Those days prior to the death of Gen. Sani Abacha were
dark days in Nigeria.
I like many other teenagers back then knew the days were
dark but were hardly affected.
Whatever I knew about those days was droplet of
conversations I picked from my mother, family, neighbors and on the streets.
The troubles of the nation were of little or no concerns
for the head of teenage me.
I remember the moment his death was announced, the jubilation in the streets, and the excited conversation between neighbors.
Mum was in town that week and back in the days she worked
in Iseyin, Oyo State.
When she told me not to go to school as she was not sure
of the reactions of the military to the news, I raised an eye but still obliged
her.
She saved me from one hell of torture.
For those who went to school that day, till date I still
wonder what manner of devil possessed them.
The school’s administrative office had announced that the
Commander in Chief of the Armed forces and Head of State had passed the night
before.
Why he bothered with the announcement of news we had all
danced about in our various homes, I wonder.
While he made the announcement, the students laughed.
The ex ruler of the nation even though was known as the
devil’s incarnate himself had just died.
The students stood right in front of a uniformed man and
laughed when he announced that his boss had passed.
What an insult!
An insult to the AO, an insult to the military and most
definitely an insult to the school which also happens to be a military school.
For this act of disrespect, the students must suffer.
And suffer they did.
Let’s just say that day a lot of them still remember and
would never forget.
Because how do you forget being made to kneel down on
stones under the scorching sun.
Crawling with the kneels right to your classrooms.
Or the numbness of the hands from the strokes of canes
received.
♥ Lara
Interesting post :)
ReplyDeleteGood thing you weren't in school that day!
ReplyDeletelol he died on my birthday :D :D :D
ReplyDeleteOh that is something. You killed the man...
DeleteAbacha o abacha. Am guessing your school was a command school. Na so them they punish us.
ReplyDeleteYes oh...Command madness
DeleteWow, miliary school tins.
ReplyDeleteI can't even remember anything from the day he died. I was in primary school then. I definitely cried and prayed for him. So weird!!
Yea, very weird
DeleteLara after how many years na today u remember say u no crawl on stone...lol anyways interesting post
ReplyDeleteI can never forget that punishment, it was torture!
ReplyDeleteEh eh, Pele dear
DeleteHa, your mother was wise to have kept you at home.. I too remember that day vividly,i was in Unilag then, i had gone to Yaba market to do some shopping, and i came back to meet the school in a state of madness i thought it was another aluta, i was wrong, there were jubilation, singing, driving recklessly, drinking, probably some poor soul joined Abacha that day o.. in the evening the student's union body held a mock service of songs for him in a way only they can.. i still remember one of the songs they sang 'do you know there is another Abacha in hell , i know there is another Abacha in hell' in the tune of 'do you know there is another fellowship in heaven' .... that day was like a holiday for us o we no gree read and the lecturers lett us be... later that night i thought to myself, truly a good name is better than riches and the bible has said it when the wicked perish their are shouts of joy....at that moment i actually kinda sorta felt sorry for him and his family..
ReplyDeleteSo many things happened( a lot of disarray ofcourse) on that day, but thank God it did not degenerate beyond what happened.
ReplyDeletethank God for mothers...
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYou were so lucky to have missed the punishment, I hated that crawling on the knee punishment, pure evil loll I wonder who invented it.
I remember that day, no school for me. I was very happy, we had a test I wasn't ready for lol.
Nice blog x
www.spynaija.blogspot.com
lolz! i remember that day so vividly
ReplyDeleteReading your post reminded me of when Muritala Mohammed died, assasinated by Dimka. I was in primary school. The whole of Lagos was in chaos with parents rushing to pick up their kids. I remember it vividly.
ReplyDeleteLol!Nice post
ReplyDelete