I resumed in the University on 4 October 1982 to commence my registration process. There was a welcome message by the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. C.O. Onwumechili. He congratulated us for our admission into the University. He described Unife as the most beautiful Campus in Nigeria. On their part, the Student Union led by Eddy Olafeso and Shade Sangowanwa called the University of Ife ” the best University in the country.” All necessary registration formalities concluded. I had transited from provisional student to bona fide student. I was now a confirmed part two History student of the University of Ife. The first thing that attracted me during the registration was the convocation of hot and fresh female students moving up and down for the registration exercise. It was as if all the beautiful girls in Nigeria were having a beauty fair in Unife.
Before I left home, the general admonition from the elders of my Community was “Rántí omo eniti iwo nṣe (remember the son of who you are)”. In order to be properly guided, I came up with some resolutions that would form the plank of my philosophy in strict compliance with this admonition. First, I would not reopen my desire to read Law so as not to be distracted by it. Second, I wouldn’t do boyfriend-girlfriend affair in order not to derail my academic goal-to make a first class. Third, I wouldn’t get involved in student unionism in any form. I would avoid contesting for student union offices. The only extra-curricular activity I would participate in would be Campus journalism, understandably, because of my experience in journalism. My only choice of Campus magazine was The King Cobra. I knew about the magazine long before I gained admission into Unife. The Cobra Chief, Tajudeen Muhammed aka TJ was my cousin’s (Tunde) best friend. They were both law students and in the same class. TJ was always in our house during vacation. He had told me that he was going to hand the magazine over to me after his tenure. One after the other, these resolutions started collapsing like the wall of Jericho.
I thought I had escaped the temptation of girls after the registration not knowing that I was just starting. In the first lecture I attended on GNS 001 (compulsory for all direct entry students) at EDB 319 (Education Building) on Friday, 29 October, I met this beautiful girl with attractive statistics. I realized that I was not the only one admiring her in the class. So, I had to move fast because she was sitting close to me. I didn’t want to hear stories about coming late to toast. Receiving long nails is better than not trying at all. I did it before in form one when I received a long nail from Moji Bankole. I was ready to take the risk of receiving another nail from this girl too. I was the one that engaged her first. It was a good attempt. She responded encouragingly. I was motivated. By this time, I refused to remember any resolution or the son of who I was. At least, I knew Senior did not disclaim me despite our differences meaning Senior still remained my father. Besides, at my age, I should be working towards “doing something”, after all, I had seen some children who were younger than I holding, hugging and cuddling around and about the Campus. My history with girls had been very inspiring. I managed to have only a few crushes in Eko Boys High School and two in my neighbourhood. In Compro, I only had a “theoretical girlfriend”. She was just there because we didn’t do “anything”. Now, I wanted more involvement and engagement in girls’ affairs. By now, I should start thinking of spicing up my life with the “sunny side of life”. I made the resolutions, I should be given the privilege to review them. I agree it was too early to do that- only four weeks of resumption- but reviewing the resolution for this particular girl was worth the effort. I just wanted to add a human face to some of the resolutions because this girl was too beautiful for me to just crush on. I must love her. I had the money to take her to Forks and Fingers (the joint for Big boys and girls on the Campus) instead of allowing her to queue at the Cafeteria because of ordinary 50 Kobo meal. With five naira, the two of us would have a nice meal at the restaurant. While waiting for the lecturer’s arrival, I had gone very far in collecting some of her details except her name. According to her, she was in the English Department. She was staying in the Sports hall. I was just grinning from ear to ear enjoying my robust and delicious discussion with her. Some boys in the class were looking at me as if I was an idler. I had no time for envious gossip. I had to complete this business. I have a very strong abhorrence for uncompleted projects. So, I forged ahead with my toasting. I made a bold move to ask for her name and room number. She was about to respond when the lecturer walked in. What kind of man is this! Why now? There was no time to continue with my “toasting”. That was our first lecture in the course. I didn’t understand anything the man was saying. To be honest, my mind was not there. Yet, my “toastee” was writing virtually everything the man was saying. I looked at myself as if I was not serious. I was on red alert to follow her after the lecture. As soon as she stepped out, her friends, about two of them, were already waiting for her. She didn’t even bother to look back. I was completely abandoned. I wondered why she and her friends were laughing. I saw them. They were about 30 metres away from me. Were they laughing at me? So, what did I gain for the one hour we spent in the class -5 pm to 6 pm? I only knew she was studying English. She gave me her hall without a room number. What would I do with that? Disappointedly, I couldn’t collect her name because of lecturer’s intrusion. I should have remembered the son of who I was instead of wasting one hour on a pretty girl. Yet, I wanted to make First class. Is this how those who want to make a first class behave? Knowing her name did not make me an unserious student. Did it? No problem, I would know her name during the next class which was just a week away. By then, it would be the first week in November. Even though the name of the game was “OCTOBER RUSH”, there was no law that forbade “November Follow-up”. After all, the toasting started in October.
I was a “pirate” in my cousin’s room. He made sure that I stayed in his room with his other roommates namely Nathaniel Oke, Layiwola Faboro and Said Isa Olajide. The four of them that were the official allotees of Room 19, Fajuyi Hall were final-year Law students. I was the only odd student in the room and I was a pirate. Most times they argued among themselves. Once in a while, they would be joined by some of their classmates like Oladipo Garber, TJ, Olayiwola Oladele and Nimisoere Walson-Jack. I always envied them. Somehow, I thought I had totally missed reading Law until TJ, the Cobra Chief asked me why I didn’t study Law. I told him everything. He said it was still possible to read Law if I was determined. According to him, all I needed to do was to make first class or good second class upper result in my first session exams in History. With that, I would be allowed to transfer to Law easily. Immediately, he told me this, I reviewed the resolution I made on “forgetting about Law”. I was so excited. Already, my overall goal was to make First class. So, I was still on course. I became a “triangular student” moving from hall to class, and from class to the library and back to my hall.
The following Friday, 5 November, when we had GNS 001, the pretty girl did not show up. I was distraught because I wanted to seal the deal on that Friday. I was just looking here and there as if she would show up miraculously. Again, I didn’t concentrate during the lecture and this was the second lecture. I knew I would still make First class. I was still determined. Love is also one of the ingredients of success. A loving heart is always at peace and peace is sine qua non to assimilation. When I got to the room, I was contemplating taking a stroll to Sports hall. I missed her in the class. Anyway, I had a very good shower and wore a nice, what should I call it, lofinda, Oud, wood or perfume? Anyway, I was smelling good to myself. My roommates made fun of me and my dressing. I wore suspenders without a tie. Whatever, I still looked good to myself. On getting to Sports Hall, I started moving around, from the basement to the ground floor and first floor and like that and like that. I didn’t see anybody that looked like her. There was no hiding my frustration. I had spent 25 minutes of my precious time looking for a girl I didn’t know so well. I was on my way out of the Sports hall when I heard a female voice call my name. I looked back and I saw my crush in my church in Surulere, Peju Otu. We hugged each other. It’s been long we saw. She took me to her room. She was also staying in the Sports Hall but hers had a number -004. We talked till we exhausted the gists of about 4 years- the last time we saw. She wasn’t that regular in the Church. She only followed her mum to the church once in a while. She was also a very pretty girl with an irresistible diastema. I saw her the following day because we had a cinema date at Oduduwa Hall. It was an interesting film-Cannonball Run by Sammy Davis Jr.
My reading strategy had not changed. If I failed to read during the day, I would make up for it in the middle of the night. I could read from 12 midnight to 5 am without sleeping. During all this love adventure, I was working on a tutorial paper that was due for presentation on 12 November. Suddenly, I realized that the date clashed with my GNS 001 lecture. I wasn’t conscious of the implications when the time was being fixed. I was now in a dilemma. Being the person presenting on that day, I must attend the class. Normally, History lectures were always in the mornings and afternoons but because this was a tutorial class, it was fixed for the evening. I had gone far with the research and the write up to contemplate any shift. I didn’t even have any say on this. Well, pretty girl would have to wait for another week. I didn’t even know if she had me in mind. Sometimes, ladies could be very funny. You will be thinking about them, they may not even remember that you exist. That was her problem. I must complete my toasting anyhow. For now, I had to face my “His 207” (History of East and Central Africa 1000 to 1500 AD) presentation because the lecturer, Dr. Biodun Adediran was a very thorough person. He loved details and good analysis. That was exactly what I did. On the day of the presentation, the whole class was charged. My performance was exceptional, magnificent and awesome. According to the lecturer, it was an “A” paper. The whole class applauded me. After the class, we started a post-presentation discussion on our way back to our different halls of residence. In the presence of my friends, a very beautiful lady, definitely, my classmate, came to meet me. She said: “My name is Mosun Dawodu. I like your presentation. It was very brilliant. I will like to be your friend. I don’t mind if we can be reading together”. Wow, just like that? I replied immediately:” There is no problem. We have become friends then. We will be seeing in the class. Thanks for the compliments”.
19 November 1982 would forever remain etched in my heart. It was time for another GNS 001 class. I came late to the class. The lecturer was already in the class but I joined the class all the same. I was excited to see the girl again. She was already in the class. The first thing that gladdened my heart was that no boy was sitting next to her. I didn’t know why this happened. Maybe they decided to respect themselves. I took my rightful place even though I didn’t know her name yet. By now, she should have noticed that I was interested because of my patronizing eye-service. I could ask her if she was okay more than 5 times in one hour. I couldn’t really describe the kind of chemistry that was between us. Was it organic or inorganic? There was no denying the fact that she was a real model. This time, I decided to jot down the key points of the lecture, at least, to feign some seriousness. The lecture was about “Vocalizations”. There was something the lecturer said about the causes of “regression”. In this case, “regression” means “re-reading same line at different times”. Three factors were then identified as causes of “regression”. They are financial problems, matrimonial problems and domestic problems. There was also “vocalization” meaning movement of the tongue or vocal apparatus. There was also “sub-vocalization” meaning the internal movement of vocal apparatus. The other point I took note of was “poor recognition span”. This has to do with one’s inability to recognize some words clearly.
I didn’t know whether I was the one that stopped writing or it was the lecturer that stopped teaching. These were the only points I jotted down as a serious student that I was. I didn’t take chances this time around or should I say I was fortunate? There were no friends to frustrate me today. The two of us walked alone from the gangway of the Education Building to Faculty of Arts through the Library via the Amphitheater and Oduduwa hall. We crossed over to SUB, walked through the SUB car park and finally arrived at the Sports hall. We spoke at length. Finally, she told me her name and her room number. Her name is Boladele Bangbose. Her room was 006. From Sport’s hall to my room, my entire physicality was soaked in overwhelming fluoride.
This would make her the third Bola in my life. The first Bola I knew was Bola Salawe. We grew up together in the same neighbourhood. Senior and her father, Mr Salawe, were also childhood pals, club members and very good friends. The two of us were very good friends as well with no strings attached. Understanding was the motto. The second one was Bola Adeniregun. She was my very close friend and sitting partner from Benevolent High School through Eko Boys High School, Mushin. We were just there. No strings attached also. There was no Bola in Compro, nay, I wasn’t close to any Bola in Compro. Now, I had seen another Bola in Unife. I was working on being close to her but she was yet to steady her head in my direction. I strategically delayed further action and incursion. Once a lady said “No” to me, I won’t go back to her. So, I had to study her closely before plunging. Two things were common to the three Bolas: they were very pretty and they were damn too nice. I needed to know if my subtle alchemy for Bolas was ethereal or mere happenstance. There were no further actions between me and Boladele Bangbose until we returned from Christmas and New Year’s break
Some days after we returned from Christmas’ break, a national tragedy occurred. On the night of Monday, January 24, 1983, we got the information from NTA Network News at 9 that the 12-storey building of the Nigerian External Telecommunications (NET Building) was on fire. That was one building that signposted Nigeria’s strategic influence and advantage in telecommunications in Africa. It also showcased the country’s fascination for modern architecture. It was a national tragedy in which an undisclosed number of workers and visitors were said to have died. Those who had gone to the office to phone their loved ones abroad were among the dead. The part of the news that caused instant riot that night was the revelation by the Police that some senior officials of the company had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement estimated at more than $100 million. The other part of the news that also infuriated the students was that, a day before the incident, Ray Ekpu, an influential columnist and one of the editors of Sunday Concord, wrote in his column that Sunday: “The putrefying contents of our government offices are only beginning to surface. We already know about NET (the acronym for the Nigerian External Telecommunications Building) but there the robbers were not smart. A little petrol and a matchstick and their tracks would have been covered. The robbers in Abuja were smarter. They burned the place down.” This made the police to arrest Ray Ekpu on the ground that he must have had foreknowledge of the arson. While the news was going on, “the creative department ” of the Student body was composing a song for the incident. Before they finished reading the news, some Awo students had come up with the song:
“Ti won ba kowo je tan,
Won a wa dana sun le
Awọn ole, won ndana
Sun le (After perpetrating fraud and embezzlement, the thieves will set the buildings on fire)”
With this beautiful song, we (including me) mobilized the Congress by going round the various halls of residence -Angola, Awo, Moza, PG, Morèmi, Fajuyi, Sports hall, Road 7, Main gate. Because it was very late, we decided not to go to town. But we trooped to town the following morning when we learned that after a very brief visit to the site of the inferno, President Shehu Shagari still travelled to India that same night to take part in the country’s Republican Day which is celebrated every 26 January.
I was angry with Boladele Bangbose for refusing to go to the Cinema with me on three occasions. She had been doing some annoying things which I considered a deliberate ploy to frustrate me from realizing my dream of marrying a Bola. She would not stroll with me around the Campus, particularly in the night. She would not cook food for me like some other girls were doing for their boyfriends. She wouldn’t even appreciate my coming to her room every night when I had a girl who was my friend that wanted me to be coming regularly. She was playing too hard to get without a timeline for soft landing or soft-pedalling. She didn’t create time for “romantic recreation”. These were the reasons I delayed my final toasting. These signs were not encouraging at all. If I should do any toasting under these prevailing circumstances, I would collect long nails and I didn’t want to. Something later happened to me during one of my visits to Sports Hall. It was a very funny and dramatic incident. I had an appointment with Peju in room 004 but I mistakenly entered Bola’s room in 006. The two rooms were two doors away from each other.
To be continued
