I have always bragged that I would expose my children to all forms of academics and extracurricular activities, with the hope of giving each child the assurance that I would give my full support. So far, the choice of career is acceptable in society.
"I think you should write the Nigerian Defense Academy examination; you are brilliant, and I am certain you will pass." My eldest brother advised me over the phone. His counsel was borne out of his career as a uniformed personnel, and he preferred I pick either the army or air force for the sake of diversification. I saw it as an interesting idea, but deep within me, I knew that the uniformed life was not my calling.
I arrived in Kaduna for the second time in my life in 2009. The first time was in 2005, when I came to my brother's passing parade as uniformed personnel. This time around, I came in pursuit of a dream that was handed over to me, which I bought reluctantly. Unfortunately, I had a delayed admission into college, and my classmates were quickly leaving me behind after I missed out on admission to the university as a result of an unavailable result in the previous year.
I joined the long queue of other students as we marched in a straight line into the academy, surrounded by fierce-looking soldiers with their fingers professionally placed on their rifles. "This is not the life I want," I soliloquy as I walked along the straight line in shirt and trouser. The night of my arrival at Kaduna happened to be the eve of the examination, and I kneeled down to whisper a prayer to my God. "Lord God, help me to fail this examination." Perhaps it was a selfish prayer, but I found it hard to turn my optimistic brother, who wished to have his dear younger brother also in the military,
After we were verified to write the examination, I was shown to my hall, where other candidates were. I remember seeing someone I knew who lived on the same street but was way older than me. He often told my brother of his passion to be in the military, and thus, I was not surprised to see him trying out his luck. I greeted him and wished him luck just before I entered for my examination. Those that passed the first stage were going to be invited for a series of interviews that included weeks of intense physical training, which I knew I was not cut out for.
We were arranged in rows of threes with a fair space between us in the examination hall.
"You can start. No side comments or cheating. If you're caught, that will be the end of your examination." A soldier in his camo uniform thundered to the hundreds of students that sat in the examination hall, followed by a pin-drop silence.
Being a recent graduate from one of the best high schools in Nigeria, my confidence in passing the examination was high. The examination consisted of multiple-choice questions, and I had my pencil tick the answers. The questions covered mathematics, English, and the other three science subjects, along with some current affairs.
I noticed the student that sat at my right side (I sat in the middle of two others) busied himself copying my answers. I was least concerned, as I took my time to answer the questions. Perhaps it was wicked of me, but it was when I had finished answering a section of the questions that I wrote the subject in the column of the booklet, "biology". I noticed his countenance changed, and the stranger hissed and began cleaning up the answers he copied. Then, I realized, perhaps he was not a science student after all. I chuckled and continued answering the other questions, however, with a lackadaisical attitude as the hall gradually became rowdy, with the invigilator stepping out intentionally to allow for cheating.
Immediately I saw how rowdy the hall had become, with students leaving their seats to pair up with people so as to copy answers. My spirit rejoiced because I knew my chances of passing that examination had just become slimmer.
"You did not pass the examination." My brother broke the news over the phone to me two weeks after the examination. I noticed his tone was not too happy; perhaps he was trying to console me, I thought to myself, pleasuring myself with a smirk.
A few months after my failed examination into the military school, I got admitted to study anatomy at a public university, which eventually, after a year, crossed over to medicine as one of the top students of the department, an annual tradition of the department. Thankfully, today, I have lived up to my dream of becoming a medical doctor, even though I dashed the dream fostered in me by my brother to be in the military.