BLACK THURSDAY
The ancient narrow pathway had become so
bad that they could not find their way to their destination as the three moved
in a grey Honda Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) being piloted by Dayo who was very
mindful of the steering. It was on a Thursday.
The
35-year-old Misters Dayo, Emeka and Okon were old time friends who got reunited
just a few days ago at Nsukka in Enugu State having lost contacts about eight
years back or thereabouts after their graduation from one of the reputable
higher citadels of learning in Nigeria situated in the Eastern part of the
country, precisely University of Nigeria Nsukka popularly known by its acronym
‘U.N.N’. What occasioned the long awaited reunion was the convention of their
alma-mater’s alumni body themed ‘The homecoming of UNN Alumni’, which usually
held once in a blue moon.
Though they never studied in the same
department, they were conspicuously best of friends during their school days
that people within began to wonder if they were of the same parental background
or clan of origin. In spite of the fact that they hailed from different ethnic
regions, the friendship remained solid and undiluted till their graduation
time, not until when they departed for their respective national assignments in
various states of the federation as programmed by the Federal Government (FG)
under the auspices of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), which was
established in 1973 after the Nigerian civil war.
Mr. Dayo who resided in the city of
Enugu – the capital territory of the said state – drove to the designated venue
of the epochal event in his personal car whilst the other two – Emeka and Okon
– whom were resident of Uyo and Abuja, respectively, embarked on the trip via
flight owing to distance. Hence, Dayo served as their executive driver
throughout their 3-day stay at Nsukka.
The
three who were deeply filled with nostalgia, took time to drive around the
aforementioned town and its environs during the limited period. On the third
day of their stay being Thursday, which marked the last day of the convention,
the three who lodged in the same hotel had agreed to visit Iche – a locality in
the vicinity that harboured one small but renowned river called Ndegu – towards
catching fun in the endowment in question.
Ndegu,
which was about ten kilometers away from the university, was a river they could
not afford to steer clear of during their school days despite all the warnings
by the university management in strong terms that students should stay away from
it, obviously as a result of its infamous antecedents; records held that Ndegu
kept drowning students of the institution each time they swam in it. Perhaps
because none of the three – Emeka, Okon and Dayo – was a victim of
circumstance, they remained in doubt of the sign of warning; to them, the
university officials were just trying to deceive them (the students), or keep them away from
anything that could serve as a distraction to their academic pursuits.
This time, the narrow pathway that
led to the ancient river was in dilapidated and pathetic state, to assert the
least that the SUV Jeep ceased to transcend to the point beyond.
“Let’s walk to the river.” suggested
Okon whom was the only one seated at the back.
Before this time, Dayo had already
applied the brakes since it was apparent that there was no how the car could
find its way to Ndegu, which was about two hundred metres (200m) apart from
where they were at the moment.
“I think you are right.” Emeka, who sat beside
the driver, concurred.
“Are you sure the car would be saved
here?” Dayo thought aloud.
“Why not?” said Okon. “After all, the
road is not that lonely.” He observed.
“I quite agree with Okon.” Emeka
supplemented.
“It’s alright,” Dayo surrendered. “If
you said so.” he added, attempting to step out of the vehicle.
Thereof, they all gladly stepped out
and headed for Ndegu not unlike tourists. As they walked, passersby cum
dwellers could observe that they were strangers who had come for a research
work, though they couldn’t say for sure where exactly their final destination
was.
In about thirty minutes’ interval, they got to
the long awaited point; it was 5:20pm prompt.
In
all ramifications, Ndegu had really changed to their delight. First, the arena
was no longer bushy as it used to be during their school days. Secondly, more
people now visited the place for all sorts of motives such as recreation,
research, fishing, and what have you, unlike those days when you would hardly
see more than five persons at a time. The only discouraging factor was that the
only road leading to the arena had become virtually impassable, contrary to its
previous state.
As soon as they got there, Dayo
couldn’t wait to swim, thus he dived into the river having taken off his
gorgeous wears remaining only shorts. It seemed the ancient Ndegu had awaited
his arrival as its colourless nature became brighter like snow the moment the
dude lay on it.
Okon and Emeka followed suit, equally
in their shorts. The two smiled at each other immediately they joined the
chorus, and then sighted Dayo who was already about four metres away from them.
Although a few persons were already
catching funs in the river before the three joined, the latter’s unique style
of swimming got the spectators fascinated; hence, they became inadvertently
attracted to them. They swam like individuals who had undergone special
internship on swimming techniques.
Some minutes on, therein, Dayo began
to gasp for air as he was seen by the teeming observers struggling for
survival. Could it be that he was being drowned? A crucial question deserved to
be answered by all. Surprisingly, a few seconds later, the two others – Okon
and Emeka – were also found in a similar mood.
Having
observed that things were not anymore at ease, a good number of divers among
the spectators didn’t hesitate to dive into Ndegu toward saving the lives of
the seeming strangers. Shockingly, all efforts proved abortive as the three had
already taken their last breath before their bodies were held by the rescuers.
This time, it was about twenty minutes to six O’clock in the evening.
That
was how Ndegu consumed the lives of the promising gentlemen unannounced. It was
really a black Thursday.
Truly,
the car parked at the pathway wasn’t saved as earlier presumed by the owner,
Mr. Dayo because its ownership would be now allocated to someone else.
The rest is history, please.
Fred Doc Nwaozor
Executive
Director, Docfred Resource Hub - Owerri
_________________________________
Twitter:
@mediambassador
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