Welcome, Guest: Register On Nairaland / LOGIN! / Trending / Recent / New
Stats: 3,140,576 members, 7,770,511 topics. Date: Tuesday, 19 March 2024 at 11:17 AM

IFY - A Romantic Thriller - Literature (2) - Nairaland

Nairaland Forum / Entertainment / Literature / IFY - A Romantic Thriller (54578 Views)

Tarasha - (An Action Thriller) - Story Of The Month - January 2016 / Ify , A Romantic Thriller Continuation . / 17 Awosika-a Crime/action Thriller (2) (3) (4)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) ... (12) (Reply) (Go Down)

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 3:55pm On Aug 30, 2014
“Do you know that cows and horses can sleep on their feet, that is, while standing?” I asked her.

“Really? Is it possible? I wonder how they do it—without falling down?” She wondered, clearly interested.

“Nature! It’s nature my dear! Nature designed it that way. And so many other wonderful things! For example, do you know that the eyes of a donkey are positioned in its head in such a way that it could see all its four legs at the same time?”

Paul joined our discussion. “Hmm, that’s interesting!” he said.

I continued. “Oh yes! There are so many interesting facts you may not even be aware of. For example, do you know that a cockroach whose head is cut off can survive for up to a week before it finally dies of starvation?”

“Hmm… interesting! I guess if you do something like that to someone like my wicked landlord, the guy will survive for much longer than that until he’s collected all his rent he’s being owed.” That came from one man sitting in the front and everybody laughed.

“Have you ever heard that there are some species of spiders where the female which is usually larger in size eats the male after mating?
Sometimes, she devours him even before the mating or during the act. A similar thing happens to the drone, that is, the male honeybee. It lives only for one purpose – to mate with the female honeybee and then dies shortly afterwards which means it mates only just once…” I emphasized the word just.

Paul and some most of the men in the bus considered it for awhile, caught the irony in there, and they started laughing.

“Thank God, I’m not that spider. Can you imagine? Just once?! Such a sad and terrible life to lead!” one man quipped.

“And I wouldn’t want to be a drone too…” another man said from the back.

“Me neither…” another one seated in the front added and this brought another round of laughter. Gosh… men! Always interested in sex!

“I wonder what you would say if you hear that boars, that is male pigs, can take up to five to fifteen minutes to complete an ejaculation?” I told them.

This made everyone laugh. As I said that, I stole a glance at Ifeoma to observe her reaction to that. I said it before, flirting usually involves a lot of sex.ual innuendos and deep down inside me, I knew I was already flirting with her which explains why I so much wanted to know how she reacts to things minutely related to sex.

Wait a minute… did she just give me a coy look? Yes, she did! It was the you-know-you-are-a-naughty-boy questioning type of look. I smiled inwardly. It was exactly the type of feedback I anticipated because it gladly registered with me instantly that she didn’t find that type of talk—from me—offensive in any way at all.

“I think I’ve heard that before but I doubted it,” Paul said. “I read somewhere it is even up to thirty minutes and the quantity semen from such org asm can be as much as half a liter.”

“That is so wonderful!” I said. “Maybe that’s why the boar does not take it easy with anyone that tries to disturb him at such times.”

“Do you blame him? I mean, who would even like to be disturbed at such a time?” the driver cooed and everybody started laughing.

As we laughed, I stole a glance at my watch. It said 2:48p.m. We were now approaching Okada. From there, we will go to Ore. Commuter buses travelling to Lagos from the East usually stop at Ore, which is about three hours to Lagos, for both the passengers, the driver and of course, the bus too, to cool off. There are lots and lots of restaurants at Ore where the passengers could get refreshed. I was already looking forward to that.

There was a police checkpoint in front of us. When we reached the spot, we were stopped by the police. Maybe the policemen were expecting our driver to give them something like a tip because immediately it appeared like the driver was not going to compromise, they pulled him over.

They were six policemen at that checkpoint. The one that actually pulled us over then approached us. He was looking so cross. He asked the driver to show him the papers for the license and registration of the vehicle.

As the driver fumbled to produce the required documents, some of the passengers started blaming the driver for not giving the police just twenty or fifty naira as they put it, so that we could be on our way. I kept quiet and studied the whole scenario.

Luckily for us, the driver finally got his acts right and produced all the documents the policeman requested for after fumbling around for about three to five minutes which seemed like fifty minutes to me.

This seemed to irk the policeman so much. So he decided to extend his fault finding mission. He decided to conduct a thorough search on all the passengers that were inside the bus. It was supposed to be a kind of a routine check but we already had an idea how this could go. Sometimes, the police could be so rude and completely unruly for no just reason, most especially in situations like this.

When it came to the turn of searching Paul, he discovered that Paul had a laptop with him inside his bag. He demanded for the receipt of the laptop.

Paul told him in plain English that he did not have the receipt. It was as if the policeman finally got his prayers answered – he now had every reason to detain us, so he told Paul that he was going to seize the laptop until he produces the proof of ownership that shows he didn’t steal it.

At first, Paul tried to explain to the policeman that it was an old laptop and he didn’t even bother to bring along the receipt. But the policeman didn’t buy the story. Paul started pleading with him to be considerate and tried to make the police officer reason with him that it was practically impossible for him to produce the receipt since that would mean he will either have to call someone from Enugu to bring it for him or he will have to go back to Enugu to get it by himself.

The policeman told him that was exactly what he was expecting him to start doing at once. Angered, Paul now raised his voice against the policeman telling him that he is a very wicked man and the situation at hand was a pure case of injustice and abuse of power. He also challenged the officer and told him that he knew his own rights as a free citizen of Nigeria.

This brought the attention of the other policemen at the checkpoint and they gathered to see why a common civilian was threatening and insulting ‘one of their own’. One of them slapped Paul and told him to shut up his dirty mouth. Another suggested that—as a way to deal with Paul—the rest of the passengers should continue with the journey and Paul will be left behind until he provides that receipt as evidence.

But when Paul told them that he could describe every file and document that was stored inside the computer together with the passwords, they laughed scornfully at him and quickly dismissed him by telling him that anyone who stole the laptop could do the same thing.

Other passengers tried to tell the policemen who had gathered that they should consider the poor guy and allow us to continue our journey. They refused and said that because Paul was rude to them, they will teach him an unforgettable lesson that day.

to be continued...

4 Likes

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by seunviju(f): 6:25pm On Aug 30, 2014
Olopa and dia wayo thing.Lovely update,tnx
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 9:07pm On Aug 30, 2014
Time was running out fast on me. The policemen were not in any haste. In fact, I believe they took so much pleasure in detaining us because they soon left us and continued with their job of stopping and checking other vehicles. To buttress their point, they now ordered our driver to continue his journey while leaving Paul behind.

Paul was looking totally lost and distraught. I took pity on him. Some of the passenger were already making impatient gestures and verbally casting blame on him and saying that he should have brought the receipt instead of causing this whole problem for them and wasting their time while ignorantly claiming he knew his rights. Some others took the opportunity to blame the driver some more for not giving the policeman ‘something’.

I knew where all this was heading to. I figured I knew what the policemen wanted. I figured they didn’t care much about the ownership of that old laptop but rather they were only interested in punishing the boy, and to some extent, the driver too, so I moved to where two of the policemen were seated on an improvised wooden bench and addressed one of them who looked more educated and approachable. I started pleading with him to forgive Paul.

I made it appear as if I were siding with them against the ‘stupid’ student who, even though was claiming to know his rights, was still foolish enough not to have brought the common receipt along with him.

To drive my point home, I gently squeezed two two hundred naira notes into his palm. He unfolded it, looked at it and when he found out it was just four hundred naira, he told me that it was not enough to free Paul from the serious offense he had committed.

I laughed and told him that I was doing what I was doing out of my own volition. I didn’t mention that I was attending an interview in Lagos tomorrow and I needed to be in Lagos early enough. I knew I had to be careful what I disclosed to him. Who knows, he might even see and use it as an opportunity to detain us the more so as to exploit us, no, me, some more.

I simply told him to consider us that we are just students who depended on our parents for sustenance. I added another two hundred to his till. That seemed to be working. I noticed that he was now relaxing a bit.

He told me to go and call that foolish student. I went and called Paul. As the other passengers watched, together we marched to the place where the other four policemen were standing. He now presented my case to his colleagues. They vehemently opposed and said that Paul must stay behind unless he miraculously produces that receipt.

The policeman now pleaded on our behalf. He told his colleagues that I have already provided six hundred naira to that effect and they communed among themselves and said that it was not enough.

By now the driver and some of the passengers had joined our small group. They now joined in pleading with the policemen to forgive Paul and let us go. I noticed the impatience on the faces of some of them. At last, the policemen said we had to complete the money and make it up to one thousand naira before we can go. Strangely, for some inexplicable reason, none of them who gathered, not even Paul, seemed willing to do something in that regard. Nigerians! Well, what do you expect?

I thought about it. Maybe this was fate at work. Maybe this was the reason why God even allowed me to save that money from that man in the first place. I wanted nothing more than for us to be on the road once more so after feigning some hesitation, I finally gave in and gave them another four hundred naira.

As they accepted it, they told Paul to thank me very well. They also told him to apologize to the officer whom he raised his voice against and he did. The policeman who slapped him now shook hands with him and told him to continue to be a law abiding citizen and warned him to always remember to take his receipts along with him whenever he is travelling with any electronic gadget so as to avoid a similar embarrassment in the future.

I exchanged phone numbers with the police officer I first approached. You don’t know where or when next you might need his help or bump into each other again.

Then they waved us on our way and off we went. I looked at my watch. The whole event had lasted for almost forty-something minutes. It was almost half past three and we were still about four hours away from Lagos but I was glad that we were finally on our way—again!

to be continued...

3 Likes 1 Share

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Abiolabalogun(m): 9:41pm On Aug 30, 2014
Am felling u bro ,ride on

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 9:47pm On Aug 30, 2014
Abiolabalogun: Am felling u bro ,ride on

No wahala. Forward ever, backward never!
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 8:10am On Aug 31, 2014
CHAPTER 5

According to Murphy’s Law, it is a supposed law of nature that anything that can go wrong will go wrong. A lot of things were already going not according to plan on this very journey and in most cases, at least from my own experience, usually, when it rains it pours.

If I were a strong believer in Christianity or even superstitious like so many Nigerians are, I would have said that so many evil forces were conspiring against me in getting to Lagos on time for the interview the next day. Or how else would you explain that barely less than thirty minutes after we left that police checkpoint our vehicle just developed a fault?

At first, I think the driver noticed it but thought it was just a minor thing. He only acknowledged it was a big problem when the car started jerking. When he tried to step on the gas, he got no response as the car could no longer accelerate. The jerking finally gave way and the car engine finally died and the vehicle slowly ground to a disappointing halt.

Everybody became alarmed. Some passengers started berating the driver again telling him that he should have made sure his vehicle was in perfect condition before embarking on the journey rather than bringing us here to be left stranded in the middle of nowhere.

I knew this was no time to panic so I tried to calm down some nerves. I told them to understand that this could happen because machines can fail at anytime. While I did this, I stole a glance at Ifeoma because I felt her eyes on me. It seemed she was watching every one of my moves and immediately our eyes met, she shifted hers away quickly but not so fast for me not to have seen that she has been watching me with keen interest. I smiled inwardly. Maybe it’s true. A female friend once told me that women love it when men do not panic in certain situations.

Some of the passengers now decided to see how they could help the driver find what the fault was. The driver had already lifted the bonnet and was fiddling with the engine mechanics but from his clumsy hands; you could easily guess that he was also at sea. I was never a car mechanic but I felt like I should also join them. Some of the men were giving their own suggestions on what could be the fault.

By some stroke of luck or whatever, one man asked the driver in passing to check if the fuel was still reaching the carburetor because according to him such things could also make a vehicle to develop that type of fault and stop. The driver quickly did this and discovered that no more fuel was getting to the carburetor which meant that the fault was with the fuel pump.

Without wasting time, the driver told us to be patient with him that he will have to hop back to Okada town to see if he could buy the fuel pump and also get a mechanic there that will fix it for us.

Some people complained and told him that it would be better if he just refund them with some money so that they would use it to board another vehicle while some others told him to go and do his worst as they couldn’t care less anymore. Some even cursed and called him a fool for not knowing that he should always have a spare fuel pump with him when making such a long journey. Nigerians!

When the driver finally got a lift from another vehicle heading towards Okada, he hopped in and left and we waited for his return. I knew how these things work. It will take not less than one hour before the driver returns, that is, if he will even return, so I just moved to one side away from the rest of passengers, sat down on a log of dead wood lying there and started considering my life and my fate once more.

I was worried. Many a time, it gets a lot worse before it gets better. I have often heard this theory from so many people, though I considered it superstitious. They say that whenever something good is about to happen to you, so many bad things will also be happening to you at the same time and everything will be happening as if to say the universe is putting you through a test but if you come out strong, you will surely have a success story to tell.

And Lord knows, I needed to tell a lot of success stories. Maybe this is what was finally happening to me and it was my time. Maybe I was finally going to get the job and end the energy sapping job hunt once and for all.

There was also this other lingering thought on my mind. Maybe there was a reason completely unconnected with my job search why I am on this bus. But I knew I was not superstitious so I quickly tried to dismiss such thoughts.

But I couldn’t.

Ifeoma. I found myself thinking about her again. There was this thing about her that I liked right from the very first moment I saw her.

Ifeoma. Yes, there’s really this something about her! I tried to tell myself that it was really nothing but just that same feeling of excitement I have felt towards meeting so many women for the first time which makes me to like all of them almost immediately only to later lose interest but somehow, I wasn’t so sure about that this time.

I tried to dismiss this new tingling feeling as one of those things but the strong vibes I was getting from her was just too strong for me to ignore just like that. Could it be…? No, no, no, it’s not just possible. Of course, it can’t be! That’s not my thing. It could only be for fools and I’ve always told myself I wasn’t one. At least, not since that very first and last time it happened and that was a very long long time ago.

With me, it has always been charm a girl and if possible, make her fall in love, enjoy it for a while, get bored, lose interest in the girl, then fall out of love—or whatever it was so fast, move on, and then repeat—with a new victim.

But there was this something about Ify that was pushing me on, telling me that it could be different this time, but I quickly convinced myself that she was nothing but a stranger and after the next four or five hours she will just become one of those nice girls that briefly appeared in my radar and then disappeared soon afterwards…

to be continued...

2 Likes

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by colonel20: 1:09pm On Aug 31, 2014
What happened next!
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Nobody: 4:37pm On Aug 31, 2014
It's such a nyc story...gud write up
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 6:44pm On Aug 31, 2014
“What are you thinking about?”

I quickly came back to my senses and discovered that Ifeoma was standing in front of me. I didn’t even notice when she moved towards me.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Are you in any difficulty?” She sounded so concerned.

“No, I’m not.”

“Okay Vince. It’s just that I don’t like that worried look on your face. Tell me; is it because of the money?” She was really worried and that frightened me.

“Which money?”

“Vince, I saw the money you gave those police guys. You don’t have enough money on you anymore, right? Don’t lie to me. You know I was watching you the whole while…”

She was very observant and I liked that. I also liked that she was still calling me Vince. But I wondered how she would have felt and if she would have liked it if I told her that I was actually thinking about her. Will she freak out or will she be glad?

“It’s not the money,” I said to her. “It’s just that I want us to get this journey over with so that I can prepare for the interview and get things going in my life.”

“Ah yes, the interview! I should have guessed. You are already worrying if you will get the job this time, am I right?” Before I could say anything, she added, “Vince, don’t worry yourself so much because our God is good all the time and He is in control.”

Our God? What does that mean? Now, what exactly does she mean by our God? Our God as in our God in general or our God as in our God between the two of us? Well, I think I’d better stop fooling myself.

I smirked. She didn’t like that so she asked me why I was not having strong faith. I told her to forget about it because it is a long story and she won’t understand. She insisted. I finally gave in. I told her that from my past experiences since I started applying for these jobs, my hope of finally getting a job has continued to plummet.

“You see Vince; listen let me tell you something. Our God works in a mysterious way and one of these days, you might not know it, but your prayers might just be answered this time around. You just have to stay positive. To tell you the truth, I can feel it already. I don’t know why but I’m so sure about this. I know it’s about to be answered.”

I’m so sure about this? I almost smirked again but not wanting to offend her with my pessimism, I quickly checked myself.

“Amen,” I chorused in a very flat voice. “Sorry, I didn’t offer you a seat. Come. Sit.” I made a little space for her.

“So if you get the job, will you like to stay in Lagos?” she asked me as she sat down beside me.

What? Lagos? No! Never! I never liked Lagos for so many reasons.

Lagos, the final bus stop for all unemployed persons in the country looking for where to be hired because Lagos is the proverbial ‘end of the road’ and the indisputable land of opportunities for such persons in Nigeria.

Lagos, the mad city that never sleeps with everywhere bustling with business activities, traffic and noise. Lagos, the overcrowded city that always leaves you often wondering where all the thousands of people you see wandering about during the day do sleep at night.

Lagos, the constantly rowdy city with that characteristic odious stench that usually oozes from the numerous open gutters seen in most areas. Lagos, the city with its characteristic hurried lifestyle, heat, mosquitoes and well-fed big rats!

Oh Lagos! The busy state where the haves and the have-nots endure the same stressful traffic congestion on daily basis. Lagos, the city where everyone quickly learns to mind their own business. The city where you dare not trust anyone or else…

To tell you the gospel truth, I never liked Lagos because I know that Lagos is a city that can, if care is not taken, easily make someone to go mad!

“No, I don’t pray so,” I said to her. “If I get the job, I believe I’ll still find a way to maneuver my way back to Enugu or somewhere less populated and less noisy.”

I don’t know what I said right but I thought I saw her smile. She told me that she could easily reconnect with what I just said because she had spent her childhood days growing up in Ibadan but she normally visited and spent almost all of her school holidays in Lagos.

Then she went ahead to tell me a little about herself. She told me about her education and her school life. I felt it was too early for me to pry into her love life so I didn’t go there although I was dying to know if she was already taken.

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 10:19pm On Aug 31, 2014
While she talked, I listened. I have said it before, one other thing women love, guys who listen to them. Most times, they may be talking about very boring topics like talking about themselves, their religious beliefs and value systems, their favorite movies or movie stars, their friends and their friends’ friends and so on but even if you don’t want to listen, it’s better you just pretend that you are.

Nod your head occasionally as if you agree with her and ask her some questions from what she said to show that you are paying attention. It still has the same effect. She will even appreciate it more if you also laugh at some of her jokes, that’s assuming she can tell jokes.

So, I just listened.

I didn’t want to admit it to myself but I was really enjoying her company. The rapport between us was building up so fast. I got a feeling she was also enjoying my company from her relaxed mannerisms as she sat by my side. At some point, I felt like reaching out and stroking her hair but I held myself back. What was getting inside of me?

I was glad for our little discussion because I didn’t notice as time flew. When I looked at my watch, it said 4:52p.m. Our driver has not yet returned. He has been away for close to fifty minutes. Some of the agitated passengers were frantically making some serious effort in trying to see if they could get another bus so that they could continue with their journey while some others tried to calm them down. I didn’t blame them at all. It wasn’t their fault. People are always in a hurry.

It was almost twenty minutes later that the driver finally made it back to the spot. He quickly apologized for being away for so long. His apology stopped many of the passengers who were already gearing up to bite his head off although some still managed to get in one or two abusive words in their attempt to tell him off.

Soon, together with the mechanic he brought along with him, they managed to remove the faulty fuel pump and replaced it with the new one he bought.

As I watched them work from where I sat with Ifeoma, my only prayer was for the fuel pump to be the actual cause of the problem. The whole operation took about twenty minutes or so. Then the mechanic told the driver to start the vehicle which he did.

Voila! The vehicle kicked back to life and the driver signaled to all of us to come for the journey to continue. As I trudged back to the vehicle, I purposely walked a little bit slower so that Ifeoma will be walking in front of me.

I wanted to watch her back. Not literally, if you know what I mean. I have been dying to see the rest of her body and now was the time. I wanted to watch her from the back.

She had a very nice shape, I could see that. I was thrilled by the way her bum rolled in a gentle seductive manner before my eyes. I also noticed that she had nice and shapely smooth legs. This is good.

She suddenly stopped, turned and looked back and I guess she must have caught my eyes which I quickly shifted away but not so fast enough for her not to have seen what I was doing and interpreted my line of thought. She gave me a cocky smile and ordered me to quickly catch up and walk by her side.

When I came to her side, I took her right hand in my left hand. She looked into my face searchingly as if surprised by my move but she didn’t remove her hand. A good sign.

When I squeezed her hand, she smiled and then gently squeezed mine back. Hand in hand, we approached the bus and joined the other passengers in the bus. I noticed the furtive glances of some of the passengers, most especially the male ones, at us. I knew that look. It wasn’t so far from envy but there was also the unspoken encouragement and the understated nudging from them for me to make sure I score with her. Men!

We finally drove off at top speed. It wasn’t up to thirty minutes before we finally reached Ore. The driver carefully maneuvered the bus to one side in front of a very big restaurant and then stopped the vehicle.

Although it has taken us much longer than anyone expected to reach Ore, I knew a lot of us were happy that we finally got there. I knew this was because we needed the refreshments badly. The fuel pump incident coupled with that long wait and the tempers that flayed plus the intense exchange of words between some of the passengers and the driver had taken its toll on everyone as we didn’t say much again to each other after we left that spot.

Normally, when commuter buses stop at Ore, the norm is that everyone is supposed to come down from the bus even if you don’t want to buy any refreshment and the driver will then lock up his bus. This could most likely be for security reasons so as to avoid that awkward situation of someone accusing another of pilfering one or two things from his luggage or should I say, someone mistakenly borrowing something from another person without their permission and of course, without any intention of returning it, while they were away.

We all alighted. I looked at Ifeoma. It looked as if she was already waiting for me. I smiled at her with my eyes and she smiled back at me bringing back to life those nice dimples on her rosy cheeks once again.

Then she took me by surprise and said, “I want to buy you some food. Please… don’t say no…?”

I didn’t know why she said that but I liked her for saying it. I was taken aback because it is usually the men who say such a thing to ladies they probably want to impress or gain some favor from and not the other way round. Besides, for all it was worth and for all I care, I am still a stranger to her—and yet she was willing to do this for me. Hmm… okay.

My first thought was to reject her offer but from experience, I already knew that some people consider it as a grave insult and might easily take offense when you turn down their offers, most especially offers like this, which they freely made to you out of their own volition without you even asking for it.

And I didn’t want to offend her. But I still had to show I had some dignity and pride so under the guise of male ego I said, “Well, alright. I won’t say no but that means you have to tell me right now why you want to do that for me.”

She laughed and then she surprised me again when she started speaking in Hausa. She asked me if I really wanted everyone around to know that I told her that I don’t have any money again because I have foolishly given away all my money to the police. It was so funny to her because she started laughing midway as she said it, probably due to the shocked and embarrassed look that suddenly jumped into my face when I realized the gaffe she was trying to put me into with her made-up story.

Surprised, I quickly looked around at the faces of some of the passengers and when I saw the blank look on their faces, I calmed down and joined her in the laughter. I think the driver must have understood what she said because he stopped and looked at both of us, shook his head, and then he sniggered before walking away.

Surprised at the driver’s behavior, I turned and looked at Ify with raised eyebrows. She shrugged her shoulders and sniggered too. I smiled as I looked admiringly into her eyes. My interest in her has surged.

to be continued...

1 Like 1 Share

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Nobody: 11:11pm On Aug 31, 2014
More updates...gud work u av thr

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 7:28am On Sep 01, 2014
Okay...so na only balispecial waka come? All diz people reading without commenting...dia ris ebola o! grin

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 7:44am On Sep 01, 2014
I doubt if she knew it but she was beginning to thrill me beyond what I expected. I liked that she could easily come up with that type of fib. To me, that simply shows she’s quite imaginative. And spontaneous too.

Besides, nothing surprises and excites me like finding out that someone I was with could speak many languages. To me, it clearly shows versatility. And knowledgeability. And a clear sign of someone who has been to places. And to me, that simply means someone who is quite experienced. I always like that because it shows there is something to learn from the person and I was glad she was going to help me to finally polish my smattering Hausa, assuming I finally get her.

I didn’t want her to laugh at my poor spoken Hausa so I quickly switched our conversation back to English. I asked her how come she could speak Hausa very well and she told me that she grew up in Kaduna. I told her she was going to brush me up and help me learn the language properly and she gladly accepted and told me that was not going to be a problem. I told her I was so happy to have been on the bus with her and she told me the feeling was mutual.

Together, we started matching towards one of the restaurants where we could get some meal. Halfway, I stopped, excused myself and told her that I wanted to urinate first. As I started heading towards a nearby bush to urinate, I noticed that Paul was also heading towards my direction.

When he finally came near me, I noticed he had a mischievous glint in his eyes. He joined me, unzipped his trousers and started to urinate too.
As we urinated, he turned towards me, flashed me a very bright smile and said, “Vincent de Vincent, oh man, you are the boss! How did you do it?! Guy, I bow for you! Do you know that girl already loves you?”

“Which girl…?” I feigned ignorance. “Oh! You mean Ifeoma, right?”

By now I was through with urinating and I was waiting for him to finish.

“Of course! Who else but her?! Guy, take it from me, the babe is already tripping! That girl already loves you so much!” he restated. I was elated but I still laughed in a less concerned and stand-offish manner as if to dismiss his postulation.

“Wait, you mean you can’t see it already? C’mon, I know you are only pretending not to have seen it!” he continued. “Hmm… guy you are too much! No one seeing the two of you together now will ever believe you guys just met each other this morning! It was as if you two knew each other since far back! Just look at the way the babe was holding your hands… oh my gad!”

He was through and after zipping up his jeans trousers, he turned towards me. I could see the amazement on his face.

“You mean like boyfriend and girlfriend?” I asked, goading him to say something I really wanted to hear.

“Exactly! Vince you have to tell me your secrets. You are now my boss and I like your style… believe me!”

I laughed. “There are no secrets. All you have to do to make a woman like you is to show her that you are the type of guy she has been looking for.”

“What? How do you mean? How do you even know what they are looking for in the first place? In fact, how do you even know the one that is even looking…?” he asked, completely confused.

“Paul my dear, take it easy. My guy, it’s like you really do have a lot to learn.” I patted him on his back. “You see all these girls, all these fine fine ladies you see everyday… probably, you’re afraid of them but it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t need to be afraid of them anymore. Just tell yourself that you know they are looking for something from you and they are hoping and longing that you can give it to them but if I start explaining it to you right now, it will take us from now till dawn… but I know it is in you and you can do it because you can make them laugh with your wittiness and that is a very good sign…”

“I do accept I have a lot to learn when it comes to girls. They have been my greatest problem because they are so confusing and I find it difficult knowing exactly what they want and how to handle them. I admit I’m also afraid of them, kind of. To tell you the truth, I’m so glad you joined us in this bus. I believe there are so many things to learn from you. Please give me your number so that I can be able to stay in contact with you. Besides, you know I will also have to refund you the money you foolishly gave to the police on my behalf. I’m so sorry I don’t even have enough here on me if not I would be the one buying you the food instead of this your new pretty girl.”

He gave me a sly smile and then burst into laughter.

I looked at him, surprised. “Say what?! You don’t mean it! Don’t tell me you understand Hausa too?! Hmm… what is really going on here? It’s like everybody in this bus understands the language?”

He laughed and told me he did because at one time he lived with his family in Potiskum but he quickly added that he didn’t need to understand Hausa to read the strong love vibes going on between Ifeoma and me.

We both started to laugh as I punched him lightly on his shoulders. He was witty quite alright. Then I proceeded to call out my number for him to dial it so that I could also have his. I was fast becoming a phone number collector today.

It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t even bother to ask Ifeoma for her phone number all that time we talked so I decided that was going to be the first thing I will ask of her immediately I rejoin her at the table where she was already sitting down and waiting for me—eagerly?

I told Paul that he should excuse me for I have some unfinished business to attend to. I winked as I nodded my head towards Ifeoma’s direction. He laughed, nodded, then winked back and told me he could understand.

“Don’t keep her waiting… you bad guy!” he said with all admiration as he nudged me on.

I left him and soon joined up with Ifeoma where she was sitting. She looked at me and smiled before asking me what I wanted to eat. I told her that I have a very large appetite which is why I already knew it was a very bad idea for her to offer me this service. I told her that by the time I am through with her, she will surely learn to never ever offer to buy a meal for any stranger in her life again.

She laughed heartily and told me that she was up for and equal to the task. I ordered for rice and beans with stew and chicken. She told the waiter she was going to have the same thing.

“What are you going to drink?” she asked me.

I looked at her closely for a moment then I said, “Wait a minute… I hope you are not copying me because if you are, then you are in for a very huge disappointment because I’m going to order for beer right now?”

“Oh, so you think I don’t drink beer, huh? Try me.”

“I will have mercy on you since you are the one paying and I don’t want you to start running short of money too just like me unless you want us to stop halfway on our journey and become beggars. But come to think of it, I’m so sure you will make a good female beggar and from the way you are shining and looking so pretty and attractive right now; I’m pretty sure so many men won’t hesitate to donate sharp sharp!”

She started to laugh again. Yes. Keep them laughing. Trust me, they love it. I guess she also loved the fact that I was saying us. And I was also indirectly telling her that she was hot. I don’t just know why women love these things.

“Try me,” she said again, this time with ferocity. Oho! I love it when women challenge me.

“Okay… waiter, bring me two bottles of Gulder please…” I said two because I planned to put the challenge way out of her reach, assuming she was up for it.

“Okay… waiter, please bring me two bottles of Pepsi please,” she said while mimicking my voice and we started laughing. God! I knew it! This girl is really my type of girl! She could crack jokes. She is funny. And she really looks smart too. Yes, this is so good!

to be continued...
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by domdan13(m): 1:06pm On Sep 01, 2014
NYC 1 man....u're d bomb...keep it coming kuz dis nigga is so following....#FOLLOWING

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by aprilwise(m): 3:01pm On Sep 01, 2014
Bros. abeg give ur readers small update make we take see front.
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by aprilwise(m): 3:25pm On Sep 01, 2014
thanks for d updates.
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 3:42pm On Sep 01, 2014
Soon the food arrived and I started to devour it. The drinks arrived a short while later too. The rice and beans was very delicious with a very powerful aroma. I am a gourmet and I love good food. So I gave the food before me the full attention it deserved. You don’t have to blame me. I was so hungry.

Nine minutes later, I was through with the rice and beans. I proceeded to open the bottle of Gulder. I also opened the Pepsi for her. She expressed her gratitude and I told her, “Don’t mention it; I’m always at your service.”

I sipped the beer and ate the chicken while I watched her eat. She ate very slowly. I was now feeling so happy and satisfied with myself because I was fully refreshed. I expressed my gratitude to her and told her that God will surely replenish her till. She told me, “Don’t mention it, it’s my pleasure.”

I then seized the opportunity to ask for her number. I told her I wanted to have it so that I will be able to repay her in my own way one of these days for taking very good care of me. As she pulled out her phone, I noticed it was a very shiny black Nokia Lumia phone. One thing you just have to give to so many Nigerian girls, they have a very high taste when it comes to phones!

I called out my number for her and she saved it. Then she dialed mine so that I could save hers. As I saved it, she added that she didn’t give me her number for me to repay her but rather she just wants to prove to me that I am just like the other guys who will just collect her number but will never bother to call her again—until, she added nonchalantly, they wanted something from her.

Wow! Was she trying to tell me that she wants me to be different? And by the way, what exactly does she mean by some other guys wanting something from her? Something like what, if I may ask?

Somehow, I felt a little queasy about that statement she just made. Hmm. I just hope it was not what I was thinking. I’ve been in the game for so long and to think of the things some of these campus girls do to get those flashy phones… Well; I hope that was not how she got the Lumia. No! No way! She looked very decent for that sort of thing… but I could be wrong. Anyway, what’s my business…? After all, it’s her life… their lives…

“So you want me to call you, eh?” I asked her.

“Yes, I want you to call me although I know you will never call.” She was smiling as she said that but I knew that she was also challenging me. Great!

I considered what she said for a moment and then I told her that I was different. She accepted it half-heartedly. Then I dialed her number immediately. When she looked at her phone and saw it was me, she looked at me wide-eyed and started laughing.

“You are simply impossible, Vince! Where did you come out from? The things you do to a girl!” Obviously, she was very happy! Me, too…

“You see…? You see what I’m saying…? Even though I was calling just to say thank you but right before my very eyes, I called you and you didn’t even bother to pick! Tomorrow you’ll say I didn’t call you… huh? God’s my witness!” I playfully accused her.


“Zuwo,” she said playfully. Zuwo is the Hausa word for fool. “I know you know that’s not what I meant.”

When she asked me if I was not going to start on the second bottle, I told her that I would ask them to change it for me to a canned one so that I will drink it when we are inside the bus anytime I start feeling thirsty again. As an afterthought, I told her that I normally use beer instead of water to quench my thirst. She chuckled and shook her head in mock pity for me and told me that I was not serious.

It wasn’t long before the driver signaled by honking for us to come out for the journey to continue. Our fellow passengers slowly started to materialize from the different restaurants they had gone in to get refreshed too. Soon, everybody occupied their previous positions and the driver kicked the bus back to life.

We were on our away once again. I looked at my watch. It was coming up close to 6:07p.m. I did a quick mental calculation. Baring all unforeseen circumstances, if the driver maintains a top speed and if everything goes according to plan, hopefully we should be in Lagos latest by 9 p.m.

I knew my uncle will not be pleased with me at all. He was the one who told me to make sure I was in Lagos on time so that both of us would go and see the location of the company that same day before I go for the interview the next morning. He said it was always good for one to familiarize with the surroundings of the venue where the interview is supposed to be held before the interview proper. Now, he is going to blame me for not heeding to his advice. No need for me to explain why I came in late.

I knew the type of person he is. Due to his fastidious nature, I knew he is definitely going to be very angry with me and he is also going to conclude that I was not serious with the job search. He had made a similar comment before when he told me to move over to Lagos because that is where the opportunity lies and I told him that I preferred to stay in Enugu.

The food made me very heavy. I started to feel so tired and sleepy. Normally I don’t like sleeping inside the bus whenever I am travelling on a very long distance journey. I have heard that some people met their waterloo in the hands of ritual killers while some other people were carried way beyond their destination just because they overslept in the bus but I knew Lagos was still like three hours ahead so there was really nothing to fear.

I just rearranged my head on the headrest and settled myself into a more comfortable position. I turned to Ifeoma and told her to make sure she watches over me while I grab a quick nap and then I gradually drifted into sleep.

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Nobody: 6:19pm On Sep 01, 2014
This is such an interesting story , dnt knw y people r nt commenting at least 2 serve as encouragement...wel, u r gud wt wat u do whether they comment or nt keep it up boss!

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 6:40pm On Sep 01, 2014
balispecial: This is such an interesting story , dnt knw y people r nt commenting at least 2 serve as encouragement...wel, u r gud wt wat u do whether they comment or nt keep it up boss!

Boss? Okay na... cool
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 6:57am On Sep 02, 2014
CHAPTER 6

It was exactly two weeks and four days after I had attended the interview and I was back in Enugu. I haven’t heard from Julius Berger since then. That was no longer surprising to me though I still felt disappointed, in a way, because from the way my uncle made it sound, I got the impression that it was as if the job would be waiting for me. The only thing I needed to do was to ‘show my face’ and represent myself well in the interview. That was exactly how he put it.

And I did represent myself. The interview itself was one of the simplest and smooth sailing interviews I have ever attended. The questions were so simple. It was as if the interviewers were only interested in knowing whether I attended the university and what I have learnt in my training and career as a civil engineer.

I wasn’t ruffled at all because I was so prepared. The interviewers, three friendly guys, were so jovial and free with me and that really helped me too. They were also interested in current affairs and we discussed a little bit of Nigerian politics too. I was also glad that they also made jokes and I found that very refreshing.

The only time they fazed me was when they asked me what I was doing since the past four years, or three, if you subtract the one-year mandatory national youth service year, and I discovered I was about to start blabbing to them on how much of a survivor I was and some of the things I did to survive but I quickly checked myself and maneuvered the slippery slope by telling them how I have been updating myself throughout those years.

I painted some colorful pictures for them and made sure my explanation sounded so interesting so as to avoid the highly embarrassing explanations on why I was still unemployed after all these years, my scintillating school records, notwithstanding.

I used the opportunity to sell myself some more by informing them about my expertise in computers, especially in AutoCAD as it relates to engineering drawings. I made sure I made it sound so interesting and they bought it because their next questions bothered on how I became a computer programmer and a web designer. They expressed their interest and even asked me how they could do a similar thing.

From the way they sounded at the end of the whole exercise, I got the feeling that the job hunt will finally end with this very interview with them asking me to choose when I want to start or better still, if I could start that very day. I was up for a surprise since I was so full of expectation this time around.

They didn’t.

At the end of the exercise, they gave me the same notice that I was so used to by now: we will contact you later! Now, you don’t expect me to call that a surprise, do you?

I waited for two days and I didn’t hear from them. I started to lose hope the day my uncle came back from work looking somewhat downcast and he started preaching to me and telling me that Nigeria still has a long way to go with all the ethnicity, nepotism, favoritism, bribery and corruption that are going on in high places which according to him, is tearing merit to pieces, and nothing meaningful will be achieved under the current system.

I knew what he was referring to. There have been so many instances where someone’s chances of securing a job were hijacked at the last minute with no clear explanation. You will only get to hear that a more qualified person got the job instead of you. The qualification in this case means that this lucky person happens to be from the same state, or ethnic group, or religion with the boss at the top.

I silently prayed that this time around it was going to be different for me. Four days later, when my uncle came back from his own work, I could read the dejected state of his mind like the back of my hand and I knew there was no hope for me—again!

I didn’t even wait to hear it from him. I knew then that I should start preparing for interview number twenty three.

Later that same day in the evening, he called me to his presence and broke the bad news to me. He told me to cheer up that it was not yet over. He told me that the job was given to one Yoruba boy who was related to the wife of one of the directors, another Yoruba man.

I told him that I thought Julius Berger was a standard foreign company which presupposes that they would not be involved with the usual Nigerian nepotistic way of doing things. He gave me a dry laugh and told me that my statement shows how much out of tune I was with the Nigerian system and how little I knew about the rot and depth of the malfeasance caused by corruption in Nigeria.

He then told me that from what he heard from the grapevine, the boy’s result was not even anywhere near mine in terms of excellence nor was his performance at the interviews. He then started waxing philosophical on me telling me that what is meant to be will be and that I should take heart because there will always be a second chance.

He asked me to prepare because he was going to take me to someplace where we could, as he put it, chill out. I was quite surprised. My uncle was not the drinking type but I was feeling his pains. I felt so sorry for him.

Have you ever been in that awkward situation where something bad happens to you and it seems to affect the people around you more than it was affecting you thus making them look like they are the real victim instead of you? It was exactly what was happening to me.

It was while we were drinking that my uncle, now intoxicated, carelessly revealed to me that he had to pay someone who was an insider, as a form of bribe, for them to agree to put my name on the list of those scheduled for that interview.

At first, he didn’t want to tell me the exact amount he paid probably because he interpreted the eagerness in my quest to know the amount as a sign of trying to pay him back but when I insisted, he finally gave in and told me that he paid the insider a non-refundable fee of fifty thousand naira!

Fifty thousand non-refundable what?! That’s it! I knew that it was time to finally do something about this worrisome unemployment. Can you imagine? Someone, somewhere, ripping off someone else just like that by collecting that huge sum of money with no traces or receipt of course, and most likely, with a false promise of getting that job for the person?

Is that fifty thousand naira not enough for anyone with good business acumen to start his own business? Who knows how many people they must have defrauded in the process by promising so many people the same job position? How long will it take my uncle to save up another fifty thousand naira? How was he going to cope with his house rent and the maintenance of his wife and three kids, the rising cost of living in Lagos notwithstanding? Who knows whether my uncle even paid more than that and he was only saying fifty just to make the loss look less?

I felt so much pity for my uncle because I knew he was not a high income earner. He was just a federal civil servant working as a non academic staff at the University of Lagos. The perpetual delays in the payment of the salaries of civil servants is a well known case as it is with so many other government parastatals across the nation.

Now, the fact that he had managed to squeeze out that huge amount, most likely from his little savings and from his meager take home pay, was what pained me the most because I could imagine the great pains and stress he must have gone through. I have never liked this awkward situation where people start to suffer and deny themselves so much for my sake.

I knew it was time. I made the decision that I must go back to Enugu the next day. I knew exactly what I was going to do. When I told my uncle I will be going back the next day, he was surprised but he didn’t try to stall or stop me. I guess he saw the determination in my eyes. I have decided that this time around I will not allow Eze to talk me out of it.

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Nobody: 8:27am On Sep 02, 2014
Abeg whr did u put ify?
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by aprilwise(m): 8:29am On Sep 02, 2014
Weldone. good job. how about ify u didn't talk about her again
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Fourcade(m): 12:19pm On Sep 02, 2014
You guys are only interested in Ify! grin
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 2:47pm On Sep 02, 2014
You see, I have told Eze on several occasions, to use his father’s influence and connection to get us fixed up in Airtel. Eze, the rich brat that he is, will always reject the idea and talk me out of it, anytime I brought up the topic, by reminding me that I should never worry about money because the same money which I was seeking to earn out there is never going to be a problem for us since he has a lot already—all thanks to his dad.

He always told me that he didn’t see any reason why I should choose to become a slave by working for a company and waiting to get paid at the end of the month whereas I can still stay and enjoy with him and get the same thing those workers are being paid, if not more.

I knew what his problem really was. First, the only thing that separates him from being identified as an outright school dropout is just that the school authority at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, was not serious in activating the clause specifically designed for giving students who have overstayed the boot.

Eze, an Estate Management student, is one of those students who cannot graduate because they will not graduate. He has failed so many papers and it will take him almost another two to three years to rewrite all those papers, that is, if he’s serious. Sometimes, I will try to help him out with his academics but his total disinterest is always a stumbling block. In fact, if there’s one thing I could say about him, I will simply say that Eze is a clear example that academics is not meant for everyone.

But that was not all.

There’s also this thing that usually happens with friends. At times, your friends will always want you to be at the same level with them, even if that means staying with him or her in the gutter. As shocking as this might sound, your friends may not like it if you should ever choose to aspire to greater heights.

Don’t blame them for not wanting you to change for the better or for not wanting what you consider to be the best for you. Don’t call them enemies of progress if you ever find yourself in such a position. Most times, it’s just the human nature at play. There’s always an underlying reason for their doing something like that. Obviously, they are afraid of what you might become—whether good or bad. They are also afraid of what your change might mean to them—the consequences. It is called the limiting power of fear of the unknown.

I believe that Eze already knew that if he should help me solicit for his father’s help to get the job for me, there is every possibility that his father will also demand that he gets his acts right in the school and maybe start comparing him with me and probably, also ‘force’ him to start working for the company too. Simply put, he was afraid of growing up and being saddled with that type of responsibility.

So in my own case, I just decided to pipe down and lay low. I did this for two reasons. First, I didn’t want to lose Eze as a great friend and a steady benefactor. The guy had really helped me financially and he was the one who made it possible for me to have been enjoying the type of good life so many of our mates who were already gainfully employed would only dream of. As long as I knew how to get into his head at any given point in time and also stay out of his way when the bad moods hit him, I was always sure of getting the money I needed from him. The good thing was that he never lacked.

Secondly, I was silently praying and hoping that something will just happen one day to change his perspective and force Eze to become responsible and start seeing things from my point of view.

There was also a third reason, known only to me, why I didn’t want to push Eze. As a wise person, you should always be aware that there are some people whom you should never be indebted to, for any reason at all. Some people are just like that. They keep both good books and bad books. They keep score. If you ever make the mistake of making it to their bad book, you might regret it forever.

Eze is also that type of person. He is good and generous to a fault but I have seen the way he had terribly and ruthlessly dealt with some people who got on his bad side in the past and subsequently got a taste of his medicine which I know was always too bitter and too cold for comfort. I instinctively knew I never wish to be one of such people.

I also knew from experience that some people don’t like it when you jump over them to obtain some favor in their name which is why I did not push further with the temptation to go above Eze and contact his father directly. Knowing the type of person he is, I suspected he will surely see that as me stepping beyond my bounds! And he will certainly try to cause me a lot of problems for using him. My father once told me that a wise man should not always learn from his own experience alone but rather he should also be ready to learn from other people’s experience too. Over the years, I’ve come to realize the truth in that statement.

That was why in everything I did with Eze, I did with so much carefulness and caution. I knew and always watched the type of things I said around him. I recognized there were limits.

I made sure he never saw me as a pest. I didn’t visit his house as often as he would have wanted and had even pleaded with me to be doing. Even when he suggested that I should move in with him, I expressed my gratitude for his kind and generous offer but I humbly declined. Whenever I visited, I made sure I never overstayed my welcome. I knew he will quickly handover the keys of any of his cars if I just say the word but I made sure I only did such a thing when there was really a reason or need to do that.

Somehow, although he never told me, I think he liked me for doing such things. I knew this because I have often heard him complain to me about some of our nasty friends who are always overstepping their bounds by taking him for granted.

Eze! Bad guy!

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 10:14pm On Sep 02, 2014
But this time around, I knew I must thrash all that out with him. What are friends for, anyway? I will ask Eze to get his dad to fix me up. I am no longer going to be afraid of what might happen to me assuming I get the job and I later fall out with Eze, due to one thing or the other.

I am going to swallow my pride or whatever it was. I don’t want to care anymore about that worrisome feeling of being so much indebted to Eze. I don’t want to care anymore if, assuming I fall out with him someday, Eze will be tempted to start telling our mutual friends—out of boastfulness or bitterness or in an attempt to paint me black and make me appear as an ungrateful s.o.b—that if not for him, I would still be jobless because he was the one who got me the job.

I think I have waited for so long. Now, I am going to ask him to fix me up. If he doesn’t want to grow up, that is his business!

Besides, I had other plans and I think now’s the time. During the time I was actively seeking for an employment, in fact, seeking for any type of employment, I had the opportunity to attend a job seminar that changed my whole life.

I was listening on our local radio station one day when suddenly this guy came on air and started talking about one seminar he was going to organize for those seeking for employment. He said that he had taken the pains to study the reasons why people don’t get employed after graduation these days. He said the situation has given him so much concern but he’s finally happy to announce that he has cracked the problem and now has what he calls the solution.

I usually consider such radio programs lame. In fact, too lame for my liking. I couldn’t see the point or need in this whole scheming and very worrisome trend of trying to take from those who don’t have. Why do you guys always take pride in exploiting us job seekers with your bogus claims all the time? I saw all these radio program miracle workers as scammers. I was no longer paying attention to what he was saying. I was only waiting to hear the amount the charlatan of a guy was going to mention as the price of this latest version of sham.

He did mention that the attendance fee of that life changing seminar was just a thousand naira. I scoffed because of the way the idiot said just. I was about dismissing him and saying to myself this one was cheap when the guy dropped something that touched me instantly. He said that those who didn’t attend will have themselves to blame because he has also made arrangements for companies seeking for people to hire to be there which means that some people will be offered automatic employment right from the seminar hall.

I suspected this was just another case of pure manipulation again. I knew it was just a pure marketing strategy. The guy just wanted our one thousand naira, simple and short. But what if he’s serious? What if some people were really going to be hired right there? There was only one way to know. I knew I had to attend just to satisfy my curiosity and prove myself right that the guy is nothing but just a common criminal in the process. Don’t blame me. Curiosity is the bedrock of all human follies, I concluded.

So I went. When the seminar finally began, the guy started by telling us how to go for interviews. He told us the types of questions that employers or interviewers might likely ask and how to avoid some trick questions that they may throw your way. He lectured us on the dressing codes that we should put on for interviews so as to appear responsible and presentable. At some point, it started to dawn on me that maybe, the guy was just prepping us in readiness to sell off those job interview pamphlets or GMAT study manuals to us.

It was getting so boring to me listening to the guy and his little team of four babbling for close to one hour thirty minutes. Tell that BS to those fresh graduates who are just graduating and not to old hands like me who have heard such things over and over again! I was just waiting for the best opportunity to present itself so that I could quietly take my leave and go home to curse the one thousand naira petty thief very well.

Then it happened. After rambling on for close to two hours, the guy suddenly stopped and told us that the company he said that was going to be employing people right from the seminar hall was actually his own. I noticed this made a lot of people to sit up at once. Obviously, they were having the same bored feeling I had.

The guy now told us that his company is looking for just ten dedicated and experienced PHP and MySQL web programmers to hire with immediate effect. He asked for those who knew how to program the web with PHP to indicate by raising up their hands.

PHP? And MySQL? What on earth are those things? Frankly speaking, I was hearing those for the very first time.

It was a very embarrassing situation for almost all of us because who would have believed that out of over a hundred to two hundred people—mostly graduates, I suppose—that were gathered there, not even a single hand was raised!

The guy started to laugh hysterically. Later, as he wiped the tears from his eyes with his white handkerchief, he told us that he had already envisaged this very situation and he told us that what we just saw summarizes the main reason why it seems people don’t get jobs in Nigeria anymore: there is a great dearth in the skills and manpower that employers of labor want!

From thence, the whole tone of the seminar changed. The guy now told us that he could have started off this seminar by telling us all that at first but he was just waiting for us to see the reality on ground with our own eyes and he was so glad that we could now see for ourselves how terrible and disturbing the whole situation really is.

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by Paulv(m): 1:21am On Sep 03, 2014
I of a truth love this story,GOD BLESS U Op.
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 7:43am On Sep 03, 2014
He then told us that the real purpose of his seminar was to teach us how not to look for jobs but rather how to let the jobs look for us but he said he knew that if he had announced such a thing over the air, he would never have gotten this massive turnout he had. The guy told us that we should, as from today, stop looking for jobs and start looking for opportunities to make money.

He said so many mind-blowing things and told us why, in his own opinion, getting a job which usually entails selling one’s time is a very risky thing to do. He opened our eyes to so many things we never knew before. He told us the importance of getting skilled. He hammered on the need for us to become entrepreneurs. He told us that we should get over that mentality of thinking that someone owes us a job because in reality it is not so.

He also mentioned that in this life, we are all marketers and we should be aware that the first product we are marketing is actually ourselves and everything we do depends on how we present ourselves. He specifically used the word packaging.

He then narrated to us the pathetic story of how he started from scratch and built his IT company with nothing other than the zeal, the struggle and passionate determination to succeed. He told us the importance of starting now rather than waiting for that time when we think everything is perfect before we can start.

To conclude, he left us with the all-important reminder that what we will always like to refer to as luck can only happen when opportunity meets with preparedness because according to him, up to ten lucky persons could have simply gotten themselves employed straight away had it been that they just knew how to program with PHP.

This second part of the seminar was so refreshing I didn’t even notice as two hours flew past. The guy was also a very good orator. It was a very great shocker and a real eye opener for me. The guy had a very good point and he made a lot of sense. I was so glad that I had attended.

Afterwards, I made up my mind to improve on my skills. Of course, I started off with learning the so called PHP. Since I preferred learning things on my own, I downloaded the study materials from the internet and started teaching myself. It was really a shocker to me when I discovered that it was not even as difficult to learn as I would have imagined and it didn’t even take me so long to master the rudiments of how to program the web with that language.

I didn’t stop there. I remembered what the guy told us about the importance of becoming versatile and diversifying so that prompted me into learning other computer programming languages as well. It wasn’t long before I put Python into the list of the computer programming languages I have now mastered.

One very interesting thing I quickly learnt and loved about computer programming was that once you master one programming language very well, learning other ones naturally becomes easy too. Your problem now becomes a simple question of learning the syntax of the new ones you are involved with and noting the slight difference that exists between them and the ones you previously knew.

But I didn’t stop there. I also delved into blogging. The guy told us there was a lot of potential in blogging which he likened to virtual real estate on the internet which will continue to generate residual income for the blogger many years after he’s through with his work. That sounded like my idea of the best way to earn money.

He hinted us that a successful blog is usually a result of dedication and persistence. He also said that successful blogging could be better and easily achieved by blogging about what someone liked so much so I started blogging about religion because of the fascination and mystery it held for me.

Then something also happened to me. It was as if I became a new student all over again but this time I really started enjoying learning because I was now learning things that I would really use and I was doing all that at my own pace with no need for cramming anything and for sure, with absolutely no fear of examination at the end of the day. I simply became a connoisseur of knowledge and information. And with that, my skills set also increased.

I noticed I was gradually becoming an expert in so many things. My career path also took a dramatic turn as I started aligning myself towards IT rather than the Civil Engineering I had spent so many years to study at Unizik. I saw IT as a very easy and open field for anyone to enter with little or no constraint but just your ability to improve on your computer skills at your own pace.

Some days, I might join Eze and other friends in any of their usual alcoholic binge and unending skirt-chasing escapades but I no longer allowed my nights to completely waste just like that again. I kept on updating myself and honing in on the new skills I was acquiring. Luckily for me, I am a very fast learner and I also had a wide area of interests so I always kept myself busy.

Some days I find myself occupied with my blog but I must confess that if not for that guy’s forewarning that successful blogging requires persistence, I would have dropped it as quickly as possible because apart from blogging, like I said earlier, I had so many other things of interest that demands my attention. Besides, I wasn’t getting the expected traffic and success in terms of money as he had made it sound at first.

to be continued...

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by aprilwise(m): 8:56am On Sep 03, 2014
I really enjoy ur previous update it educative. ride on.

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 9:16am On Sep 03, 2014
aprilwise: I really enjoy ur previous update it educative. ride on.

You are welcome, april...I'm so glad you do.
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by quintybabee(f): 9:26am On Sep 03, 2014
True to what ify said vince didnt call her #men Will always be men# @ op, an interesting read, keep it up

1 Like

Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by anasbeaut(f): 2:44pm On Sep 03, 2014
Wow......
Re: IFY - A Romantic Thriller by 2scorehigh(m): 4:04pm On Sep 03, 2014
In the spirit of preparing for opportunities, I started trying my hands out with things that did not even concern Civil Engineering or even related to Engineering as a whole. In the process, I quickly lost my fear of facing the public when I willingly joined a friend’s uncle, as a salesman, in his sales and bonanza promotion. I also teamed up with my friend who was into house electrification and I soon learnt a lot about the practical application of the conduit wiring of houses.

With time, I noticed I even started hating the whole idea of going to school. I started seeing school as a complete waste of time and nothing but a complete domestication program where students are only taught how to cram and pass exams with little or no emphasis on how to apply that knowledge in real life.

I ended up convincing myself that the problem with the school system is just that it focuses one’s attention only on one thing while precluding the student’s awareness from all other areas that will surely help the student become useful to himself after school.

Some of my friends who couldn’t find a job after searching for years had gone back to school to get their Master’s degree but I sternly stuck to my resolve never to go back to that type of schooling again.

If I had known. If only I knew then what I know now. How I wish I knew about all these things or that someone told me about these things while I was still in school…

If I had known, I would have put all those years I spent in class learning difficult stuff like Geophysics, Construction engineering, Environmental Engineering, Surveying, and Biomechanics as a student of Civil Engineering to good use by also finding the time to also learn most of these interesting things I was learning now.

Dramatically, much to the chagrin of some other friends of mine who were also in the same job hunting boat with me, I became so picky in the companies I applied for. They no longer understood me when I told them that I was now looking out only for companies where I could have the opportunity to excel and showcase my other skills for the purpose of getting that opportunity to make the big money I was now dreaming of.
Strangely enough, I think it gave them a somewhat depressing feeling. They thought I was no longer serious. The audacious ones even told me to stop dreaming. But it only made me smile.

They were not happy with the fact that I was no longer actively searching for employment like them. I could always see the jeering on their faces and sometimes the pity they had for me whenever I told them I was now selective but I didn’t care.

I was determined and I promised myself that any job I will get will just be a bouncing stage for me to launch my own business. I started liking the idea of being in charge of my life. I told myself that it was just a matter of time.

In my quest to make myself more marketable, I stumbled on one very important aspect of life that really changed everything for me. I discovered that for one to be truly successful in this life, he or she must learn so much and everything that is to be known about human beings and our unpredictable nature so as to be able to understand people, their motives as well as getting their cooperation at all times. This led me into human psychology and I was so glad with the things I learnt.

But I was not satisfied. I was becoming an information junkie and I loved every bit of it because I was learning so many things. It was as if the more I learnt about people, the more I wanted to know about how we think, how we react to different stimuli, what motivates us, how we make decisions etc.

But the best part of what was happening to me was that the more I learnt, the more my confidence grew. I was so happy with the feeling that I was now a new creature, ready to take on the world. I started seeing myself as a man with so many abilities. A man with so much potentials just waiting for the right time to explode.

It was just a matter of time.

to be continued...

1 Like 1 Share

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) ... (12) (Reply)

Shadows Of The Green Part Two / Chimamanda Adichie: I Was Sexually Harassed By Media Man Who Squeezed My Breast / A Thorn in the Flesh 2

(Go Up)

Sections: politics (1) business autos (1) jobs (1) career education (1) romance computers phones travel sports fashion health
religion celebs tv-movies music-radio literature webmasters programming techmarket

Links: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)

Nairaland - Copyright © 2005 - 2024 Oluwaseun Osewa. All rights reserved. See How To Advertise. 194
Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland.