You could tell that he was dispirited. The sparkle in his eyes had since receded and in its place stood this doleful smudge. The light of his innocence had been brutally quenched. He had been forced to grow up very quickly, too quickly.

One mark!
Just one!

Everyone agreed that he worked hard. He knew he couldn't have worked harder. But hard work was not enough penance for the sin of his birth. Had he been born to Yobe, Zamfara or even Katsina State parents, he would have never crossed paths with his woes. But his first cries were heard by a woman from Anambra State, a crime too grave to be atoned for by hard work in Nigeria. No, not when you desired to attend one of our prestigious Unity Schools.

Ogonna scored 138. His friends from other parts of Nigeria scored far less than half his score, yet they celebrated. They didn't have to read hard. In fact, those of them from Yobe State only needed to answer two questions right.

When I read of Olisa Agbakoba's land- mark victory in the courts recently, I called Ogonna immediately. I didn't think he would have heard about it. The news had failed to trend as much as I had expected. The courts had ruled against the ridiculous and discriminatory States-Of -Origin based cut- off marks for Unity Schools.

"Ogo, it's over," I said.
There was a brief moment of awkward silence. I waited for him to ask what was over but he didn't.
"Olisa Agbakoba has ..."
"I know Aunty."
"You know?"
"I read about it this morning Aunty."

I ended the call thinking how late that ruling by a Lagos State High Court had come for a child like Ogonna; how the knowledge that it would not happen to anyone else had failed to lift the web of bitterness that entangled his young mind.
‪#‎truestory‬.

While the fray over Gen Buhari's certificate raged, I managed to stay out of it. I figured that politicians were just out to distract us from the main issues. I was almost indifferent until that press statement by the military two days ago. That made my hair stand on its end. I was suddenly alert! And horrified!

I kept thinking of Ogonna and praying that he manages to miss the story. The knowledge that the Nigerian Army admitted a Nigerian based on a promissory recommendation from a School Principal should be too much for him. The realization that it has taken decades for this elite body to notice that the certificate that was to bestow credence on the Principal's assurances never came is sure to crush his spirit further. It's just too incredible!

This so-called Federal Character system that enshrines mediocrity must stop! If there is any purpose that this embarrassing certificate squabble has served, it would be that it has once more put our mediocrity-fabricating Federal Character to the fore.....to be killed finally.

Before now, the sound of 'perpetual injunction' left a sour taste in my mouth. It started after a certain former Governor of River's State managed to secure one. It barred any investigations into his person or his actions as Governor. Not any more, thanks to Olisa Agbakoba's brand of 'Perpetual Injunction'.

This one leaves a soothing balm on bruised psyches like Ogonna's........and mine.

- Nneka Aroh