9/11. 2024.

As I typed out that date, I recalled the popular 9/11 event, and at this point, for the purposes of clout, I'd have likened it to my own 9/11 but nope, it's nothing like that. 09/11/2024 was a day of battle alright, but it was only an academic battle. One I believe I will overcome, if I already have not.

Hi, my name is Uchenna, and I'm here to tell you three things that I strongly believe in, with a story.

On the 29th of January, 2024, many of my peers had travelled to the Nigerian Law School, arriving at the various campuses of the Federation. There are 7. I wasn't on my way like many, and no, I wasn't running late. I didn't have a choice, I hadn't been shortlisted yet, my mind was in a frenzy, I was worried, but I was also calm. I was calm because I knew that missing the first day or the second day, or the first week, was no big deal.
But guess what, I missed the first four weeks. It was a big deal, but you know what they say about ends and means eh? Doesn't apply here per se, but you get the point.

Well, I got to Yola, the capital city of the farthest Northeastern state in Nigeria, and I immediately hated it there. It was sunny, up to 46°, and everything wrong with the Nigerian Economy was evident there. Electricity was scarce, as well as water. The library was tiny, there were no other alternatives to study locations except outside campus which was a hassle. Finally (I mean the last of my complaints, not the last of what was wrong with the place), I had to share a small bedroom with 3 other people and a bathroom with 7 other people. _{_}

Every time I had to bathe or go, I hated every second.
At least I had my own bed, but I still had to deal with someone sleeping so close by, and had to live with the thought of them sitting on it with outside clothes on, on casually placing their feet on it, especially when I'm not there.
Take a look.

Yep, it's like living in a correctional centre without bunks.

Oh there were snakes too. I saw one in a gutter when I was taking a stroll and we (the snake and I) both ran for our dear lives. One guy saw one on his bed. For real, just lying there on his bed. Up until now, I dunno how that guy continued to lay on that bed after. I certainly would not. There were also all kinds of crawling things too, stepping out without a torch would be stupid. My roommates and I made sure to leave windows and doors shut no matter how hot it got, and boy was it hot. The air was hot, there were trees and bushes surrounding us but it did no good when you were inside I could make a whole different post about how hot it got over there and it could pass for a short story. It was so hot, UV umbrellas and sunglasses and scarves were not fashion items. We carried them like we carried our writing materials. In a nutshell, there was no fumigation, there were bushes everywhere and there was no air conditioning, except during classes (8a.m. to 2p.m.) and the ACs weren't always working.

As I type, I forget and recall and in a flash decide what to add or not, for the sake of relevance, but eh? Damn!

The last day of school came, the 9th of November, 2024, and it was the day of our 5th paper, our very final par in the Bar Finals Examination and it was the night before was the most dreadful. Not for me though. I read, as usual and as much as I didn't know what to expect, I had gotten the hang of Corporate Law Practice. I just knew that come what may, I'd do well. But I wasn't looking to do well, I was looking to do exceptionally well. I still revised as normal, though.

Here's a typical and real scenerio: after the exams, my heart began to pump more blood in half the usual time and I knew I had made a mistake, or two, but one stuck because I had the right answer and changed my mind while cross-checking. Now that I think I think about, I wish I hadn't enough time to cross-check my work. ÷(

I beat myself up so bad but not as bad as I normally would when I mess up. You probably understand why. ☆ ♡

It's important for me to inform you that I joined the Law Clinic too, to help with the wrongly incarcerated and the other just prisoners and I got a certificate too.
This is only a glimpse of what went down for about the first 10 months of 2024, only a tip off the iceberg.

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So here are three things I care about the most:

Justice
Fairness
Equity

If this was something else, I may have put out a rhetorical like, "...sounds cliché, right?" Or something, but naa, these three guys can never be clichéd. They may be missing, misunderstood, misapplied, as they often are in my part of the world... it's why I went to that "prison" for 265 days in preparation for the battles and wars ahead.
Now the reason why these are the things I care about are pretty obvious, yeah? I mean it's like explaining why you're in love with someone, it's pretty obvious to the next person once they have a brain and can use it, but it's also hard to explain or inexhaustibly explainable.

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Thank you for your time. See you soon. Xoxo.

PS: This post was inspired by one of last weekend's #weekendengagement topic, "What are the three strongest opinions you have and why?" I have a lot of strong opinions, but, I haven't ever bothered to rank them in priority or anything like that although, I have made a post about one strong opinion I have. Enjoy.