A.M.A Writes

We left the zoo at about 2:30pm and headed towards our lodge for the holiday. The amazing place I spoke of earlier. It’s the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture IITA. They don’t seem to really like adverts but this is not one though. It’s an expose on my Salah break or holiday. Anyways, less than 20 minutes later, we arrived there. It’s said to be a diplomatic facility so you kind of expect some really serious security measures in place and they really took it seriously.  There are two gates, one nested within the other at the entrance of the facility. At the outer gate your vehicle gets screened for bombs and whatnot and then at the inner one where you sign in and present your valid means of ID. In our case my dad used his national passport since he was the one who made the reservations. Check in was smooth and the rooms were magnificent. Well considering the fact that they waiting lounge was wonderful, I kind of expected such excellence when I got to the room...

Eventually we got to Ibadan and headed to University of Ibadan. The zoo was our first stop. I remember visiting the zoo once but I was quite young at the time. I was probably 8 or 9 at the time. I don’t recall much from that visit but a few memories stood out. There was a gorilla there at the time that was definitely not camera-shy. It knew how to pose for a picture and kept giving the person taking its pictures different styles and postures. My brother, Kachi who was about 4 or 5 then, was terrified of the gorilla and refused to walk beside the gorilla enclosure. On the other hand, my other brother, Ifeanyi who was about 2 years old or less then had engaged in a stare down challenge with a lion whose roar was shaking its enclosure to the foundations, making grown men fret. As we got closer to the zoological garden, I knew a lot of things were definitely going to change as it had been 12 years since I was there last but I hoped it would be for the better. The walls looked new...

I like vacationing. The sights to see, the sleep to catch up on, the foods to eat, pictures to take people to relate with etcetera. The travelling though is what I usually don’t fancy. In fact, I loathe travelling. That was why as we prepared as a family to go to this amazing place my dad had reserved for us at Ibadan, I mentally braced myself up for the journey ahead. I packed packets of chewing gum to help with my motion sickness as I packed the clothes I was going to use there. I wasn’t about to start hurling with all that fancy make up I was going to wear that day. Finally the day came, Friday. The beginning of the public holiday that marked the Salah celebration for our Muslim friends. At about 8:30 am, we left the house. Immediately I got in to the car, I dozed off. It was going to be a long journey so I decided that I might as well make up for the shortage of sleep that resulted from me sleeping a little bit later than 12 am and waking up by 5:30 that same day. I can’t rememb...

1 year later. John was standing at the altar with his father beside him standing as his best man. He looked around the audience and saw his mother with the biggest gele he had ever seen, dabbing her eyes with her handkerchief. If not for the seriousness of the occasion he would have laughed. Mummy Dele could not believe her son was finally getting married. He turned his eyes away from his mother and saw his baby sister. She had adjusted to things properly after her husband had been prosecuted and received a jail term of 15 years for spearheading the kidnap of Cynthia his soon-to-be wife and her friend Rachel. Their eyes met and se gave him a thumbs up. Lanre was with and she made him waved to John. Then, he heard the processional “here comes the bride” hymn and looked up ahead of him to see Cynthia in her beautiful white wedding gown walking slowly towards him with her father while everyone else stood up as she entered. He beamed, grinning from ear to ear. Today was officiall...

When the doorbell rang, Cynthia didn’t know whether to answer it or not. The events of the day had taken a toll on her but yet she couldn’t sleep. She walked to the door and asked who it was. “Hey. It’s me John.” The voice behind the door said. She cautiously opened the door just a little bit to see the person. After the day’s events, she was learning how to be super safety conscious. When she saw his face and saw that it was john, she opened the door a little bit wider to let him in. She hurried him to get in quickly and locked the door quickly with the bolt and the key so that in case anyone was following him they wouldn’t be able to get in. “How are you doing?” John asked after she had locked the door and was now seated. “Honestly, I don’t know. But I’d be fine. I just need to get over the shock of everything that happened within the past 24 hours.” She replied “By the way, what should I get you? Water? Soft drink? Anything?” “No nothing. I don’t want you to stres...

At the sighting of the first light of day, John got up and went to brush his teeth. His sleep all through the night was fitful so there was no point staying in bad tossing and turning. He had his bath hurriedly and sat waiting for the morning sun so that he could head out. He felt so powerless sitting at home waiting for the police to do something. He paced back and forth in his room. He couldn’t get why he was so restless. Cynthia was just a really good friend. His dad seemed to think otherwise though. He tried imagining his life without Cynthia in it and somehow he couldn’t even form the image in his head. He guess he had thought she would always be around. Now the thought of anything happening to her frightened the hell out of him. Shit! I might have just found the one lady to be serious with.  He thought to himself. His mum was going to freak out. Her son might get married as she had hoped and prayed and fasted for. He chuckled. But hat would only happen if she was found...

First he called his dad. He was silently praying he would pick the phone up because his dad usually put his phone on silent mode around this time of the evening. He didn’t want to disturb him but he needed his help. His dad was well connected and had the power to get the police to act. “Hello daddy. E kale sir.” He said after his dad picked up on the third ring. “Ah. Dele bawo ni?” his father asked. “Mo wa pa sir. What of mummy?” “She’s fine son.” “Daddy I need a favor from you. My friend is in trouble. She has been kidnapped along with a friend of hers. She sent me a message telling me that.” “Ah. Sorry o. What do you need me to do?” “I am headed to the police station to report the kidnapping. I have called them once but it seems like the number doesn’t work anymore. It’s not going through.” John said. “I know you are well respected in the police ranks. Could you please get them to do something about it? Call the IG or something.” “Hmmn Dele. This friend of your...

It was during the December period about two weeks before Christmas. She had gone out to see a new movie she had been wanting to watch with Rachel one Friday evening. She was supposed to have gone with John but he had work related stuff to tidy up before he finally went on his well-deserved paid leave. He had called her to apologize and asked if she could go with Rachel instead with all expenses on him. Fortunately, Rachel had no plans that Friday evening. So they went. They had gone to the cinemas using a taxi because Cynthia didn’t want to go through the stress of driving and Rachel didn’t want to do that either. After the movie, they had had dinner and finally decided to go home as it was getting a bit late. They had flagged down a taxi and got in so as to go back home. By some stroke of fate they had both fallen asleep and didn’t notice when the driver started driving them through a bushy path. It was when the car ran into a deep porthole that they were jolted awake and they ...

While John waited for the  gate-man  to push the heavy wheeled gate open, he made a mental note to run a check on the business Terry said he was into. He had always had double mind about this guy but now it seemed like his worse fears were going to be confirmed. Before he finally drove out, he called Cynthia to find out if she had plans for the evening. As it turned out, she was free. They then made arrangements to check out the new gaming store in town, see a movie and probably have dinner. He could already feel himself getting excited as the call ended. He drove his car out of his parent’s compound and turned into the street. He couldn’t wait to get home and freshen up for the evening ahead.  When Cynthia got a call from him inviting her to hang out with him she wasn’t sure what to say to him. She didn’t want to hang out with a guy when she was not in a good state of mind but she didn’t want to be disturbing Rachel either. Rachel had plans for the night with Bobo...

John didn’t really want to go to this family dinner/lunch. He could just turn back and nothing spectacular would happen. It’s not as if his father was watching him through some lens and then would swiftly run the car like in the cartoons to chase after him. However, he would have to face his mother at some time and that was one thing he didn’t want to come face to face with. So he kept moving behind them some distance behind them and soon they got to his parents’ house. They all drove in with him making sure to park his car where he could easily make an escape should things go wrong. As he walked into the house, he could smell all kinds of wonderful things. He sighed. He had missed good home cooked food like this. At least that was one good thing about this forced family meal. He couldn’t wait to see what his mum had prepared for them. The steward started bringing in various dishes into the dining area. John was already salivating. He composed himself and went to the sitting roo...

Amanda’s thanksgiving service ended and Cynthia couldn’t wait to get home. Immediately after the pastor’s prayer’s she hurried to Amanda’s side to congratulate her, made arrangements for them to meet up and talk better later and she snuck out before her mother would make her stay behind for the family dinner. She didn’t want to stay one more minute with those obnoxious people. All through the service they had been looking at her with pity. Most of them knew about her broken engagement to Phil all thanks to her mother’s big mouth. She just wanted to get away from the stares. She got into her car and zoomed off. She didn’t want to go home. The house was empty and she wasn’t in a good mood to be at home alone. Then she remembered Rachel. She parked her car by the road and brought out her phone to call her. At the third ring Rachel picked up. “Hey Cynthia. What’s up?” “I am just okay. What about you?” Cynthia replied “I am good too. Are you sure you are okay? You sound a little ...