I was in my final year in the university, writing my final year thesis and had a Gertrude BaniszewskiI in a pregnant state as my project supervisor; a very difficult, saucy, slow and donnish being. She was just too impossible to deal or even reason with.
On that beautiful Wednesday afternoon, after she had cancelled every bit of my 115 page paper on a grey area in my course of study, 120-man hours of my life, I stormed out of her dark and stuffy, love deprived work space (an apology for an office) and dashed angrily into the ever busy corridor of the second floor of the faculty of Environmental Technology building.
I thought of how best to handle the situation, I was still in shock, I couldn't believe that after all the work and efforts I put into finishing the paper, it took her less than a minute to go through my work and use her most powerful instrument of torture, the red pen, to inscribe a very short yet heart-breaking note on the front page of my paper. RE-DO!
I thought of how best to kill her without getting caught. I wondered if I could be able to loosen the lug nuts on the wheels of her front tyre; which was going to result into an accident which I was hoping would lead to her death. A would-be relief to over 600 students in my faculty.
After getting to the ground floor of the building, I decided to walk to my rented apartment, a 20 minutes trek from my faculty so as to ease off and blow off some steam. I didn't even have any other option cause I had spent all my money on making sure my paper was fantastic. After grudgingly replying some greetings from friends at the exit of the building, I started my long walk home.
As I made my way past the developed areas of the vast Gidan Kwanu campus of my school, I got to the mosque, a well thought edifice towering high with a beautiful green dome. Everywhere around was green and lush, in front of me was a well tendered corn field almost ready for harvest, an early morning light shower had made the beautiful colours of the field green, yellow with a touch of humid brown come to life. The radiance of the sun coupled with the whistling cool breeze of the noon made this ambience seem divine. I wasn't alone, enjoying this moment with me were two braided hair, lanky Fulani herders and their cattle, listening to tunes from their transistor radio. Salam! my anger was long gone, but little did I know that it would soon be replaced by an alarming and horrid feeling.
Suddenly, the sound of the Fulɓe tunes in the air stopped, the young herders started talking to each other in apprehension. The serenity of the atmosphere was further disrupted by the loud roar of a service deprived engine of the commonly driven Jincheng motorcycle. I turned and saw two pot-bellied campus security men dressed in blue and black, accompanied by a skinny looking lower ranked junior on foot brandishing locally made rifles, all shouting and heading towards my direction in full speed and high exasperation. Samun Su bellowed a fourth figure with a bulging belly appearing behind them in a distance, with a staff in his hand, standing like an over-lord barking out commands behind his troops.
"What is going on?" I shouted. Now drenched in sweat and terror, I quickly moved to the sided and headed into the bushes to get out of sight. They were oblivious of my existence and were solely interested in getting rid of the two herders I was lounging with. There was a new edict from the office of the Vice Chancellor prohibiting the entry of herders into school territory and these overzealous and out of shape security men weren't going to let anyone defy this order.
In the bushes I stayed, watching in fear as I saw this pandemonium play out. I would prefer to spend my afternoon with my hag of a supervisor than to experience this turmoil. I turned to ascertain the position of my Fulani friends but the facts surrounding their disappearing from the scene eluded me.
With the culprits out of sight, the men in Blue and Black returned to their master pointing in different directions, describing to him the ordeal of their pursuit. He looked disappointed. They all left with nothing to show for their efforts. I waited in the bushes till they all returned to their work station.
Emanating from the bushes, I noticed in confusion as the green vegetation falling before me. Something was pushing them down, COWS oh! NO. While all the commotion was going on, the cattle were left unattended to, and were feasting on the premature produce of the field.
I swung into action, "I must save this field from the jaws of these white horned monsters". I picked up the biggest stick I could find and motioned hurriedly to the scene of the crime. Jumping, shouting, trying to ward them off the field as fast as possible. It was working, they were moving, some dropping dunk as they did, they must have been in fear, it was a relief to see them off the field and heading down the path towards the gate.
I returned to the path after my successful encounter but I was greeted by a swift blow on my back, the smell of blood soon followed, my own blood. I turned in confusion, searching my back, seeking for the source of the pain, a sharp piercing feeling followed as I turned. I fell to the ground but before I closed my eyes to the world, I saw my supposed friends standing over me with anger in their faces.
They must have thought I was a Cattle Rustler taking advantage of the situation. They must have been in grave sadness as they saw that this was all a mix up.
I was taken to the nearby hospital from whence I concluded my thesis, Madam Supervisor heard about the incident and became a frequent visitor always bearing fruits as she came. I finished my thesis and graduated from the university the same year, but I'll never forget that day in a rush.
