I was in tears when I saw my result. The Principal tried to pacify me but I refused to be patronized. Before my very eyes, my dream was crashing and I had only myself to blame for it. For the first time in my life, I was almost regretting my casual attitude to my studies. I hated being overconfident but as far as these “A” levels examinations were concerned, I was arrogantly presuming. Preparing for three “A” levels papers, including English literature, two weeks to the commencement date was pompously reckless. I was therefore not surprised that I missed it. Those who saw me in tears consoled me that it was not the end of life and that the situation was still redeemable. I looked at them with contemptuous dismissal because they didn’t know how important the result was to me. At that time, I needed the result desperately as a consolation for the pyramid of agonies that was erecting itself in my life like a scaffolding. I just left my father’s house. I fought with church elders and I was “biblically indicted” in a case I knew nothing about. A man in this kind of condition required a major palliative that would neutralize the effects of these occurrences that were capable of triggering a psychiatric crisis. So, the result that was to act as a calmative ended up not being curative.
I was waiting in the Principal’s ante-room for the result to be typed out and signed when one of the Principal’s clerks told me that “Baba” said I should come to his office. The Principal, after asking me to sit, wanted to know why I was crying despite passing all my three papers. I didn’t say anything. He now told me he would show me the entire results so that I could see that I should be thanking GOD for the marvellous result I had instead of crying. Trying to dispel the impression of divulging official matters to me, the Principal said there was nothing confidential in showing me other students’ results because they would soon be pasted on the school’s notice board. What I saw gladdened my heart but it was only a brief and comforting amnesty for a complicated sociology.
A lot of my mates could only make two papers but I passed all three. Some even failed two papers and passed just one. Those who made between 7 and 14 points were less than 50 people and I was one of them. Why then was I crying when I should be rejoicing? First, I didn’t want to read any other course apart from Law. Two, my cousin, Tunde had told me that the University of Ife had raised the points for Law for direct entry applicants from 7 to 8 points and the total of my points was seven. It was very painful that I would miss reading Law at Unife because of one point. In addition, becoming a lawyer would have made Iya Ibadan smile in her grave seeing that her prayers for me were not in vain. Again, my two cousins, Tunde and Alero, that we used to read together, were already in the University reading Law. Alero was at Uniben. Tunde at Unife. Finally, I would have also made Senior very proud despite our estranged relationship. All these considerations were very emotional for me than egoistic. That was why I was crying.
Back in Lagos that same day, I started having consultations with friends and acquaintances over the issue. The general consensus was that I should change from Unife to some other universities which would readily and gladly accept 7 points for Law, and they were legion. But I stubbornly refused. It was either Unife or nothing. It was either Law or nothing. I must become a lawyer and I must be called a lawyer. Senior must be called “Baba Lawyer”. Ironically, it was this same Senior I was not talking to. With seven points, going through the JAMB brochure, I should have multiple options in terms of course and university choices but inexplicably, I didn’t even have any plan to change my mind. To be honest, at that point, I didn’t know what was at play again, ego or foolishness. On Tuesday, September 8, I finally made the trip to Ife. I should have traveled earlier but I was delayed by lack of funds. At this time, communal mobilization and engagement had become imperative. I was waiting for the community “cooperative” which was the only source for me to raise transport fare to Ife. On my way to Ife, the thought of changing to another course crossed my mind but I didn’t really process it to conclusion because of my fanatical fascination for Law. To be fair to my cousin, Tunde, he told me to change to History if all efforts to be admitted for Law failed. I could recall his warning that I should not leave Ife without a concrete assurance on my admission for whatever course I was eventually given. He actually wanted to follow me to Ife (he was on vacation) but I told him I could handle it on my own. I didn’t like the idea of being treated like a child. I had always wanted to be an independent-minded person right from my childhood. On getting to Ife, right at the school gate. I met one of my classmates in Compro who also made 7 points like me. When the Principal showed me the comprehensive results, I took a special interest in checking the results of some of my classmates. That was how I knew that she had 7 points. We greeted each other and discussed our admission process. It was then she told me that she had been admitted to read Law at the University. She was only waiting for JAMB to release the official admission list. From what she told me, she had been coming regularly to the school since she collected her result in Compro. I congratulated her and hurried up to the Faculty of Law to start processing my own admission.
Confident that I would be admitted for Law having seen my classmate that had been offered admission into the Law Faculty based on the same number of points, I buried finally and enthusiastically the thought of a change of course and change of University. At the Faculty of Law, I presented my results to the officers in charge with celestial assurance. They collected the result without asking me any questions about my results or certificates. I took it that I had been admitted for Law. After screening my certificates (excluding my Primary school certificate which could have made them to disqualify me instantly), I asked them if there wasn’t any other thing they needed. They said they didn’t need any other thing. They wrote “screened” on all my documents. I left immediately after that before someone could come with bad news. It was around 2 pm. I obviously made it back home that same day. I was full of joy throughout that day. I had started writing the list of my role models in the legal profession. People like Chief F.R.A Williams, Chief G.O.K. Àjàyí, Dr. Hammed Kusamotu, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Dr. Mudiaga Odje, Chief Richard Akinjide and Mr Alao Aka-Bashorun topped the list. All of them, but Gani Fawehinmi and Aka-Bashorun, were conservative. I loved them for their brilliance. Their arguments and submissions during the Shagari-Awolowo election petition were spectacular. I had also started to take a special interest in reading law reports in some of Nigerian newspapers like Daily Times, Daily Sketch and The Nigerian Tribune. I was moving around the neighbourhood with “legalistic swagger”, engaging in arguments with all and sundry including Tunde, my cousin who was already in his third year as a Law student. Meanwhile, I was flexing around town as if I was already a lawyer without giving a thought to how I would raise the money for my University education. To go and submit results in Ife took me about 6 days to raise 20 Naira from my immediate community for my transport fare and other miscellaneous expenses. From all I had been hearing from my cousin, reading law was very expensive but I was undaunted. We would cross the bridge when we get there.
Two weeks after submitting my result to them in Unife, JAMB released the admission lists into the Universities. I was one of the first people to arrive at JAMB office, Hawksworth Road, Ikoyi. I was there before 10 am. Frustratingly, I was one of the last people to leave JAMB office. I searched for my name on the Law list for several hours, but I didn’t see it. I started with my Surname but the Thomas that was there had no Oladapo. I checked again with my first name. The Oladapo that was there had no Thomas. I cross-checked with Dapo Thomas, I still didn’t see anything. Though I knew that I didn’t change my University, I went round all the lists of other Universities to see if by error my name had been sent to other universities which were accepting less than 8 points. I saw plenty of Thomases without Oladapo and vice versa. I commenced another round of checks by searching for my name under History when my first and second choices were Law and I didn’t fill out any change of course form. It was a very devastating experience. I was walking up and down from alphabet A to alphabet Z to see if by any chance my name had been misspelt, still nothing for me. Those who saw their names on the lists didn’t wait for more than 10 minutes, several hours after, I was still there, hanging around, hoping there would be a miracle list that would carry my name. All to no avail. When it was 6 pm, I decided to go home with the resolve to come back the following day to check properly. I was happy there was traffic on the way which made me to arrive home very late. I simply sneaked into the house under the shadow of the night. Obviously, those who were staying in the house got to know that night that there was no admission for me. The following day, I was preparing to go back to JAMB to check properly but my cousin advised against it. Instead, he suggested that I should go back to Ife to change my course to History. I took his advice and headed to Ife. It was a failed trip. The History Department had closed its admission. There was not going to be any more list by the Department. My obstinacy and irrational fixation with Law had cost me one year delay of post-secondary school education almost replicating the two-year delay that I had in post-primary school education. But this time around, I was not going into street gangsterism. It was an opportunity for me to go and look for a salary job so that I could save some money for my University education. I was very optimistic I would go to the University the following year, 1982.
After a long search for a stable salary job, I finally found one in Isolo. It was a newly established weekly newspaper called WEEKEND FLIGHT. I got the job on Tuesday, 22 December 1981 but I was asked to resume work on Monday, 4 January 1982. It was a serious relief for me getting the job considering the little time I had to make some savings before going to the University. I got to know about the newspaper through our vendor at Barracks bus stop. I was the one responsible for getting newspapers for my cousin, Oloyede every morning since I moved to their house. His favourites were Daily Times, Daily Sketch, The Punch and The Tribune and Lagos Weekend (only on Fridays). Those who could afford to buy more than one or two newspapers were seen as big men. Oloyede was buying between 4 and 5 newspapers on a daily basis at a cost of 100 naira. He was the head of account department at the Federal Office of Statistics, Ikeja. When I saw the newspaper at the stand, I decided to flip through it only to discover that my favourite columnist in Lagos Weekend, Alankoh of Segilola’s fame, had moved over to Weekend Flight I wrote down the address on the paper’s imprint for immediate contact with Alankoh whose real name is Alani Aroyewun, or better still, Alan Aroyewun. He was also the editor of the paper. Aside from being my favourite columnist, he is my mother’s biological younger brother. On the few occasions I had seen him, it was during family functions. I went to look for him. He gave me a test on that same day and I passed the test.
I resumed work on the exact date in my appointment letter. Initially, when I resumed, I was doing general reporting and writing a column on tertiary institutions. My column, “Flight On Acada Campus By Mujemu” became the toast of Nigerian students. I was periscoping most of the campuses discussing and dissecting activities going on inside them. I also used my column to highlight the problems confronting most of the Universities, especially Unilag, Unife, Unibadan and Lagos State College of Science and Tech (LACOST). My column strengthened my relationship with some of the Student Union leaders across tertiary institutions. It was an endless list: Dare Àjàyí and Bisi Oladitan (LACOST), Femi Kuku, Remi Elumoye, Eddy Olafeso, Soji Omole, Shade Sangowanwa, Yemi Oshuntoye, Remi Lawal and Ayo Fatoki (Unife) and Yemi Ajimatanrareje (Unilag). Unibadan students got on very well with me until the certificate scandal involving Tokunbo Onanuga, former Miss Nigeria. Tokunbo Onanuga won the Miss Nigeria crown in 1982/83 while she was at the University of Ibadan. The competition was an annual affair sponsored and organized by Cadbury Nigeria Ltd and Times Leisure Services (TLS) headed by Tunde Savage. TLS was a subsidiary of Daily Times of Nigeria. Unfortunately for Tokunbo, she became hostile and naggy to her boyfriend, Juan Elumelu who knew about the forgery. Eventually, their relationship collapsed when Elumelu squealed on her girlfriend. In the course of trying to prove her innocence, Tokunbo visited her alma mater, Methodist Girls High School, Yaba, only to be booed and heckled by the students of the school while trying to address them. Initially, the organizers wanted to withdraw the crown from her and strip her of all entitlements and privileges but they jettisoned the idea. Same thing with the University of Ibadan which restrained itself from voiding her admission. In order to save herself from further humiliation, Tokunbo fled abroad.
Just one month on the job, I was given an assignment which changed my professional orientation. At first, it seemed to me that my Uncle, Alan Aroyewun, was looking for an excuse to ease me out of the company. I was just 21 years old and had never been involved in active journalism until I joined Weekend Flight. What I had with Robinson’s “The Scoop” was only a brief stint. I worked for three months and we published just two editions before I went to Compro. Why then should my Uncle think that I was the right person to go and book an appointment for an exclusive interview with a national figure like Tunji Braithwaite? To me, Tunji Braithwaite was a colossus in Nigerian politics and a rookie journalist like me should not be sent to him if we were to be taken seriously. So, when he gave me the letter, I asked him why he didn’t send the Deputy Editor, Tony Eke. He gave me a frightening holler that made me bolt out of the office with a dizzying fright. Aside from screaming at me, he warned me not to return to the office without getting the appointment. I almost walked away from the job but I cautioned myself knowing that October was fast approaching. I had started counting the days for my resumption in Ife even when JAMB form was not yet out. I refused to be frustrated. On second thought, I reasoned that if my Uncle did not want to employ me in order to avoid “familiarity” at work, he wouldn’t have employed me in the first instance. I then concluded that he meant well for me. I got the appointment for him. To show that he actually wanted to train me on the job knowing that I didn’t attend any school of journalism, he took me along instead of going with his Deputy. He didn’t even care if anybody was raising nose about our family connection for as long as I was delivering.
Impressed by my positive attitude to work, the editor created another column for me called “High Flyer”. The column was designed for achievers in society who had made it in life through hard work. It had no delineation in terms of professions, careers, vocations or social standing. It could be politics, business, academics, industries and commerce. He gave me two to three pages to accommodate the personality interviews. He also assigned the Chief Photographer, Yusuf Oseni to me. Within six months of creating the column, I had interviewed most of the personalities and celebrities in Nigeria. If you had not appeared in my column, your achievements and personality still required some measure of substance. I was proud of myself that at the age of 22, I had met in person, all the “Who is Who” in Nigeria, courtesy Alankoh. My columns, particularly, “High Flyer” gave me instant fame. I became famous in my street, in my community, in my state and in the country.
Here is the long list of my famous guests:
Prince Ado Ibrahim, son of the late Atta of Ebiraland and senior brother to Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Adamu Atta, Prince Dapo Tejuosho, Managing Director of Tẹju Industries and Tẹju Clinic, Chief Yinka Rhodes, Chairman, Rosabol Nigeria Limited and an influential member of the Island Club, Senator Jonathan Odebiyi, UPN Senate Leader, Chief Moses Olaiya (MON) Alias Baba Sala, a Theatre Celebrity, Alhaji Mahmud Waziri, National leader of Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP), Chief Debo Akande, Secretary General, African Bar Association, Alhaji Garba Hamza, a multimillionaire businessman from Kano, Chief Oyebode Oyeleye, former Chairman of the Board of Customs and Excise, Mrs C.A. Brown, Assistant General Manager of Nigeria Life and Pensions Consultants, Senator Uba Ahmed, the National Secretary of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Others were: Chief Godwin Tabansi, Chairman, Tabansi Records Limited, the label that promoted musicians like Jide Obi and Felix Liberty, Dr. Fasegun Machado, Managing Director of Ebun Clinic, Hon. Rasheed Shitta-Bey representing Surulere Constituency at the House of Representatives, Senator Idrisa Kadi, GNPP Senate Leader (Borno State), Chief Akin Ogunmade-Davies, Managing Director of ROD Publicity Ltd and Publicity Secretary of NPN in Lagos State, Chief Musiliu Anibaba, Chairman, Island Club, Mr I.D Omo-Ogbeide, President, Institute of Management Sciences in Nigeria, Dr Dalton .O. Faluyi, Proprietor, DOF Catering Institute.
Other famous names on the list were Chief Olu Falomo, President, Association of Advertising Practitioners in Nigeria and Executive Director, OBM Advertising Company, Senator Ja’ Afar Mangga, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Ademola Thomas, Minister of National Planning and the grandson of the legendary Candido Da Rocha, Alhaji Femi Okunnu, the Federal Commissioner for Works during the Gowon Administration, Dr. Junaid Muhammed, Chief Whip, People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Chief S.K.O Amu (OFR), Sports Administrator, Mr Titi Durojaiye, Managing Director, Nigerian General Insurance, Senator Zanya Zing, UPN Senator from Gongola, Hon G.B Sadiku representing Epe at the House of Representatives, Abubakar Mogaji, NPN Senator from Niger State, Dr Doyin Okupe, son of Awolowo’s strongest opponent, “Agbonmagbe” in Ijebu, Ogun State and Mr Simon Shango, National Publicity Secretary of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
Another innovation introduced by the Editor to ensure that Weekend Flight became very competitive was the creation of a new column “THESE DAYS BY MUJEMU” to replace “Flight On Acada Campus By Mujemu”. The intention was to expand the scope of discourse from a very restrictive platform to a wider pedestal that would allow “Mujemu” to discuss any topic under the sun that was of direct relevance to the national question.
Time flew with an intriguing speed that made it seem like the world itself was tired of slow motion. The process for new admission had commenced. In the new JAMB form I collected, I didn’t waste time to write History in the two spaces provided for course choice meaning I didn’t write or have any alternative course choice. My first and second choices was History. I even wrote my History in capital letters with deflated ego and unapologetic 360 degrees. I was therefore not surprised that I was offered admission into the History department on merit. Unife, here I come.
To be continued
