‘ Tinkle.. Tinkle.. Tinkle..’ The gentle tinkling of the bell gradually diminished and faded into oblivion. The noise in the environment went with it as the hall gradually entered a state of pin-drop silence. You could still hear the fading echoes of the bell somewhere inside your ears, even as your heartbeat became more audible in the silence! “Stand up for the Grace!”.. The voice reverberated through the whole hall .. Bouncing from wall to wall.. Mingling with the shuffling of many feet as everyone stood up from their initial seated position. As the silence gradually returned and everyone awaited in anticipation for the next directive, I struggled with my mind! That voice was familiar… A voice from long ago. A voice that wielded such authority that all who heard it shivered.. Yet I couldn’t grasp it. I was standing amidst the crowd.. Waiting for the voice to come again.. Straining to see the person whose voice it was! “For the Food We’re About To Eat,We Thank You Oh Lord!” Suddenly.. Like a flash from an unexpected Bolt of lightening, it hit me… JOBE!!!! It was the voice of Jobe!!! Jobe was the dining hall prefect… At least he was at a time! He was tall, dark-complexioned and full-bodied without being muscular. He had white, well shaped teeth and eyes that twinkled with a strange combination of charm and mischief and he had a characteristic swag in his steps that could only have been described as ‘Jobe’s’! He was feared by many, loved by more, and highly esteemed by all! Jobs had a weird and very active imagination. Outside the dining hall, during leisure, he could be seen surrounded by junior students with their eyes wide open and their jaws dropping in awe as he spun one yarn after another. I still vividly recall stories he told about mone fa and mono. I thought they were real characters almost till I finished school. In the dining hall however, Jobe was a terror. With the grace said, everybody assumed a seated position as one person on each of the tables pulled the pot to himself and proceeded to dish out the food! Aha!!! WRAP & PAP.. The students’ all time favorite meal. ‘Wrap’ was the code name for Moi-Moi wrapped in transparent cellophane bags and was the most treasured of all meals in Suleja Academy. Yes… Suleja Academy… Also known as SulAcad.. For it had become clear to me that by some strange stroke of chance I’d been transported in time and place to a period when I was a student in Suleja Academy, the best school in Nigeria. It was called ‘Gifted Children’s School’ and truly, it was a school filled with gifted and talented Kids. As the dishing of the meal came to an end, each person took his ‘Share’ of ‘Wrap’ and started ‘clearing’. Suddenly, my eyes went to the window and I noticed a couple of students gently strolling down to the hall. One was spinning his empty bowl as they approached the entrance(could that be Gbenga Adeyinka?!). I shook my head with pity for them. It was obvious to me that these late-comers had no idea that Jobe was on duty. There was even a circulating rumor that Jobe might declare ‘Massacre’!! The word ‘Massacre’ needs no definition , even in this context. Its a word you love if its declared while you are in the dining hall. However, if you are per chance caught outside the hall and you hear that a ‘Massacre’ has been declared, you could as well swallow saliva, take your empty bowl , go back to the hostel and start soaking ‘Gaff’ and ‘Kuls(That’s always a student’s last resort,Gifted or not gifted). “Come for your Pap”… Another voice….. A feminine, warm, and very endearing voice! I looked in the direction of the voice and beheld her… The most beautiful, dark-complexioned african beauty that ever passed through the school. OGECHI ODI!!!! ‘That’s my School mum’, I almost screamed. Thank God I controlled myself! Wow! Ogechi?! Its been years. I was beginning to love this. I wondered who would show up next! Suddenly different names started flashing through my mind as my imagination went wild even as I looked across the hall. I could see their faces…. Memories flooded my being. Names emerged from the depths of my soul….. From within my unconsciousness. Names I’d not heard in ages… People I thought I’d long forgotten. The names welled up.. Each stumbling over the other… Pictures appeared in my mind. Different encounters at different times and places. Amazingly, the nicknames had precedence over most of the real names… Daniel Achema(Achema must go home)…D’Nice… Ice…. Hendrith He-Man Esene( Gosh! That was some mean dude. He had a slogan, “Man makes man wicked”. I probably still have a mark or two from his belt-lashes)… Tos-Lad …Odibeli… Panku… Aramide…. SaDique (This dude has to be the most brilliant dude in the world. Do they know he is my cousin?! .. Well I guess some things do run in the family)…. Passion…. Macle (Saddistic Brutality aint too bad)….. Achor…. Guze…Chiko….. Mutiu and Uduak (Why did these names come together?! I knew they probably were together. I remembered hearing something about death. But it didn’t matter now. This was probably dreamland. Nobody dies here) … And then the names continued….Tolu Olowonyo… Ajanx…Gaile Ola Uma (heard she was related to the great Evangelist Uma Ukpai)… Meje… Oroks…. ChaiMan…..Shina Ajulo… Scrap-DEbs…Sade Kadir(All are gifted but some are more gifted than others. This lady maintained First position from first year to final year second term. Thank God for Udochukwu Diala who redeemed the male folk) Udomon….. Fanja….Mon-de-Swavo…Guze…. ThinJa…. Clear-Ekpe…. Clear-Ch…… CLEAR??!!! The word Jolted me back to my present state! I was standing on a line.. With my Cup in my hand .. Heading towards the point where Jobe and ogechi were dishing out pap in scoops with large plastic cups from the biggest pot I’d ever seen! Don’t blame me for having my thought processes interrupted by a name. CLEAR-EKPE!! If your ‘Share’ in the Dining Hall has ever been wrongfully ‘Cleared’, you’ll probably understand my reaction! Clear-Ekpe must have been the greatest Clearer in the history of Suleja Academy.(Well… ScrapDebs might compete with him though) I remembered one fateful day when I mistakenly overslept. Somehow the sound of the bell didnt wake me for lunch, and the students left without me. 40 minutes later, I woke up with a start. Realising I was late for dining, I put on my speed mode and was headed towards the dining hall in less than a minute. I kept praying that Elo would secure my share. Elochukwu was my school son. Well, actually he was my plate carrier. A young chubby dude who had a way of entering trouble with the seniors. He was my room mate, and each time I heard someone scream ELO , I knew he had probably stepped on another toe. But I tried my best to secure him. It was days like this that made me appreciate him. I knew he would secure my share. Halfway to the hall, I saw students returning. The meal was over. I was still saying a silent prayer for Elo to keep my share secure, when I looked up and saw him walking towards me. He didnt look downcast, so I had hope. I thought he had probably managed to smuggle the share out of the hall. Senior Ikenna, he started, did you ask senior Ekpe to clear your share? Looking Round the hall, I could see Clear Ekpe at a distant table…. His bowl was empty and his eyes were moving from one table to the other. Obviously he was checking which tables had extra ‘Wraps’ in them by virtue of someone’s absence or lateness! Then it was my turn for pap. I held the cup with two hands as Ogechi and Jobe emptied a full cup each into my single pap cup (For those that still wonder why I was known as OjELAPAP). I took the cup of pap and went back to my Seat. The Wrap and Pap combo was explosive. As I ate, I looked round the large hall… One half of the hall had students seated at different stages of the meal…. The other half was empty with a prominent wooden stage at the end. There were two grand Pianos at the two ends of the front of the stage flanking a few central wooden steps that led to the top of the stage. Another Grand Organ was at the far right of the hall. Looking at the Pianos, I wondered when last I played the ‘National Anthem’ during assembly. Suddenly, with the thought of Pianos and National anthem and Assembly, some other names came floating out…. S.I Balogun (One of the greatest leaders the school ever had) as well as some of the greatest musicians and keyboardists I ever knew. Ikechi Nzotta… Joseph Okegwale…. Yemisi Fagbule(Oluwole), Tobi Ojetunde….Paul Kwah…. Paul KwaH??!!!!! Hahahahahahahahhahaah…. KWAH!!!! That was one word you couldn’t ignore or forget in a hurry! Even gifted Children had occassional knacks for trying to crack jokes that had nothing funny about them! Just like the cracking of a palm nut (as compared with a coconut), the sudden spontaneous ejaculation of the word ‘Kwah’ from within the crowd lets you know that the joke you’re trying to crack had no juice! Ah…. There was that tinkling sound again. The dining period had obviously come to an end. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle….’ There’d be some announcements and then the closing grace. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ Ah….. I could see ClearEkpe… Waiting to move into action. Other ‘Dining Hall Ninjas’ were also on the alert. There were shares to be cleared. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ Jobe .. Be fast na. You’re reducing our siesta time.. And there might even be Labour today. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ I looked and saw him standing at the far end.. Holding the bell. The tension was mounting…. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ Silence! The same pin-drop silence that started the meal. I could almost hear the thoughts of different students.. ‘Would he declare ‘Massacre”… ‘Would he just say grace’… ‘Could there still be pap in that pot?’… ‘Jesus! I forgot to collect Senior Femi Abiodun’s share’… ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ The tinkling was getting louder… There was something wrong with this scene. I looked again at Jobe…. He looked taller, Slimmer, and not so dark… I looked closely… Ah… Senior Akpo Edewor! But how could it be?! What happened to Jobe?! There must have been a relationship between him and Jobe because he still held the bell. I think he was a dining hall prefect too. ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ The sound was in my ears… ‘Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle…’ The sound was in my head.. Tinkle….. Tinkle….Tinkle… COULD YOU PLEASE STOP THAT BELL?! I must have screamed out loud because Akpo Edewor suddenly looked at me and started walking in my direction. ‘Who said that?’…. Everyone looked at me. He needed no prophet! “Senior Akpo, I am so-“ But the sentence was never completed! I was blinded by the sudden flash from the impact of his wide palm on my soft cheek as the momentum was transferred from his hand to my face in accordance with Newton’s 2nd law of motion!(Ask Orams for clarification) As I struggled to retain my composure, I looked at him through my already tear-blurred eyes… What I saw shocked me….. It wasn’t Akpo…. It was Gbenga Fasusi! FAS?!!!!…. How could he?! He was my classmate…. He was my friend …. I knew he was the dining hall prefect at a time too.. But how could he?! As my anger threatened to overflow, with thoughts of ‘Should I slap him back or…”, my breath came in gasps. Fas leaned nearer to me and said,”Oje-La-Pap… Fat Luck for You” Then he smiled , picked up the bell and jingled it loudly just beside my ears!!! Suddenly I was wide awake…. Panting…. Tinkle … Tinkle… Tinkle.. I looked beside me. It was 5.45am and my alarm had been ringing non stop for the past 15minutes! As my breath came back to normal, I remembered the dream. Then I lay down, smiled, used my right hand to pat my left chest.. And whispered,”Aal Izz Well” The last thing I remembered as I gradually drifted into sleep was the voice of Ohis Asse, singing a familiar melodious tune that said,”There Will Be An Answer. LET IT BE” The End (Watch out for season 2) Femi Job, Oluwatosin Oladeji Ogechi Igwe Ugorji Nwoke Olorunfemi Faleke Abayomi Faleye Chima Ekpe Elochukwu Oguebue Gbenga Fasusi Edewor Akpo Ralph Adeyinka Odukoya Michael DrBiggie Adeyemi I Amalachukwu Okore Shade Yusuff Okey Obidiegwu Ike Nzotta Asse Ohis Junior Emmanuel Emeka Olalekan Odibeli Pamela Odibeli Olayemi Olorundare Kana Udomon Oghale Elueni Akalazu Susan Ngozi Maureen Ngozi Offiah Olushola Aromokun Paul Kwah Yinka Bolaji Olugbenga Olayiwole Olayiwola Afeni Awele Annette Akpolo Ekwevugbe Eseoghene Mesere Wilfred Oghenefemison Nwaabiodun Michael Achor Gozie Madukaife Onyinye Osuafor-Oketah Osuafor Xto-p Christopher Okechukwu Oramadike Ikenna Edson Obodozie Ikenna Ngonebu Ikwumelu Ikenna Duzie Esomonu Chuma Alex Esomonu Ibemere Solomon Sunday Dagbo Sunday Ichado Obofukoro Mejecha Diala Udochukwu Chijioke Njemanze Nsisong Bassey Hadiza Ajiko Ayodeji Michael Obaseki Chikelue Oragwu Daniel Achema Chieloka Ifudu Sylvester Uzoama Henry A. Orowale Henry Ochayi Gaile Uka Shina Ajulo Shegee Ajuwon Fela Olukoga Uzy-darling Ikenna Oje
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 05:46:27 +0000
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