Rostrum
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 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 – who were residents 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.
Interestingly, they lodged in the same hotel.
ALSO READ >>>
Across The Border
The three, 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, they 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 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, who was the only one seated at the back.
Before
this time, Dayo had already applied the brakes since it was apparent 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 safe 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 they were strangers who had come
for a research work, though they couldn’t say for sure where exactly their 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 in 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 having fun 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 any more
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 safe
as earlier presumed by the owner, Mr. Dayo, because its ownership would be now allocated
to someone else.
The rest
is history, please.
Fred Nwaozor - Novelist, Playwright
& Poet - writes via frednwaozor@gmail.com
RostrumNews
