13th July 2024, NewsOrient, Books, Arts, Culture, News,
By Dapo Thomas

During the long holiday, I had settled the issue of Oga Dara: I was not going to let him know that I was now attending a school in his neighborhood.

I wouldn’t go to Rainbow Cinema for anything except it was extremely necessary.

On resuming in our new school, Eko Boys High School, Mushin, we were put in the afternoon session meaning we would resume classes by 1pm and close at 6pm. Not just that. They reshuffled all the classes, splitting me and my group members and bringing in new faces from other classes.

They took Emeka, my primary school and childhood friend to 3C and left Yinusa and I in 3B. All my crushes were taken away as if they knew I was getting distracted.

Moji Bankole went to 3C with Toyin Taylor -Cole while Titi Obasa was taken to 3A with Omolara Àjọṣe.

However, they left Bola Adeniregun and Bukola Salami in my class. Two weeks after resumption, I didn’t see Dora Ekpo and Doris Ekpo. They must have gone to another school.

Notwithstanding the reshuffling, I settled down to business determined to keep my “First position title” now that Dora Ekpo was no more in the school even though there was still keen competition from people like Lukmon Adedimeji, Olusiji Boledeoku, Kamoru Adio, Michael Cole, Femi Ilori, Bola Adeniregun and few others. I must admit that I started fumbling from day one by mismanaging my new status as a “scholar”.

I thought coming first in the class was the ultimate accomplishment not knowing that it was a mere inspirational compliment for further achievements. I tried not to be arrogant but the beauty of success is in its elegance. I thought coming first was all that mattered not knowing that staying there was what was required.

I started swaggering around the school in my new status as if it was a medal for me to be so pompous. I had a big bag that could contain all my books but I would never put them in the bag. I preferred carrying them in my hands to show off my big books like “The Principles of Physics” by Michael Nelkon, “A New Certificate Chemistry” by Albert Holderness and John Lambert and “Modern Biology” by S.T. Ramalingam.

Sometimes, I would also pose with my “New Modern Biology For Tropical schools by Stone and Cozens. Aside from the Modern Biology textbooks which I could read and understand very well, whatever was in those physics and chemistry textbooks, I had no idea . Again, I knew in my heart that sincerely I was not a science student but the Science books were too good for public parade because of their volumes.

Till I was judiciously and deservedly moved to the Arts class, the only principle I could define so well in the Physics books, as big as they were, was the “Archimedes principle”. The reason was simple: Mr Shusi, our Physics teacher asked us to write it 35 times in our notebooks as punishment for our inability to define it in 45 minutes which was the time allocated for a single period.

As for Chemistry, I was fascinated by Boyle’s and Charles’ Laws. In Mathematics, my eternal ‘enemy’, my best topics were Simultaneous and Quadratic equations and nothing more. I could not come and kill myself with subjects that had the tendency of sending me to “Yaba left-side” for regular consultations when there were subjects like History, English literature and CRK that would enhance my knowledge of human creation and boost my relationship with my CREATOR.

In life, we all have different talents. Science was never one of my talents. I detested, from the onset, the idea of spending two to three hours of my precious time and using two to three pages of my precious exercise books to do calculations that would end up with QED. What was more frustrating and annoying was that after spending hours doing a marathon calculating session on just one question and feeling so excited that your workings which had consumed four pages were correct, your maths teacher would now do his own workings to show you that y was 2 not 4.

With that singular act, all your 2-hour calculations had been dismantled. Having seen how human efforts on searching for the true value of x and y always ended up in frustration, I opted for subjects that would give me peace of mind.

No matter how terrible your English could be, nobody would allow you to keep “firing bullets” for two hours before telling you that your English was bad.

That’s the difference between humanities and Sciences. One is generous, the other is wicked.

Let me give a personal example to illustrate this. One day, we had a literature class and the teacher decided to combine 3B and 3C together.

It was my class (3B) that went to 3C. On getting there, I arrogantly instructed a fellow that was close to the door:” please open the door properly and let fresh air comes (sic) in.”

Toyin Taylor-Cole did not allow me to fire another “bullet” before telling me publicly that my englísh was wrong.

I insisted it was correct. I asked her to prove it but she didn’t know how to argue it technically until the literature teacher said that she was correct and I was wrong. The correct sentence was: “please, open the door properly and let fresh air come in.”

The whole argument didn’t take more than 10 minutes before it was resolved unlike Maths and its siblings where you spend 2/3 hours to prove that x is 4 and not 5. It was an interesting episode in my life as I vowed to know how to speak, write and defend my English.

Thursday, December 9, 1976, we were having our end of year activities on the field when we saw people running into the school premises as if there was a mayhem outside.

The gatemen were manhandled and assaulted by the hoodlums who pursued some of our students into the premises.

I quickly did an assessment of the scenario to know what instruments or tools would be useful for me.

There were javelins and shovels around. I could use the two in a fight with dangerous dexterity. At the same time, I didn’t want my crushes to know that I was once one of them. Some of them thought I was “butty” not knowing that I was not a nice guy that I appeared to be.

Meanwhile, mobilization had started. Fatai Lawal, lived opposite Rainbow Cinema. He was a Mushin boy. He was leading others like Boledeoku, Kehinde Richard, Aderemi Adedeji, Yinusa Lawal, Gary Akinyemi, Tunji Coker, Emma Opara, Biodun Amos, Emeka Igbo, John Martins, Lateef Akinola and so many others.

From where I stood, I could identify two of Oga Dara’s boys-Mahmood and Ijaiya.

Somehow, EBHS guys had pushed them out of the premises and were pursuing them to Rainbow Cinema.

However, they stopped at the Labinjo Street junction without crossing to the other side of the road.

I didn’t follow them because I had conflict of interest. I passed through the plantain market at idioro, found my way to Rainbow Cinema to talk to Oga Dara.

He was in the cinema hall but I located him. He was happy to see me. He didn’t understand why I was wearing two clothes in the heat. I had covered my school uniform with the mufti that was usually in my school bag as “extra luggage” in case of a day like this.

I reported what happened to him and informed him that I was now a student of Eko Boys High School right in front of his territory.

He was not happy that I didn’t even bother to come and see him since I got to the school. He hugged me and I was almost crying.

It was an emotional reunion. I saw him as a good man and he also saw me as a good boy. He wanted to pray for me but I told him in Yoruba: “Oga Dara, pẹlu ẹnu te fi mú Igbo. E ma worry, adura ti gba already” (don’t bother to pray for me with the same mouth you used in smoking marijuana.

That I am in school shows that GOD has already answered the prayer.) We discussed the issue at hand as he sent for Ijaya and Mahmood. He scolded them and warned them never to fight with the students of Eko Boys High School again. He made me realize that he was not aware of the fight but at the same time, he would always protect his boys irrespective of their crime. That was Darasingh for you.

I returned to school without telling anyone where I had gone to apart from Emeka and Yinusa. Normalcy had returned with students engaging themselves in different games and activities.

Our academic calendar and activities were interrupted in January and February 1977 by the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture popularly known as FESTAC ’77 which was hosted by Nigeria from January 15 to February 12, 1977. The Event which had 17,000 plus participants from about 50 countries also attracted about 500,000 spectators all over the world . It was the largest cultural event ever held on the African Continent. It had an anthem that was written by Margaret Walker from Alabama in the United States.

The music to the anthem was produced by the renown musicologist and composer, Akin Euba who studied composition at Arnold Cooke, Trinity College of Music, London. I also played the song anywhere and anytime I found myself on a piano or organ. It was a melodious rendition. Here are the lyrics of the anthem:

Let a new earth arise
Let another world be Born
Let a bloody peace be Written in the sky

Refrain: FESTAC 77 is here

Let the martial songs
Be written
Let the dirges Disappear

Let the race of men
Arise and take Control

Refrain: FESTAC 77 is
here

The Principal objective of the event was to ensure the revival, propagation and promotion of Black and African culture and Black and African cultural values and civilization.

It was also an event that was meant to present Black and African culture in its highest and wildest conception.

General Olusegun Obssanjo who was the Military Head of State was made the Grand Patron of the event while Cmdr. Ochegieme Promise Fingesi who was the Commissioner for Special Duties was appointed as the President of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture.

The event also attracted some of the musical talents in the world to Nigeria. The roll call included Stevie Wonder, Miriam Makeba, Osibisa, Letta Mbulu, the Angolan modern orchestra, the Nigerian music troupe, Afro 70 Band of Tanzania, Harambe dancers, Ipi Tombi and Modern Pop Ensemble (Nig).

People came from all African countries, South American countries like Brazil, Guyana, Cuba, Haiti.

They also came from England, Ireland, Australia, Canada. There were people from the Carribeans such as Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago.

The event emblem was a replica royal ivory mask crafted by Erhabor Emokpae of Benin.

The hosting of FESTAC 77 led to the establishment of: National Council of Arts and Culture, FESTAC Village and National Arts Theatre.

Majority of the events took place in four major centres namely National Theatre, Iganmu which was built specifically for the event in 1976, the National Stadium, Surulere which was built in 1961 but renovated and expanded in 1972 to provide a standard arena for the 1973 All African Games, Lagos City Hall which was built in 1900.

It remains the oldest local government headquarters in Nigeria till today.

The fourth venue was the Tarawa Balewa Square, which used to be called Lagos Race Course. It was built in 1972.

I was happy that I came first again during our promotion examinations from form three to form four. But the competition for the first position was tough but most of us made it to the next class. From what I perceived, the school didn’t want anybody to repeat any class as it was eager to get rid of the girls in the school so as to revert to the original name-Eko Boys High School. It also wanted to put an end to the afternoon session.

We were on long vacation when the Sogbetun Tribunal started its public sitting into the examination leakages that happened in April of the same year (1977) two months before students started writing their WASCE.

It was a big national scandal that dented Nigeria’s image internationally. Embarrassed by this disgraceful occurrence, the Obasanjo administration constituted a Tribunal to look into the circumstances and causes of the examination leakages.

The Tribunal was headed by Justice S.O. Sogbetun. Other members of the Tribunal included Prof. Ayodele Awojobi, Alhaji Yakub Gobir, Malam Ismaila Gwarzo, Miss Oyibo Odinadu, Malam Yahaya Hamza. The secretary of the Tribunal was Mr R.C.O Nwokedi of the political division, Cabinet office while Mr R.O. Egbeyemi was Counsel to the Tribunal.

At its first public sitting in lagos, the Tribunal was told that 16 out of the 22 papers that students wrote had leaked to the students two months before the examinations.

Mr Frank Akinwunmi who was WAEC’s Dep.Registrar listed all the leaked subjects accordingly:

Biology papers 1 & II

Chemistry A & II

English literature 1 & II

Bible Knowledge 1&II

History

Yoruba

Geography 1B & II

Economics

Government

Business Method

Additional Maths
Paper 1

The Tribunal ‘s report indicted so many WAEC officials who were either dismissed, retired compulsorily or demoted for negligence of duty.

It was first of its kind in Nigeria and the government didn’t treat it with levity.

I remained in class 4B. It was an interesting class until it was time for Biology and this man walked into our class and everybody reflexively yelled “Ahhhhhhhhhhh” in melancholic unison immediately we saw his face.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Dr Dapo Thomas’ From Primary To Tertiary, Here Is My Diary Is Serialised Here Weekly Every Saturday

~ NewsOrient