Water wahala

Some days are like that. Attending a very good school(academically) doesn’t guarantee adequate social amenities. Amenities like clean drinking water, healthy nutritious meals and the likes.

For me at that time, we never had running taps at our door steps , neither did we have a round the clock water supply. we had to struggle for every cup of water we got. Although the school made provision for water supply using water tanks, it was grossly inadequate as a student had over six containers in his possession just to make sure that he or she is able to meet the demands of seniors, teachers, and at the same time, have some water to drink or have his or her bath with. It was really terrible.

There were always options though. There were two major water-wells in the school premises ; with each located at adjacent ends of the school premises, very far away from each other.

At that time, I was in second year. Nobody wanted to get into trouble as the only punishment that the senior student will give you is for you to fetch him water for a whole week. That was brutal enough. It was harsher, or say, more emotionally entangling than been flogged or given corporal punishment. The worst of all could be if there is no water supplied by the water carrying tanks.

we drank directly from buckets which in turn will be used for bathing, washing and the likes. It was a painful experience; it is still a wonder that nobody falls ill or gets an infection due to water pollution, for It was a serious issue in those days.

I had gotten into trouble again, I was asked to get water for senior E, but on submitting the bucket of water, senior E concluded that the water was not brought from the right source, and for my punishment , must supply him water(clean) for a whole week. That was enough work for one person. Due to this new injunction, I had to be the first to leave class during break time, so as to be able to collect stray buckets from the hostel; I also had to listen very attentively to the final bell which was for 2 pm, and with great speed, rush to the location of the water tank, which was, of course, near the principal’s house. It wasn’t funny at all. I did this severally, until I was able to please the senior who made me supply water for a week; that was not the end of it.

In Jss1, my friends and I, in fact, the whole school had to go out of the school premises into town just to make sure we got water for ourselves. What broke the bull’s back was the fact that when we came back, after three hours of seriously searching the town, the first set of people, of which I was part of, were asked to empty their buckets into the container in the dinning hall for the cooks to be able to cook dinner. I would never forget that day in my life. I had to go a second time searching for water; thank God I found some.

The first few days of acclimatization for me were very practical. After like 3 weeks of stay in school, I noticed that my bucket was missing; I cried and cried, searched for it everywhere I could. To me, that was the end of the world, I was never going to see the bucket again. While I went about crying, I was asked why I cried; when I told my listeners why I cried, they laughed me to scorn; encouraging that in this school , nobody owns nothing except the shirt he or she os wearing and the provisions in your locker. I got the message.....to be continued.

The scary days of Jss3

we just started the session. it was a fresh start. according to my standards, the roadblocks had been cleared. the guys whom I feared could displace me to 2nd or even 3rd place where now separated to several classes; being that i was 3rd overall at the end of the jss2 ERC exams, i was placed in jss3c. I automatically knew that i will head the class. Life became easier; no stress at all. Dm, who took steady first position in class, was placed in B class, while JS who came 2nd was placed in A class. It was going to be a happy semester for me and my guys until some strange revelations started to unfold.

I was never quiet. I always fought for my right, and that i got. before long i was made the class rep. and the long list of noise makers started rolling. my close friends were disappointed and some, till today , won't forgive me for the floggings i made them receive. for me, it was a sacrifice i had to make as long as i wanted to remain in the game.

lady-I was also in my class. A young girl of about my age. She never talked much until one day- a Monday...she surprised us and started talking. everybody listened to her...the talk was serious....it was no child's play....

"i see a lady, i see a lady" she said in low tones. we were surprised or should i say scared. " which lady do you see?", we asked her. "she is wearing a black cloth, a black hat and carrying a black hand bag. can't you guys see her?" she inquired. "girl, we don't see nothing we answered .

"this lady is evil!", she continued. she wants us to fail our JSCE, that is why she keeps revealing herself to us. she wants us to be distracted; she wants us not to do well in our Jsce" "it is you that will not do well." one Hausa boy in my class answered back. Lady-I got pissed. she charged at him and finally concluded that the so-called lady she alone could see, said she should tell him that he wouldn't make it through the exams. the boy was visibly scared. he couldn't beg. he just walked out of the class.

two weeks later, the young boy left the school and didn't even take the exams! the situation had taken a serious turn. we all got confused; we didn't know what to do. everyone was scared. we started reading our bibles more , as we all wanted to pass. The situation had taken a different turn, and a scary one at that!

After some three weeks, She announced that the lady had given permission to one person from each of the JSS3 class, to be able to see her. before she completed the statement, one guy from jss3b said he could see the lady. Lady-I interviewed the guy, and confirmed that truly he saw her. That made the situation more breathtaking.

bro-T not only saw visions in the classroom block, he also saw more visions in the hostel.

We had this slogan when a senior wanted to gather all the boys to the courtyard; the junior students will start shouting:"all the boys move to the courtyard!" he will repeat it severally until the whole hostel had emptied itself into the courtyard. several things happened in the courtyard. many scary things, but hardly anything good to write home about.

today's slogan was "all Niger house boys, move to the courtyard!" within minutes, we were all gathered.
Snr-A was the one talking. he was half Russian, half Nigerian. we regarded him as a fragile 'oyibo', but i tell u, he loved the lord.

As he talked, bro-T was giving background commentaries. we were close friends, so we stood close to each other. KK , my very close friend was also there with us, in the courtyard. suddenly, bro-T started acting funny. "There is a flower planted there: a green flower; if snr-A steps on it, the guy is gone." that was Bro-T's statement. secretly, i prayed snr-A shouldn't step on the flower. throughout the meeting, he kept making remarks like:"he is almost stepping on it, oh don't. i laughed internally as only him could see the flower; but i didn't laugh loud before the wrath of the lady is turned on me.

We searched for the seer who she said would represent A class, but none was available. when we sought explanation , lady-i explained that three lions were fighting for the position in A class. she mentioned their names and said that their spirits were so strong as they really want to see her, but up till now, she hasn't gotten any confirmation.

The A class actually seemed indifferent. they were more focused. they didn't get distracted. while we caught our fun, and enjoyed the tales from our two blessed friends of pure spirit and clear eyes, our friends in A class were busy with school work.

My people say, "hot soup will one day cool down". the gist died gradually . we all took our JSCE exams and lived happily ever after. that was not to say that B class didn't have their own tales. their's is more enchanting and so i will advise we saved the other tales for next time.

thanks for taking out time to read!