Chapter 9

I completed the session with lower grades than the previous one, but it was sufficient for me to get promoted to the last class of the senior secondary school.

Around this time the Lagos State government announced that all missionary and private owned schools which the government had taken control of during the military era would be returned back to their owners. My school, Methodist Boys High School, Lagos (MBHS Lagos) Victoria Island, Lagos,Nigeria founded in 1878 by the Methodist missionary but taken over by the military government was one of such schools.The parents and teachers met to inform parents of the development which was to take effect from the last term of SSS2.

While the students wrote the last examinations of the session,all government teachers were removed to government owned schools while the newly employed teachers by Methodist Church of Nigeria took over. This time,the examination took only one week, by the conclusion of the exams, many students were asked to withdraw because they failed woefully in the exams. While we previously had up to six arms in SSS1, now there would be only three arms left by the time we got to the final year.

Before Deacon died, Gloria and Jenny,my cousins had gotten married.Deacon and my Aunt Mary had five of children.Gloriaand Jenny,were first and fourth respectively. Paul, John and Gabriel were second,Thurs and last. Gabriel the youngest of Deacon's children was eleven years older than me. He had just completed the National youth service scheme in Oyo state and was back in Lagos to search for employment. He noticed that my grades to SSS3 was okay but not so good. He tried to coach me during the holidays but he realized that there was no time for me to study.There was no way he could have convinced his mum to reduce my work load, so he decided to ignore it.

All the while I lived with my guardians, I couldn't figure out if my cousins loved me or not. Everything I did, didn't always seem right to them.They never took time to correct my mistakes in the manner I would have understood, rather they resulted to severe beatings and punishments that left me in bruises and pains that would last for days. I also noticed that they enjoyed mocking my small stature.

When my final year in the secondary school,in the year 2002 I was overjoyed.This was the year all my mates in school had been looking forward to. Tensions were high because it was the session we would be sitting for the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE). This was the assessment that was required to graduate into the University. I was doubled on my efforts to ensure that I made the required results needed to be able to enroll for Joint matriculation board examinations so that I could make it to the university immediately I finished secondary school.

I returned from school one of those days to brief Aunty Mary about the preparation for the final exam and how I needed to purchase textbooks in order to be able to practice the things being taught in class towards WASSCE. The response I got from my Aunty was that there was no point for me to put in so much effort because the person who was going to pay my tuition fee for my university education was her husband and he was dead. She also said she was sure I wouldn't even pass the exams so I should not bother her about any materials they asked us to buy in school. I felt so bad by her words but I didn't hold back from studying hard to ensure my results were good.

I turned seventeen years old in 2002, the events of my life over the years had thought me to be endurance and initiative. I already knew when to wake up in the morning on my own and carry out my day to day activities as well as pick the time to study even though there was little or no personal time for me to do all that I truly wanted.

Despite being focused on the examinations ahead of me, I kept flashing back to what Aunty Mary said, wondering what the future would be like, by the time I finally completed secondary school. I wasn't sure if I was going to get a university education anymore but I was hopeful that whatever the future held, I wanted to be the best I could be in any field I found myself with the little education and experience I had so far about life.

The much awaited WASSCE finally came around. The first two days were good, although the questions were tougher than the ordinary school exams.I did my very best because I had prepared very well and the new teachers did a great job during the revisions. I started feeling symptoms of malaria the night before the third day, I complained about it at home but I was told it was only a phobia I had developed for the exam, that I should stop thinking too much about the exam and I was going to be fine. I wasn't afraid of participating in the exams, but I was gradually falling sick .

I got to school the third day, to continue with the Examination, the question papers were shared then I started throwing up uncontrollably. One of the invigilators tried to make sure I wrote the paper because there was no way I would be given the opportunity to rewrite it, but I didn't have the energy to do it. I was asked to go home to my parents so they could take me to the hospital for treatment. I insisted on staying with the hope of recovering a little bit so I could continue, but it didn't work, I was given first aid then asked to be taken to the bus stop where I would get a bus to take me back home. I stayed home receiving treatment for the rest of the week .

I missed some papers while I was at home but I had recovered enough to resume school by the next Monday to continue the exams. Although I had missed some subjects, I had hoped that if I was able to do well in the remaining subjects then I would have enough credit required for me to pass. We wrote the final paper on Friday, it was a joyous moment for all the graduating students, at the same time felt we would miss the great school. I and my friends promised each other to continue to stay in touch with one another even while we would have made it to the University. The results of the exam were to be released in a month, some of us would be seating for the Joint matriculation board exam as soon as the results were released ,but for me, i never knew what my fate would be.