₦airaland Forum

'I told him Thank-you. He was surprised-i could hear it in his voice.
"It's not easy to have three children in school at the same time,daddy,but you do it. You pay everybody's school fees every semester. You pay everybody's allowances every month. You pay everybody's textbook money. You pay everybody's shopping money every month. We ask and ask and ask,and you pay and pay and pay. Even if we don't say it as often as we should,we appreciate it daddy. So thank-you",i said. "You're welcome",he said. )"Anything else?",he asked? "Nope",i relied. "Ok,bye-bye",he replied and ended the call.

I laughed. My dad,the Typical Bini/African Man. Never shows any emotion unless when absolutely necessary. What was i expecting? That he would say,oh my daughter,i love you so much? Hahaha. . The very thought is ludicrous. Seriously,it's making me laugh here. I can't even remember him saying it to me once,but i don't mind. I imagine his father never said it to him,and my dad is definitely NOT the emotional,touchy-feely type. Neither am i-i mean,i don't think i've ever said 'i love you' to him either. But it doesn't matter,because we're family,and he's always shown,he's still showing and will always show us how much his family means to him,in deeds if not in words,and as far as i'm concerned,he's the best father in the world. Okay so he can be very verry protective,and he's goes through my phone when he feels like it(which annoys me to no end),and he's a verry authoritative patient,and he hates boys(lol all boys,and then specifically boys who might be intersted in his daughter),and when i was living in Lag my social life was verry limited,but guess what? As much as he annoys me sometimes,he's still my dad,the best dad i could ever have and i wouldn't change that even if i could!


Okay enough of how much i love my dad(i imagine you'll be hearing a lot of that because i'm such a daddy's girl-we even have a date later today-we're chatting on whatsapp/yim/whichever one he uses).
Osato(any Bini person here? Please tell me whether a guy can bear Osato-i thought it was a girl's name) and i talked for a bit more,and then Victor(my class rep) came to call me and 2 other girls to go to the Bus Lecturer's office.

We talked on the way-they were nice. Victor begged the man,he took down their names and we left. Problem solved(Thank God!)


We talked more when we got to Basement. Turns out the girl and i have a lot in common. We both like Rock music(like seriously,if i ever get to see Daughtry and/or Nickelback perform live,i'll die a happy girl),we both like Rap-a la Eminem,Drake(cutest rapper ever! Boy's so fwesh!),etc etc-a lot in common. We exchanged numbers and stuff before i left. Who knows? It looks lik this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship(Yes,i've actually watched Casablanca. I'm that weird).

'I was surprised,but i liked the idea of a study group. I'm hopeless in Acc111(Intro to Accounting)because i was a science student in Sec. School and i've never done Account in my life. My dad was supposed to start tutoring me(because he's an accountant-which may have some bearing on the fact that all three of his daughters are reading Economics courses)but he hasn't come to Benin since i left Lag. I'm taking Ecostat and so is one of the twins,the other one is taking Maths and Economics because she didn't do government in Sec. School and it's a subject you need so she had to take MathsEco. I didn't do Govt. _either,but because of her experience i knew it was necessary so i wrote it in last year's GCE. It's funny because i registered 8 subjects in the Gce but i only wrote Govt(everything else is absent-and my mom almost had an aneurysm when i didn't write all the others-she was like how can you write only one paper in an exam,what if they seize it,etc etc lol).


So anyway i thought,okay,they can teach me Accounts,so why the hell not? I told him sure,i'd join his study group,and then i went back to Maths. See the thing i love about Maths is,when you know it,you know it. I hadn't solved any normal Maths(or opened any book save Govt)since i finished Waec and Post Jamb-the only Maths i've done on my own since school started is Matrices which is Further Maths,but when i started solving it all came flooding back.
The guys near me who couldn't see the board were copying their notes from my book when they figured out the man and i were getting the same thing even though i wasn't looking up. It was kinda funny sha because when i'm solving in a hurry i'm not organized-like i can solve one part here,solve another part of the same question on another page,calculate something on the corner(because i try not to use calculators often-another one of my hang-ups),so my notes are always messy.


The lecture finished and the lecturer left. Random guy came around to talk to me and was like oh,i was the first girl he'd met who liked Maths. Some of the other guys on the seat started talking. "This girl jus dey intimidate us since. . Dey solve maths like person wey don crase finish. How you go dey intimidate us like dat? Dey solve maths you no dey look board,you no dey look left or right,you just dey talk to yourself and solve go". I had to laugh. I didn't know them naa. . So was i supposed to be smiling and gisting with random people when i was doing something? Lol. The guy went further."Girl no suppose dey solve maths oh. You're supposed to be reading notes and cramming definition,not solving maths". As sexist as that was,it was pretty funny,and so i made a new friend.


Random guy(the one who asked me to join his study group) started talking to me. We had a free period and i was staying in Basement. We started talking and somehow got around to the elections. He asked me who i voted for and i said no-one cos i was under-age. He had this look on his face like,for real? I had to laugh. "Yup,get that a lot",i said. He was like so i could sound so smart and mature when i was under-age? "Wow,your parents tried",he said. He was like most of the girls in our class are children so he doesn't bother talking to them and stuff. I was like well we're supposed to be children-that the average age of 100level students was 18. I told him i'd finished secondary school last year(2010)and if not for Uniben's delay i woulda started last year too,and that age had nothing to do with maturity. Okay,not nothing,but the two weren't mutually exclusive.

When i told him i'd finished high school last year he just shook his head and asked me to guess when he'd finished secondary school. I looked at him closely,tryna guess his age. Well he looked older than me,like maybe 5 or 6 years older? So i guessed and said 2005. He laughed and said he finished sec. School in 1997,and was i even born then? I was shocked. "Of course i was born,but i was still a baby",i said,inwardly reeling. "I guess i woulda been one of those that woulda been rocking you when you were a baby,huh?". "Yeah",i said with a faint smile,relieved he could joke about it. I was dying of curiousity. He finished sec. School over 10 years ago and he was just getting into Uni? How? What happened? I didn't ask of course. Momma always said it's not polite to pry. If he told me i'd listen,but i wasn't gonna ask.
He started talking,and he said something that shocked me. He said his father had stopped paying his school fees when he was in JSS3. I was flabbergasted. Jss3? I was 13 in Jss3(had a double promotion in Pry. School so i've always been a year younger than everyone else in my class-i'm the classic runt of the litter,lol). I could not imagine having to fend for myself at 13. I simply couldn't.

I'd stopped thinking of him as Random Guy-his name was/is Osato. He said he'd had to hustle for himself,finish school on his own,and go to Lagos to hustle,as he had been hustling and that he' been paying for his school fees.

I felt really small then. I'd paid my school-fees;but all i had to do was call up my dad and ask for it,and he sent me the money the next day. I'd been taking that for granted,forgetting that not everyone had what i have,and it made me feel small.

I called my dad later that day. "****(my name),what?"(lol that's how he always answers my calls-he doesn't even bother to say how are you or to let me greet-he always gets to the point because he says i always want something when i call him).

Ok,New Post Up:
Tuesday the 26th of April 2011
'Wow! It's been suuuuch a long time since i posted on here!
Please don't be mad-i've just been really busy with lectures and all that. You know i'm a serious student *wink wink*.

I can't say everything that's happened in the past month or so-because honestly,too much has happened! I'll tell you guys the juicy parts though. My two sisters(they're twins) go to UniBen too(i think i've mentioned that before). We're really close-almost like triplets sef because i'm taller than one and the same height with the other + bigger than both of them,and we all look alike. We've always been close but the past 2 months has brought us closer. We don't go to school together every day(messed up timetable-don't ask),but even when we can't we hang out in school and stuff. They have really nice friends and it's always like one big party. Speaking of friends,it turns out they'd warned all their guy-friends to stay away from me. Something like-"Don't let her stature deceive you-she's still a smaalll child so don't even bother looking there because she's off-limits". Like,wtf? Could they possibly be any more embarrassing? They're almost as bad as my mom!

Anyway that's by the way. I promised you guys some juicy details,didn't i? Remember the class rep i told you was hitting on me? Well he's still there. I try to limit my contact with him but the simple truth is there's no way i can't not contact him. He's got information that i need and so i have to call him. He asked me out point-blank and i decided to be honest-i told him i wasn't ready to date anyone until i clocked 18. He hasn't brought it up since. He still helps me do stuff-he gets my textbooks to me on time,reminds me of classes and assignments,etc.

Something happened last week Wednesday. We were supposed to have a Bus111(Introduction to Business) class by 3-5. Now when our Eco class finished by 3(well not three exactly-the lecturer stayed longer than he was scheduled to;he released us around 3.15ish),i had to run all the way to Lt2 to have my Bus class. Now for those who aren't familiar with Uniben's campus-there's this lecture hall we call Basement and it's on one side of the campus. My faculty(Social Sciences but everyone calls it Faculty)is far off so you have to take a bus from Basement to Faculty. Apparently there's a way to get to LT2(which is a lecture hall in Faculty)through the hostels(like a shortcut) but i don't know the shortcut so i always take a bus. Anyways,i digress. TMI,right?

I went to my Bus class,but the lecturer didn't show up. Now i'd been in school since 10a.m in the morning,so i was tired(obviously). I waited till 4o'clock and then i went home-i had things to do,empires to create,that sorta thing.

Later that day,my class rep called and told me there was trouble. He said that the Bus Class still held,and something happened in it. Our lecturer had been changed-before Tafame(forgive me if i'm not spelling it right but that's how it sounds)was taking Bus111,but he'd stopped and a new guy was teaching us. Apparently,he was very boring or something,and so two students walked out of his class. He noticed it and he got pissed. My class rep told me he stopped the lecture immediately and then took attendance. Now,get this-not only did the guy take attendance-he counted the number of students in the class. And here comes the bombshell-Mr New Guy said everyone whose name was not in that attendance sheet would not pass his course,took the attendance sheet and then walked out.

When i heard all that i was in shock. Never pass his course? Carryover? And all this drama on the first day he's lecturing us? Which kain life? I was soo confused-and then my class rep said he was gonna take me to the man's office so we could beg him or something.

I got over my shock and went to school the next day(which was a Thursday). We had an Eco course that morning-Eco112-which is a Maths course,and i'm crazy good at Maths. It was actually very easy-stuff we've done in secondary school. I'm talking quadratic equations,equations with word problems,graphical solutions to eqns-like seriously,are they for real teaching us all this stuff? Who doesn't know it? Apparently,a lot of people.

I was sitting at the back next to a friend of mine(a guy-most of my friends are guys because girls have too much wahala-although i have met some nice girls),and a bunch of other guys,and i was solving Maths like no man's business. Some random guy walked up to me and tapped me on my shoulder. "Sorry oh,but are you seeing the board?",he asked. "Err. . No.",i replied. "I thought as much because you can't see the board from here",he said. "Yeah",i said,and continued,"but he reads out the number of the question and i've got the textbook so i just copy it and start". The guy walked back and didn't say anything. A few minutes later he came again and said he'd been looking at my work and that i was getting the same answer as the Lecturer before the man finished. "You know he's stopping to explain to the class,but i'm not",i explained. "Yes,but obviously you're good in Maths",he pressed. "I like Maths",i replied. And then he asked whether i wanted to teach tutorials. I was surprised-to say the least. "I can't speak in front of the whole class",i said-which isn't exactly true;i don't have a problem with public speaking-i just didn't want to do it. "I'm not talking about the whole class,i'm talking bout a group of us. Would you like to be in our study group?",he asked.

@Spora,wow. . I'm really interested! Didn't see any of your replies sha-i'm just seeing this. I have to say,i'm verry interested in it. I'll send you an email.

P.s-Una go dey pay me?

@Rich,i've heard all that before. I read a lot,and i've been writing since i was 8 or 9(childish stuff-stuff fairies,pixies a la Enid Blyton,etc etc),and my writing has matured with me. I know i'm good-but there's nothing really exceptional about my writing-the first time someone told me i wrote like someone way older i felt kinda sad. Y'know why? I felt sad because things in Nigeria are soo bad,the educational system is soo bad that it's soo hard for people to believe that teenagers can write/think/talk this well.

If i was from another country or something,it wouldn't be hard for anyone to believe the truth,but because I(we) are Nigerians,it's almost as if we expect mediocrity. You(old people-don't feel bad sha,everyone above 25 is old to me) expect mediocrity from the younger generation. I used to get pissed off when everyone(ok not everyone-people who don't know me) somehow expected me to be dumber than i am. Seriously,like am i supposed to dumb myself down to fit your idea of what an average teenager is like? I was like-I'm a smart-ass. Deal with it. . Lol. That used to be my outlook until i thought about it,about how sad it is that we Nigerians are so used to dealing with mediocrity that we expect it,and we are surprised and disbelieving when we are confronted with something that's more than mediocre.

So i've stopped getting pissed when people try to imply that an average teenager is or should be dumb. I get that there are a lot of dumb teenagers,but some of us are geniuses(not that i'm blowing my trumpet or something-oh who am i kidding? If i don't blow my trupmpet who will? )

*sigh* I knew someone was gonna ask me that. I really am-i just look older than my age(y'know big bones,genetics, and all that? Plus,i've been told i sometimes have this knowing look in my eyes-don't ask me why;i mean,i'm completely innocent *winks* But,i digress). I've got nothing to gain from altering my age-if i was older i would say i was. I haven't updated in a while because too much has happened in such a short time and i'm waay too busy-but the stuff i write is what happened.
But honestly,i'm exactly the age i said i am.

New Entry: Thursday 7th of April,2011. 8:OO a.m.
I work on my novel + Class Rep Issues.
I'm sorry i haven't uploaded anything in a while-i've been swamped. Right now i'm in my Eco112 class,but since my lecturer hasn't come yet i figured i might as well write something. I had to wake up by 6 a.m today,and i am sooo NOT a morning person.

I also had to type up my Pol assignment,put it on my flash(since the printer at home's busted),get to school early and print it out at a business centre on campus. Yes,Yes,i know. Waiting till the last minute to do something isn't exactly wise.
So anyways,the past week has been pretty stressful-lectures,buying textbooks etc etc. Hostel accommodation cards are out now. I don't plan to live on campus,but as a fresher,i'm entitled to a spot. That spot can be sold. The going rate for said spot os 15,16k. That's cool money i didn't work for. So the groove is,i'll buy the card,get the accommodation and sell it to someone.

I've also been working on my novel(that's right,novel-not journal). It's something very different from what i usually write-it's a fantasy novel. I usually write romance stuff,but this book is about cool powers,the eternal battle between good and evil,evil monsters that i made up(i called them charlans-they have unnaturaly large arms,their eyes are rimmed in red,and they feed on the pain of others-as in they actually get off on people's fear,pain,terror and any other negative emotion you can think of. Creepy,huh? And then here's the super-cool hero(who's a girl),the guy she's in love with,a couple of friends etc etc. My greatest challenge hasn't been creativity,but rather putting everything i dream up in a Nigerian setting. I've been toying with the idea of uploading a few scenes on Nl,just to get your feedback.

Apart from my story ish,another problem seems to have cropped up. My sisters told me to be friendly with my class rep,because they have lots of useful info that i'll need as time goes by. She said to make sure i chatted with them a bit before i asked them for what i wanted when i called. Nothing major;just the usual how far,how was your night,etc etc.
So that's what i did. When i wanted to find out what lectures we had on a particular day,i'd call him up. I'd say,hey how ya doing,etc etc and then say 'so what lectures do we have today'? Very low-key,don't ya think?

When i missed lectures for a day he called me up and was like 'why didn't i come to school'? And i was like 'Well we only had one GST(which,by the way,is a completely useless course)'. And he says 'you better come to school tommorrow',and 'if you don't come tommorrow i'll remove one of your toes'. So I laugh(because it was funny) and I think aww,he's such a nice class rep,taking such a personal interest in his students. I didn't think anything was up-i just thought he was a nice guy,y'know? Well,it turns out i was wrong.

The next day he sends me this text message saying he's been developing some feelings for me. Like wtf? We've not said up to 20 sentences to each other in person. I hardly see him in school because he's always going up and down,and when i do see him,the sum total of our interaction is "Guy are the textbooks out?","What classes do we have today?","Where is so-and-so class holding,Basement or Lt2?",etc-and now he's miraculously developed feelings for me? Which kain wahala be all this one now?

I'm not intersted in him for a number of reasons-he's not good-looking(i suppose he's average buh he's just not my type),i don't even wanna date someone in 200level,not to talk of my mate,he's a not-so-good dresser-in fact why all this long story? He's not my type,Pere.
Now if i say No nicely,he might take that as a maybe and decide to try his luck next time. If i say No harshly,he might refuse to pass on info to me and just generally boycott my education(as best as he can).

So i've decided i'm just gonna ignore that message-act like it never existed. I saw him this morning,we said the normal hi-hi and i made no reference to the message of last night. And that's how things are gonna stay,as far as i'm concerned.