As soon as I entered Boladele’s room, I didn’t have any other option than to pretend as if I had come looking for her. Fortunately, she was not in the room. One of the roommates told me to check her in Room 106. I didn’t ask any other questions. I quickly detoured to Peju’s room which was my original destination. We got talking as usual and later went on a walk around the Campus as Jambites. We didn’t return to her hostel until after midnight and after a seraphic walk in a bustling Campus. Unife did not have a midnight. People walked from dusk to dawn and vice versa. Peju was always a delight in conversation, very engaging and articulate. It had been a flamboyant night. I enjoyed myself. On getting back to the room, nobody was sleeping, everybody was reading. Our exams were a few weeks away. I reminded myself of the mandatory first class or good second class upper that I had to make to transfer to Law. But there was a dramatic development on this. During one of our random discussions in my department, a cerebral friend of mine, elderly though, and a year my senior, Olusola Makanjuola, had warned me that it was unlikely the department would release me if I had a first-class grade. He used himself as a case study. He wanted to transfer to Law from History but the department didn’t release him when he applied for the transfer because he was on first-class grade. He suggested I should work on a good 2:1. Two of my classmates who were also interested in moving over to the Faculty of Law were there with us during the discussion. Oluremi Abímbólá and Adeline Omomogho and I were reading partners. We all came in through Direct entry and did our registration formalities at the same time which explained why we were always together. With this at the back of our minds, our confidence and enthusiasm was further boosted.
We wrote our first semester exams and my results were encouraging but not as impressive as I would have wanted. It was a 2:1 but was it good enough for the Faculty of Law to accept or approve my transfer? The details: HIS 201 (B), HIS 207 (A), REL. 201 (B), REL.212 (B), PHL.202 (B+). All units were 3 and G.P.A. was 3.60. My friend, Makanjuola told me it wasn’t good enough. When he told me the details of his own result in his first exams as a direct entry student, I really felt ashamed of myself. He scored As in all his courses but one. Makanjuola was a positive influence and a regular inspiration for me since we met. He was a brilliant enigma. I thought I was brilliant but Makanjuola showed me that I was not. He made me look so ordinary. Ironically, what was ordinary to me was what attracted some of my classmates to me. While I was ruing my performance, my classmates were hailing the same performance. In the class, the number of my friends, admirers and partners burgeoned. Here is the list: Goke Folayan, Akin Akinade, Tayo Adesina, Banji Alabi, Lolade Adekola, Atóyèbí Peter, Sunday Adegbite, Titilope Babayemi, Bisi Olowookere, Kunle Olatawura, Kunle Adepitan (Per Se), Bunmi Dare, Greg Ileogben, Niyen Ezomo, Kafilat Salami, Kunle Adeleye, Kunbi Okuyiga, Toyin Oni, Kayode Adebayo (No Row), Mosúnmọ́lá Dawodu, Benjamin Ige, Henrietta Otsu, Tolagbe Alake, Kunle Adumasi, Bunmi Adeyefa, Bisi Adeyemo and Yetunde Togun.
In order to avoid complete derailment of my academic mission in Unife, I always took time out to do a reflection and assessment of my life and my academic activities. It was not by any deliberate design that I chose a quiet place near the “cadaver apartment” at BOOC as the venue for my spiritual recreation. It was by accident. I loved the ambience of the environment. It was attractively inviting. It was always quiet, a sharp contrast to the noise that epitomized the faculty of Arts. It was much later that I knew there was a “cadaver apartment” in the building. I loved it the more, eerie but harmless. As all these events were unfolding, I needed to go on a reflective excursion to be able to process my thoughts on all these issues confronting me. So, around 9 pm on Sunday, 14 February 1983, I took a stroll to BOOC with some sheets of paper on which I wrote the issues burning in my heart which needed immediate attention and special prayer. Top on the list was “women’s affairs”. Next was the confusion about the change in course. Should I continue to distract myself with my inordinate desire for Law? The third was my participation in extra-curricular activities. I didn’t leave the place until 1 am. It was a defining moment for me because I didn’t want anything that would scuttle my academic ambition. There were two other decisions I took even before I gained admission to Unife. I did not attach much importance to them because they were half resolved the moment I gained admission. One was that I wouldn’t leave the University Community once I gained admission meaning, I would read to the Ph.d level and I would become a lecturer. The second one was that I would never marry a non-graduate. The few male graduates in my neighborhood in particular, and in my community in general, were married to non-graduates. I chose to be different. By the time I got back to my room, I was mentally refreshed. Most of the decisions I came back with were celestially inspired.
First, I decided to suspend all activities relating to “women’s affairs”. That was not what I came to do in the University. I won’t engage in any toasting spree. Two, I would continue to pursue my Law dream because heads or tail, the first class or good second class upper requirement was still in tandem with my personal academic goal. Three, I should remain focused on my purpose of coming to the University which was strictly academic by abstaining from student union politics. This part was very necessary because I was under intensified pressure by some past student union leaders and some of my friends to contest for either the student union Presidency or the position of Secretary General. I didn’t want any of the two. I stuck to my interest in only the King Cobra. This was in perfect order with my professional background.
Coincidentally, it was time to elect a new editorial team for the magazine to take over from the team led by Tajudeen Muhammed. On Sunday, April 17, 1983, we all gathered at the Central Catetaria to elect the new Cobra Chief. Though one of the “Snakes”(Reporters), Kunle Sulaimon (KS), a part three Law Student had indicated his interest to contest the position of Cobra Chief with me, he never stood a chance against me going by the massive support in my favour. Tajudeen Muhammed who had promised to hand over King Cobra to me had mobilized all the final year students and other members of the Agency to vote for me. I had also mobilized so many members to come and vote for me. All the Cobra Emeriti were for me. Those were influential members of the Agency. At least, out of the nine Emeriti, I was sure of five or six of them. There was TJ, my cousin’s best friend, Wale Odunayo was my close friend, Gbenga Agboola was my classmate in Compro during our lower six, Oso Adéyemí was a Medical student who attended the meeting because of me and Samson Ogunsola. The other three namely Onuma Emeaba, Nkanga Thompson and Adeoye Adesoji could vote for either of us. Among the ordinary members of the Agency, I was sure of the votes of people like Yemi Adaramodu (Agba man), Tunde Oyesiji, Bayo Ashimolowo, Sola Ayeni, Dele Elugbaju (Survival), Peter Ogboli, Adeolu Esho (also my classmate in Compro in the lower six class) and so many others.
With all sense of modesty, I was wondering what could have motivated Kunle Sulaimon into this “electoral suicide”. He probably overestimated his personality. Anyway, the die was cast. The meeting was progressing steadily as we moved towards the election proper. Immediately, after the announcement was made that it was time for election, Kunle raised an observation which he was allowed to make. He brought out a copy of the Constitution of the Cobra News Agency (University of Ife). He drew the attention of members to Section IX which deals with Election matters. It reads: “The Cobra Chief, in consultation with other final-year members of the Editorial Board, shall nominate candidates for each of the posts. Any candidate who wins by simple majority shall be deemed elected”. Most members did not understand the reason for the observation because all nominations had been made by the Editorial board. When he was asked to clarify the observation, he submitted: “I want members to take legal notice of the phrase “The Cobra Chief, in consultation with *other* *final* *year* *members* of the Editorial board shall……” By this construction, it means that anybody contesting for the position of Cobra Chief must be a final year student at the time he was contesting or at the time he would be handing over. As at today, Dapo Thomas is a part two student. He is therefore not qualified to contest the Cobra Chief position with me.” We spent about two hours exploring and dissecting the ambiguity in the construction but the final decision was that I was not qualified to contest for the position. Kunle Sulaimon emerged the new Cobra Chief being the only candidate that was contesting with me. I was pacified with the position of Cobra Scribe. I really didn’t feel bad about the outcome of the election because Kunle and I got on very well and as the new Cobra Chief and Cobra Scribe, we had to put the election issues behind us if we both wanted to make the King Cobra great again. This was exactly what we did by coming out with an explosive edition on Friday, 27 May 1983 to warn all the students that there was no more room for any juvenile malfeasance on the Campus as this new Cobra team had come to rejuvenate the ethical ecology of a worsening academic community.
As soon as we finished that bumper edition, I got serious with my studies as exams were fast approaching. Mosun and I commenced our reading partnership in one of the classes in the Faculty of Arts. It was in the course of reading together that I came to discover that Mosun was a very brilliant girl. There was a discussion segment in our reading plan. It was during the discussion that I saw how deep she was in knowledge. I was intrigued, wondering why she wanted me as her reading partner. I would have gone beyond reading partnership if I had not taken the decision to stop “women affairs”. The two of us were happy when we saw our second semester results. I was particularly happy because my results were good in details and cumulative. With this, I should be allowed to transfer to Law. It was exactly what I wanted – a good Second Class upper. Here are the details: HIS 202 (B), HIS 208 (B+), REL 202 (B+), REL 213 (B+), PHL 206 (A). This brought my cumulative grade point average to 3.80. The transfer policy had been slightly modified by the University: Your Department must approve your release before any other department or Faculty could offer you admission. My Department refused to release me on the excuse that I was leading the few people on 2:1. It was a case of stay where you are. However, I didn’t know why my friend, Oluremi Abímbólá was granted a transfer to Law. She was the only one released by the department.
By this time, some of my lecturers had taken a special interest in me. I got so close to Dr Biodun Adediran, Dr. Toyin Fálọlá and Prof. Olufemi Omosini. In order to monitor and mentor me effectively, Dr. Adediran gave me the keys to his office, took me to his house on Road 7, introduced me to his wife and children and made me a member of his family. He was the one who advised me to forget about Law and move on with my life. I wanted to stay in Ife and fight it out with the Department during the vacation but following my mentor’s advice, I left for Lagos to join my colleagues at the Weekend Flight in the coverage of the 1983 election which was being fought with desperate acerbity by the various political parties, especially the National Party of Nigeria ( NPN) and the Unity Party of Nigeria ( UPN). My job as a columnist and as a reporter was there for me during vacations. On the day of the election, hell was let loose all over the country. Most of the existing newspapers like Daily Times, The Nigerian Tribune, Daily Sketch, The Herald, The Observer, slanted the reports in favour of their owners. It was only The Guardian, established and owned by Alex Ibru and Stanley Macebuh on 2 February 1983, and The Weekend Flight which showed substantial objectivity in their coverage of the election. Despite its neutrality and fair reportage, Chief Akin Ogunmade-Davies, the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the NPN still accused The Weekend Flight and some other media houses of bias. He told me in an interview I had with him on 14 July 1983: “You see, the problem with you Press guys is that you are all bias. You always speak well of the UPN and condemned the NPN. I am talking of The Nigerian Tribune, The Sketch, Radio Lagos, Lagos Television Station and even the Weekend Flight which you represent”. But Chief Obafemi Awolowo disagreed with Chief Ogunmade-Davies’ position: Chief Awolowo’s views on the election were very unambiguous.
He said: “There was rigging in 1979…this time……the rigging was so massive it would have taken a month just to prepare the case, to collect the facts and figures. In Sokoto, Benue, Borno, they didn’t allow the people to vote at all. The polling agents were driven away from practically all of the polling stations…That happened in Sokoto, Bornu where even Governor Goni himself was teargassed……Apart from the NPN hardcore, everyone recognized that the election was massively rigged. It is the first time elections have been won in such a massive manner and nobody is rejoicing.” The election results showed that the NPN had popular votes of 12,081,471 while the UPN had popular votes of 7,907,209. These figures were disputed and contested by the UPN which preferred to call the election “allocation”. But the NPN said it had won a “landslide victory”.
By October of the election year, I was back in school. It was in this new session that I discovered that life is a battle even if you are as meek as a lamb, people will still look for your trouble. They forced me to show the fire in me. They distracted me. They plotted against me. They ganged up against me. It was a tough battle. I won all but one. It was very difficult sustaining my decision on “women affairs” because my physicality was reclining into atrophy as a result of “lack of job”. Pathetically too, my CGPA was plummeting dangerously and hypertensively. I lost focus and direction thereby sinking gradually into the quicksand that I created for myself by abandoning my reflective sessions by the cadaver apartment. Everything was my fault. I couldn’t stick to rules and regulations. I broke all the rules I made for my academic discipline and sanity. I substituted judiciousness for irrationality and I suffered the consequence of my incontinence.
To be continued
