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Black Coming of Age High School

Neuron Problem. I strongly believe that it has major part to pay in the behaviour of our female teenagers. Even the ugly ones are not left out at that age. 

They think of nothing but boys. Do you know the number of success card postman delivered today? 91!, some has four with different names of senders on it. Needle mistress said. I recommend serious caning. I foundout that it is only thing these girls understand. mr Omeru enjoined.

Inside the classroom, the final years Students were truly living up to the gossip going on in the staffroom. 90 percent of them were busy gossiping about boy friends and sugar daddies, houses, cars, clothes and shoes. Vanity and lust. That is what usually occupy their free time once no teacher is standing infront of them. Most will cruster around any girl they believe to be happening girl as they refer to the waywards ones among them. The timide ones will be striving to hear her recount her exploits and force themselves to act like her. They have read all the mills and boon in the market and learnt nothing inside. Most forgot that they are Africans not westerners. The environment and cultures are not the same. There is no theater, cinema, coffee, library and parks to go to. So. Most end up in bushmeat joints. That was how isi ewu (goat head) nkwobi and Abacha (African Salad cum tapioca) came to be lucrative business in 80s until 90s when fast food joints started springing up everywhere. The teenagers crossed over to fast foods and African joints gradually died off. The evil of both African and western joints is that: its end results is always unwanted pregnancys and premature deaths of the teenagers in course of carrying out illegal abortions.

Parents, churches and schools cameout with admonitions, canes and preaching and not sex education in real sense for they dont trust the people it is meant for. Instead, they went for abstention education. 

That was how Agric science teacher Mr. Omeru took it as his religious duty to discipline any student that pass through him with cane. He came to acquire all manners of names from the students. 1989 final year set of Agulu girls secondary school where he teach were particularly stubborn. He was wondering whether if it is as result of most of them coming from wealthy families. Thirty two of them in number, most breaking the rules and regulation intimidating other students. Turn your back on them, it is boy friend, money and clothes. Anything concerning books you hear in their mouth must be mills and boon or other similar titles. None can be said to be noticeably intelligent. 

Despite the school being mission school, it took mr Omeru virtually snatching religious teacher her work to make those final years students to learn Our father in latin. To think that it took junior students two weeks only to learn what these final year students are struggling for two months to learn without success till mr Omeru stepped in. yet, they dont waste time in lording it over the Junior ones at slightest opportunity. 

1989 was the era of fail and fail out, pass and pass out. After senior WAEC (West African Examination council), The girls dispersed. Everyone went to answer his destiny. Some got married, some continued with education. Some went abroad. 

  2019, about thirty years later after going each others way, Rose, one of the few girls then that was focused on what she was doing then, she was not among the brightest, she was sweating to scale through each class and it took her about four years after passing out of girls high school Agulu to get admission to university. She went on to get her master degree too. She was managing one of the those private primary and secondary school that is all over the place in Biafran land. It was as if most of the illetrate business men that still miss education despite being successful in business was wishing that they were still young to attend schools. Once government gave go ahead for individual wishing to open school to acquire licence to do so, most rushed and opened schools and that was how rose became principal and manager of one of the private schools in her city.

One day in 2018, she went to Abuja for a conference and that was the first time she was visiting the city. she was surprised to learn first hand how expensive the city was. She could not even find any cheap hotel to lodge in she was strolling in middles class quarters of the city, when she met a woman roasting corns in the evening. Excuse me please, I am a visitor here, I am wondering if you will tell me where I will see cheap hotel to lodge in this place. All the hotels seems to be very expensive. She enquired.

There is no place you will see any cheap hotel here. All their prices are on top of Iroko tree. How long are you planning to stay here?. The woman asked. About three days. She answered. why not lodge with me? I has one room apartment over there and I live alone. The woman offered. That was how rose spent three days with her new friend and went back to east after the conference. Six months later, she called the lady number and was told that she was in hospital with colon cencer and type of money she heard doctors are demanding is not what vegetable sell and corn roaster will afford even if she is roasting all the corn in that city. 

how will I contribute?, she asked herself. She turned to whatsapp, and started contacting every living soul rotating in her sphere of life. Those rotating souls in turn, contacted other rotating souls in their sphere of operations. A month later, Rose has raised 1.5 million for the corn roaster and the woman operation was carried out successfully for 950 thousand naira. 

When rose was first employed to run the school she is managing, she was a novice in the act. She searched her memory for source of help out side internets, it was her principal and mr Omeru the agric science teacher that came up. she contacted her former school for both. She was told that they have retired. Her principal then was no longer an ordinary reverend sister she was, she is now a nun living in monastery in Owerre. It was mr Omeru who is old now that came to her help in 2018. He came in person to stay three months with her, to supervise the recruitment of both students and staffs. He stablished the running of the new school in such a way that every cog was perfectly engaged and was running smoothly. 

Then last year, Mr Omeru developed glaucoma disease. It was rose that applied her gift in fund raising to source for 250 Thousand naira needed for the operation. She turned to her former classmates this time around. She used penetration method to penetrate all her former classmates. She started by pretending to be getting in touch with old time and setting up whatsapp 1989 groups. She knew that most of her former mates still hold the image of mean and wicked mr Omeru as they still remember him in their teenage years. If she jump into the man issue, most of her mates will switch of not only on Mr Omeru but on her too. After connecting to both those in the country and abroad, she started with their principal frist. She told them that the woman is now a nun and old that they should do something for her for old times sake. They contributed few money and sent to the nun. She deftly raised the issue of mr Omeru. two weeks later, she zoomed the Image of the man and told them that the man has glaucoma and needed 250 thousand for operation.

She was even surprised that almost all of them was moved by the man plight, they all started contributing according to their capability. One lady even donated 250 thousand. At end of the day, she raised 780, thousand and passed it all to Mr Omeru who did operation required successfully and wrote thank you letter that most were still referring to today. Five pages. 

Rose and mates agreed to get together this yuletide but they are wondering if it will still be possible due to the coronavirus and government restrictions.                           

November 03, 2020 17:10

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