Chapter Seventeen

On Saturday, Abinla set out early with her brother to pick and sell empty bottles, and towards evening, she returned with her brother, feeling tired. As soon as she sat down to eat, there came a knock at the door.

 'Abinla, please, go check who is at the door,' Boma said from the backyard, where she sat washing Abinla and Ayibaemi's clothes. 

Abinla left her food and headed for the front door. Opening the door, she saw Bola. 'What are you doing here?' She was surprised to see him.

 Bola shrugged. 'I am not the only one here,' Bola said laughing as he waved his hand.

Abinla was stunned. She didn't believe that her teacher as well as her classmates would be here. Of course, Mr. Johnson was here as well. Mr. Johnson took off his pair of dark rimmed glasses and slipped them in his trousers' left pocket, and smiled up at Abinla. 

 'We needed to change the world so our teacher invited us here to talk about it in detail.' Bola's words sounded amusing. 

 The moment they entered inside, Bola didn't wait to be offered anything. He picked up the plate of jollof rice Abinla was about to eat and began to wolf it down.

Abinla was speechless. She wondered if Bola was forcing himself to eat the food so as to create a good impression but when Bola said he wanted more, Abinla knew he wasn't pretending, rather he ate the food because he was hungry and not because of making any good impression. 

 Tariebi signalled the students to hand Abinla the grocery bags they had come with. Abinla was speechless again. What's happening? She wondered, looking into the bags filled with groceries. She was indeed grateful. 

 'Bola, bought them for your mum,' Tariebi said, and Abinla turned to Bola, giving him a thank-you-smile.

Since there was nothing in the house, Abinla didn't know what to serve them. But then, she knew they had come from afar and needed water, so she ran to the kitchen, brought a jug of water and smilingly served them. They all drank the water, feeling pleased. 

 After drinking the water, and Abinla putting away the bags, it was now the time to talk about the main reason they had come.

 Amaoge said excitedly to Abinla, 'I came back with bamboo plants. We all know that tree planting is one of the ways of tackling climate change caused by greenhouse gas.' 

 Bola glanced at Abinla and said, 'I had to ask my father to support us with our mission. He pulled out a hundred million naira for this.' 

'Hundred million naira?' Abinla looked shocked. 'How was that possible?' She sat down on an empty chair. 

 Bola smiled. 'For him to win the 2023 Presidential election, my father had no other option than to agree to support us. Besides, he bought his presidential ticket with a hundred million naira. What's hard in forcing him to fork out another hundred million naira? You know wise citizens make good use of the election period because once the politician sits in office; he would obviously wave behind his promise. Only a few keep to their promise. My father isn't among the good ones.' He let out a slight chuckle.

 'I had to compel him to support us. Honestly, politicians, including my own father, have drowned us with empty words and promises. They say one thing and do another. They break their promises once in government. I had to do what I did for my father to support our movement.' 

'You did the right thing. For so many years we have heard nothing but sweet words that have yielded no good result. We only know about our hopes and future sinking in their empty words and promises. Not anymore!' Abinla smiled at Bola. 'This is our future. We will be foolish to keep waiting for those in power to decide our future; from what we eat, what to do and how to live. We will take action and make them follow us. They refused to be the engine. We had no choice than to make them become the caboose while we become the engine and the wheel. We will together steer our car to the beautiful paradise blooming in a blossoming sunlight beam. Thank you Bola for compelling your father to donate a hundred million naira to this project.'