My Exodus from the Den of Lions

The week I went to get my things out of the University of Nigeria was the same week the school hosted the NUGA Games. It wasn't coincidental that I was there at that time. I had planned to pick up my things the same week the games were slated to begin. With one last week to spend in the University of Nigeria before leaving for the United States, I decided to have FUN. We might not define "fun" in the same way, but I had fun. I cheered hard for the school team and other high achieving contestants, made new friends, chatted with old friends and said my good-byes in subtle ways. I had a few things I wanted to do before leaving Nigeria and I'm glad to say I did most of them. One of the things on my mental list was to climb the hills of Nsukka.

Enugu, the name of the state the university is situated in, means "on top of the hill". I thought it'd be absurd for me to leave there without ever actually climbing a hill to the very top. On the night the games closed, there was a bonfire party in front of the Akintola hostel. I've been a student there for nearly three years and I've never been to one. All I've known, if I can be honest with you is that students burn motor tires and dance to loud music. That's true but leaving it at that is a little colourless. It's a wild kinda party, people dancing, drinking, shouting and letting off steam the fun way(That's still probably colourless but you can attend one and describe it better).

Back to the hill "mission". On Sunday morning, March 8th, before 8 am, I decided to climb the hill closest to the vet department. I picked my sleeveless hoodie from my temporary room in Zik's flats and boarded a bike to Odim gate. I walked through the gate briskly because the air was really cold that morning. I turned at the junction before the Engineering department and walked far down on the dirt road. I walked past many villagers struggling for water at the pump that morning and continued to the base of the hill, hood on my head, hands in my hood pocket.

It took me about 3 minutes to climb and it caused my breathing to become faster. I was tempted to sneak a peek at the view as I climbed but I resisted and waited till I got to the top and then I turned taking it all in instantly. It was wonderful guys. It really was. The University of Nigeria lay at my feet. I was alone on top of the hill. There's a circular concrete structure on top of the hill. I went to it and saw the scrawls of hundreds of students who had come up there before me. I picked up one of the mud-red stones abundant on the hill top and searched for a clear patch to scribble my name. There was none. I found two parts of a broken cement block, placed them one upon the other and chose a high spot on the part of the wall that faced the forests. I wrote:

"Osondu Awaraka was here 7:57am 08-03-09"

I stood back to admire it then went forward and retraced the words so that it would stand out more. When I was satisfied, I scattered the blocks. My scribble was the brightest red that day compared to all the others. The rain and sun had weathered the others and I knew my scribble would inevitably be dulled by weather conditions on the hill. The next thing I did was to pee facing outwards. Not facing the school O! I faced the dark green forest that had a heavy mist hanging above it. It was all dense green with tiny footpaths here and there. Relieved, I went to the front of the hill that faced the school and sat down, admiring the layout of the school. I noticed that in some areas, the grass was greener. I sat there watching those large black birds with white breasts that we see all over campus, play above and in front of me towards the steep part of the hill. Everywhere was calm and peaceful. I wonder if that's the same hill Kambili, the protagonist in Purple Hibiscus climbed. I wonder if Chimamanda ever climbed that "Vet Hill". After a while the cold was getting to me and so I savoured one last look and began my descent, singing one of my personal anthems as loud as I could and enjoying the sound of my voice as I walked down the hill without a backward glance.

It was a significant gesture to me. I've left behind the University I longed for since I began considering college. The University my parents went to (it's where they met). The same one my elder sister attended for a while before leaving for the U.S.A. The same one some older members of my extended family graduated from. The University I was so happy to get into that I wrote a fictional piece Into the Den Of Lions and posted it to my blog. I'm leaving behind the familiar to go into the dark and start everything all over again. I have to forget about being Editor-in-chief of the Drumline, a newspaper for the University of Nigeria I was working on with a group of students. I've left behind friends who have left large prints on my personality, friends I "flowed" with from the very beginning, wonderful people in every way. Life continues. Change, they say, is the only thing that is constant. I'll be in touch with everyone. I'll begin college as soon as is possible. Who knows where life will take me?

Originally written and posted to my Facebook account on March 29th, 2009

----------
I visited Chimamanda Adichie & Chinua Achebe's old house on the University of Nigeria, Nsukka campus! Read my post HERE!

[Image via NG Scholars]