to watch the television what I used to do was that I would lower the volume so low that it would require me sitting very close to the television to hear what they were saying. 'I could understand few of their rattled English that time anyway.' Many atimes was I beaten off to go and sleep whenever my step-mother happened to be passing to the toilet and saw the television on with me sleeping off close to it.)..
I could not believe my ears and eyes as I watched the sequences that made such a thing to happen and what resulted in the film afterwards. When I got to the school the next day, I told Ndubuisi Isibor, he told me he watched it too and we started talking about it, some joined in too. Some were also shocked and one of them even buttressed it that they also watched the film. Then we started talking about how we used to be beaten even if our parents were themselves the culprits and somehow accusing us wrongfully. How can a father apologise to his son after the father had wrongfully scolded his son? I could not really believe it. Years after when I was in secondary school all those things that were taught about slavery and the rest were always falling on my deaf ears. Of course there were and are evil individuals everywhere in the world! I never took history in school anyway, I took it only when it was compulsory and afterwards I dropped it. I used to have little time to write a lot! I remembered my first and only teacher of History at the secondary school give me 8/20 and wrote 'very good' beneath. When I asked her she said it was because I came late to class for the test and that if I had had enough time I would have done extremely well (I went late to the class that particular day). As for History, the time was never enough to pour out those things you had read so I decided to be reading it on my own. Yes I did!
I was amazed at such humbleness. I told myself, no wonder this people know so much! If you're humble there is no end to your knowledge. I never told them about my own experiences when I was with my stepmother and father (I was living with Uncle 'Diran for the better part of my first year in Secondary School). We were brought up to apologise to those who would have apologised to us in the first instance. We were not brought up to be sincere and see errors in our way. That is the reason when you are in buses or taxis travelling somewhere and the driver of the vehicle misbehave on the road, of course the passengers will not blame their own driver, they will of course blame the other driver yet their driver may end up sending all of them to their graves. Na wa for my society ooo. In my society, the elders are always right no matter the case. I remembered a case in point some years afterwards (I think I was eighteen at that time) when my so called uncles gathered themselves together to advise me that I should go to the university (without any inkling how much I suffered to pay and pass the examinations in the first instance) since I had a good result and that my father would try to send me to school and I told them that no, I would find my ways that I know what I would do and that I would not depend on my father since he reneged on his responsibilities when I was both in primary school and secondary school and I would not want that to repeat itself in my university that I could easily get a good job anywhere with my result (I had wanted to go to the customs or work in a bank). I had five distinctions! No! They replied in unison that he (my father) had promised to do all he could and that I should not worry. Oh! I replied that it was a lie and that he always reneged on his promise. Moreover, uncle 'Soye, one of my 'friends' in the family reminded me that 'agbalagba kon puro' (elderly people don't lie). He was taken aback when I replied that if elderly men don't lie why is Nigeria spoilt. At least it is grown up men who rule and not children. They all kept quiet. I wonder what the so called elderly people take youths and children for, they think they don't think? If those guys had known the state of my mind then they would have been sorry for abandoning me the way they did. My father was another story entirely, this man would pay the school fees, keep the receipt (for future reference so that people would not say he did not send me to school) and leave me alone to eat the air! He was always sure to remind me that he was doing me a favour (he did not regard it as his responsibility). Thank God for the little he did anyway. I really suffered when I was at the Ogun State University. Thank God I came in contact with Mrs. Eperokun (Mrs. Yetunde Oluwasesan Elsie Eperokun) life would have swallowed me up. Could you believe that sometimes I would walk from Oru (where I resided) to Ago (where the campus was situated) in order for me to be able to use the library? A distance of about 30 kilometres with only Gari to drink for the day! Yet I would read and study! Thank God also for my friend 'Segun Oyesanya who used to give me some food to eat occasionally (He lived on the Onalaja estate), his residence was somewhat located in the middle of the journey from my place of residence to the university's campus where the library was located whenever I was lucky to find him at home. It was a serious situation for me in those days. I hope most people don't behave like this and that my case was an aberration. Well, if people behave like this, they should change, I plead! Well, we will come to these stories later on, God willing. Ogun State University is situated within the environs of semi - rural areas with no prospect of earning any income. But at the University of Lagos, I had jobs to do alongside my studies, Lagos being a cosmopolitan city. Thank God for making me to happen upon Mrs. Eperokun and thank God also for allowing Mrs. Eperokun to take me as her son and thus, when I told her that I wanted to change to the University of Lagos, she gladly agreed and used her contacts there to effect this (Mrs Eperokun's husband, Mr. Eperokun was a former registrar of the University of Lagos and to the glory of God, the main contact who effected my transfer to the University of Lagos, Mr. Adebisi Omotosho became also the registrar of the university (after Mr. Ajijola) barely two months after I gained admission to the university (He was, hitherto, the director of the Correspondence and Open Study Institute of the University of Lagos - COSIT), God works in mysterious ways you said? Wait until I get to that particular part in the course of the story and you will really see how God's manifold blessings worked in directing my paths (I don't think I believe in destiny am I a Christian?). I am therefore saying thank you to everyone God had used to bring me happiness and smiles in my tortuous path of life. Sorry for the digression (You need to splice in serious situations sometimes when you write. It is not easy writing this story). We should realise that there are no kids around in the world today! I was working for Esan Training Centre in Ibadan one day (this was many years afterwards) when I happened to see a little girl (I like playing with kids a lot) playing with sands and I decided to advice her to go and read instead of her playing with sands, she told me she heard, though I actually did not see her face she was concentrating building with the sands. The second day, I saw her again and I told her that she should heed my advice and that she should go and read her books and that good children don't play with sands. I was really flabbergasted when she said she heard me and that I should concentrate on my work well I went back to my work as she said but after some few minutes I came back to her and was standing over her watching her build with sands but before I could say anything she said: 'Nje iwo mo itumo omo dada?' (Do 'you' really know the meaning of a good individual?). I was taken aback! That was the philosophical question that made me found me and which played a very great role to what I am (mind wise) today. When I told people about what this 'little' girl said they could not believe it. They said if I was saying the truth, then the girl could be a witch! I did not really agree with them even though I was nonplussed by this girl's statement. But thanks to this 'little' girl, she opened my eyes wider than they were (I had read so 'many' books about life before my encounter with this 'little' girl). God willing we will come to this story later on.
It was no wonder to me when I got to Ghana many years afterwards that I knew the reasons my Ghanaians friends and neighbours complained and sympathised with me when I was barely eleven (11) and was going through all these. Could you believe that throughout my journeys along the Gulf of Guinea, it is only in Ghana that they have coined the phrase: 'right - thinking Ghanaians'. Yes, you need to be right thinking before you can do what is right. I am not saying that that the Ghanaians are better than other people from the West Africa sub -region (of course you find wicked and evil individuals all over the world) but you can get a very large percentage of the Ghanaians populations who are 'right - thinking.' If you ask people to choose the right, without asking them to think right first before choosing what is right and therefore do what is right, they may choose to do what is right depending on their state of mind at that time! And if they happened to be biased towards a particular tendency then they will actually do what is wrong because their mindset is already biased. But if people were right thinking, doing what is right will come as a consequence of the right thinking. We should not be oblivious of the fact that some people would actually do what is wrong and would set in motion acts that would justify that actions (even though those actions were wrong); perhaps to set someone up or conspire to ruin someone's career in order for them to be proved right for actually machinating evil towards that another in the first instance. These are the people who would because of the gain that would be derived from something would intentionally conspire to steal, withhold, or cheat someone of what rightly belonged to another and would come around to set that another up and if unfortunately that another fall into their trap they would say: 'Yes, I said it, thank God that I did not give the thing to him' whereas they were the ones who actually went ahead to ruin that another! Such is the situation of the world. Dear reader beware of such people and pray for your God to deliver you from such. People should constantly think right before choosing what is right or doing what is right for if you think right even if your passions, emotions; emanating in form of greed and selfishness would make you choose what is wrong instead of what is right at the instance you were supposed to choose, your conscience would tell you that what you have chosen was wrong and you would (if you have conscience or if your conscience is devoid of wickedness) rescind from wrong decisions and as such your acts would not lead to other wrong acts in order for you to prove to those you are responsible to that you actually did what was right!
I got to the secondary school and I started feeling very ecstatic about it. My step mother had threatened to put me in a mechanic workshop! Thank God for my impeccable academic records in those days. I would have been a mechanic by now and more or less dissuaded from my pursuits of books (Knowledge).
My school was not far from our house and very far from her shop therefore she could not tell me to come to her shop for anything so I used to get home before anyone else and because they would not allow me have the key I would wait on the stair case for them to come. By this time I was becoming somehow self - assertive and I had, somehow the courage to refuse some itinerancy. She would never let me rest. She derived pleasure in seeing me going up and down and doing something and saying that I had to do them fast and well too because I had many things to do. (Now people say I'm fast in whatever I do, why won't I be fast? I could remember about three years ago when a Chinese asked me to do something on his company's personal computers, he was actually surprised at the swiftness I used in finishing the jobs (of course he had called several personnel to fix them but none was able to fix them to his satisfaction) that he had to tell his Ghanaian friend that I was very fast (the Ghanaian friend is also my friend) and that he was not expecting me to finish the jobs as quickly as that. Well the Ghanaian friend came to tell me this later and I said to myself: 'this people did not know where I was coming from' my step mother had taught me very early enough through her sayings 'Bi a se nsise l'an ko iyara she would say. Thanks for that!. Sometimes I used to think that if Mr. Olarenwaju had not jilted her and collected 'Femi (the baby) from her and married her, she would not have looked for someone else to snatch in order to remove her 'shame'. Na wa for dis life ooo!) Especially whenever she saw me with books, she would make sure she called me at that instance not only this, she must have noticed my avarice for books and whenever she felt that there was no sound in the kitchen or somewhere she would just call my name to do something that was never ready to do, like cleaning cleaned louvers.
It was at this time that she started trusting me to go to her room at the same time, well, good for me. I never knew she was trying to buy me into forfeiting a year of secondary school to follow them to Ijebu - Ode, I for one will never allow anything come between me and my quest for learning and studying. Well, when my father asked me what I wanted to do since they were ready to leave for Ijebu - Ode whilst I was still in my first term and in my first year of secondary school. Well, I had also discussed with 'Bunmi what to say, I told my father that I would like to stay with Uncle 'Diran who lived not very far from our house instead of me going to Ijebu - Ode to look for a new school (I doubted if I wouldn't spend the remaining two terms at home with the pretence that they were searching school for me). It was at this time too that I started feeling 'big' in school. You know the kind of feeling you have when you are in the midst of your peers(well - to - do) and you see them during break time buying things and showing off with it and at the same time asking you for what you bought! Well, I thank God that I learnt very early in life to cut my coat according to my size! Not only that but also to repel such 'enticement' (My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent' I used to read the Book of Proverbs a lot in those days). But when my siblings started stealing from their mum and lying against me then I decided to actually do such. But the problem was that the two or three occasions that I stole from her room to buy snacks to eat in school were those period that my conscience would never rest. I never enjoyed those snacks! After about two to three tries, I stopped. My saving grace came when I was finally moved to Uncle 'Diran's house. No one to accuse me falsely again! Later in life I came to understand the meaning of this quote from Psalm 125 v 3 (I used to read Psalm a lot too!) 'For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot allotted to the righteous (of course I insert my name here, for my righteousness is complete in Christ Jesus) lest the righteous put forth his hands unto iniquity,' thank you God for making me to know the secret of this verse. How I wish I knew the secret of this verse very early enough.
When I moved to Uncle 'Diran's house a lot of things changed, I stopped 'eating' salt (I used to lick salt a lot whenever I felt hungry and no one was ready to give me food to eat), I stopped scrapping the cooking pot to supplement my meagre rations, and stopped my seldom scavenging of our dustbin (I used to scavenge food from the dustbin for I could not really survive on the meagre food that was my own ration. God, please SPEAK!). Of course I missed reading some of the books she used when she was in secondary school too. Those books were all scattered all over our house: I missed reading Ivanhoe, King Solomon's Mines, King Arthur and the Twelve Knights (Don't mind me I used to think and feel that I was King Arthur!), the story of the Spartans and the Greeks. Well, 'Lana had African Writers so I did not go with any of 'Bunmi's books. But I was soon introduced to another kind of writings: the Pacesetters when I got to Eyinni High School.
In those days, before the family moved to Ijebu - Ode, I used to get home first as I have aforementioned, and I would just sit and keep myself awake by reading songs from the 'Songs of Praise' I still remember many of those songs today! I dared not sleep!
'How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;
Labour and rest, that equal periods keep;
"Obedient slumbers that can wake and weep;"
Desires compos'd, affections ever ev'n,
Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to Heav'n.
And melts in visions of eternal day.'
- Alexander Pope's (1688 - 1744) Eloisa to Abelard
AT UNCLE 'DIRAN'S
Well, on this fateful day, after they had started making preliminary journeys to Ijebu - Ode to assess the worthiness and perhaps get the building ready. 'Bunmi influenced my dad and told him to allow me move to Uncle 'Diran's house. Yes, I started living with Uncle 'Diran even two weeks before they finally moved to Ijebu - Ode.
The day I got to Uncle 'Diran's house was the day I saw the difference between my 'parents' and my 'uncle'. I was surprised the kind of treatments Uncle 'Diran gave to me, very warm, friendly and coupled with the fact that when he asked me about my results and I told him, I ate a bigger chunk of pork that day (Uncle 'Diran liked hot and peppery soup with pork a lot). All along I had been 'deceiving' myself that she was 'training' me and the reason why she was harsh was because she was not my mother and that if she had been my mother she would have been more lenient (why wouldn't I deceive myself, at least I had someone to call 'mummy'). Well, uncle 'Diran's attitude towards me debunked my hypothesis. Actually, those Ghanaians that were living close to us in those days had always been telling me that the woman was using me despitefully and I had always been telling them that she was my mother and that she was training me to which they would reply that if it was true she was my mother she would not be treating me like that. Well, it was some few years afterwards when Kehinde broke a plate and she was told to be careful so as not to hurt her feet that I really knew how much I suffered. Actually, I had broken plates when I was her age too and slaps and beatings were my wages. When I saw this, I could not help going privately somewhere to weep!
After the pleasantries I was introduced to my room! Yes, I shared the same room with Ademola Adediran Ogunade - a wasted genius (they just wasted that guy's brain). Uncle 'Diran's second son. I found out that whenever I taught him anything he got it the first time and not only this, he used to elaborate on it! And when I thought I had finished my university education and I should concentrate on making 'Demola read law ('Demola could manoeuvre himself out of any unpleasant situation through pure logic) they set him up and killed him. Only God knows the kind of pain I felt when 'Lana broke the news of his brother's demise to me when I was lecturing in Yaba Tech. But I know, as long as people live in this world, eat, enjoy the sun and sleep to wake up, none of those who had a hand in those atrocious atrocities will go unpunished! As for me, I forgave all! But the laws of nature must take its course!
I lived in the same house with Esther Adeyemi Ogunade (one of the two children, Uncle 'Muyiwa left behind). 'Bidemi (Esther's younger sister) had left for her mum's (she could not withstand the 'strict' nature of Uncle 'Diran (I found out that he was not necessarily strict but disciplined and far more humane than my step - mum). Aderonke Ogunade (this beautiful and hard working girl (Uncle 'Diran's first and 'only' daughter?), would do all the household chores and would not feel tired. I used to feel guilty when she would tell both of us (I and her brother, 'Demola) that the kitchen was not for the boys and that we should go and play or watch television or read our books or sleep that she would do everything when I knew that I dared not leave the kitchen when my step - mother cooked! Was I not always in the kitchen?
The second day I got to Uncle 'Diran's house, I was expecting to see some maltreatments and was getting ready to receive slaps and beatings as was usually the case with my step - mother, but none of it. The third day, the same thing, the whole week nothing whatsoever like slaps or beatings. I was surprised and I thought, was Uncle-Diran my real father and my supposed parents were lying to me that they were my parents? I could not believe it that I could spend the whole week in a home doing whatever I wanted, reading, watching videos and eating well like a free individual without any maltreatment, intimidation or the fear of it. The only thing was that he used to shout on every one of us. Yes, including his children, especially 'Demola. It was at this time that I made up my mind to one day put down my experiences so far in life in a book form. One day, I asked 'Lana how would one publish a book. He said so many things, some I liked and some I did not like but I prayed that time that God should help me in order for me to be able to write these things out in future. That was in 1981 and I was thirteen (13) years old.
I did not know that internet would come, I did not know that microsoft would come, I did not know that personal computers would come, now, all of them are here today. Here today and affording me the opportunity to reach a diverse audience that I might not have reached even if I published my story in book form. Is this my destiny? To pass through all these hardships, the hardships that have made me stronger, courageous, gentle and very sensitive to other people's plights? Do I really believe in Destiny? I don't think I believe in destiny and mind you, neither do I believe in Chance! Am I a Christian? Well, that is left for those around me to tell and in fact those around the apostles in those days labelled them Christians for their behaviours resembled that of whom they preached! I believe in Jesus the Christ (that is the only fact still making me to go to church sometimes). I believe not only in Jesus Christ as a fact of history but also because He has made me to understand that there is a God and also taught me that I am a child of God and His indefatigable and invicible name is a witness! Well, I believe neither in destiny nor in chance but I am sure 'God does not play dice with the universe'(Albert Einstein). I believe in orders, systems, organisations. I believe in interdependency and I believe in Life! I cannot confuse these with destiny and I cannot become capricious because I do not believe in destiny! Is destiny the same thing as planning? Planning by the Eternal Creator who is constantly creating! 'And who could interprete the wonders of God for he who would interprete would be dissolved and become that which is interpreted for the thoughts of the most high God cannot be anticipated and God's heart is superior to all wisdom' (The Lost Book of Eden). I have made up my mind a long time ago 'to show love and reverence to everything that God madeth and loveth' (John Milton) and I am trying the best I can to continue to keep to this. This is my Creed!
It was on a fateful friday that Uncle 'Diran went out and came back talking jovially with all of us, discussing football and playing with us like a kid, I was surprised I could not believe my sight and I asked his children what happened. Oh, 'Demola said that means he was coming from the Lodge and I said what is the Lodge, ha! He said it was like a church, and whenever he comes back from that Lodge he always become gentle. I said henhenh, he said yes. Well, it happened one day that I broke Uncle 'Diran's choice glass. Whao, that same glass had been broken but not broken to pieces (cracked) but Uncle 'Diran nevertheless used it like that not minding the fact that it was slightly broken, then I went to actually broke it into pieces. Immediately his children saw this they were perplexed, they did not know what to do, one of them quickly went to hide the cane he would have used to beat me, they started coaching me on the best place to receive the cane and planned how they would defend me when he arrived. But alas, when Uncle 'Diran came back and learnt that I broke the glass he just looked at me and did not say anything, did not even beat me. I was surprised! What is happening? I couldn't believe it, then he started playing with us, it was then we realized that he was coming from the Lodge. I was very happy and I told myself, that one day I would also become a Lodge member immediately I get married and started rearing children so that I could be gentle towards my children whenever I come back from there. But 'Demola immediately cut in when I told them at the table, he said they were not good people that they usually cheat other people and that if someone is a member of a lodge, his lodge friends would help him in oppressing other people who do not belong to his Lodge, I said is that so, he said yes, you don't know what you were talking about 'Debo. But I said, you don't expect everybody in the society to behave in the same way, you see the way my stepmother go to church a lot, sebi I once told you shortly before I came to join you people that he asked me to go and throw something in a black polythene bag away and that I should not look back. Yes, readers, my step mother called me one day, just about two weeks before I left for the Uncle 'Diran's that I should go and throw a certain substance in a black polythene bag away, that I should throw it away into a flowing stream near our place of abode that time and that I should not look back. I was perplexed when she said that I did not know what to do and I must not disobey, funny enough she had just taught us about King Saul and disobedience, I did not know what to do, why she should say I should go and throw that thing away and that I should not look back. I was wondering until I decided and I prayed in my heart that God please help me oo I did not know what this woman has put in this bag and that she asked me to throw it away without looking back. Well, 'igbonran san ju ebo lo' I said that to myself and I left off. I threw the thing away and I did not look back. But I just prayed that that act had no effect in my circumstances. God lives!
I told 'Demola this and he kept quiet!
Right now, they may even say I'm mad or insane, well, thank God for giving me one of the best brains around. I just hope my message drums to those who make policies not only in education but also in government. Because I know, we cannot just inherit stupid silent institutions from murderers and robbers of the past eons and call that wisdom of esoteric principles and entrenched that in our body polity - silently!
Yeah, Uncle 'Diran came one day, and told us that Uncle Kunle - a distant uncle the person with whom my brother disappeared and the one with whom my sister died with the foetus of her womb - said that his wife packed out of the house and took his baby benz away and also went away with the twins. Hey, everybody shouted: 'what an abomination!' I was the first to blame the woman, of course, that time the only example of women I had was my step mother and was not a good one so I blamed the the woman but Ademola Adediran Ogunade was quick to point accusing fingers at Uncle Kunle and said some things that made everyone at the table (uncle 'Diran liked talking to us whilst we eat although water should be around on the table, even though he also always warned us not to be talking at meals. Uncle 'Diran liked pepper a lot in the soup! Pepper and Pork!) Well, I replied 'Demola at the table and told him that why should you be saying such a thing about your uncle, well, 'Demola was not alive enough for me to thank him for sowing a seed of doubt. Actually, with all the wisdom of we Yorubas we still find it right to cover wicked wrongs and when I say wrongs, I mean greatly wicked wrongs not ordinary wrongs that are easily pardonable but wrongs that lead to loss of life! We like covering wrongs done by our kins, as long as it is our uncles and sisters and brothers and nephews, we will cover it up. Even though that wrong had resulted in tears and unhappiness for some people, that time I was a 'true?' Yoruba son, telling and disparaging 'Demola for saying such a thing especially when we were eating. But the events that unfolded itself afterwards in my family made me to change my mind about some of our traditions. Until my brother 'Bunmi Ogunade, who gave me money for JAMB and who was dearest to me of all my mother's children disappeared, I was still a good Yoruba boy thinking that 'Bunmi would come one day (except its necromantic counterpart - yeah, they can do anything in this world, especially those kabbalistic people, well, I'm ready for them!) and until 'Dewunmi, the only sister I had died with the foetus of her womb, then I jettisoned the Yoruba traditon of 'ba wa' even though that 'ba wa' spelt doom and sadness to others.
Uncle 'Diran later told us that he will be going to the funeral of Chief Taylor's mother and therefore we should take care of the house. Actually, the kind of freedom and season of ease I enjoyed at Uncle 'Diran's house was nothing compared to what I enjoyed with any other family member. Uncle 'Diran went for four days and the 'house became ours!' Thank God, 'Demola had just taught me how to ride his chopper ('Femi my stepbrother and friend had one, but my step mother forbade him teaching me)I took that opportunity to practise what 'Demola taught me. I rode and rode, I went almost everywhere in Ring Road and the funniest part of it was that when I was coming home, I tripped on a stone and I fell and I got hurt on my feet and of course the cut or the wound was glaring. Well, no one expected Uncle 'Diran to beat me when he came back and I did not expect him to beat me either for according to 'Ronke, if I broke his choice glass he did not beat me she did see any reason why he would beat me when I hurt myself. Hmn, contrary to expectation, he was very annoyed when he saw my legs bruised and saw my feet also bruised. Hey! I tasted hell that day. He beat me like nothing else. I was surprised, this man is the best example of a freemason I had ever seen. This man, was the only uncle of mine who apologised to me for not coming to our aid when my step mother was maltreating us when we were young, this man when he had a bad turn in his fortune took it with grace and even warned me one day that I should not say because I made it in a hard way I should make life hard for another. This man when I had no money to eat at Ogun State University and my father was not ready to give me any money took me to his pension place and split his pension money with me. Hmn! I had made up mind a long time ago in his house anyway to be a mason immediately I got married. This man was to me a great inspiration. Even though I don't share some of his life's aspects and I don't believe in some of his doings. But the example I had from this man is enough for me to know where I belonged!
My reader will want to ask me how I finally got registered at the University of Lagos after two years: Well, the story goes like this, my friend, my class mate when I was at JOGS (I better not mention his name for I found out that people who were one way or the other connected to my story die abruptly especially the glee with which one of my classmate told me my principal died was enough to tell me so many things are happening - moreover I just hope people have not gone to change and obliterate my records in my secondary schools and my universities). Yeah, this my school friend asked me and said 'Debo you know now for the past two years you have not be allowed to do your registration and we have advised you as an Ijebu son to do what you can do Ijebu wise to make sure you do your registration you refused basing your fact on the fact that you are a Christian. I am sure you've fasted and prayed for two years and nothing happened. Look, those who are not one inch as brilliant and intelligent as you are are graduating and yet you are there telling me you don't do juju? 'Debo, I can't allow you to continue like this, we have suffered together, I've seen you begged for food, seen you washed cars and carried cement to survive and in your quest to break the bounds of poverty, somebody somewhere said he is your HOD and refused to register you! Hmn! 'Debo, think oo' Well, I was taken aback by his speech and before I could say anything he said: 'Yeah, 'Debo, I want you to do something for me. I want you to teach me something in a primary school, close by, I want you to be there at 8am. Oh! Today, sebi you will sleep at my place, then tomorrow morning we will go together and you will teach me. Well, readers, as we were going the next day, I did not know that this guy had made arrangement for an Alfa to meet me at the supposed school (do you know the school - Italupe Primary School - where my public formal education started, of course, Baba Olopa started my education and that was not public.). At the school, he confessed then to me that he actually told one man who is a powerful Alfa to come and help me and that this is religious and had nothing to do with Juju and that he had told the Alfa about my life story and the problem I am currently going through and because of that I should please respect him and listen to whatever he had to say. Men, I was caught pants down, I couldn't refused his 'good spirit' and moreover I was a curious personality I wanted to know what this Alfa could do that my prayers and fasting had not been able to do. Well, immediately he finished speaking I saw this man in a muslim calico coming in front of us. Immediately he saw me he started smiling and I wondered and before I could say anything, he told me that my friend had told him everything about me and that I should not worry he was not going to charge me anything and that he would just give me something to drink but in fact if he gives it to me I may not use it but that I should drink it now, and immediately they called ologi they bought ogi and mix the substance inside ogi for me to drink. My dear readers, I drank the mixture and before he left he told me that he has seen that I am a very stubborn person. And that even though I am stubborn I should be cool sometimes and even though I am in the right I should not argue too much and just allow events to unfold itself to my final vindication. I nodded my head and I said, I know I am stubborn before thanks to my zodiac sign that I used to read when I was in primary school. And that if not that I was stubborn I don't think I would have made it academically to this stage anyway. Well, I drank the stuff and that same weekend I told my friend that I would like to visit Mrs. Eperokun who helped me changed to the University of Lagos and whose house I usually stayed whenever I was at Ibadan. When I got to Mrs. Eperokun's house, the husband (a former registrar of Unilag) saw me and said, you haven't you finished or are you doing your youth service? The wife replied, this one, he has not been allowed to do his registration for the past two years. The husband said: 'what?'He immediately gave me his card and said I should see the current registrar the following Monday.
I went to see the registrar and gave the registrar his card and told the registrar my problem. The registrar was very annoyed and pissed off and very hot on his seat he was shaking he couldn't believe my story, he couldn't believe that such a thing happened in the school! Well, after about four days, Mrs. Eperokun told me that the registrar said the HOD told him I should change to another department! I was in my final year, my result was not even near probation, yet this man told the registrar that I had to change to another department! According to what Mrs. Eperokun said, it was when he was threatened that they could take a legal action against him that he reluctantly told the registrar that I could come for my registration.
Readers, that was how I got registered! Actually, I lost those two years, very painful, read, study and wrote exams with nothing recorded for me. Some years later when I taught accounting (on a part time basis) my student used to be surprised why I came to class without books yet I taught everything from my head.'ada ni loro fi agbara ko ni' Yeah, of course.
How did it happen anyway, actually I had not done well, in the first
semester exam (in my own estimation anyway) in the third year of studying accounting and first year at the University of Lagos (I got my letter about two weeks to the exams so I had just two weeks to prepare for exam for which I had only few of its classes), out of about 9 courses including the General African studies, I passed 7 outrightly I had to carry two over. But the second semester was a different story, I passed all my exams. We started the final year I went to collect registration forms like anyone else registered all my courses but my Management Accounting 1 result (Taught by Dr. Imoisili) was not released and in those days if a course was split into two you had to see the result of the first one before you would be allowed to register for the next one and most of the time they split into two separate sessions, such was the case with Management Accounting. I went to the general office of the Accounting Department to check the result for my Management Accounting 1, I was told it was not with them and they also told me that if it was not posted on the notice board that means it was not with them that every course that they typed have been posted but then I can check with the lecturer involved.
I thought about it and I went to Dr. Imoisili, and he asked me of my name and I said Jude Adebosoye Ogunade, and he exclaimed, Oh, you're the Jude. Well, there is no result with me here, have you been to the
departmental office?' he asked, Yes sir! I replied then he said perhaps I should check with the course adviser (Mrs. Ajayi for level 300 at that time), of course I went to Mrs. Ajayi and she also exclaimed the same way Dr. Imoisili did when I mentioned my name. Actually Dr. Imoisili told me that yes, my result is with him, because he checked through his list but told me that he had given all the result to the department and he had no right to tell anybody his result personally but then I should check with the course adviser. Readers that was how I was tossed from one lecturer to another in the whole faculty! At the end of the day, I was told to see the HOD, Dr. Eddy Omolehinwa (Course adviser for level 400 and the Head of Department at that time), I went to him and he said he did not know anything about my unreleased result. And trust me I started praying and fasting for my result to be released. I sent Olumide Bewaji (my first friend in the department) to Dr. Eddy Omolehinwa to beg him to release my result since Dr. Imoisili had told me that my result was with him but that then he had sent everything to the department and that he had no right to tell any student whether he passed or not. Meanwhile, the deadline for registration process was fast approaching, I spent days going from one place to the other trying to get my result posted on the board so that I could do my registration. I told everybody I know, some even suggest that I leave the result and not registered it and I tried to do that but Dr. Eddy Omolehinwa who happened to be the HOD and at the same time our course adviser for that Academic year told me that he would sign my registration form unless my delayed result was released. Well, on the Friday that the registration
was supposed to close (normally, afterwards you had an extra one week within which you have to pay at the cash office and at the same amount pay late registration penalty)
I was in the room that Nature (his nickname, my very useful roommate:
Mr. Sunday Kajola) came to tell me that my result had been released that I passed Management Accounting 1 but then they have closed the cash office and that my registration would then be on Monday since the days is gone already.
Well, I waited patiently for Monday, on Monday armed with my registration forms I went enthusiatically to Dr. Eddy Omolehinwa for his signature to my form but alas he asked me that since the result was released on Friday what was I doing that I couldn't come on that day. I said I saw my result when the offices had closed. Well, he said he had no time for me that I should leave his office, men, the kind of eyes he used to look at me and the kind of way he asked me to go out of his office was just as if I was not a human being.
Well, I left his office and of course wept all the way to Nature and told him what happened, well, people went on my behalf but according to him there is no way he would register for me. Later I went again the next day and I said sir but it was you who asked me to go and look for my result and of course it was because my result was delayed by the department that I was late in doing my registration and in fact I would have even finished my registration on the very first day because I didn't have money for late registration. Well, I left his office and I waited in front of the office for sometime and before long a classmate of mine went with his registration forms to his office and I was excited thinking that if he signed for him he would be able to sign for me too. As soon as the guy came out I asked him if he had gone in to sign his registration forms, yes, and emphatic yes he said for that matter! I was alarmed! I couldn't believe my ears! Definitely some people are playing games with me I thought! Well, the first thought that came to my mind was that, was it because someone had killed or done something woeful to my brother that they were trying to keep me from going up? It was at this time that Ademola Adebayo Ogunade died (In fact the account of what happened was different from what Adewale told the people around and what Adekitan who went with them to the farm said, so said by people living around them that time - alas my reader, Adekitan had been incarcerated before I left Nigeria; for what offence, I don't know - dis life, na wa oo - somebody is definitely trying to cover something) and I thought was someone trying to hide, knowing fully well that if I should become someone in future I would definitely investigate these deaths and disappearances?
Well, I will adequately deal with this story when I get to its part, read on readers! What happened then made me realise something about life, people cause problems for other people and come around to blame those people for the problem they caused them. I did not bargain for my mother to be forced to abandon me when I was five months old neither did I ask my HOD and course adviser not to register me at that time (I mean at the time he was supposed to), but the fact still remains, there need to be checks and balances for the interdependencies among men to integrate real accountability for the enhancement of peaceful co-existence.
I've forgiven all of you, believe it, I'm a very stubborn person with deep determination, when I say something I mean it, believe it, I've forgiven all of you. And in order for me to forget, I will change my nationality, change my face, my vocal cords and even my gait.
So, no problem. It is just that I need to make you realise some salient truths about life which the craze for ambition and obnoxious competition have removed from the psyche of mankind.
'Demola's mother was divorced when he was 6 years old.
That was what 'Demola told me anyway. Only that I came in contact with so many 'friends'of Uncle 'Diran who sometimes spent weekends with us. There were many of them, beautiful 'aunties'. One was very close to us and usually buy candies for us whenever she came around.I could remember vividly when he asked us to read Yoruba to her, she was surprised with the ease and accuracy that I read Yoruba texts(she did not know that I finished nearly all the series of Fagunwa before leaving Primary School.I know it might be because of the fact that he knew whilst she was with our 'Daddy'she might not be able to read her books (she was in a higher institution that time) and in order to kill two birds with one stone, she told us to read some books in Yoruba into cassettes for her. She loved my voice on the cassette I supposed. For she preferred me reading into the tape recorder than the rest except ocassionally when she allowed 'Ronke. I remember that she asked us to read Agbalowo meri and the Incorruptible Judge and one or two other books.
But of all our 'aunties'. Aunty 'Lola was the most loving and faithful. Then one day, 'Lana came home and told us he would be having a birthday party and he would be inviting some friends.Actually I was not interested in the party but because I am 'Lana's brother, I had to support. So we scrubbed everywhere, washed everything and the d-day came and we had a lot of people 99% of those who had never come to say hello to 'Lana at home before (would the father allowed it anyway?). Well, the party went well except that after the end of everything and during the appraisal of it they mentioned the fact that instead of me to dance to the beat I was dancing to the song. 'Ronke said that it is the beat they dance to and not the song, I
said hmn? Then 'Ronke took it upon herself to teach me how to dance.My stay in Uncle 'Diran's house came to time up. My Daddy only wanted me to stay there in order for me to finish my first year in School at Eyinni and the day I was leaving I could see genuine tears dropping from 'Ronke's eyelid. Ronke, my cousin, very hard working, I cannot forget her. She would do all the work in the house without getting tired! She was also a sprinter! She won many accolades at St Annes that time. Of all my cousins, it is only 'Bro 'Dewale that surpassed 'Ronke (in my opinion and estimation) in industry. Adewale Adebayo Ogunade was (I don't know now) very industrious. He was always doing something. That guy was a horse and his uncles (especially Uncle 'Soye used him to the fullest - those are the people who practise what I term 'destructive capitalism'). Adewale would go to the farm and spend hours and when he comes back will spend hours washing cars, I used to admire him greatly until I found him culpable in the death of Ademola Adebayo Ogunade, and when I asked him that why didn't you show his father the corpse of 'Demola Adebayo Ogunade he told me that henheh what about 'Bunmi, where is 'Bunmi, go and find where 'Bunmi is before asking me such a question. Thank God what he said reinforced my suspicion about the whereabout of 'Bunmi. Of course, he knows he could not lie to me. I once caught him reading a book on how to lie confidently and when he saw I was excited about the title of the book, he became very annoyed with me. Nevertheless, Adewale Adebayo Ogunade was very industrious.
size=4>UP JOGS YEARS
I left for Ikangba Housing Estate, I had told my friends earlier that I would be leaving Eyinni High School soon and that I would be going to the Ijebu - Ode Grammar School. Taiwo Olununga said her mother had wanted his twin brother to attend that school except that it was not a mixed school. Well, I had already told my friends, many of them, that I would be attending the school but when I got to Ijebu - Ode, my step mother said otherwise that I should not attend that school that if I should attend that school I would become stubborn and would one day come to beat her at home. I laugh inwardly. Well, my father determined not to get me to Ijebu - Ode Grammar School went to all the schools with my very good academic records and transfer certificate, yet none of them took me. Actually, immediately my father left home in search of school for me, I also immediately knelt down and prayed that God, you knew I had told my friends that I would be attending Ijebu - Ode Grammar School and this step mother had infested my father's mind with a contrary idea, please God, I don't want my friends at Eyinni in future to see me and ask me which school I am and I will reply with an answer contrary to what I had promised them. Readers, God answered that prayer! My father went to almost every school with my very good result that my former school principal did not even want me to leave school in the first instance. My father and my step mother had to plead with Mr. Jeje before he reluctantly allowed me by giving them my transfer certificate and according to 'Bunmi, Mr. Jeje could not see any reason why they would want to remove such a brilliant brain from his school. Well, my father used three days in getting school for me without success and I not relenting in my prayer. Until the fourth day when I overheard her telling my step mother over the meal that he had finally found a school for me and what school: Ijebu - Ode Grammar School. The same school that my stepmother advised him against. How, she asked, my father replied that he was actually tired of looking for school for me when he was told by Mama Ntantebo that the Provost of the Anglican church was looking for him. And when he got to the provost, the provost asked 'Mr. Ogunade, we have been looking for you, I had called several times, where have you been?'
My father then told him about his predicament in getting me a school! The provost said what! Why didn't you tell me, according to my dad, the provost took the telephone and called the then principal of Ijebu - Ode Grammar School -Mr. Kehinde. According to my dad, the provost said he must go and see the principal of JOGS and that was it. Mr. Kehinde did not even look at my result talk less of checking my transfer certificate for according to him the anglicans started the school and therefore he could not refuse anything from them especially when the order comes from the Provost. Yeah! I praised God when I heard about this stuff. I was very happy, very happy. I became a student of Ijebu - Ode Grammar School.
The principal asked me to go to 2P and of course, I did not know where 2P was, so I asked my fellow students where 2P was and they showed me a building and told me that it is housed in that building and that one of the two classrooms on the ground floor was 2P. I looked on the upper door frame I did not know whether they wrote 2P or 2D it was between 2P and 2D and I decided to enter that one first and whatever; so I entered and I told them I was going to 2P they said I should go to the next class I got to the next class I greeted the teacher and I told him I was looking for 2P he collected the slip I held in my hand held it up in the light and read 2P and said yeah, the principal asked this boy to come to this class 2P oh, 2D he said. So that was how I became a class pupil of 2D instead of 2P and I became a student of Mr. Deme (Demegah) or whatever. He bacame my class teacher and he happened to impact positively on my life thereafter.
After about two weeks in school, Mr. Kehinde died in a fatal motor accident and was replaced by Mr. M. O. Adedeji (as God would have it, the former school principal of my dearly beloved brother 'Bunmi at the Ijebu - Ife Community High School). During the periods I was a student of Mr. Mensah Deme or Demegah we all affectionately called him Master Mensah, he was the eldest person in my school.
He was particularly taken aback several times by my behaviours and characters. Of course when I ruminated over my characters in those days, I was nothing short of an angel(courtesy 'Tunde) even Tunde Adams used to call me Saint 'Debo (I had not yet been baptised that time so I was not known as Jude). I would sweep every dirt away from the class, remove every dirt from the class, tell my class mates not to make noise and that it is good for
them to read their books instead. I would separate people when they fought telling them that it was not good for them to fight in school (readers thanks to Mr. Jeje the principal at Eyinni High School who inculcated discipline in me). And one day when Master saw me separating people who were fighting, he
told me he did not know the boldness I had in going between two people who were throwing blows at each other to separate them. He asked me if I am a Nigerian at all. He told me to go and ask my mother properly where I
am from. (he said it jokingly anyway and that time, I hadn't known yet, who
actually my mother was).
One of the things I did immediately I got to Ijebu - Ode Grammar School was to pay courtesy call on all previous prize winners when I was not there. Omotayo Balogun (a medical practitioner now) did me that favour. I asked him to take me to the person who came first overall and then to all the prize winners in our arm of class. He mentioned everybody's name and took me to them one by one and deep in my heart whenever I shook the hands of any one of them I would say, now I know you, I have come to play my own part in the competition, let's see how we would fare. I went round and round, I was introduced to Femi Oke, who took the prize in English year before, I was introduced to 'Wonderful Jesus (Adeleke Semowo) He attended Ogun State University with me and whilst he was there he was called by no other name but 'Wonderful Jesus' why, he used to preach with a T - shirt on which the text: 'Wonderful Jesus' was embedded. I was introduced to Okobieme who thenceforth started supplying me with Rosicrucian Digest when he saw that I liked what I read from it the first time, I was introduced to Anthony Ejorh (a medical practitioner now),
Tokunbo Omodein, Dare Kuku (who later became my very close friend and also a medical practitioner now), I was introduced to Mabinuori and many other I better stop mentioning people's names. In those days, I loved academic competitions it was when I got to the University that I realised that some get their laurels by not working for it that I stopped being in competition with anybody. I now compete with myself and my goals of striving to leave the world better than I found it. Of course, I cannot forget Niyi Alatise who once caught me reading a book of psychology, he was surprised to see me reading psychology and I told him my story and that I did not know myself and I need to know myself and hence I read psychology textbooks. He was surprised that how could I be reading a book meant for university students when I was just in second year of second cycle institution. From then on whatever I do he would say I was using pschology!
Well, there was a day we were on the farm and lo and behold there was an assembly bell urging us to go to the assembly hall for literary interaction. I said what was that Niyi said I should go and attend that he had to finish his ebe (ridge)and I said since I was new I better leave my ebe for the assembly hall. When I got there I saw the senior students asking questions from contestants on the dais and throwing unanswered questions to the audience on the floor. I was surprised when they asked the contestants representing form four and form three students where the Queen of England lives and nobody was able to answer it. I raised my hand but quickly put it back but Otule, a very brilliant senior student noticed my hand out of the whole lot in the assembly hall and told me not to put my hand down and answer it. Of course I couldn't resist since all eyes were then on me I was surprised to hear Uwe Uwe Uwe from the background when I gave the correct answer and the clap of applause from Otule and later the students. From then on...everybody in my school looked on me with mark of respect. Another thing, I was very rebellious in school, not because I could speak English, of course 'Femi Oke spoke and wrote better English than the rest of us in those days. But I was very rebellious because the senior had the knack of punishing us anyhow. Yeah, that was the paradox I could not reconcile in myself in those days, here I was being maltreated at home and yet could not do anything about it and yet when I came to school I shout and condemn every inch of maltreatment I see being metted out to any of my friends or colleagues at school. No wonder I read psychology books to know myself. Yeah, I had a partner, Niyi Alatise, as soon as we saw any maltreatment around, off we would go to the principal to report it, then the whole school decided to descend on us (the senior students only anyway - form three to form five students). Then it came as a rumour that the senior students had planned to deal with me and Niyi Alatise. On hearing this we went straight to the principal and the principal had to call an emergency meeting and warned all the senior students regarding us and promised expulsion to anyone found beating or maltreating me or Niyi Alatise. That was it, we became untouchable for the periods we were in school, I and Niyi Alatise and thus helped the other students some breathing space. Later on, some of the senior students also became my friends when they realised that our concerns were geniune, especially when they realised that I won many prizes in the speech and prize giving day following.
That was how I became integrated into the camaraderie of JOGS. Actually, I had attended a mixed school (Eyinni High School) prior to my change to Ijebu - Ode Grammar School, therefore comportment with students was somehow different. In those days we used to have Youth Corper to teach us something in the School (I was also a Youth Corper myself years later at Egwuena Girls Secondary School, Abiriba). One of those youth corper was Mr. Ademowo. This man opened our eyes to the corrupt practices of our leaders. He used to tell us so many things, for example he told us one day that how can we be exporter of oil earning 18dollars per barrel and exporting over 2million barrels per day and yet be suffering. That was early 1983. He exposed the ways and manner in which our currencies were siphoned to foreign accounts. Told us that Umaru Dikko stole up to 2bilion naira and that Akinloye even had his name on a Champagne bottle.
Mr. Ademowo really told us a lot of things. He taught us Bible knowledge and made us believe that for anything to be good in this country it should start from us that we should forget those people at the helms of affairs that they are corrupt already and that there is no way for them to change but any change to effect must be effected by we the younger ones and therefore we should all in our capacity study hard and not think of ever using shortcuts to anything even wealth! He brought Gideon version of the New Testament to us and since I love Jesus the Christ and also appreciate Mr. Ademowo I decided to read the new testament from cover to cover. I did. It was a very exciting experience. I could not believe there could be such a man like Jesus the Christ, and I braced up my mind to be like him no matter what my step mother did to me.
Having classes with Mr. Ademowo was an exciting experience, would even go to tell us the stories behind the Bible stories. I used to answer most of his questions. Of course, we were majorly taught new testament. And since I had begun reading and memorizing so many passages of the New Testament I had no problem in always raising my hands and always answering his questions correctly. Then one day he gave us a test.
A lot of the other students did badly and he came to beat them. Then he was ready to deal with this person he raised up the script and said: 'I am sure this person cheated, how can someone get 100/100 in Bible knowledge.' 'Hey, the whole class shouted'
He said: 'Who is Adebo Ogunade, I'm sure this person must have copied directly from the Bible.' I raised up my hands. The whole class shouted 'No sir' this one is brilliant ooo. and also immediately I raised my hand and stood up and he saw me, he quickly answered and said: 'Oh sorry sorry, I didn't know it was you' and he said, that is the good thing about participating in the class. If Adebo had not been participating in the class now, I would have thought he cheated thank you Adebo for making me proud. I was happy and I beamed with smiles. Later that week when my father came back from Lagos and I showed him my script he said, 'Hey, how can you get 100/100 in Bible Knowledge.
Well, readers, wait until I get to the story of Anthony Ejorh who scored 101/100 in Mathematics, I will get there soon.
The same story came to my mind when I was at the University of Lagos, actually the first final year that nothing was recorded for me because my HOD refused to sign my form.
There was this Taxation Lecturer (Adjunct) who was a CPA and had the habit of coming to class almost every two weeks when we were lucky. He came to the class after missing about 4 of his classes and started calling attendance.
I was sure that time that he wanted to poke me and to make jest of me that I was not coming to his class (that time I had started having this feeling that there was conspiracy to affect my career whether positively or negatively, I did not know by which ever group of people, I didn't know, I had decided long time even before I left primary school, to put my destiny in my hands.).
So he came to class one day and started calling peoples' names, he had called about 15 names and was looking at their faces and stopped and started asking others if he had seen them in his class before he asked about two students who were known 'lay-abouts' and of course they could not deny it and he came to my turn and said, 'and you I've not seen you in my class before were you at the class the last time and did you fill the attendance sheet?' 'Of course yes' I retorted, he said what is my name, I told him and he said but I don't seem to see your name on this list he said and I immediately told him the number of my name on the list he was taken aback and Olumide Bewaji (that guy, we did greatly together at Unilag - we will get to the story later on)
shouted 'Computer.' I shook my head silently and I told myself, that this lecturer did not know the person he was dealing with, if not for my financial incapability, I would have even passed my CPA then. Well, I didn't say anything afterwards. After the class I thanked Olumide for his compliments and he said ok, no problem 'who doesn't know that you're a computer.'
It was about this time that I was introduced to Rosicrucian Digest, and it became my usual readings. I started my journey into certain aspects of esotericism that time and I was avaricious.
There was hardly any new week that I did not ask Victor Okobieme for a Rosicrucian Digest, I really learnt a lot of things. There is no gainsaying to the fact that whatever I am today, the Rosicrucian Digest that I used to read in those days helped me a lot in my times of adversities. I learnt a lot of spiritual and temporal issues. Thanks to those who thought it wise to produce the Rosicrucian Digest. One of the things I learnt and which Okobieme taught us is that we should not necessarily be calling people whenever we are in the class so that we would not make noise we should just concentrate our minds on them and they would look at our direction and we would gently ask them what we wanted instead of disturbing the class by calling their names. It was then that I realized that people can affect other people with thoughts, and I remember the words written in Isaiah: No weapon that is formed against me shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against me in judgment shall be condemned. I then decided to always read 'and every tongue and thought that shall rise against me in judgment shall be condemned' for I realize that people can also attack you with their thoughts!
There was hardly any new week that I didn't ask Victor Okobieme for a
Rosicrucian Digest, I really learnt a lot of things. Victor continued to bring the Rosicrucian Digest to me and I used to read them all. I started practicing some of the things written in the Rosicrucian digest. I should honestly say here that whatever I have become today, the Rosicrucian Digest that I used to read in those days played a very great part. Then one day Victor brought a book like pamphlet and on its front page was the picture of Jesus Christ (I wonder where people got Jesus Christ's picture or even drawing anyway for he was unsung when he was alive so, no artist would have made any money drawing him and of course, there was no photography, so what? Well, I heard about the shroud of Turin and I've read about it but some of these stories are so old that you would have to be very careful in believing it. More or less the reason why I am writing this biography now so that everyone involved would be able to justify and testify and not wait until some of them died before writing a biography, only those who have something to hide would be wondering what use is a biography now!). Well, I saw the pamphlet and I read it: Mastery of Life, I was fascinated, I wanted to be a Master of Life of course, I immediately told Victor to borrow me this book but he said that was not the original book and that unless I become a member of the Rosicrucian sect I might not get the book to read I said henhenh! He said yes, then I went to think about it and I told myself that I liked what I read in the Rosicrucian Digest, so what is bad in becoming a Rosicrucian when I told him to tell his father I would like to meet and discuss something with him, he said ok and after some days, he took me to his father, when I got there, the father was surprised to see a small boy wanting to be a Rosicrucian, he was surprised and he told Victor that he thought it was one of our teachers who wanted to be and I said no it was me! He refused, he said I was far too small. He said at least I must be 18 and that I was not yet 18 and therefore there was no way I would become one. I pleaded with this man, but he refused! I wept yet he did not bulge! I pleaded for some time and later I went away from his presence. When I got to the house that day, something told me that sebi they said Jesus Christ is one of those personages that achieved mastery of life and I could pray to Jesus Christ why couldn't I just pray to Jesus the Christ to also make me a master of life. So I knelt down and I prayed to Jesus the Christ telling him what happened and why I needed to achieve mastery of life. But then, after that incidence, Victor stopped bringing the Rosicrucian Digest to the school.
It was at this time too that my step mother became a member of a church called Celestial Church of Christ. Founded by a man called SBJ Oshoffa from the Benin Republic. Then she forced everybody to attend that church, only my father did not attend. He stuck to his Anglican Church. Well, I was baptized and I was asked what name I wanted, of course they took us to a river to do the baptism and though she had told me to look for a name to use when I finished the immersion (since then I had been baptized twice in two different churches anyway, the first one when I got to form four and I started fending for myself, I was baptized with the Deeper Life Christian Ministry and when I met the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Togo several years later, I became baptised again in Ghana), that was when I thought and prayed and decided on the name JUDE the reason I chose that name, I will not tell anybody.
The celestial church of christ inculcated in me the act of praying fervently, going for night vigils and the like. It was there I met so many friends and those of whom are still my friends today except that they, like me, have also found their own personal church. And what did we not drink at the church: Holy Water, Green Water and the rest, she made us drink everything. Not only this, it is a must we had to eat the Ipese or what have you? It was also at this time that I became close to 'Femi Oke, 'Femi Oke had a lot to offer in terms of electronics and books. I availed myself of such opportunities. He would borrow me Nick Carter to read, James Hardly Chase and the Pace setters. He didn't read African Writers.
I introduced him to that. He introduced me to Nick Carter, as for James Hardly chase's books, 'Dapo, my other elder brother had them in bulk, but you know you can't have everything so we used to exchange books. There was this guy called Kayode, who lived close to Iya Oke's ('Femi's Grandmother's house), this
guy really dealt with 'Femi's electronic gadgets, he would open them up and sometimes repair them. 'Femi Oke also taught me how to read fast, I think I used to read very fast until I met 'Femi Oke, this guy would finish a page of pace setter in less than 2 minutes.
I used to wonder how he did it but then he taught me and we started competing on how to read fast with adequate comprehension. Thanks 'Femi, you really did not know how you helped me considering the bulk of household work I had to do. Me, the 'houseboy'.
Not far from where we lived that time was the Soga family. Dotun Soga and Dolapo Soga. I think Dolapo is the sister. The way I used to like that girl that time. But I dare not show any feelings if I didn't want my step mother to beat pluto out of me.
But then I became a regular caller in their house. As for James Bond films, they had them in bulk, we had no video that time and because their mother had a poultry, whenever we had to go and buy egg I used to arrange with 'Dotun the time I would come to watch the films.
Uncle Diran had videos, so he had introduced me to watching films. Actually the first film I ever watched on video (not on public television) is the Godfather and I loved it, perhaps that is why now I preferred Mafia like films to any film now who knows.
But uncle Diran also had James Bond films. So the ones that I did not watch with Uncle Diran, I watch with Dotun Soga. But their video was not VHS and I couldn't borrow film from anywhere to watch on their video tape recorder. Well, that was when I saw the horror of Idi Amin Dada. Accidentally it was at this time that Mr. Ademowo taught us Bible Knowledge and I appreciated more what he said. It is now that I really know that of course the colonial masters must indeed had their own embellishments. But dictatorship in any manner is bad!
There was this Senior of mine in the secondary school called Monday Ajah, a very brilliant but needy student. Whilst I lived (although maltreated) in a good cemented house with better amenities, Monday Ajah lived in a mud house. But the nobility of this guy was so great that whenever he saw me he picked me up in his Bicycle.
He had a Bicycle and he was Kuti's House Prefect that time. Monday Ajah used to wait for me sometimes and sometimes went late to school because of me because my step mother would not allow me leave home on time. Monday Ajah, where ever you are know that I have goodwill towards you and I wish you the best in life.
It was later I told him to always be going whenever it was 7:30 and I did not show up. Monday Ajah, was a faithful senior. I appreciate him.
On a sweet afternoon when the soothing African sun was all smiles there was another bell to come to the assembly hall. Actually it was nearing the end of the third term in my second year in secondary school when we got to the assembly hall I looked up the daiz and immediately I saw this guy, I did not really know him well, I was still somehow new in the school
but he was looking at me with his eyes fixed on me and meanwhile Mushafau Adenola (my darling senior friend) was yelling, who is Niyi Alatise, if you are Niyi Alatise come to the daiz.
But alas, I had left, also this time, Niyi Alatise on the farm. But there was this boy beckoning me to come to the daiz. Beckoning to come to the daiz. I said I am not Niyi Alatise and what do you want me to come to the daiz for ( that was what was on my mind). But because Mushafau Adenola looked at me with one stern countenance, I immediately went to the daiz
and when I got there I told them that I was not Niyi Alatise, he said no problem, what is your name I said Adebo Ogunade, he said, sit down there and you will be the representative of the class two students for this quiz competition.
Alas, the guy who beckoned me to come to the stage I later knew to be Anthony Ejorh! Who became my close friend afterward, we were even together at Ogun State University where he read Medicine and I read Accounting.
So we had the quiz, I and Anthony Ejorh represented Class two students and Bolaji Osho (I had two Bolaji Osho in my school that time, one that was light in complexion and tall and another one that was short and dark in complexion - I will tell my reader a very strange story about the one that was dark and short in complexion later on - ).
The other person who represented the form three boys I've forgotten but was it not Olanipekun, I can't really say or was it Taiwo Adebanjo, I've really forgotten. Well, we had the quiz and the manner with which I and Anthony Ejorh dealt with those form three boys, they will never forget in the academic lives.
We beat them hands down. At the end of the quiz competition, come and see the way the boys mauled us with Uwe Uwe Uwe, it was an exciting experience, Mushafau Adenola became too proud of us, he started feeling out temperatures touching us on the forehead and the neck and asking which one of us was the hottest, that we were too hot.
Well, that was how I became an admirer of Mushafau Adenola, I really liked him, even when he left school for University of Ife, I really missed him and I used to go and visit him there when I was at the Ogun State University. I think he read Material and Metallurgic Engineering.
Yeah, I told you I will tell you about the other 'Bolaji Osho, this guy, was my friend, one of those acquaintances I used to borrow books from, gura and joke with. Then one day, he lent me a book which I did not return on time, this guy had to come all the way from Isoyin on a bicycle to Ikangba where I lived to collect the book.
Of course, I assumed he asked people about where I stayed, that time the oldest of us should be 15, and I supposed he was not fifteen that time. So you imagine a boy at that age to come and ask for a pacessetter book with me.
Well, he did not meet me but he left a note for me and in that note he wrote that if I love myself I should make sure I returned the book the next day or see the consequences. Of course, I had the habit of lending another person anybook I had once I had finished reading it, so I had already lent the book to Da costa (another school mate of mine who lived close by). I had to
go to Da costa and told him the owner of the book had asked for it and I must return it. Well, the next day, this guy was surprised to see me and the book, he said, 'Debo you are very lucky indeed, if not you could have seen what would have happened to you.' I said 'I don't understand you, I think we are friends' 'Oh, and what do you mean by I will see the consequences aren't we friends?'
He said he thought I had sold it and asked him, why should I sell something that did not belong to me and even that I would not sell my own books. He then said I should forget it. Readers, this guy one day when they were in form four and we were in form three had to warn our Technical Drawing teacher not to beat him on the head (Mr. Akindeinde had the habbit of beating students on their heads), he told Mr. Akindeinde that if he didn't want to carry a dead child he should not beat him on the head, Mr. Akindeinde refused to listen to him and when Mr. Akindeinde came to his turn, he beat him on the head! True to his word, 'Bolaji Osho died before the end of that day. The school was turned into turmoil. I did not come to school that day (I had been sent home for school fees), I did not even come the next day. It was later I was told what happened.
Then my mind went to my last encounter with him (dis world, na wa ooo).
At that time it was the habbit of students to make jest of their parents in school. It was something like a fad I supposed, but I didn't engage in such acts.
Amuzat Mukaila and Gbuyi Oduniyi (he was good in Maths that time) used to poke one another in class a lot that time. I was not particularly at ease with that, though sometimes they did poke at my father I didn't mind them anyway and never replied
But because they were my classmates and good academically, I used to endure them, I was particularly close to Omotayo Balogun and Segun Erule more that the rest of the class. Of course we were the three people who rotated the first, second and third position. I don't even think I ever came first in that class, I was usually second or third.
How could I ever come first with all those heavy maltreatment and work at home.
Well, one day they started their jest again and Mukaila mentioned my mother I said what, you mentioned my mother? I was really enranged and I warned him to stop any jest on my mother if not I would report him to the class teacher. Of course I reported him but the class teacher said I should poke his mother too but I couldn't do it. But when Mukaila saw my countenance he stopped.
But Gbuyi said: 'Ki nin gan iwo nikan lo ni iya ni- sorry there are some things I won't translate-(none of them knew that time that I really did not know who my mother was and because of that I was more the less very annoyed with them, how can they insult and make jest of the person I even did not know), but I got very annoyed and it took Omotayo Balogun and Segun Erule, it could have resulted in a scuffle between me and
Gbuyi. Later that day, I thought, what must have made Gbuyi to think he could make jest of my mother when the person that started it had stopped? Was it because he did better than me the last time in maths? I was not happy. That time I had not known my mum and I usually didn't take it lightly when anyone poked or made an instance of insult on my mother as they all did.
So I made up my mind to be closer to Omotayo Balogun so that he could teach me Mathematics for he was the best student in my class that time in Mathematics.
I got to Omotayo Balogun's house and I found out that he had elder ones who were good in Mathematics and even his sister was a maths teacher! I was very happy. I also found out that he had a lot of African Writers, then whenever I was sent to buy something from Ita Ale, I would make sure I branched at 'Tayo's house to collect an African writer and to work some maths. That association with Omotayo yielded good
result for me. I had 85% in maths, I could have even done better in my rush to become the first person to leave the class I forgot to do a particular question that was worth 15marks and which I could solve easily. Well, even if I had done it, I couldn't have won a prize (it was the third term) in Mathematics, people like Anthony Ejorh and Niyi Alatise had 100 and 99% respectively. Even, Mr. Odusina had to give
Anthony Ejorh one more mark for doing so well, so he got 101/100 in Maths! Well, I came second in maths in my own class not overall. Omotayo Balogun came first with 96%.
That was it, actually, it was the third time and we were preparing for the third term exams. I came quickly to school early one morning and I wanted to read, I hadn't read, my step mother would not allow me to read at home so I had to borrow a note from Olarenwaju Shittu, a class mate of mine. Actually we had two teachers both of them student teachers who taught us Social Studies since I had targeted social studies as one of the
prizes I wanted to win, I had to find a way of reading my note and the other note. So I did not go to the assembly hall that day instead I told 'Lanre Shittu to allow us to go to the Arts Block (1938 building) to read instead, and so we started reading the same note together and as I started reading I noticed that whenever I wanted to turn over a new leaf he was still reading and later he asked me if I read so fast and I said yes but that
Femi Oke read faster and he told me to explain what I had read and I told him verbatim, he was surprised and he told me he reads the same line twice and I asked who asked him to be reading the same lines twice he said his dad. He asked me how did I learn to read so fast comprehensively, I told him first my brother told me to be reading without saying the words out when I was in primary school and also that 'Femi Oke taught me how to read
fast and that we used to compete who read faster and he said Hmn! And I said yes, later he told me that their own social studies mistress told him to read a particular place
that the place will come out in the exam, I said 'true?' he said yes, and I asked why, he told me that he told his teacher that he had promised his dad a prize in Social Studies. I said Hmn uuhmn! He said yes, I said, I would not want to read with him but since we are going to read the same note I will read but because I was Christian and because I would want him to collect his prize in Social studies if that question come out on what you ask us to read
I would not do it so that you can collect you prize, he was amazed, he said true and I said yes. So we taught ourselves social studies and we went for the exams.
When we got to the exam hall I saw the question he talked about I was really surprised, but I kept to my promise, I did not do it. and he was one of those who won prizes in Social Studies, I came fourth instead. I was satisfied anyway. But then, that act made 'Lanre Shittu become my friend! He was very happy when he collected the prize, took me to his house, introduced me to his mother and sister (he had a beautiful one) and his brother who loved to write.
The same thing happened to me when I was in my final year at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School, Olumide Olayinka came from Federal Government College Odogbolu when we were in form four, that was the same form and year that I started fending for myself, it wasn't easy for me to be going to work in the night and be studying at the same time.
I had to worry about what to eat, what to wear, books to buy, how to pay my school fees, how to take my bath (I sometimes spent days without taking my bath anyway) etc. So that year I didn't win a single prize. But in form five, Mr. M.O. Adedeji, told me to come to the boarding house free of charge,
Alas, I had the opportunity to read and study well without worrying my head or working for what to eat or wear and the like. So in form five I won 'his' prizes: Economics and Government! Especially the government, he was very annoyed called me all sorts of names and to crown it all said that meant he had disappointed his dad because he had specifically promised his dad a prize in Government. I was very sorry, when I heard that, We had had chats together
on how his dad turned his life around when he was becoming wayward at FEGO, how his dad would cane him 12 lashes every weekend and how even though he would eat at home from his mother's yet the father gave him 15naira every week. Well, I had already told him how I was suffering to cater for myself when I was in form four and how I got only 5 naira for myself per week from my father and that not regularly, I thought what should I do to this boy.
Well, I told God in my prayers and as God would have it, those guys went to Mr. Omoboriowo to change the list of people to be awarded the prize of form five to form four, so he won his prize even though it was recorded in my report sheet that I came first in Government (I did not bother anyway, who would ask me about the discrepancy). Later when I told 'Dare Kuku (he became closest to me later on) what happened, he told me to go to the principal and that they should collect the prize from him and I said no, its okay, the main thing after leaving secondary school is to get to the university, I have the admission letter to one. That was all. 'Dare Kuku couldn't believe his ears. Well, that act did not make him to be closer to me, but I just felt he respected me a lot later on and when I told him two years later that I would be going to Unilag on transfer, he shouted, hey 'Debo don't go, from frying pan to fire (I thought to myself, this guy did not know how I was suffering here at OSU), well, of course I did not listen to him (Only God knows what he saw), he should be a lawyer by now anyway or he told us he would want to be a judge first. Actually, I couldn't call my stay at Akoka fire, it depends on how I looked at it; perhaps it was, but then I had exposure to so many things, and I became broke less.
The climax of my second year of secondary school and first year at JOGS came about 2 weeks to the end of the third term. It was the norm of the school to give the best behaved student prize to the Head Boy of the school. That time it was the turn of 'Tunde Mabinuori. Brother to Yinka Mabinuori.
But my Ghanaian class teacher had seen in me something to push up for, had seen a kind of thing that some of my teachers at that time had not seen, that I guessed I saw myself a little bit; a bit of promise I should believe. I was normally forced to doubt that time if I was a child of promise.
My step mother and my financial handicapability used to make me doubt that a lot. But this Ghanaian teacher did not doubt this. This Ghanaian teacher saw it and embraced it. According to what Mr. Odushina (our darling Maths teacher, he was an old student of the school, younger and at that time closer to us than the rest of the teachers) told some handful of us later on. Master Mensah, argued and on the verge of tears that this time the best behaved student should be given to Adebo Ogunade and not to 'Tunde Mabinuori the Head boy as was the practice. According to Mr. Odusina, almost every Nigerian teacher refused, sticking to the rules, the tradition, Mr. Odusina continued that Master (as I affectionately called him) cite a case of fighting he had witnessed that the Head boy of the school was involved in and that if they had to talk of discipline, I should be awarded the prize. Well, according to Mr. Odusina, the principal bought the idea when Master mentioned that I was the person the principal of the school had warned the seniors not to touch or maltreat. Later, some of the Nigerian teachers bought the idea and of course all the Ghanaians and the Indian and Pakistani teachers also decided to award me the prize.
But later along the line, they came to the agreement that I might make some enemies along the way since I just came into the school and would just come and win their coveted prize like that and they decided that instead they should divide the prize among each arm (we had five that time). I don't know if they still do the practice now, it was from the year 1982/1983 session that they started splitting the best behaved student's prize among the arms in the school.
That year I won five prizes at the speech and prize giving day. I won a prize in Agricultural Science (I won a book called Farming as a business, I later saw a copy of that book at the Library of Ogun State University some years later when I was a student there.), I won a prize in English (of course, Femi won the first prize and also a prize in Literature, my prize was the book translated into English by the Great Nigerian Writer 'Wole Soyinka, The Forest of a thousand demons - the original was written in Yoruba by another
great Nigerian Writer: D.O. Fagunwa "Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmola" -), I won a prize in Yoruba ( a book called 'Oleku' by Akinwunmi Isola), I've forgotten the next book prize, I can't remember right now, but I also won the big prize, the Best Behaved student prize. A cash prize of Ten Naira that time, it should be about 1000naira now anyway. That tells you how inflation has affected the Nigerian Economy.
That prize, was the prize that made me to do what actually made me to have the opportunity for a University Education and thus, more exposure to learning.
That was the reason that up till today I respected that my Ghanaian teacher a lot, if not for him, only God knows what would have happened to my quest for learning in a country like Nigeria where getting even a day's meal was a battle.
Years later when I came to Ghana and I decided to pay back and work for people free of charge and sometimes when I was broke, charging peanuts, people thought I was nut. I am never an ingrate, I knew Master was an old man, the oldest in my school that time, perhaps he had passed on.
If I couldn't say thank you to him personally, I could say thank you to where he came from perhaps the person I would help or assist might be his cousin, child, nephew or the less. Thank God for stereotypes about the Nigerian anyway, it made me have time for myself sometimes.
Thank you Master! The noble act by that Ghanaian teacher was enough to ensure my continued academic life. In fact, despite the wickedness harbingers by man's undeveloped, poorly developed and underdeveloped ego, there are still angels in the world. So, Master Mensah became that Angel. How the whole thing happened will come to light very soon as we entered form three.
Of course, I'd won many prizes which had gone with only a well done
(thank God for that at least). I was not expecting anything less anyway.
But usually whenever I came home with prizes like that you should expect
my step mother to be more aggressive and demanding.
Yeah, I had to be given more work to do. It was also at this time that 'Bunmi and 'Dapo my two elder brothers left home. 'Bunmi left home for
the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) and 'Dapo left to work at the
Federal Inland Revenue Board of Nigeria.
I was then left alone to face the tumultuous task of the house. Actually
when they finished secondary school, they stayed sometimes with my daddy
and worked with him. And according to 'Bunmi since our daddy had no
concrete plan for him, he had to leave and according to 'Dapo, he had to
talk to our Aunty: (Aunty 'Bimpe) before he got the job at the Tax
office in Lagos.
I had to struggle and prayed my heart out of the long third term
holiday. I was happy when we finally started a new school session.
Form three brought me in contact with the first Aryan descendants that
taught me: Mrs. Javaid. She taught me Mathematics and I enjoyed her class a lot. That was my foundation in Mathematics and it was very helpful. The fact that I know mathematics today was not only due to my association with Omotayo
Balogun and Mr. Aderibigbe
but also the fact that Mrs. Javaid became my class teacher in form
three.
Mr. Ogundipe taught us Economics and I tell you he made me fell in love
with that subject. Mr. Ogundipe knew Economics very well. He would come
to class and write a concept on the board and would tell us to just use our
layman's knowledge and think of what the concept might me.
I loved this method of teaching because it enabled me think
critically, come and see the way guys would be giving various definitions,
descriptions, he usually did that for about 10 minutes whenever he introduced
a new topic.
Mr. Adebanjo (la so so) taught me Literature in English in Class two,
the same teacher taught us Biology in Form Three and Chemistry in form
four and five. He was the only teacher that taught me throughout my stay
at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School.
Mr. Adebanjo had the knack of teaching us with cane, I mean electric
wires, his special kind of cane, I didn't get beaten unless the whole
class had to taste it for making the class dirty or something.
At home, of course, the story continued. Worked like a horse without
resting and eat little like a toddler. I guess the food I was given that
time was to make me live and work for them. I was sure if they had their chance they would have decided not to feed me at all whilst they extract the best they could from my energy. Thank God I survived!
That time my daddy had one or two things to do in Lagos so he came home
every weekend. Whilst he was away of course, I saw more maltreatment
than when he was around. He couldn't do anything about it even when he
was around. So my father was very happy about my Best Behaved Student
Prize (Cash Prize), so he kept it in his wardrobe and told me that
whenever I needed something I should ask him so that he could give me part of
it.
Monday Ajah had left school he had finished and passed out of school,
therefore no occasional ride on his bicycle again, that means I had to
be walking all the time. My walking made me come in contact with 'Tunde
Adams he was a small boy that time and two years my junior at school
and Da costa who was to become my class mate he had change to Ijebu - Ode
Grammar School and of course, I had met him before he came to ask for
space at Ijebu - Ode Grammar School with his mum. And we had become friends, and as God would have it he was asked to continue in 3D my class. So we became closer.
He lived close to Tunde Adams, my own house was a bit far from theirs
but we stay around the same vicinity.
Then one day at school I saw Tunde vomitting and crying I went to him
and asked him what happened of course he replied he was sick, I took him
to the health centre, bought drugs for him (I had asked my father to
give me part of the prize money I won earlier in the week so I was still
enjoying it) and softdrinks with which to take the drug. When the
school closed that day I hailed a taxi(me hailing a taxi, thank God for that
cash prize and even not that Tunde was sick and I wanted to get him
home on time - he told me he couldn't walk - I wouldn't have taken a taxi)
and we went home I was wondering on our way home thinking: definitely I had to alight on the way if not, if my step mother sees me with taxi only God knows what would happen so I told the taxi driver to make sure he dropped off Tunde at home and I told Tunde to ensure that the taxi drop him in front of the house, so I alighted on the way and used my legs for the remaining journey back home whilst the Tunde went with the taxi.
The second day I was happy to see Tunde in school, he came to me
smiling and told me that his mother would like to see me. I said, what? I
couldn't come, woe betide me that time if I spent later than 2:30pm
before getting home, we closed around 1:45 - 2:00pm. I told Tunde that I
couldn't come. Yeah I told Tunde that I couldn't come.
But the next day, here was Tunde again, coming to me and smiling, he said that this time around his mother maintained that I must come with him and he should not come home except with me.
Well, I decided to go and I had this boldness that told me that what was it anyway, I would go and whatever would happen, should happen. I got to Tunde's house, nice house, the mother was not at home as I expected I met her sister anyway, and Tunde introduced me to his sister and told her that I was also in class three. Her sister was in class three at a girls secondary school. Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School. On seeing me the sister was very happy greeted me with delight and disappeared into the kitchen.
She reappeared later with sandwiches after which she prepared fried rice and set the table for me and I was invited to a sumptuous meal, she then formally thanked me for assisting her brother. In fact, I just did not tell them that time, Seyi Adams' (of blessed memory - she died in the same aircraft with Claude Ake, the renowned Nigerian writer - some years later) sandwiches and fried rice were the first food of the sort in my life. Hitherto, I had heard about them but never tasted them. My step mother prepared only Jolof rice sometimes.
I became a close friend of the family afterwards and I did not know where the courage came from I just forgot my stepmother and the house, I made 'Tunde's house my first point of call whenever I left school. So with Seyi Adams always preparing sweet meals for me and I spent my time playing with them, learning with them, they in fact became friendlier than my step siblings at home.
It just happened one day that my father came back from Lagos as he used to do and at the table, my step mother narrated how she had been justified for not supporting me to go to that school (JOGS), her reasons being that she guessed I had started joining bad gangs that I had started coming home late and that my countenance was changing for only God knows where I get the money I was using to take care of my body. Of course my father asked me why I had been coming home late and because I did not want to let them know (I remembered the Ijapa and Aja's story) where my source of new well - fed countenance was coming from, I replied that lately the school principal had been asking us to weed the grasses, of course, we just resumed the school and when students came back from long vacations in those days, they usually came to meet heavily grown grasses and small bushes and of a truth the principal asked every class to take its share in the weeding and the clearing of grasses and bushes. Though at that time consequent to the fact that I enjoyed immunity from punishment from the senior students I sometimes left my portion uncleared for other people to clear them. Instead I usually made my way to the Adams.
My father replied that he would drive me to the school on Monday and chat with that principal who made me stay back in the school to weed. Yeah, Monday came and my father dropped me in front of the school and drove off. He did not come as he said. In all honesty, my father believed in my good behaviours at school, I could perceive that silently he wished me well and believed that I could never go wayward but to act to better my condition he could not, perhaps because of other influences, perhaps of my step mother's.
The week rolled on yet, I still made the Adams' my stopover, and I still went late to the house.
The weekend following my step mother reported me again and this time my father looked at me with a questioning look, I pretended as if I did not understand, well, he promised my step mother that he would go to see my principal on Monday.
On Monday morning my father dropped me off again and left. I thought he would not come after all and I told myself: 'thank God he drove off again'. Alas, he came back this time; they just rang the short break bell and lo and behold, Victor Okobieme came upstairs and said the principal would like to see me (We had gone upstairs to the Biology Lab). When I looked down I saw my father's car, my heart went straight on a very short recess, I was short of breath.
I climbed down the stair case as I was about to enter the administrative block, I just prayed silently in my heart: 'God please teach me what to say'. When I got to the principal office (he had actually been defending me in front of my father that I was one of his best students and that I could never go wayward) the principal said, 'yes, this boy I know him, he was one of my very good students and there is no way he would be guilty of what you are thinking he is' 'Ngbo Ogunade ki lo so fun 'ba re?' I told the principal exactly what I told them at home but added that I intentionally stayed back in school in order for me to learn for I would do all the work in the house and whenever it was time to learn my step mother would put off the lights in the house and would say everybody should go and sleep, sir could you please tell my father to tell my step mother to be allowing me to read at night after I finished the household chores' (Readers, what I said, really impressed the school principal to the extent that later that day, he called the form five - final year - students to their usual place of serious talks towards their exams - under the Mango Tree in front of his office - How I got to know this will be narrated very soon) all I could see was the principal's mouth opened for few minutes and closed. Later he turned to my father that did he hear what I said, immediately my father tried to defend my step mother and the principal said, that I am one of his prize laureates and that I love books a lot and that there is no way I would ever go wayward, he even called Beatrice (the principal's darling secretary) to bring my dossier for my father to see my impeccable academic records. Later the principal asked me to leave. I left only for the principal to see me later that day to ask if I knew 'Bunmi Ogunade, I said yes, he shook his head I did not know why, he asked me again, are you from the same father and mother I said yes, and that I am the last of the conjugation between both of them and that 'Bunmi was the first born and I had two other elderly ones apart from 'Bunmi.
The principal went straight to his house. Actually the principal went to tell his family about me and about the fact that 'Bunmi who was his student at Ijebu - Ife Community Grammar School had a brother in the school and that person was me. Later that day, the principal's children including his nephew came to me and started asking me questions about 'Bunmi, they told me so many tales about 'Bunmi's exploits at Ijebu - Ife. They mentioned particularly that during their visit to Ijebu Imusin for a football competition a fight ensued between the students of their school and that of St Anthony's College and there was this guy who was brandishing a UTC cutlass with which people had already been wounded. According to them whilst everybody was running helter skelter, they were amazed at the courage 'Bunmi had to face the guy and actually wrestled the cutlass from him and thus the assailants became the assailed. From that day on, I was usually welcome in the house of the principal and moreover, as I got to know, the school principal taught Geography and I know that 'Bunmi loved geography a lot, he managed to get three credits two passes and had an 'A' in geography. Later when I met 'Bunmi one and half years later, I related everything to him, he was very excited and happy. But he took the Ijebu - Mushin episode when I recounted it to him with a pinch, I was shocked.
Actually, I did know what 'Bunmi was, but I did not know to what extent. I could remember a case in point when we were at our house in Ikangba, a big rat
(Ekute) appeared from nowhere, and everybody started running after it to kill it, 'Bunmi told all of them to stop and from where he was he just threw his cutlass from that distance and phew, the Okete became a spoil.
So I started staying late in the school most of the times, my step mother dared not ask me why I came late again.
The first term exam came, I passed all my exams very well, except physics, I scored 20%. I wept, really wept, my class mates were happy and said at least I now have a weak point. I shook my head that these guys did not know that I had no private teachers like them and neither do I go for extra classes somewhere. Well, during the two weeks holiday 'Dapo came home from Lagos for the holiday and saw my result in physics, he was surprised and said, but you were supposed to know physics what happened I said I did not have any book that my father refused to buy books for me and that some of my class mates do the assignments inside the recommended textbooks. It was then he remembered that 'Bunmi came home with some textbooks, he went to 'Bunmi's locker and opened it (he was the only person who dared do that) and brought out Nelkon and Parker, New Biology, and Chemistry's Lambert. I was overjoyed. During the holiday I devoured Nelkon and Parker and I waited eagerly for the second term.
Of course during the second term I came second in physics in the class. That time we did overall only in the third term. Omotayo Balogun came first in Physics.
Towards the preparation for third term I stayed back as usual one day disturbing one of the senior students to help me solve some chemistry questions. The first question he asked me was that 'Won't you go home' Oh! home, I said, hmn, the principal had solved that problem with my father' Henh! he said, so you were the person the principal was talking about to us!'. I said 'hunhun! The principal talked about me?'. He then narrated what I had already mentioned in one of the preceding paragraphs.
It was this fateful day we went to the physics lab to take physics lessons, actually the 3P students had just finished their classes as was sometimes the practice, they sometimes spent time copying something from the board after their periods thereby delaying the beginning of the next class.
I had this place I love sitting and lo and behold, Tokunbo Omodein was there still copying something from the board, I immediately told him to stop and collect the notes from his colleagues, to which he replied: 'Iya e' 'What!' I was very annoyed, of course I did not say 'Iya e' back to him but I really wanted to beat him, I was very annoyed, I had not known my mother that time whether she was dark or light in complexion I did not know and he sat down there and called 'Iya e' I was very annoyed, of course he started running away from me and I was running after him to fight him but the whole class asked him to stop since they knew that I did not like people mentioning my mother in insults and jests. That day, I did not listen to Mr. Goel, I was busy planning in my head on how to deal with Tokunbo academically, I thought, Tokunbo had never said any unkind word to me before, why did he say that, was it because he got the highest in both physics and chemistry during the second term exams (even though the overall result was only recorded in the third term report sheet, we, among ourselves usually knew who got the highest in all the six classes)? I told myself that I would make sure that I won one of the prizes and that I would not allow that insult to repeat itself and that I would make sure I read and study Physics and Chemistry very well so that he would respect me and not insult or make jest of my mother again.
That was it, I started asking people how to read overnight, because in order to increase my hours of learning after school and household chores I need to be able to read late in the night even wake up in the middle of the night to read since I had no one to impart anything to me except the ones the teachers did in school and some of my colleagues had private teachers and coaching classes they attend.
'Demola, my second cousin who stayed with Iya Ntantebo told me that I could just take Nescafe, I said what is Nescafe he said it was like tea but I knew there was no way I could get money to buy that so I decided to use the strength of my mind.
So for two weeks prior to the exam, I borrowed 'Demola's previous year's chemistry notebook (he was a year ahead of me at JOGS), and I read and study.
Third term exam came and it was at this time that I became a friend to 'Dare Kuku, whenever we had a test or an assignment, 'Dare Kuku would want to come and see my scripts and of course, almost everyone of us liked doing such a thing. It was then that 'Dare Kuku told me to watch Tokunbo Omodein that he was very diplomatic that he had a way of influencing the teachers with his marks, I said ehen? he said yes, I said ok, thanks for the information.
It was that we had our exams, but because I did not have enough time to read my physics note I did not know what to do, but I prayed in my heart that God you know I wanted to read but because I had so much to do at home in terms of household chores, I pray that you help me to pass this exam and also that I win a prize in it. Well, I got to the school early that day and I quickly took my notes to read and I concentrated on it.
I remembered I paintakingly took my time to draw the thermometer and to grade it very well using a ruler and also one or two other things. And as God would have it, the thermometer was one of the drawings we had to do and I did it with the adequate gradings. Of course we were asked other questions which I answered very well.
We had Chemistry exams and I saw not so much a pleasant look on Tokunbo, and he asked me if I knew the answers to some of the questions, I said yes of course, I did not miss a single question, he was sad, he told me that he missed a question. My mind quickly went to what 'Dare Kuku told me about 'Tokunbo's diplomacy, I was very ready.
During the week, we were asked to come to the chemistry lab, we had our own chemistry result released first and I was happy I scored everything but my Ghanaian teacher (a very brilliant chemistry teacher) told me that I could not get everything so I was given 98%. Well, I did not argue at all. Then they called the 3P students to come for their results, I intentionally stayed back in the chemistry lab and hid myself under one of the cabinets, I was waiting for them to call names and thank God, nobody knew I was there, except 'Dare Kuku, so as they mentioned 'Tokunbo's name I immediately jumped out of my hiding place, where I had crouched and I shouted heh! Tokunbo, I saw what you got, 97% I got 98% so I will get the first prize in Chemistry. My Ghanaian teacher was surprised to see someone sprung out of the cupboard like that, but when he saw my face he became calm. I said, thank you sir, I would collect the first prize in Chemistry, please sir don't allow this boy to influence you to change your mind, he replied that no, he would not since he got what he deserved.
So I left them and told 'Dare Kuku what happened.
That year, I won five prizes again: I won prizes in Physics (the third prize), 'Dare Kuku and Yinka Mabinuori shared the second and the first prize, I had prize in Chemistry, of course, first prize, I had prize in Economics (I came first in that too), I had a prize in Government (I came first in that too), I had a prize in Agricultural Science again (I came second or first, I had actually forgotten now). That was it.
I was happy so on the prize given day, I was happy and sad, happy that at least I had won the prizes that I had wanted and now Tokunbo would respect my mother, and sad because even though I had these prizes it would not be recognized at home again. So when I was going for the prize the shout of Uwe Uwe Uwe was nowhere in making me happy. I remember I made a kin nin gon gesture when I was called to come back for another prize as I was about to get to my seat.
When I got home that day, I saw hell, I was beaten for offences I did not commit, I was maltreated even more and during the holiday, I witnessed the greatest maltreatment I had ever gone through in my stay with my father. Actually from what I heard from my step siblings, whenever my step mother went to church or the market the people who knew her and knew me at the same time would ask her about me and told her of my exploits and how they were proud that I was the child of their friend.
Well, I struggled with the hardships then one day I was asked to weed the grass whilst I had not eaten the whole day and in fact no food for me, the day before, I ate once, a meagre ogi only in the morning of the other day. Of course I had been suffering like this over the years and all along and I felt I should not take it any longer. That day I wept a lot. Then I decided to call it quit with life. I was fed up with the whole situation. I told myself that the best thing I would do was to end my life. I was ready. I actually knew that the only thing I could do was just to touch the naked electric wire in our house, I made up my mind to climb up the pole and touch the electric wire. I made sure that everyone had left the house and I left the grass I was clearing and started climbing as I was about to get to the last rung, I saw a snake or something like it, I was shocked, and alarmed, what would a snake be doing on an electric pole I immediately climbed down to look for a stick to kill the snake (thank God for the normal fears and enmity between man and some beasts, my life was spared) so I picked a stick up, and I went closer to the pole only to find out that it was not a snake after all, it was a lizard, I said oh, sebi I wanted to die, why was I afraid of the snake, let me continue with climbing anyway, but as I was about to climb the pole the second time something just told me, why should I kill myself anyway, what is happening to me is not the whole extent of life. I should just endure! When I heard this voice inside me I resolved not to kill myself again.
The second and third day, the maltreatment continued. My step mother told me to give ogi to the dogs at home and that since my father did not leave any money, she could not help me either. Before she drove off she told me to cook the ogi in the kitchen for the dogs anyway. Whao, I was perplexed and disturbed, so the dogs had foods to eat and me no food. I told myself that I would do exactly as she said and because I did not want to die of hunger I would just share the dogs' food. I told myself that these dogs should forgive me for sharing the food meant for them. So I shared the food with them and went to my chores, of course, no one was at home. I started weeding and clearing and doing other household chores. Then I told myself that I better leave this house, yesterday I nearly killed myself, why should I continue to stay in this house if I would be provoked to such an extent that I would want to kill myself. I thought about the rigidities involved in fending for myself, and I thought well, since I had read about Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe how they catered for themselves and how they made it to the very top, what stops me from also leaving home. The first thing is life, if I have life I have hope, staying here would not make me love life and in fact I started thinking of suicide actively then. Of course, over the years I have been passively thinking of suicide but then it became more active during the long vacation from form three to form four and I decided that I would leave that house! Well evening came still no food for me I did not know what to do, I was very hungry, I had worked from morning till evening with no food whatsoever and I did not know what to do and went to the room and knelt down and prayed that God you see what is happening, I nearly killed myself yesterday and today too nothing oh God you are involved in the affairs of mankind please do something on my behalf and in fact I want to leave this house, please do something and do not let me fail for the reason I wanted to leave was that I want to make good grades so that I would be able to further my education to the University and also that I would be able to live. I left the room and immediately I got out, it was getting to dusk around 7pm I saw this man, I like greeting people a lot especially those I know, Mama Eleni taught me that! I greeted this guy who had greeted me earlier in the day when I was working, immediately he saw me, he said, heh! Omo nla, I had been watching the way you had been working since morning and I appreciate those who work hard, take this money and use it to buy something for yourself. Whaoo, I was not expecting that! I was perplexed! God answers prayers surely. I went off to buy bread and later that day my father came home too and I recounted all that happened, he was not happy with what happened anyway (of course I did not tell him that I tried killing myself the other day) and promised to ask my step mother about it. Well, of course, lots of things like that and my step mother never got reprimanded. So the next day, I was told to go and buy some books for my step siblings and as I entered the bookshop there in my front was this poem by Rudyard Kipling 'IF' I read it and I started weeping, I said to myself, yes, they were the one who were wrong, why should I allow their mistakes to ruin my life, why should I make them to make me lose my life. I fell in love with that poem immediately and of course I committed it to memory, putting things in my head is one of the easiest thing I can do. I love books. So I said thank God that someone like Rudyard Kipling actually wrote this kind of poem. I told myself immediately that if I love life I must leave that house.
I left the house for Apebi's house! Yeah, I left that place. I left it for them and I told them that they should not think I would not make it in life that I would make it and they would be surprised that I would even succeed excellently.
I left home and when the extended family saw that I left home, they called my father talked to him and my father decided to be giving me 5naira! per week. I really suffered, but then I decided that I would not fail and that I would succeed and in my quest for success I would make sure I passed my secondary school certificate examination in flying colours and I enter the university immediately. I started doing menial jobs, washing cars, working at sawmills etc. Well, just immediately I left, I went to Uncle Diran to tell him what happened and to solicit for his help. He drove me out of his house that he could not help me. (this man, one of the best example of a freemason I ever met, he begged me later! I could not believe that an elderly Yoruba man could beg me. He begged me when I entered the university, he told me sincerely that he knew what we were facing - I and my other brothers from my mother - and that especially me but because he was weak and in a position he was not able to come to our aid. He later did something: there was this time, I wanted to pay some money at the Ogun State University, I had actually exhausted other avenues of getting money and I could not go to those avenues for money again then I went to him, this was a few months after he had apologised to me. He told me he had no money but that we could share his pension. I said, what? {in my mind), you could actually share your pension with me: I told myself, this guy was actually born again. As if he was joking, he took me to Ijebu - Ode, we went to the pension place and there he counted out the money I wanted for me. I was perplexed. I could not believe that Uncle 'Diran could actually shared his pension for the month with me. I forgave him immediately. Of a truth I admire this man a lot, the courage with which he took his adversities when it happened to him! This man, a very good example of a freemason!
I told myself, I would use all the available instruments, except money, I have at my disposal to choose the best woman for myself and that I would look everywhere, I decided to use every intelligence, every cunningness, every smartness, wisdom, and prayers and fasting; as far back as when I was in my second year in the secondary school I had been praying and fasting for God to give me a good wife whom I would be the best husband to, for I felt very guilty about my mother, a kind of 'I was the reason she faced all those troubles' and I was even more determined when I knew her when I was 16 and found out myself that they actually lied against her.(what did my childhood mind not pray and fast for that time anyway, I was filled with noble ambitions, I wanted to be the best in everything I touched, I prayed and I fasted that I would get a good wife, prayed and fasted that I would become a very rich man, prayed and fasted that I would become president of Nigeria, what did I not pray and fast for, thank God for University of Lagos, I would still be blinded by lies by now, my eyes got opened about so many things in life and I stopped fasting and praying for some of those nonsense! First, I had actually wanted to be a virgin!! Can you imagine, a man not wanting to touch any other woman except his wife! Yes, thank God that one of my lecturers who was supposed to sign my form refused to despite reading a very great letter that Mrs. Eperokun wrote on my behalf to her! Instead she was weeping when she was reading that letter, not only was she weeping as she was reading that letter she was sobbing as well, I told myself, shooo, wetin be dis ke, instead of you to sign my forms you were weeping and sobbing, what kind of weakness is this? I told myself, if I ever got myself registered for my final year, I would immediately dis-virgin myself, of course I did it, immediately I got registered for in 1992, I immediately had sex with a woman for the first time in my life (I was approximately 24years old), when I told the lady that I would have sex with her, she thought I was joking until I started and alas, I went to the wrong hole (of course, I had little inkling of what sex was, thank God that sometimes, some boys who were helping the world demystify sex used to show pornography pictures in botteries and common rooms in those days and no matter who you were, as long as you pass to enter your hall you would see it and of course, people like me got curious and I told myself the first time I saw pornographic picture at Fagunwa Hall: 'so is this how they have sex?') Yeah, my reader, she then showed me the right hole and I of course had sex with her and during the week she came back several times to look for me, of course, I ran away and I told her, that I only wanted to have sex for the first time and because she fell into the kind of lady I would want to have sex with for the first time, that was why I had sex with her and I was not really interested in sex, but she came after all afterwards, but later I started putting wrong indication in front of my door and after about three weeks, she gave up looking for me. Readers that was why I decided that even though I had wanted to be a good husband to my wife, based on what that particular lecturer did after reading the letter, instead of her to do something positive, she was just weeping and I told myself even though I would be a good husband and father, I would not give any woman my virginity for I could not believe such a weakness. Readers, do you people realise that I did not blame my lecturers? Do you realise that we are too much in chain even though we are free (that was centuries after Jean Jacques Rousseau), do you guys know that my lecturers refused to sign my forms just because someone, somewhere gave an instruction against a young man whom the lecturers knew even little about to the extent that my lecturers felt incapacitated to discharge their civic responsibilities. Readers, it would be stupid or foolish if anyone of you blame my lecturers, you should rather blame the system, the social stratum, the social interractions and interrelationships that made my lecturers to perpetuate such an ignoble act towards me just because someone somewhere just because he or she belonged to a powerful group, perhaps gave a phone call and issued a standing order that I should not be registered for. Readers, what you should blame them for is that timidity, that lack of boldness for them to do the right thing!
And riches, I was still thinking people get rich through honest hard work! Thank God for the University of Lagos! I became aware and wise about that immediately, of course I was still fascinated by the allure of wealth and I still prayed and fasted for God to make me rich, until I started my Youth Service and I heard that M.K.O. Abiola died! I said what? So someone could still be able to poison this man with all the money he had! I was very pained and troubled by that man's death. Abiola represented, to a lot of Yoruba young men a good example of rag to riches I was even more determined to make my own stories even better (actually Jide's father had told his children that they should not be surprised if I become very rich in future be someone like Abiola, why, well, the first day they told me about the existence of some consignments of soap that need to be sold, was the same day I got buyers for them! Actually, I spent less than two hours in getting some of it sold. They actually had spent several weeks without getting buyers for it. Well, the father was surprised and he asked the children about me - the children were my friends at the University of Lagos, and they told him, and Jide came to tell me what his father said about me. I would not mention their surname, for the father was once a politician and even held political positions in Nigeria. They actually forgot that I was raised by the Ijebus! Not only this, when I started fending for myself, the first thing I learnt was to survive by selling things and doing menial jobs! I had actually been taught lessons by the tides of life, tedious tides for that matter. Actually, I am a very good Ijebu man! Only that the Ijebus did not like my mother for if they like my mother, they would not have allowed their people to trouble my mother the way they did! For if anyone thought he was troubling my father by making his life and children suffer, nein, as the German would say, it is my mother you troubled, for most men put something somewhere and even forgot they actually put that thing there and would look for another person to deposit something with. That is why I like the Ashanti people of Ghana, we should just stop behaving wickedly, the true owner of a child is not the father, but the mother! Or of what attachment is it for someone to nurture something for months, and after wards to suckle that child for months (Was I even got suckled well at all, five months? Amidst fear and troubles!) and years and for you to come around and break the bond between mother and child just for filmsy excuses! The true owner of a child is never the father but the mother! Man, learn!). But then, Abiola died. I was alarmed, I went through deep reflections, very deep ones, well, I still maintained my stands, until I read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged! I decided to change my position on many things and the way I would go about making the world a better place. If Abiola with all his wealth could not get what he rightly won, who was I then to think acquiring wealth would enable make the world a better place. It was then that I had the courage to take Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged to read. Actually, I had been tempted to read that book several times but I was always telling myself that it was too voluminous for me to finish within the short periods I stayed at the Eperokuns. I had read 'Successful Achievements' A series of books in volumes. I studied those books, in those days, apart from the fact that I knew I would eat delicious foods that Mrs. Eperokun cooked, I always looked forward to doing my next study on 'Successful Achievements' when I did my weekend visits and vacation stay. I don't see those books again. But readers, get those volumes if you can, they are great read! Then I was tempted to read Histories by Herodotus, of course I liked it. I had actually thought I had read enough histories. When Mrs. Eperokun saw that I was reading books from her husband's library she immediately let me knew that even though her husband did not object to my reading those books, I must not take them out of the house for he would not like it if any of them got missing! Of course, after reading Herodotus, my appetite was whet for other books in their library and of course, the next one I took was Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Immediately I opened the pages read about the first twenty pages, I was tempted not to put it down, I was actually tempted to take it away, the argument: since it was because they did not want them to be lost was why they insisted that it should not be taken away, I would take it away and return it. Readers, of course, I took that book away and I read it like a textbook. I mean I studied it and later I returned it. I changed my outlook towards life immediately, I fell in love with Ayn Rand immediately, thank God for the internet, for if not for the internet which came years later, I would not have known that there was a movement based on Ayn Rand's ideas. How I wish she were alive now, Ayn Rand, where ever you are: I LOVE YOU! I said to myself, so someone somewhere understands me, understands my inner thoughts, someone somewhere thinks like me and someone somewhere was also against the practice of destructive capitalism! I changed my mind, I actually thought I was lucky to have found myself posted to Abiriba (small London) a lot of my corper's mates thought I was going to die by being posted to Abiriba, but they were wrong, I met not only some good people, very good people and very spiritually powerful people, who told me some salient truths about life, I also met rich and great individuals and I had told myself that it was now my turn to start creating wealth but alas, Ayn Rand's changed all that! I saw life in another perspective. I read Ayn Rand when I was doing my Youth Service and Abiola also passed away during this period of my life. The two events that made me change my perception about the extent of wealth and the evils of the practice of destructive capitalism. In Abiriba, I dined with millionaires, I spoke with philosophers who were unsung, I interracted with spiritually powerful people who would only need a day's thought to change what ever they want to change for themselves or even affect others negatively or positively! Christians do not really know the true extent of what Jesus Christ came to do, that if they should know, they would stop being hypocrites and rather make and leave the world better than they found it. Well, I came into the good books of those Abiriba people when they learnt the extent to which I was trying to make life better for their girls' folks, when they learnt how I taught day and night, when they learnt how I went out of my ways to teach without any other rewards! Some of them like Justice K. K. Ogba, Echeme Kalu and the rest that I would not want to mention now for various reasons became my friends and took time to spend hours chatting with me! I don't know what people have against Abiriba, but whatever the case may be, I approached Abiriba positively and I left it positively, you don't expect everybody in the society to behave in the same way when you have not conscientiously put in place control mechanisms to check excesses and indulgences. So I stopped praying for wealth! I stopped praying for God to make me rich. I stopped praying and fasting for wealth. I started praying and fasting so that God will make me affect the world positively, whether I grow rich or otherwise! I am surprised at myself anyway, it seems some unseen forces are interested in the way I live my life for some things just fall in place in my life. Sometimes when I think about myself, even though I know myself a lot, I am usually tempted to ask myself again: Who am I anyway?
So I started staying at Apebi's house. So when Uncle 'Diran asked me to leave his house, I did not know what to do, I was perplexed I needed help! Help! I did not know what to do, then one day as I came out of the school gate I saw this poster on the wall, there would be a retreat for the Deeper Life Christian Ministry at Abeokuta. I looked at that poster again, I need to pray, go somewhere and pray, can I afford to go to Abeokuta, when I go there how would I come back? What would I eat, I looked at the poster again: free feeding and accommodation, I said henhenh! I thought about it when I got home that day and I was wondering what I would do there! Meanwhile I had hitherto lost faith in God! I had become an atheist. My school mates had started labelling me an atheist, for I asked so many questions about life, why was I not able to help myself, why was it that I have no help like you people in my quest for learning, I asked them so many questions, why was I suffering, I could not get any answer to these questions, and I came about a book by Betrand Russell and Whitehead, I started learning their philosophy, it was also at this time that 'Dewale Ogunade used to come to Ijebu - Ode to tend the farm of Baba Apebi with Uncle 'Soye, they would come on Friday or Saturday and leave on Sunday. I started going to the farm with them. Of course I used to enjoy their company, since they were familiar faces. And we used to work together. When we came back like that, they used to pay me some money and of course, one of the reasons I used to go to their place was the fact that I used to have the opportunity to take my bath. There was no water coming from the tap again at Apebi. Sometimes I stayed days without taking my bath and being with them for two days of the week was usually an opportunity for me to take my bath. Then one day, of course, we used to converse sometimes, uncle Soye said: so you don't believe in God, I said, yes, if there is God why were there sufferings in the world (they actually never realised that I had attempted to kill myself some few months before), then he asked me that what if someone would take care of my education and would want me to practice his religion in exchange for me embracing God and his religion. I was so enraged by that question, of course he was my uncle and I couldn't show it, I told him point blank that of course I would embrace his religion as far as I am getting assistance for my education and immediately I finished my education I would return his religion back to him. He was perplexed by that question and he left my presence (we are so biased in this world, why should you help me because I am a member of your church, why wouldn't you just help me because I am a human being who needs help and instead you attached a string to it!).
So I attended the retreat of Deeper Life Christian Ministry, I still have this little faith in God that perhaps God exists some where even though I profess to my colleagues in school that if there is God I would not be suffering. Yeah, I went to the retreat and Pastor Kumuyi came to preach and some how I felt I should become born again. I was among those who raised up their hands to become born again! That was how I became born again in 1984. I could feel the joy I had when we came back to Ijebu - Ode I started attending their programs and as God would have it they started using my secondary school premises for their programs then I just would stay back in school until the time of the program and of course I would sweep the place of worship, clean the chairs and arrange them properly before the service begins, my argument: since I was part of them, I don't see any reason when I am a student of this school I would not make the place ready for them.
They preached forgiveness at the Deeper Life Christian Ministry and was told to think of anybody I had grudge with, look for that person and reconcile with that person, of course, the only person I had grudge with was my mother! Even though I had read about the divorce proceedings in my father correspondences, why was it that she left me even though the court said she should leave me, why couldn't she disobey the law and carry me one day and run away with me. I was a little bitter towards her in those days. Of course, I had told myself that I would try to look for my mother immediately I left my father's house and if I should find out that it was true I was born by this man through this woman who left me when I was five months old, I would write my story for the whole world to see. (Oh! White man, I love you oo, I appreciate your presence in the annals of humanity, thank you for many things, especially the internet. As for slavery, forget those who are against you! Didn't you have white slaves? I wish people would realise the fact of history that the British were leaving in houses made of thatched roofs and leaves before the Romans conquered them and enslaved them and where are they today, more powerful even than the Romans! We should stop being sentimental! Slavery was a bad thing for the white and for the black. But the British did not brood over their misfortunes but took their destiny into their hands and today they are a great people! Thanks white man for so many things that God has made you to bless the world with. If not for the internet, perhaps someone would have told me to go and bring my teeth for me to join a particular group before my books could be published or they could have even told me to bring a substantial amount of money that may take me years to get! But here is the internet, making me to reach diverse audience with the story of my life. Thanks White people for happening upon the face of mankind - Haaa, you're part of mankind anyway).
I made up my mind to look for my mother, where is my mother? How could I possibly get to know someone I have never seen in my life before! I asked my family members, they also asked people they know and then one of my cousins told me that they have found where my mother was: they gave me the address in Lagos. I said, sho! Me go to Lagos, I've never been there, and Lagos was a very dangerous place to go without any inkling of where you are going. I thought about it critically, I told myself that in fact I needed to know my mum, if it was really true I have a mother and if I belonged to this family! With the address in my mind, I set off to Lagos for the very first time in my life, alone! Thank God for my good brain, I did not take long in locating the place where they said my mother lived. I got there around 12 o clock, and as I got there I introduced myself to the man of the house, he was happy to see me and received me with joy but he told me that my mother was not around that she had gone to a funeral and would only be back in the night if I could wait. I told myself, why wouldn't I wait was that not the reason I came, of course I waited! Whilst in the house, it was a like a compound house with children playing around the street, I could hear several parents warning their children not to touch any of my mother's children for they would want to be beating by my mother when she comes back. I was perplexed, what is happening? What did I hear? My mother beat the parents of those who beat her children? (my mother had remarried and had other children)I intentionally asked one guy who was my age mate about what I heard he said: Ah your mother, you don't know, if she ever heard any of her children crying she would come out to see who beat them, not only would she beat the child who beat her child she would also beat and rain insult on the parent of that child. I said shooo, what is happening? How can someone abandon me when I was five months old and yet would fight anyone who beat her children. Then the doubts set in, perhaps what I had read in my father's correspondences were actually true, the law court forced my mother to leave me behind, so they lied against this woman, I became so annoyed with my father's family so much that I told myself that I would definitely write about my life. Then I waited, waited, and waited, still she did not arrive, finally, she came back around 10:00p.m. in the night and I was so enraged! Immediately she saw me, she said: Oh! Dapo, I said 'this is not 'Dapo, this is 'Debo,' she said, what, 'Debo ooo. And of course, she started weeping, she wept and told me the story of her life, how she met my dad and how she gave birth to us and how Mama Eleni wanted my father to take a wife from Ijebu area and how she objected to it and how she was asked to leave us and pack out of the house and she said 'as God would have if I am coming from the funeral of the person who gave me out in marriage to your father: my uncle, uncle Clement, sebi you can read, read the souvenir plate,' I read the plate, saw the date, of course it was the same day's date that was on it. I sigh! What coincidence. She recounted how she lost her parents when she was in primary school and how she suffered when she was growing up and how she met my dad and so forth. Finally, I told her that I've forgiven her that I am a member of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry and were told to forgive those we thought wronged us and from what you have narrated, you did not wrong me, they actually wronged both of us. Readers, the next day, my mother prepared a meal, the sweetness of the meal was the sweetest I had ever tasted in my entire lifetime! I could see that she was a struggling woman, trying to make ends meet and I couldn't bother her with my own burden, I decided that definitely, I would leave her to be and I would continue to fend for myself! But before I left her I asked her if I could write about what happened to me for I wanted to write about it. She looked at me affectionately and said, write oo 'Debo, write, I am sure it would give you a lot of money because you have strange things to write about.' I shook my inner head that this woman did not really know how great I want to become! I would not even need the money from my book to live I would have developed myself so much that I would be lucrative myself. Immediately she told me to go ahead I immediately made up my mind to do as such.
The normal course continued, thank God for the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, I was morally strict. I was very careful the way I lived my life, I was very principled, I did not joke with my work and study. I applied myself to them with seriousness.
My days at Apebi? Hmn, I would wake up in the morning to sweep the surroundings, and on the day of general clean up exercise, I would take broom and clean even the streets that were not part of my house! I take kulikuli and gari each morning for breakfast, in the school, of course I would gura in the afternoon then I would go to work with Wole Sowunmi and we would wash cars and share the money. In the evening I would take out of the money and I would buy tuo and of course, they sell tuo with a lot of soup. I would be careful not to use the whole soup on the tuo and since I had gari at home I would heat water and make eba to take with the remaining soup from the tuo so that I could be well satisfied of course after making sure I had added some hot water to the soup to make it plenty.
That was how I existed and survived the ravages of the enemies! Well, I did not actually realise that the people around were watching my footsteps and were admiring me silently, and before long people started bringing their wayward children to me for advice, you see, your light can shine where ever you are! I was surprised one day when a woman brought her wayward daughter for me to talk to, that was how I became a counsellor and because I like reading great books, I started putting quotations from these books on my head so that I could use the wisdom in this book to talk to my 'clients' (only that they did not pay).
So I became a walking dictionary of quotable quotes. Most of these quotes are still in my head today, and they also helped me in my adversities.
There were times I would not go to school because my school uniform was dirty and I could not get the soap or water to wash them, as for bathing forget that I had spent days without taking my bath! But my saving grace, I didn't smell! I didn't smell at all! I wonder why!
One day, a boy who just came to JOGS (Olumide Olayinka) asked me some questions about myself, he told me that he admired me and that he wished I was his brother or something like that, he said he could not believe how with all these problems facing me I still managed to be one of the best in the school. He said he has asked people about me and all of them have told him great stories. He then went on to tell me why he left FEGO how he was going wayward and his father came to his rescue by giving him 12 lashes of cane every weekend. He wondered where my strength and zest for achievement was coming from despite all my problems. He then asked me how much my father was giving me every weekend, I told him 5 naira he said what? He could not believe his ears, he said he was sure my father is more well to do than his and even though he would eat at home with his mum and also that his mum would give him money everyday to come to school he was usually given an extra 15naira by his father! I said, I had a step mother that is why, of course he said they have told him that but then how can you possibly survive on 5 naira?
The Ijebus are the kind of people who have found so many ways of dealing with their situations. When some of my school mates and those around me saw the way I was suffering, they started telling me so many avenues with which I could make money without even lifting a finger. They told me so many things, some of them I had heard of as rumors of how people make money and some of them I heard for the first time then. Nevertheless, at that time I was born again, the advices I was given I refused to take. Thank God I did not take them anyway! Yet I suffered in my quest to learn. I never spent any time of my life going to discos. Of a truth I did not like those kind of life. Girlfriends? None in my agenda, in fact I did not allow even my cousins who were females to enter the room I used. Most of them respected that wish except one or two of them who used to sneak inside whenever I was not around.
Then there was 'Biodun Ogunade (a lady) this girl liked sleeping a lot. She would not go to school, was not interested in learning and thanks to the fact that her father was not usually around, she spent almost the whole day sleeping!
Of course, it was during that same period that I became the Chapel Prefect of the Ijebu - Ode Grammar school which necessitated my getting to school very early to take care of the chapel and the assembly hall.
Well, because I stayed in the room that was at the back of the house, whenever I wanted to go to school, 'Biodun would still be sleeping and of course there were lots of disagreement between the two of us that time. Many at times had I forced the door open for me to go to school whilst she would be sleeping in the house, of course whenever I came back from school there would be arguments and disagreements as to why I had to force the door opened. But I was not used to mincing words, I used to tell her point blank that I could not allow her to use her unseriousness to disturb my seriousness. If she was not interested in school, I was. It was that same 'Biodun that told me that she accompanied my brother ('Bunmi) to the airport (of course I took it with a pinch) and it was this same 'Biodun that told my brother how she took my sister to Uncle Kunle for help when she was pregnant! (of course nobody told me that time that there was a lot of things fishy especially when they could not show any of us the dead body of 'Dewunmi or of the foetus!). This life na wa oooo! I just hope that 'ile ko ni continue lati ma gba awon osika.'
I got to my fourth year in the secondary school and I was at a loss of what to do, I was good in all the subjects! I wanted to do everything, but we were told only to do nine subjects, but then the principal of the school quickly came to tell us that those of us in 4K can do more than nine if we wanted but then we would only be allowed to do maximum of nine at the WAEC examination. Before then the principal had asked us to write down the subjects we would love to do and of course what we would like to be in future. Just about that time, I started staying at Apebi's House and I came across an exercise book used by a cousin of mine: Professor Ogunade (R.I.P) and I found out that he used that exercise book (a mathematics exercise book) at the Olu - Iwa College when he was in the fourth year of secondary school and I also found out that then, most of the algebra in the exercise book I could do easily even though I was not yet in that class! (Thank God for Mr. Aderibigbe, Mrs. Javaid and Omotayo Balogun), I said 'hmn! So that means what we are doing now is higher than what those guys did in those days whilst in the same class?' Well, I said 'sebi they said he is a physicist, I was also interested in Physics, I would love to be a physicist but what kind of physicist would I love to become,' it was then my mind went on what I, Remi Ikuesewo, Layi Obasa, Leke Aderohunmu and one or two other friends said a long time ago on top of Remi Ikuesewo's house, we were like saying what we would like to do in future and the reason we would want to be what we wanted to be. Of course, at that time we were in Primary five or six, I could not actually remember the exact class. So when it came to my turn, I said, I would love to be Atomic Physicist, I would love to create a bomb that would neutralise the atomic bomb that some people are using to kill other people, I told them that if I could create a neutralising bomb, of course people's lives would be saved and of course there would be peace perhaps in the world.
Then I wrote down my choice of subjects and I wrote Nuclear Physicist beneath it as the principal of the school demanded. Later that day in the school the principal of the school saw me and said: Ogunade, have you written down what you would like to become in future, I said Yes, sir! And what did you write down: Nuclear Physicist sir! Hey iwo omo yi, Nuclear Physicist in Africa? Hmn, you would require a lot of money to do that, well, he shook his head sadly and went to his office.
What subjects was I not interested in those days, everything, I was in love with books, I wanted to acquire all knowledge. I did almost 12 subjects! In that 4K. I took Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, Economics, Government, Yoruba, English Language, Literature in English, History, Statistics. Yeah, that was all, I wanted to do even more, but when I thought about my financial inadequacies I chose only those ones. And of course, there were clashes and no one would adjust the time - table because of you as I found was done in the University when I got there some two years afterwards. I refused to do Geography, I hope my readers would want to know why I refused to choose geography? Well, the event that made me not to offer Geography happened a session earlier when I was in my third year in the secondary school. Hitherto, I was not used to remembering my dreams and not only this, I rarely dreamt up to that point; but it was when we started attending the Celestial Church of Christ that we were having night vigil one day and a 'prophetess' said now, all the kids must pray for a gift and of course, it was a must, I told them that I did not want a gift and that I was not interested in any gift, but the supposed prophetess insisted that if I have to be part of them I must pray and ask for a gift. And of course, I knew that if I refused my step mother would beat hell out of me, I said ok, I would pray and I thought, of all those gifts they were mentioning which one should I ask for anyway, then I remember Joseph in the Bible, remembered Daniel in the Bible and I said ok, I would ask for the power of dreams. Readers that was it, I started seeing some things I would do the next day even during the week sometimes in my dreams and most of the time even when something would occupy my mind too much, I would just dream of it and would see it revealing itself in the conscious existence (alas, that time I never knew I could pray against any dream that I would not want to materialise itself in my conscious existence - Mrs. Eperokun taught me that years later. Well, because I just got to know that the Principal that time Mr. M. O. Adedeji was also 'Bunmi's principal in his former school and I knew 'Bunmi loved Geography as a subject, and the school principal was also a teacher of Geography, he taught only sparingly at JOGS I learnt that he had to resolve to teaching Geography at Ijebu - Ife Community Grammar School because they had only one Geography teacher. In order for me to impress both of them - my school principal and 'Bunmi, I decided to take Geography serious and was determined to win Prizes in it. So I paid particular attention to Geography, we had the exams and was ready and expecting to be one of the prize winners and lo and behold I dreamt. In that dream, I saw that I had 68% in Geography and I came sixth! What, I was alarmed, definitely I could not win a prize! I was troubled! Lo and behold when I got to the school that same morning, the first teacher I saw was Mr. Sipe - the Geography teacher, my mind went veeem! I said what is happening, of course, I saw him and went to greet him in order to carry his bag for him and as he was alighting from his car (he drove a deep blue volkswagen in those days), he said, oh! 'Debo, omo nla, I would love it if you take Geography in Class four, you really did well in Geography, you made me proud, you were one of those students I would love to see in my Geography class next session, I was relieved a little bit, (you people wait, you will hear another thing soon), so when I got to his office, I was about to leave he said oh please sweep the office for me and as I finished sweeping the office he said, come, let me show you your mark, I would even love it if you could please record some marks for me, then he opened his file and showed me what I scored in Geography, people, lo and behold, I saw exactly what I saw in my dream: I got 68% and I came sixth. Somebody scored 73% he got the highest mark. I was so troubled and disturbed and I told Tokunbo Omodein that I was not going to win a prize in Geography as I thought, he said, oh! Sipe, ma da Sipe lo hun, he gives prizes only to his friends' children! Well, to me I got what I deserved anyway, and whatever, I told Tokunboh that I would not choose Geography the next academic year and I thought to myself, even if I should get to form five and I dreamt that I scored F9 in Geography, was that the way I would wake up and see F9 in Geography? I told myself that was the end of my offering of Geography as a choice of study in my life! Of course, there were other instances of dreams becoming 100% correct in my waking and conscious existence and sometimes 90 something percent correct. We would get to these stories later on, and of course, some of them I may not necessarily write about for they involve scopes that were not necessarily my own! Yeah, class 4K in those days at JOGS was the class of the superbrains! The powerhouse of any set. In that class almost everybody was a prize laureate and if you are not good enough, you would have to find your way out of that class. Not only this, almost every student in that class had private teachers, attended extra coaching classes or had access to extra learning facilities. That was the class that I, who could barely eat one meal a day (except Gura of course); found myself!
Actually, I had started fending for myself, Nigeria that time was going through the repercussions of the brutality meted out to our economy by our politicians and most of 'which' were still around now. I wondered why the military handed over power in 1979 anyway, we were enjoying everything, we kids could go and buy comics anyhow and of course with as little as 15k could buy Geisha to eat bread and take Pepsi with it! (Only those who are well to do can do that now). Nigeria was enjoying sweet prosperity until power was handed over to the so called politicians and within three years we were at dustbins! They really demonstrasted their craziness (to borrow a word from Fela Anikulapo Kuti). I was being given 5 naira every week. Not enough for a day's meal and of course, I had to work menially to support myself and of course, learning must be done at the same time. Since I did not have a school uniform, the old school uniform was nothing but a rag when I got to the fourth year in Secondary School. So, Sunday Adegboyega Ogunade (I just pray he is still alive now!) gave me one of his school uniforms, of course, he was bigger and taller than me, he was then out of school having passed out that year! I was in a trouser (only form four and five students were allowed to wear trousers) but my trouser was baggy like. Thank God wearing a baggy was a fashion, so people generally thought I sewed a baggy! Soon some started calling me 'Debo the baggy but thank God, 'Gura' could not leave easily, so they stuck to calling me Gura instead.
So, my fourth year in the secondary school found me going in and out of school, most of the time, going out to work. I, that love schooling like something, was forced to be 'stabbing' classes to survive, most of the time that my class mates were in the class learning, I would be somewhere working in order for me to get my daily bread. Yet, I was still among the best that year in my class 4K even though I did not win a single prize. It was during this year that I came to know one important truth about life and existence, a truth that greediness and selfishness is fast erasing from the psyche of mankind, what is this truth? Well, before I go to that truth, there was this particular story that happened a year earlier. I was in Form three and most of the time, I had little resources. My mates were usually surprised how I coped. Then one day, I went out of class to go and urinate, of course; and as I was about to get to the front of the 1938 block, I just heard, 'Debo, duro, I am coming to meet you! I looked back I saw one of my class mates, (I would not mention his name here), of course in JOGS you hardly change your class the class you were since your first year in school would be your class until you get to your fourth year and he had been my class mate since form two when I got to JOGS. He said 'Debo, I've been noticing you! You are either 'Emere, or Oso, or better still Aje or you use a powerful Juju. I said, I beg your pardon what do you mean? He continued: 'You see I've been watching you since the time we were in Form two, you came from nowhere and you started winning prizes, you don't even have books, you don't even have a ruler talkless of math sets or do you have T square talk less of a drawing table and in the second term you came first both in Technical Drawing and Fine Art in the class (Nature, - Mr. Sunday Kajola, should come and listen to this guy, he was usually surprised how I passed my Accounting courses - Financial, Cost, Management, Taxation, Financial Management etc. his reasons, I did not even have a calculator! Well, in those days when I was in the University, I was so poor I could not even afford a calculator, I made do with that of Arinola or Josephine Okudolo, my study mates, at times!). Yeah, if my readers would allow me to digress a bit, I clearly remembered that time in the second term, when I got home and my father saw that I came first in Technical Drawing, he said, heh! Your uncle(he had then been close to his brother: Engnr Adedoyin Ogunade) said if a child could know this subject very well, he could make a lot of money as an Architect, well, since children were not allowed to express their minds in the open, I said to myself, this man did not really know what he is talking about, how can I do very well in this course, when even I had to 'gura' Biro (pen) in the class. And of course who wants to be an Architect anyway so that people would go and steal money or get money through Juju means and give that to me to design or construct houses for them. This man did not really know me. I did not say anything and immediately he finished talking, I said, 'as for me I want to be a scientist like Professor Awojobi. Daddy, when was the last time you bought me a pen anyway, I don't even have a drawing pencil I borrowed from friends, and I was moved to tears, then he kept quiet. Yeah, to continue with my class mate observation, he then begged me to tell me the power I used. I said, shoo, wetin be dis ke, I don't have any power except the power of God, you see, I pray a lot, I usually pray in my heart, I started praying from the age of six or even five by myself, and it is God who had been helping me, I don't have any power. He then continued 'Why then is it that whenever the seniors or the teachers were coming to beat us you usually leave the class and it is when they have finished beating us that you will come back to class. I said henh heneh! It was then my mind went through my days at JOGS up to that time and I was really surprised, I never noticed it. It was very true, many at times would the urge come for me to go to the toilet, staff room, something would just remove me from the class to go and do something somewhere and when I get back to the class I would see my class mates with their hands raised up. I came back to myself, I told myself, 'this guy is very intelligent so why is it that he does not perform so much in class, for him to have patiently studied me like this!' Well, he continued; 'I found this out lately and I also started going out of the class immediately I see you going out of the class because I don't want to be beaten. Sorry to ask you those questions and to call you those names anyway, you let's go and ease ourselves and you will see that when we come back, the whole class would be crying from being punished either by the teacher or the senior students.' That was it when we came back to class that day we met our classmates crying and weeping from lashes they just received! He looked at me, shook his head and went to his seat! That fateful day when I got home, I knelt down, prayed to God and thanked him for his protection, despite my strenuous existence. But then, since that day, the extent of my going out of class whilst others were being beaten reduced.
Readers what do you think I came out to realise, what truth came to my head? The truth is that we humans are all the same! We are like computers of the same processing speed. The only difference is the extent of the application programs installed in us. Of course depending, then, thereon, we may perform differently. It was then I stopped laughing at my classmates when they were not able to answer a particular question correctly, I used to do that a lot! But my fourth year in the secondary taught me lessons. I stopped poking at whoever could not answer a question correctly, instead I made up my mind to teach or explain to that person after the class. Of course, almost all the brilliant students at JOGS did that in those days, immediately you did not answer a question correctly, they would just start laughing at you and the teachers did not help the matter either, immediately they asked someone a question and if that person was not able to answer the question correctly they would just find an insult or abusive language on that person and of course the whole class would roar with laughter. However, my adversities at that time taught me otherwise and I changed!
I said to myself, that that particular classmate who could not do well at that time perhaps was going through a particular crisis at home that could not allow him to actualise himself. And when I realised this I was in 4K it was in this class that I remembered vividly a guy we used to call 'Eba Tutu' one or two of them. Mr. Shamma, our Mathematics and Physics teacher used to poke whoever sleeps in the class with the fact that, that person had eating 'Eba Tutu' early in the morning and therefore slept whilst the class was going on. Well, I was lucky, I could not afford to prepare a stew, so instead of eating Eba in the morning, I 'soaked' Gari and used 'kulikuli' to smoothen it down my throat so I rarely slept in the class. But then, one of those 'Eba Tutus' studied Mathematics up to the Masters level at the time when I was doing Part - time Lecturing at the Yaba College of Technology. I am sure, since he passed through JOGS, he must have done even better now (over ten years ago!). That is life for you my readers. Most of us were just lucky to be where we are, we are just lucky to be able to learn to read and write, why should we then oppress another because of our positions? Why do we look down and sometimes too much down on our fellow men, that if given the same resources and opportunities that we had might perform even better than us? One thing that my adversities taught me and which I will take away to wherever I go when I leave this world (Hey! Readers, I'm one of the lucky ones, I came to realise where I come from. Yeah, I know where I will be going when I leave this world, how I came to know this would come to light in the course of this story, so fasten your seat belts!) is that I have to respect my fellow man, I have to be humble, I should not allow humility to leave me. I should respect my fellow man. No matter how I came about my position or prosperity, I have to make sure I make life better for my fellow man as long as it is in my capacity to do that. The Yorubas have an adage: 'Bi ode ba ro se, bo ro ya, bo ba pa eran ko ni fun enikan kan je'. My dear Uncle, Uncle 'Diran Ogunade made me realise this, years later when I was at Ogun State University, that was after he had begged me and apologised to me and had shared his pension for that month with me. How did it happen? I was in Uncle 'Soye's house at Ijebu - Ode one day when 'Dewale was complaining that he would make 'Dekitan stop school for he did not see any reason why 'Dekitan would be going to school and would not be performing well. Uncle 'Diran then came to the room where I was and told me to be teaching 'Dekitan whenever I come home. I said: 'eh, what is that, me, I don't have time, (I was very selfish with my time, I could part with money, but my time, heh! Don't go there, I prefer to spend my time learning and acquiring knowledge than making money), and what about me, if you know the way I suffered, yet I was always wanting to learn, he should learn on his own he would understand, what you should tell him was that he should be studious, who have time to be teaching someone with all the problems on my head, and me who taught me anyway, nobody taught me, I used to read on my own when I was in school and of course I used to borrow books to read' Uncle 'Diran looked at me and said, yeah, everybody cannot be like you, you should not say that because you were able to read and understand by yourself another person could be able to read and understand by himself. You should not say because you suffered to do something another person should also suffer to do that same thing. I was shocked to hear that from him. I said to myself, this man had started scoring pluses with me recently, what has come on him. Had he just realised that truth or had that truth been with him since? Hmn! I told him immediately that I heard and that I would be teaching him whenever I came home. But then, I went somewhere and I thought about what that man said. Was that not what Jesus the Christ did? Even though he suffered, yet he made life easier to live for the whole world. No matter how you suffered to be where you are you must still use your resources to better the lot of your fellow men. What have you done that another person had not done, you had slept in the coffin to make your money, had reduced your life span, had engaged in outrageous sexual immorality, had made riches through Juju means or had stolen public funds? What have you? What ever you had done, you still had to be humble, treat the next person with respect, I mean even your gardener, your houseboy, the messenger in your office, you never know perhaps given the same 'resources' and 'opportunties' that you had, he might have performed better that you are now doing! Nein, men don't learn easily. Oh! I know your logic, your arguments, yes, one time Nigeria's Head of State (I learnt a lot of lessons from the lives of the successful heads of state Nigeria had, I refused to join them in abusing or insulting any of the heads of state in those days, in fact they used to think that I worked for the state - SSS - In those days when I was in the universities; because I see life differently, I know our leaders are reflections of the collective psyches of the generality of the people they head so I thought differently and whilst others blamed only the top, I sympathised with the whole body polity) once taught me that, of course, I was never close to him but his policies and actions made me realise that fact: 'People who are corrupt can only survive when there is atmosphere of corruption' For of course, when you have 'made it' through dubious means you would not want others to make it through the right means by helping them for of course among those whom you helped would be those who would rise up against you later when there are good people all over! So the really bad people who have captured the air waves and are proclaiming themselves as good would not want others who are genuinely good to rise up because they know that immediately these ones rise up, they would rise up against them and of course, the society may be better. This they don't want and in fact they must continue to make the world look harder in order for them to maintain the status quo of wickedness (which we euphemistically call smartness) in order for them to continue being saluted as 'Baba rere baba ke.' Man wake up! You have forgotten that the people who you started calling 'Baba rere baba ke' made you to do that on the pain of death! Cast your mind back to history, remember that you were peace loving until you were conquered by other people from other lands and of course for these ones to show that what they were doing was the right thing, probably forced you to salute them and waved palm leaves when they passed through your streets. Was it not in mankind history when people maimed other people, when people stole other people's properties, when our supposed ancient civilisation was reeled with blood! When tribes conquered tribes and people conquered people. Man, of course you know it was wrong, of course you know war was a bad thing, yet you were taciturn, yet you were timid, yet you could not rise up to tell your children that you were forced to say 'Baba rere baba ke' you could not tell your children with boldness that you saluted 'Baba rere baba ke' just because you were timid, just because you were not able to bring yourself to the fact that showing off in whatsoever circumstances was a bad thing. And thus, man inherited timidity and from generation to generation man pass timidity on to man and of course we praise any thing acquired, not minding how that thing was acquired. We heaped praises on the rich, the famous and the powerful and we cared less if these ones had made many others unhappy because of this. And of course, 'Ka se ka ri mi' was passed down also from generation to generation. Man started competing with one another on the best person, the fastest person, the person who would be able to achieve the best even if in the course of achieving the best, we create chaos in the society, we killed innocent people, yet, we would not see this, we are always on 'Ka se ka ri mi.' Man listen to me, how is the person you were saluting 'Baba rere baba ke' better than you? Doesn't he go to toilet, doesn't sleep? What does he do naturally that you don't do and that you cannot do? So why do you have to salute him like that, you are now a little bit civilised, you are no more in those days when you were forced to salute on the pain of death. You now have democracy, we now speak of liberty, we now speak of freedom, we now speak of equality. So man wake up! Don't continue the way you used to do when kings, queens, emperors, and empresses forced you to salute them for spoiling you! Man look at it this way, you can get whatever they had got! You don't necessarily need to work hard to acquire material possession! You could be lucky that someone somewhere could give you material possession and even great wealth. And of course you would also be rich! The only person you need to praise and that a little bit is the person that have spent his energies, time and resources in acquiring knowledge for the benefit of the entire human race or someone who is doing that. In fact, the truth is, rich people are not hard working! They were just lucky to be part of a particular set of people, born into a rich family, lucky to have lucrative education, or damn just lucky, so stop praising them! So that when they realise that no one even border to salute them, they would think twice and use their resources to help their fellow man rather than use that resources to buy more properties, I sometimes wonder when people could live in marbled houses, drive expensive cars when their kins wallow in abject poverty and yet we say Africa is poor! I do say it to those who happen to be close to me and I will say it here: We are not poor in Africa, there is no poverty in Africa, what I see in Africa is artificial poverty, poverty created by man's inhumanity to man. Africa is blessed with resources. Of course, Ademola Adebayo Ogunade started selling ice water to fend for himself most times and thereby died. Just because some people somewhere refused to come to his aid! Why? Why should I say because of your father's sins I would not come to your aid when I know that you are really suffering! When that boy died and the father came to tell me that he was not ever shown the dead body of his son, I was perplexed and I vowed to write about this in my biography for I was inspired by that boy's itineraries. I was in JOGS, after the principal Mr. M.O. Adedeji had asked me to come to the boarding house free of charge, then I remembered those boys Adekitan and Ademola, I decided to go and give them some money. After I got there and I had given them the little that I could, 'Demola just started singing: 'Good better best, I shall never rest, until my good is better and better best.' I said who taught you that song, he smiled he said his teacher in the school and I saw him picking a clean bucket telling Adekitan that he now has money to buy ice block that he was going to sell. I asked sell what? Oh! He said he would not want to die of hunger since his father did not come regularly again he had been selling ice water to survive. And he took the bucket and continued his song. I went somewhere and wept! I made up my mind that immediately I finished the university even though I did not want to start making money immediately (if you rush to make money, you may marry the wrong woman), I told myself that I would make sure I start making money immediately to help this boy! I was really inspired but then the boy died before I even finished my University education, died because of someone's negligence and lack of feelings and ill feelings towards his fellow man.
Living with me that time at No. 6 Apebi Street, Ijebu - Ode was Adetoun Esther Ogunade, one of the children Uncle Adeyemi Ogunade left behind (I never saw him in real life but Mama always told me in those days that he was a no nonsense man, highly discipline but gentle.) Adetoun Esther Adeyemi Ogunade, lived with all the freedom and liberty she could get. She was very free and did not take too much into religion like me. She also stopped schooling like �Biodun Adebayo Ogunade, more or less and was just loafing around. She gave me a special respect and we were always on good terms.
Then one day she came to me to tell me she was travelling! Actually she had done a lot of travels without telling me and I wonder then why she came to tell me that particular time she was travelling. I had also wanted to invite her to the Easter retreat of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry, so when she told me she was going to travel I quickly told her that I would like her to follow me to the retreat, but she replied she was going to Lagos (Ikorodu) to see her mother�s brother (Maternal Uncle) and for this reason she would not be able to follow me, of course, I had always invited her to church and Christian�s fellowship meetings that she never had the time to honour. She attended Church of the Lord Aladura. So, Esther Adeyemi Ogunade that day knocked on the door and as I opened the door, she looked at me with affectionate eyes, I had never experienced someone looking at me like that before, then she told me she would be travelling to Ikorodu, and of course, I had asked her for some money a week before which she said she did not have and I was taken aback when she said she would be travelling and one of my questions to her was where did she then get the money to travel. �oh, Uncle �Doyin gave me money� she said, but she quickly added in low tone �he told me not to tell anyone whenever he gave me money� and I was a little bit surprised, why would Uncle �Doyin tell you not to tell anyone he helped you? Was he afraid of some people? (I knew little about life that time, I was barely sixteen). �I will be back by Monday� she said. I also immediately told her that I would also be travelling for a Deeper Life retreat in Abeokuta and I would also not be around. Of course, I started wondering immediately that �why was it that time that she told me she would be travelling�, of course, she had done a lot of travelling without telling me and �why did she tell me this time that she would be travelling,� well I quickly dismissed the thoughts from my head. But the way she affectionately looked at me, cut into my emotion and passion and I was like: �thank God she is my cousin and I am a Christian�. We both went our different ways. She travelled and I also travelled. In those days, if you have little fund for travel, you had to take the journey in bits in order to reduce the fare. So I took the journey to and fro in bits. (Oh! The �to -� journey� was in group -� fellowship group - so we had the fare reduced, but I came back alone). I decided to take from Abeokuta to Sagamu and from Sagamu to Ijebu -� Ode. I got to Sagamu and went straight to the motor park to take Ijebu -� Ode bound vehicle and as I was about to enter the park I saw a figure with a face much like that of Esther Adeyemi Ogunade, looking at me from a distance and smiling at me affectionately, of course the figure was among friends, they were talking animatedly and enjoying themselves and the more I moved closer the more the smiles beamed and of course I also smiled and I thought, thank God, she would have money by now and she would help reduce my fare to Ijebu -� Ode and readers, alas, as I was about two meters to where the figure was, the face turned from that of Esther Adeyemi Ogunade to that of another person, of course, I was embarrassed for I was by then few feet from the smiling figure. I immediately branched to another place. Throughout the time I was in the vehicle my mind was on why I thought that person was Esther Adeyemi Ogunade and I was arguing and blaming myself that didn�t I know Esther Adeyemi Ogunade very well to have mistakenly taken her to be another person. But then, my mind was at the same time telling me that I hope nothing had happened to Esther Adeyemi Ogunade and that I was not seeing an apparition. Well, my fear was confirmed when I got to Imose some 45 minutes later: I was greeted with the news that Esther Adeyemi Ogunade died in a motor accident 36 hours earlier. Of course, I shivered down everywhere not only in the spine. Since then when people said they saw ghost I stopped disputing with them. There are mysteries in this world! Believe it or not, and perhaps some spiritual beings were playing games with me as some Christian sects would have us believed.
In those days, I became very gentle about life and I became ever humble, my adversities taught me so many lessons. I found out that here I was not being able to weigh as much as I used to academically before starting to fend for myself, and I thought: �so, perhaps my other colleagues who are not doing well in class are also facing tough times at home (of course I know, most people are not conscious enough to make hay whilst the sun shines and it is usually when it is 3:00 p.m. that most people realize this and by that time, only little sun (lamp) is left for them to impart themselves and their environment (negatively or positively) and of course those who were really ambitious would then go to any extent and sometimes diabolical extent (the remaining 5 virgins could have chosen to kill those ones having oil in their lamp in order for them to have their lamp burning instead of going to those who sell!) to exert themselves and assert their presence in the world. No wonder wrongs abound!) and as such are not doing well in class�. It was just then that I came across the book of Daniel and one of the things I read in the book of Daniel Chapter 10:
1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.
2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
15 And when he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.
16 And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
17 For how can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.
18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,
19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me.
20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.
I read that passage again and again and again! Then I came to the conclusion: this world has been shared (�partarger�) sounds more 'palatable'! The spiritual kingdoms have shared this world and have sorted and ordered who would do something at a particular point in time. Thank God for Jehovah and His Hosts! It then became increasingly impossible for them to continue to hold man into ransom. Raising one and debasing other, making one a king to enjoy pomp and pageantry and the slave to endure pain and anguish! Of course, when Daniel prayed, something had been promised the selected few of the earthly Kingdom of Persia and for Daniel to have answers to his prayers, something drastic must be done by Jehovah so that the Kingdom of Persia would not be able to do anything about the knowledge that would come to Daniel and which Daniel might use to better the lot of his people. Of course, the spiritual kingdom of Persia knew that Daniel would use the knowledge gained to help better the lot of his people and of course, then the people of Daniel were still slave to the people of the earthly kingdom of Persia and from my perception most of the spiritual entities are more like robots! They hear only �go� and of course if there is anything that would stand in the way to the attainment of their goal, they fight it, that was why there was battle in the realm of the spirit. Yes, the reason why we won prizes, became brilliant intelligent, shot into limelight was perhaps because we have been �chosen� 'consciously or unconsciously� by entities that we know not of. Making some people not to have the resources, consciousness, realization, capability and many other things that will make such a one excel better than us (Please watch the �Clash of the Titans�).
Why then do we pride ourselves in achievements? What achievements anyway, achievements that would make us to look down on our fellow man, achievements that would make us acquire more material gains in detriments of other people. Why do we love material possession more than our fellow man? Why do we love non - living things more than living things, why do we, because we want to show off in pomp and peagantry, hurt, kill, maim our fellow man. Instead of us to appreciate humanity and be humanist, we appreciate material possession and thus become materialistic. We pride ourselves too much in achievements, thinking we have achieved (who is an achiever anyway, the one who had plenty resources to achieve little and come to limelight or the one who had little resources to achieve but still able to achieve but never had a spotlight?). As for me; I had told myself a long time ago, I'll never lift up my hand against anyone. What for? For fame - never, for money - never! Man, love your fellow man, for you don't go to heaven to meet the material gains you acquire, you go to heaven to meet your fellow man you hurt, main, kill, betray, blackmail to acquire your material possession: 'Eniyan Ronu'.
That was it, the book of Daniel taught me so many things and from that single chapter, I came to various conclusions about so many things. Actually, I love the people through whom such a truth came and thereby dawned on me. I wonder what people think of the Jews anyway, but to tell you the truth, the Jews have been of more benefit than otherwise to mankind. (I wonder why someone would want to wipe out such a race? Out of jealousy or envy? Well I don�t know. But this is what I believe, if your father wronged me, I won�t take it on you! So why then do we still cling unto bias and prejudices, especially that of the ancients, where the greatest they could achieve in their civilization was nothing but bitterness, was it not that less than 200 years ago, when people killed one another, taunted themselves into feud and lancing just because someone verbally insulted another. So forget about history that will divide the world! Look for the history that will unite mankind, wipe out records of wrongs and hate and instead use this record to propel you to profound care and attention for one another. Therefore cling not again on the records of your forefathers who were not civilized in the mind, who fought wars and were aggressive. Look right now, the world is fast becoming a global village therefore let us live like villagers, and what do the villagers do -� �THEY TAKE CARE OF ONE ANOTHER�.). They discovered so many things, invented so many things and of course, to me their greatest discovery: JEHOVAH! Or was it that JEHOVAH discovered them? And if I should ask: who is JEHOVAH? An emanation of the ELOHIM? Well, I better leave that for further esoteric discourse. And of course Kaballah was one of their best legacies and mind you, some use it for evil purposes; for of course, the essence of dualism of our planet would even make the best thing appear to be evil sometimes depending on which side you approach it: �do not call any one good but God� -� one of their masters once said and of course thank God that they discovered JEHOVAH and to show HIS love for mankind, HE became flesh and dwelt among us, affording someone like me to be able to survive amidst the wickedness, jealousy, envy, selfishness and greediness that pervade this planet.
Of course, I moved closer to God. I was usually the first person to get to the fellowship, on fellowship days, �Wole Sowunmi (that guy, a very ambitious, enduring, responsible and brilliant personality) would bemoan me, reprimand me that why should I leave work and say I am going to church when we have lots to do. I used to wash cars with him in order for us to get our daily bread. Yeah, he taught me the Sine and Cosine Rule and Formula. I was not in the class when it was being taught, I was somewhere looking for what to eat, and I am grateful to him to this day that he taught me that topic in Mathematics. I am sure he will be doing well now, wherever he is, we had prepared for it. His story was close to mine, except that they (he and his brother) had their mother around them. Dear Lady, take good care of your man, don�t allow anyone to come near him, forget about gossips. Don�t trust in it, many have snatched many partners through that method, take good care of your man.
My fourth year in the secondary was the most eventful of all my secondary school years. In that year, I left home. That same year I became born again, that same year, I knew my mother, that same year, I started fending for myself, that same year, I knew the Oresanyas (I will come to their influence in my life shortly), that same year, I became the Chapel Prefect, that same year of all the years I spent in the secondary school, I did not win a single prize and I dwindled to about 11th position in a class of about 45. I will never forget that year.
I came in contact with the Oresanya twins for the first time when I came home from Uncle Diran�s, Yomi, my brother, told me that their school will play a football game with one other school and that it is known that, that other school usually use mercenaries and for that matter he would like me to please play for his school. That was how I went to play the football for Yomi�s school and I came in contact with the Oresanyas. These guys are twins and I am sure they are more original than photocopies, I mean it, you cannot distinguish between them, only their mother can actually know that this is Taiwo and this is Kehinde, Of course, I knew them immediately but it took me some days of acquaintance to do that. Not only this, if you think that it is only in facial appearance that they are alike you are joking. These guys also speak with the same accent, pitch, or what have you, and don�t go away yet, they usually get the same marks in Maths and English (hey, they were never in the same class) actually, it was because the teachers thought they copy and spy one another that they put them in different classes, but no, they are both good academically and when they found that out they nevertheless separated them and of course despite this, it happened in several terms, whenever they add their total marks together it amounts to the same thing even though they got different marks in other subjects. I am lucky indeed to have met, interacted and befriended these twins. The Oresanya family became my family, the earliest and the first family I lived with partially when I left my father�s house for Imose. (Apart from the Oresanya family, I also lived with the Oyekan Family, Kuku Family and of course last but not the least: the Eperokun Family) Mr. Oresanya was a lecturer at a Public Health School, a very wise man, he earlier on thought I left home because I was indolent or lazy, it took him just one week to change his mind. This man was very philosophical too. But I was surprised one day that he did not know the Bible very well (perhaps he feigned it) well, nevertheless, I learnt a lot from this man. He was one of those people God used to build me. So, the Oresanya Family became my family not because I like the twins and wanted to be close to them but because deep down inside of me I knew that I couldn�t just live alone with no bridle, I needed a family to interact and be with, get disciplined sometimes in order for me to have focus and attention to my goals and study. Not only this, the first time I set my eyes on Bukola Oresanya their elder sister, I fell in love with her immediately. So I made it a point of duty whenever their father had travelled to sleep over and be with Bukola Oresanya. Apart from the two Sola Lawals, I have actually not fallen in love with someone like that before as Bukola Oresanya. But you know, in Yoruba land, you cannot say you want to date someone who is older than you. Funny enough, she was just two years older than me. Well, I devised the trick of calling her my school mother instead. But don�t go now, reader, she happened to get admitted to the College of Education at Ijebu -� Ode when I was suffering to cater for myself and do you know what, my inquisitive mind made me to look through her books one day and guess what I saw: notes on how to learn! I was happy. I took the books, borrowed them from her and started learning various methods of learning, child psychology and how to develop good brains and potentials. That was a big advantage to me then and thereafter when I was at the Universities. She had a darling Brother: Niyi! Niyi, a very brilliant student too. We used to call him a King among Blind people, because he attended Molipa High School, a school where if he comes first in class with 95%, the next person who would come second would obtain 55%. That was the time also that I came in contact with the Odukoyas. I was particularly closer to one who was fond of coming to me so that we could compete on who can read faster, she loved reading. Her sister read medicine or something and her father was into the accounting profession as much as I could remember.
Sometimes I used to wonder why I had to face all these
hardships when I was growing up. I used to wonder why, I, being so much
interested in learning but was not allowed nor encouraged to learn, the more I
tried, the more the situations and circumstances around me militated against it.
One thing that is surprising however, was the fact that despite all the
discouragements, hardships and maltreatments, I was always among the best
students in my class even though I had little or no time to learn. In fact, I
became even more intelligent. I usually went home with one of the best results
all the time. Mind you, I was the houseboy or what am I saying, I was the slave
boy of the house! The only household chore I did not do was cooking, mind you, I
didn't do them with the mind of duty, but with the consciousness that my step
mother was maltreating me and she did not hide this fact! Woes betide me if I
placed a plate or a cup anyhow, a slap at least would surely follow!! Not
talking about finding that the sitting room that I swept one hour ago was dirty
again and my step siblings derived joys at always littering the floor so that I
could sweep it again. I dared not beat them. A lot of people now tell me that
they perceive I have not only a high intelligent quotient but also a good dose
of emotional quotient. Little did they know what I went through when they were
still being decked and pampered by their parents.
Well, there is
something that surprised me about a classmate of mine, Abiodun Fasoro, as I
mentioned earlier, he was always ready to share his transport fare and whenever
I asked for food, as I usually did with my classmates in those days, he was
always ready to oblige. Many situations and circumstances that other classmates
would refuse, 'Biodun would never refuse, how on earth can I ever forget this
boy! God bless you 'Biodun Fasoro wherever you are! 'Biodun Fasoro was the first
person that made me realise that angels don't always go about with wings!!! In
fact, I used to think he was not a human being, so cool, calm and collected!
Abiodun Fasoro never said no to my plea for food from him, if not that he was
brilliant academically; my classmates would have labelled him dumb! But don't go
there! Abiodun Fasoro was superb upstairs! He was one of my fiercest rivals
academically, ours was a very healthy academic rivalry, sweet competition, I
should say the world should be ruled by kids (I laugh myself.). How many of us
were in that healthy academic rivalry: Rasaki Mustapha, Remi Ikuesewo, Debo
Ogunade (autobiographer), Richard Ayara, Abiodun Fasoro, Segun, Oni, 'Dupe Ojotu
(Remi's girlfriend or was she Adeleke Aderohunmu's), Grace Omokhagbor, Adeleke
Aderohunmu, Charles, and some few others whose name I cannot really recollect
now. But of all of them the first to fifth position in our arm rotates among the
first five most of the time. Rasaki usually took the lead most of the time
whilst Remi Ikuesewo, I, 'Biodun Fasoro, Richard Ayara, Adeleke Aderohunmu being
occasional challenge to his dominance!
Most of the time I got home from
school, I was usually the only person around. I would wait at the staircase
waiting for them to come and most of the time they come late. I passed the time
either trying to finish the latest novel I started reading or reading songs from
the Songs of Praise! I enjoyed those songs, some of which I still sing off hand
till today. I also took pleasures in reading my father's correspondences from a
big wooden box just outside the sitting room's veranda where I slept.
This wooden box bore the secrets, so many secrets of my father's past decades
(from late 1950's, 60's and 70's). Many receipts and invoices of contract
executed, the letter written to him by his brothers - he had no direct sister
for his mother did not produce a female issue and many incantations and juju
formulas bequeathed by Baba Apebi to Uncle 'Gboyega and which my father never or
rarely used, I never saw him recite any and which I learnt from his
correspondence, Uncle 'Gboyega enjoined him to use. As for my curious mind, I read
everything readable in that box. It was there I learnt the proceedings for my
parents' divorce, the reasons adduced by my father's advocates, the papers and
the judgement given.
It was from the correspondences that I learnt that
Uncle 'Diran used to be troubled by thieves and robbers when he was just a
bachelor and was trying to settle down but that when he became a member of an
international brotherhood they stopped! No one told me then that there is
therefore someone(s) within the family and these persons are on a vendetta and
perhaps belong to these international brotherhoods.
I wonder why people
join International Brotherhoods to avenge wrongs or affect another negatively! I
wonder why members of International Brotherhoods become pawns which few of their
members use to achieve their vengeful objectives or other objectives that affect
others negatively. Often people like me are so much in love with esotericism,
but when you understood that most of the time, the 'brothers' you mingle with to
perform interesting esoteric rituals and solve philosophical questions and
riddles may one day use you as a pawn to inflict wounds: psychological and
physical on unsuspecting scions of their adversaries, then we think twice,
perhaps, people like us will stay aside and look for minds like ours with whom
we can commune and let our brotherhood dissolve when the last of us depart for
the great beyond.
My family is littered with stories of setups,
conspiracies and persecutions. Should I mention of an uncle who was pillage with
his car over the hill by a hit and run trailer, of an uncle who was a banker and
was set up and ended up spending close to 25years of his life in jail after
being framed up for an offence he did not commit, should I talk about my father
who was set up and had to part with huge sums of money to settle out of court,
should I talk about an uncle who was set up and had large quantities of Indian
hemp planted in the boot of his car and from which after effects he never
recovered, should I make mention my spending two sessions at the University of
Lagos without being registered for, that it took divine intervention before my
registration form could be signed (Mrs. Eperokun - Mrs. Yetunde Oluwasesan Elsie Eperokun, I will always remember you for
good and my daughters shall bear your names!), because some people who believed
they have the destiny of the world in their hands refused to sign my
registration forms, hence all the lectures, exams, continuous assessments were
null and voided during this period, should I talk about my childhood friend and
cousin: Ademola Adediran Ogunade who was set up and consequently poisoned in the
prison(with the excuse that his conviction will bring shame to the family),
should I make mention of my tenderly young cousin: Ademola Adebayo Ogunade who
suffered fending for himself at a very tender age of 7, 8, 9 years and at 10
years old, selling ice water in order for him to get something to eat, he died
and his body was not even shown to his father, nor did he know where he was
buried? Ha! Oh! God, when would you mediate in the affairs of men!
The
more I write these things the more I remember the words of Tagore: "We weigh and
measure what we suffer from others but what others suffer from us, we give not
heed," and pray the Psalm 8 prayer of David: "Thou whose glory above the heavens
is chanted by the mouth of babes and infants, thou hast founded a bulwark
because of thy foes, to still the enemy and the avenger." I sincerely pray that
God in His infinite attributes should still the enemy and the avenger. Enough is
enough! As for me, I'm not ready to engage in their madness and stupidity!
'Bunmi disappeared just like that, after telling one of my uncles 'Bunmi was the
one that gave me money for JAMB Exams! 'Bunmi disappeared within one week of my
registration at Ogun State University, up till now, I've not heard anything from
'Bunmi, next year will be the 20th anniversary of 'Bunmi's disappearance.
Another sacrilege: My sister was literally killed with the foetus of her womb;
by the same set of people who masterminded 'Bunmi's disappearance. Ha! God,
Elohim, Jehovah, Olorun, or whatever you are called: Speak! As my Asante friends
in Ghana will say: "Awurade Kasa!" I know you just need to raise up Gideons for
me, I know you just need to take a glimpse, an ordinary glance is enough to
bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to book! Yes! Only you can give
justice now, I cannot fight with those who are not only spiritually powerful but
have the capacity for international conspiracies! In fact, I'm not interested in
avenging anything, I don't want to dabble myself into their madness and
stupidity and foolish hereditary prejudices, never, I'm not interested in
avenging anybody, even I cannot continue what I did not start, my only concern
is that I have every right to know and pray for justice for those with whom I
shared the same womb, I know I cannot avenge you (because I know you people who
have died are spirits now and may have the capacity to see the writing without
me knowing that you are watching me), I am not interested in avenging anybody,
even if I have the capacity, I will not, for the wrongs are too many and only
God can heal festering scars! That is why I've decided that if God permits and
I'm able to win a good woman who is in love with me despite all these, I will
change my name to her name and settle myself in another country or even change
into another name, I did not learn international languages for nothing! Yes,
Adebunmi Adeoye Ogunade, Adewunmi Adeoye Ogunade (with the foetus of your womb),
I know I cannot avenge you, I know I cannot administer justice, but I'm sure as
Albert Einstein said: "God does not play dice with the universe," that your
deaths and your disappearance will be avenged and the perpetrators will all be
brought to book not only in this world, but also in the great beyond!
I
wonder why my childhood friends are still disturbing and concerned why I'm not
married at 37 years of age! How can I marry, how can I say I love a woman and
make her face these troubles in case anything happen to me, how can I marry and
bring forth children to be born into this kind of family with hypocritical
smiles, speeches and concern?