So, do I have a terrifying tale? Hah! I schooled in an environment that ensured I got lots of it. I’m not the kind of person that goes looking for trouble, neither am I the kind of person that’s full of this stupid confidence where you’ll hear a gunshot and the first thing that’ll be on your mind is to run toward it, instead of away from it.
I try my best to be safe, knowing just how rough my neighborhood can be. But then, the reality of life dictates that one can’t be too careful, no matter how good you are. Even if you remain locked up in your room, refusing to step a foot outside, the danger would still come for you. And if you don’t handle it well, you might not survive it.
The first time I really feared for my life, it wasn’t a personal thing. I think I’ll call it PTSD. It happened the very first week I got admitted into my secondary school. I was just in JSS1 and my school was located on the express, a very busy road. The gate opened into this road, so students had to be extremely careful when crossing because drivers can be really crazy.
However, the very week I got into the school, I witnessed an accident that has remained in my memory like a fresh wound. The guy was just like every one of us, happy that school was over for the day. He crossed the first lane of the express and stood on the barricade waiting for the second lane to clear up. It didn’t, yet he walked in anyway.
Right before my eyes, I watched in horror as the guy was hit by this gigantic trailer, it was so big there was not even a sound upon impact. The guy tumbled under the huge vehicle and when the trailer sped off he was a bleeding mess. One of his legs was crushed under the huge trailer tires, but that seemed to be the only issue he had besides the bruises and scratches. Apparently, the fact that it was a big vehicle also ended up saving his life because all that tumbling under it didn’t do much damage to him.
According to those who were with him on the barricade, they said it was just the usual confusion that caused the accident. You know when you want to cross but you wait for the vehicle to drive by, but then it seems he’s slowing down for you so you try to cross. However, he realizes you were waiting for him and then speeds up right as you’re entering the road. That’s what they said happened, but whatever the story was, it was done.
The guy was in a lot of pain. All I could see was flesh, blood, and bone. The way he was crying and begging for mercy, was etched into my soul. Eventually, it was the agberos in the area that picked him up and took him to the hospital, some of them also mobilized and went after the trailer. I never saw that guy again, so I don’t know how it turned out for him.
That day, the accident was all I could think of. I had nightmares for weeks, all I could see was the trailer slamming into the boy’s body over and over again. I kept placing myself in his shoes and wondering if it could happen to me. I developed a fear of crossing the express road. I couldn’t cross alone for a long time, I did it with crowds of students.
Soon though, I outgrew the fear, and by the time I was in JSS2, I was able to cross the road easily once more. But I could never stop being extremely careful, the memory of that first accident never left my mind.
The accident made the government build a zebra crossing right in front of the school gate, and they installed a SLOW DOWN sign in front as well.
Like I said, that’s just the first time I was terrified. Still in the same school, and in the same JSS1, there were terrifying cases almost every week. Our school was a hotbed of cult clashes back then, most government schools were. You could be in class, then you’ll suddenly hear shouts and screams. They were fighting again. And whenever this happened, school was as good as closed for the day.
During this time I saw what it meant to plank someone on the head or bash their head in with a brick. The police came so many times that they could have been our security outfit. Whenever these fights broke out, everyone ran, even teachers locked themselves up in their staffroom. We the students would gather at the gate, begging the gateman to open it for us. The man never opened though, if it wasn’t up to closing time, the gate always remained closed.
Sometimes, going to school was just scary. We had a lot of uncompleted buildings and that was where these guys hung out, they smoked, gambled, and drank which always led to fights. During break, they harassed students and bullied a lot of us. They just made life unbearable for us. It was a miracle I didn’t just drop out back then.
However, it was that same year that the former governor of Lagos, Babatunde Raji Fashola launched his war on cultism. Especially the rampant cultism and regular fights in schools. Because as it was happening in my school, it was happening in just about every other school in Lagos. So, it was an important matter.
The new punishment for any infraction at all became expulsion. No matter what you did. If you stepped out of the class when you should be learning, you were expelled straight. If you stayed out late during break and were caught, if you didn’t dress well, if you sat on the windows… so many things that should have been treated with a few strokes of the cane, all of them were grounds for expulsion. And you didn’t just get expelled, your parents were invited and in front of the entire school, they told everyone of your crimes and then kicked you all out! If you step foot into the school again, you’ll promptly be handed over to the police.
That was just how strict it was. But it worked. Within a few weeks, they weeded out the violent ones who couldn’t just stay in the class. Every day in school was like a wasteland because everyone was scared of expulsion, and every week, we witnessed the expulsion of a few more students.
The final cleansing came at the end of the third term, when results were announced. That was also the year Fashola made it compulsory that students who didn’t have at least five credits including maths and English, were to repeat the class. So many students repeated many of them dropped out, and many more failed to return. And by the time I came in for JSS2, the school had a new look. All the uncompleted buildings were ready for use and the holes in the fence were sealed.
And up until I graduated in SS3, we never had any other case of violence again. My toughest time in the entire school was when I was in JSS1, I managed to push through and the moment it all passed, I had the best time ever as a student in that school.
There are so many stories I could tell, but this is getting too long. Maybe in another post, I’ll talk about my ordeal during the Unknown Gunmen saga here in Owerri, the sporadic gunshots back when I was a fresher or the time when some men opened fire in my village. Stories choke!
But then, since I’m here, alive to tell all the stories, it’s obvious I survived it all. I’m grateful for that because so many did not. I know many of my classmates back in JSS1 who couldn’t withstand the pressure and dropped out or joined the cult groups to belong.
Anyway, it’s all in the past. The country is still a dangerous place, so my eyes are still wide open. I might handle it better now but between me and you, lowkey I’m always terrified. Anything can happen at any time. And it’s scary.
I’m optimistic though, we try our best to be careful and hope that life does the rest for us.