WHEN A GIANT SLEEPS
By Tunji Ajayi
The reminiscence of my sophomore years is replete with passion and beautiful expriences. I am talking about the early 80’s when the anxieties of life had not taken heavy toll on me.
Collegiate life was amiable, as my college mates and I would fantasize into the supposedly beautiful future, which we thought held a lot of goodies in stock for us. We would boast to own this and that at the completion of our respective academic programmes in the college. And whoever failed to join us in the evening-till-late-night fantasies galore, was seen as a skeptic with “no future ambition”, whom we derogatorily called “NFA.” After all, a few more academic semesters on the campus would move us into the revered status of baccalaureates. Events since then, in our much beloved country have made it unequivocably apparent that we had built our castles in the air. We had built forlorn hopes on an empty future. What a grossly bloated expectation!
But the event that often radiates continually in my mind was the high level camaraderie which existed between my best friend called Jackie and myself. Jackie, a wide-chested six footer, was an avid lover of fun. An affable and genial fellow, he was well known for his profligate spending and showy display of affluence, especially in the midst of girls, He must have come from a very wealthy home. He had an elegant sports car which he proudly rode daily to campus from town where he rented a flat for himself for convenience, away from shared ten-square feet room accommodation in the hostel. Even as a student, he lived aristocratic lifestyle to the envy of the rest of us, who could barely afford 150 kobo meal ticket to have three meals daily.
Jackie had uncommon knack for missing lectures; but would on the contrary, never miss many night parties around where he could flaunt his riches. I used to joke that he became rich “at an unripe age”. My friend’s imposing physique undisputable qualifies him as giant by all standards. The reason why he took a special interest in me and which made our friendship blossom was not known, as, even till today, I consistently remain a shy, easy-going teetotaler - a direct opposite of Jackie’s curious traits. Nonetheless, in a vain attempt to act big like him, I once in a while displayed some pseudo boldness by acting manly; joking and exchanging pleasantries with girls at social functions we attended together.
I stopped my presumptuousness one day when my bravado failed me and made me lose my honour. After I had rehearsed for five solid days what to say to show I loved a girl I used to admire at almost every party we attended then, I mustered some courage by beckoning to her to meet me outside the party venue which, surprisingly, she did! I had thought she would snub my overture. But upon coming face-to-face with my admired girl, I suddenly became dumb and lost my rehearsed words. I was merely blinking at her and sweating profusely. When eventually I managed to comport myself, I could only stammer the three words – “I LO LO VU-VU YOO YOO.” My girl stood nonplus; stared at me disdainfully and walked away hissing profusely. I lost my honour, and would have preferred being swallowed by the ground on which I stood. I hid my face from her till eternity thereafter! My hatred for social parties and night life became more profound till today.
I should confess that I was a huge beneficiary of Jackie’s largesse. The only shame I suffered on his behalf was that Jackie never slept without snoring heavily. His imposing giant posture on bed while asleep frightens to the marrow, and the noise occasioned by his ceaseless snore rises to the highest crescendo. When Jackie sleeps nobody else does.
While outside, either on the roads, parties, public places, or any social gathering, his giant physique was enough to provide the much-needed fortification for both of us, as no sane person dared challenge him to a fight. And I never hesitated to speak eloquently about his supposed prowess in the event of an occurrence of unexpected public fight with any assailant. So we we were under the vain illusion of wining and dining in the midst of affluence, popularity and power and most importantly, unfettered safety from any possible vicious aggression.
My age-long mustered hopes and confidence failed me when on a sunny Saturday, a scuffle ensued on our way to the football stadium to watch the Nigerian football team in an international soccer duel. Having been too late, Jackie had driven too fast and recklessly to provoke the wrath of a diminutive young man who charged ferociously at Jackie and rained abuses at us for driving so recklessly on the road. Oh, insults on me? And on Jackie the giant? Abuses on Jackie my opulent benefactor, my hope and succour!?
Jackie must redeem our battered image. Fight and trouble ensued, while the crowd milled around the two street pugilists; evidently not to mediate, but mainly to watch and enjoy the duel between the giant and the dwarf. One. Two. Three. Jackie was felled with a single blow from his diminutive assailant! Abomination! A sacrilege! “Oh no. This must be a fraud,” I muttered. “It must have been the slippery surface that caused my Jackie’s fall.” Suddenly, Jackie retreated to renew his vigour, and with all his giant strength, he surged forward. His protuberant tummy dangling here and there in his over-sized branded sports shirt, draped in the national colour. My friend’s agility failed him as he was striking his blows against the wind. Another lethal blow from the aggressor left Jackie sprawling on the floor. The street brawl was over. My agony was exacerbated by Jackie’s wearing a sports shirt draped in national colour while being worsted on the street in the day time.
It was many years later that I drew a painful lesson on the unpleasant and disappointing scenario and made some logical deductions from the episode. I reasoned that Jackie, an epitome of affluence and reckless spending was a metaphor of my dear country Nigeria; blessed with uncommon human and material resources, but lack the will to manage her huge God-endowed resources. And so we live in the ocean daily but wash our hands with spittle. Hasn’t the late philosopher Bob Nesta Marley said: “in the abundance of water, a fool is thirsty.” And that explains why we may continue to generate several million dollar revenue from crude oil alone per day; but we still have the “larger halve” of the Nigerian populace living in the slums, not being able to afford basic necessities of life, including food to feed their unfortunate children. That explains why we may continue to have millions of jobless graduates turning into vandals, brigands, hired assassins and kidnappers on our streets. That explains why we have no potable water to drink. Yet we do not want outbreak of water-borne diseases. That explains why we do not have electricity, yet we crave to have an industrialized nation.
Like our Jackie, Nigeria has an imposing giant stature in the African continent but has been worsted in the day time politically, socially, and economically. For having more power than sense, our youths, facing ridicules and subhuman treatments, have had to seek sojourn in many foreign lands, who are not endowed even with 5% of Nigeria’s humongous resources. These nations could manage their own resources frugally, and have thus become enviable countries. We never took time to observe that we have since independence shunned shrewdness and engaged in profligacy. Like Jackie the boastful street fighter, the way we have been directing our blows is unmethodical and thus aimlessly striking the wind rather than our targets.
Like I put my confidence in Jackie’s imposing physique as a fortress to prevent me from external aggression and mortification, millions of Nigerian youths had put their implicit and untainted confidence in their our country but till today, their hopes and confidence have continued to be shattered and sunk to the nadir. And that explains why thousands of Nigerian seek Visa lotteries every year in a desperate bid to run away and “check out” from this evergreen and dehumanizing squalor. No one pontificates about patriotism in the face of lethal hunger and decapitating squalor.
Like my Jackie, Nigeria is an over-sleeping Giant. And when a Giant over-sleeps, he becomes inactive. He snores. When we wake up from our fitful sleep and stop snoring, we shall fully realize that we are light years behind the rest of the world, Then, we shall act decisively and transit from decades of endless motion without movement. Verbum Satis Sapienti.
*Tunji Ajayi, a creative writer, author, biographer and communication scholar writes from Lagos, Nigeria
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