Etcetera in this new article explained how he lived in Kirikiri town with few
celebrity friends with whom they all engaged in one ‘crime’ or the other.
Read His Article Below:
Sometime during the week, I paid a visit to Kirikiri Town
after a very long time. I grew up there as a little boy and it was there I had
the fondest memories of my life. As soon as I got into town, word went round
and friends started calling to find out where I was. I hooked up with my
childhood best friend, Patrick, and we decided to take advantage of the
beautiful weather by going for a walk through the town to recall some of our
funniest memories from childhood.
The first thing we laughed about was how Bright Okpocha, the
comedian known as Basketmouth, took us along to steal his father’s fowl. We
were four very close friends who practically did everything together. I lived
in the prison barracks and I was always telling them
mouth-watering stories of
how those of us who lived there regularly made chicken pepper soup and plantain
porridge with fowls in the barracks.
I never knew Basketmouth was licking his
lips to my stories all along until he called us one very beautiful morning to
steal his father’s fowl. We got to his family house the next morning and
executed the fowl like trained assassins. Basketmouth and myself were assigned
to cook the jollof rice while Patrick and Godwin (Basketmouth’s immediate older
brother) kept watch in case their mum got back from the market earlier than
anticipated.
After cooking, Basketmouth, thinking because he had the biggest
eye balls among us demanded to be given the best part of the chicken.
We wasted no time in reminding him of his age compared with
everyone else’s. We ate everything and thought that we had rid the house of any
evidence that could have incriminated us. We didn’t realise that Basketmouth
forgot to throw away the feathers of the fowl. Later in the day when we were
gathered at another friend’s place recounting our exploits for the day,
Basketmouth’s little brother walked up from nowhere and said their father was
calling all of us. See gobe! We knew instantly that we had been caught and it
was due to Basketmouth’s negligence.
The first thing the old man said when he saw us was “O
Bright, you have eaten my heart.” We fought back laughter, fearing a double
dose of whatever punishment we had coming. Oh! We teased Basketmouth and his
brother Godwin with that line afterwards. We escaped without punishment. Thank
God for his beautiful mum who pleaded on our behalf because she loved us all
like her own. Patrick and I strolled further down town to the secondary school
we attended and had a good laugh imitating Daddy Showkey, who was our senior in
school and was always walking around the school premises, wearing bathroom
slippers. His uniform was never tucked in but he was always punishing us for
‘flying’ our uniforms. The junior students dreaded him like hell. We talked
about how the late Evangelist Sunny Okosuns was said to have been a very
playful boy in one of the public primary schools in the town. On our way to the
prison yard, we passed by the house where Rev. Kris Okotie grew up.
We talked about life in the prison barracks and how being
the son of the chief warder of the maximum security prison gave me the
opportunity to meet very influential Nigerians in the prison yard. I remember
my dad taking me to say hello to General Shehu Yar’Adua one evening after his
lawn tennis game. I watched him play lawn tennis almost every evening in the
yard in his impeccable white shorts and T-shirt. And there were always a
handful of prisoners helping with the stray balls. I witnessed the General yell
at an overzealous prisoner who dashed into the court unnecessarily to retrieve
a loose ball.
I also told my friend how Major Al Mustapha jokingly asked
me what crime I had committed to be in the yard. I quickly informed him that I
was the son of the chief warder. Till date, Major Al Mustapha is regarded as
the best thing to have happened to the inmates of Kirikiri Maximum Security
Prison by the inmates. He uplifted the spirits of the inmates by sponsoring
various activities in the prison yard. He sponsored the prison football team
and helped so many of the inmates gain their freedom. I always saw him seated
by the side of the field cheering the players. Sometimes in the company of
General Bamaiyi and Colonel Gwadabe, who were also inmates at the time. Other
high profile inmates in the yard at that time were Fred Ajudua and Ade Bendel.
Ade Bendel also rocked the prison yard with his swag. While other inmates wore
ordinary prison uniforms, his was made of jeans and a well tailored shirt to
match. They loved him like crazy for his benevolence. He built a hall for the
prisoners and invited Basketmouth to perform. Basketmouth was scared to go
alone and he asked me to accompany him, which I did.
We talked about life outside the barracks when my dad
retired. How Yakubu Aiyegbeni moved in with a friend living in my compound. We
always ‘yabbed’ him as he walked about the compound with his big ‘yansh.’ Till
date, we are still amazed how he played so brilliantly and effortlessly with
such a body size. Sunday Oliseh was a member of our senior football team.
Members of the junior team were made to pick balls while the senior team
trained. Coach Fanny Amun came to town at different times to plead with the
father of a member of our senior team to play for him. That happened after a
game the senior team of the town played against the national under 17 team,
coached by Fanny Amun.
We also talked about how Victor Okechukwu Agali, who was
known in Kirikiri Town and Satellite Town as “Okey Banana” made it from hawking
bananas in the streets to playing football for Schalke 04 in Germany. And how
happy we were collecting tips from Samson Siasia to watch over his car whenever
he visited his brother who was doing time in prison. We talked about how we
used to listen to team mates laugh about how they tortured Osaze Odemwingie
while they played football at the Pepsi Academy. Back then, every player in our
team had a crush on Ann Echiejine, the first goalie for the Falcons. She was a
member of the town’s female football team. She joined us in training regularly
and she became better for it. It seemed training with the male team improved
her skills tremendously. We were always very happy to have body contact with
her on the pitch.
I got back home that night, played a compilation CDs of old
Nigerian reggae music and slept with the thought of how Victor Essiet got
married to the late Becky Umanah, a girl from Kirikiri Town and they both
became The Mandators.
No comments:
Post a Comment