THE LYNCHED

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THE LYNCHED
Chapter 1
October 25th 2000,
Times are indeed getting perrilous, it is a great wonder how one walks on the streets nowadays just to come across  burnt bodies rounded up with tyres hanging around their  lifeless necks and holding the rest of their body in place. at first i couldnt seem to understand this, whether it was a tradition the Africans frequently carried out by willing individuals to probably sacrifice themselves to the various gods to appease them or to hope for protection until i went deep into research ancd found out that all the beastly killings were for stupid criminal acts such as pick pocketing, stealing, raping, and even prostitution. It came as a great dissappointment to me and to everything i believed Nigeria to be, that one group of individuals could like to take laws into their own hands by burning someone else, their fellow humans. Now what seperates us from the hungry animals in the bush and even the canabalistic ones in our midsts, it is somewhat sad to discover that human beings could be so inhumaine as to not interrogate and make full covered enquiries on all this before taking any inappropriate action on the fellow individual.
Therefore i write to the United States Government in hope that my letter be addressed for the safety of all in our country and other countries. With my above statement, i ask to humblely refer some recommendations for the continous safety of our country , they are as follows;
1. Nigerians are not be allowed in or outside of our city walls for any reason whatsoever
2. No pregnant Nigerian parent is to be allowed to board the United States aircraft
3. Nigerian students who are schooling at our universities be given tags as visitors and not allowed to stay exceeding their degree period
4. Nigerians who have started work at any of the United State’s firm be given notice of advice to kindly return to his or her country or be deported with immediate effect

‘Thank you victor for reading that part of the novel titled ’1400 days’. I must say you are a very bold speaker, i was astonished by the way your voice echoed round the hall and was also amazed when the rest of the class kept mute to listen to what you had to say.’ Mr Alao, then turned to face the rest of the class and smiled. ‘Clap for Victor everyone and clap for yourselves also because i know that you all have learnt something valuable from this article from that aspect of the novel that victor boldly portrayed in his reading.’
Mr Alao was a pot bellied man who was average in height and dark in complexion, he taught the students of Aunty Rose School Okota, government and history. Mr Alao also taught some special students privately at affordable prices and he was cherished and respected by all.
As Mr Alao went into his private office after the close of school, he hadn’t even heaved a sigh of relief when some students trooped into his office complaining that they didnt understand what he had taught them previously in class, he first of all chastised them for not paying much attention but welcomed them later to seat in his inner office where he had gotten some chairs and tables for some of his special students. When they were all seated he started, ‘So you say you do not understand am i right?’ they all nodded and then he began ‘Well i was basically talking about the kind of problems we have in nigeria and i decided to introduce a political fictional novel which described that, as we all know so many years ago we had various wars in Nigeria and we were colonised by great Britain.  And i also added that Nigeria is the bastard child of its colonialists afterall its not only us that were colonised by the British but we were the ones who took the negative aspect and dwelt upon it until this time as we know it.” Mr Alao took a short pause to study the students expressions. He usually did this to ensure his students understood what he was saying and to make sure he wasnt just wasting his time ranting on and on without his students even having an understanding of what he was saying.
After he was done, the students all thanked him and left and he packed his bags to leave the office. “Thank God Its Friday” he said admist a sigh, he wanted to go home and meet his wife and his baby girl Thelma, Mr Alao was a family man and his greatest challenge in his teaching profession was that he was too busy to have family time during the weekdays but that was why he was very relieved once the weekend drew close especially friday’s because he could run home to the loving hands of his wife. On Mr Alao’s way home he stopped at a near by supermarket hoping to get his wife a pack of perfume he knew she loved as a surprise gift to her.
Mr Alao met his wife Antonia during their NYSC training where he was posted for a teaching job and she was posted into the administration sector of filing and typing documents. As he submitted his letter of recommendation to the beautiful woman at the head desk he couldnt help but notice the way her hair gracefully balanced on her neck, the way her lips moved whenever she smiled and the way her dimples prickled deeper when she was hard at work on the system especially when she wasnt with her glasses, there and then Mr Alao knew that he had found a part of him. he studied her for a long time before having the gusts to approach her and when he did this he felt her aura move inside of him and touch him so hard in that instant he knew the kind of woman she was, a no nonsense lady, a woman who had her pride and was independent, she was his type of woman in every way and he was willing to do everything in his power to get her. After their NYSC training he traced her through the school recommendation paper she had submitted and went after her once more, by this time she knew he was serious about his intentions with her and so she accepted and within years of dating they got married and were blessed with a  baby girl who took both of her parents genes. Mr Alao was proud of his life and proud of his family and loved his wife more than anything in the world.
Mr Alao knowing full well that his wife didnt like surprises decided to give her the gift in such a way that she just saw it as a gift. She would be very happy he decided as he brought the packet to the cashiers stand of the supermarket, he whistled happily to one of fella’stunes as he payed the cashier the money due for the good he had purchased and waited for his change. He then left the shop and walked a few steps outside when he heard ‘ole’ he quickly took a dogde to the side of a car to avoid stray bullets as was the order of the day on Nigerian roads of late whenever thieves wanted to scare people away from disrupting their robbery. Instead of the security men taking cover like Mr.Alao had expected he was suprised when the supermarket secuirity started towards him. They man-handled him back into the supermarket and the shop owner yelled at him ‘So we no give you correct change and you no fit talk abi ole’ Mr Alao wondered what she meant and then it occured to him to count the money and then he realised that it was N100 more than the actual amount he was meant to collect. ‘see him yeye face, face of a thief’ Mr Alao stretched out the N100 the shop owner was shouting at the top of her voice for and she snatched it from him and then said to the security men ‘leave am joor, make him go carry him bad spirit form here. E no be your fault’ she said again eyeing Mr Alao who was just wiping the dust off his body as he got up from the ground ‘assuming say those agbero dey around here now and i shout like this ehn! they no go waste time burn you or beat you to death ole buruku’ Mr Alao didnt make a single comment back at the shop owner as he walked away but kept on wandering why they hadnt just called him back like a normal human being to check the money again instead of taking him through all the embarrasement that they did. Mr Alao got home in a bitter mood but he tried to hide it from his loving wife who still noticed but waited for them to be in bed first. ‘Hunnie what happened? you do not seem happy’ Mr Alao then told her all that had happened earlier that day ‘I am just happy you are alright’ she finally said as she kissed her husband. ‘What i do not understand’ Mr Alao said calmly but a little bit angrily ‘…is why nigerians arent just rational in their thinking. They do stupid things first before realizing how wrong they are and then by that time its too late to turn back the hands of time and even our government do not help matters to educate all this illeterate ones to normality’ Mr Alao’s wife waited for her husband to finish and replied calmly ‘Hunnie, pls dont bring history into our matrimonail bed. You wouldnt like it if i started talking about business administration here would you? i am just happy you are back home and back to your family. Just be more careful outside. Now I am tired and i suggest we get some rest’ Though sill angry Mr Alao smiled in agreement with his wife and turned off the light.
The economic situation in nigeria at the time had begun to get from bad to worse and Mr Alao wondered why other counries where progressing and only nigeria sitting still in one place. As Mr Alao sat in his office still pondering on the situation and how to relate it to history for his lesson notes, a call came in. Mr Alao never liked browsing on the net for anything, he believed very strongly in his knowledge and intelligence and felt that Nigeria itself had so many problems one could relate to and this would give his class easy understanding on the subject and so it didnt come as a surprise when most of his students usually came out with nothing less than a B in their final examinations.
‘Hello…’ Mr Alao responded and listened to the voice on the other side and after a while he hung up. It was one of his ex-students who had called to thank him for making him a better man,he stated that at the university level it was easier for him to relate to politics because of all he had gained from Mr Alao’s teachings and that he would soon be graduating from the university of Lagos with a first class in his course political science. Mr Alao felt very proud of himself for his past achievements as he scratched his grey hair as if to say that his age had not  been wasted on this earth.
Judice was a weak student in Government studies but never bothered to voice out questions on topics she didnt understand, she preffered to just pretend to understand and leave the class. Examinations were about to begin in Aunty Rose High School and Judice was fed up with her poor scores and also didnt want to  get flogged by Mr Alao who detested having lazy students and she also didnt want to be caught cheating so after Mr Alao’s revision class she summoned up courage to go to his office. As she knocked on the door, her heart skipped two beats, what if he wasnt in a good mood or he shouted at her to leave the place what then would she do she thought. Before she could think to turn back Mr Alao had already opened the door and met her face with a beaming smile ‘What can i do for you Judice?’ Mr Alao asked and the Judice stammered at almost every word as she explained that she never understood in his classes and was tired of him flogging her when she got an F in his subject so she had come to ask for private tutoring and how much it would cost. Mr Alao told her the necessary details and she left. Two weeks before examinations commenced, Judice felt she was well prepared for the paper and thanked Mr Alao for his kind gesture shown towards her at her time of need. When the results came out she had a C,  she was very happy with her result and went home to show her parents.