Over-familiarity breeds contempt 1

There’s this meme that always makes rounds on WhatsApp: "I know say if i follow my mates, do wetin dem dey do, God go use me do example." This piece centers around me being caught in something that everyone who came before me has done—the consequences weren't just whips to the back, it was also the loss of favor in the sight of some of the people I respected as a student in secondary school.

Book 1 - Overfamiliarity

In boarding school, SS1 is the hardest class to be in (argue with your keyboard or something). Added to our normal chores, we were meant to sweep the school dining after every meal, pack the firewood that the school kitchen used, and also fetch water for the school kitchen. You would ask: why SS1, though?

Because SS1 is the only senior class that is expected to work. The SS2 students were prefects and obviously the ones that delegated the roles to you. The SS3 were otherworldly beings—they had their eyes set on their school leaving exams and nothing else.

I was an SS1 student once, and my life wasn't as hard as the others. See, like politics, school was also about who you knew: "You know the senior in charge of labor; you get the easiest jobs. You know a teacher; sometimes you are exempted from work. You know the principal?" Fill in that gap yourself.

In SS1, due to the manner of approach that my teacher took in teaching chemistry, I took a liking to the course and eventually was the best at it (Not my brilliance; I just loved the teaching style. I didn't "smell best" again after he stopped teaching us). Teacher-Best student relationship— that’s how Sir M became the person I knew in SS1.

Let me paint a little picture of Rev. Obiora Megwa (Sir M). He was my chemistry teacher—that fact is already established. I went to a seminary secondary school, so he was the catechist when I entered the school, but at the point of this story, he was already an ordained priest. He was one of the resident priests of our chapel. He was also the Dean of Students’ Affairs, handled Boys' Brigade training, football, and every other sport essentially; anything concerning students' lifestyle had him at the helm.

As far as knowing people went, he was the best option. Okay, back to my story.

Knowing Sir M made my life quite easy in secondary school. I was allowed to play volleyball with my seniors (Sir M held the ball in his house, so they had to let me play whenever I got it from there)—that’s how I learned how to play the sport.

I was sweeping the chemistry lab, so I was exempt from dining and kitchen duties, even class sweeping duties. I couldn't escape washing the gutter, though. But in all honesty, my life was good; I could miss functions if I was "doing something" for him.

Hell, I watched the 2018 World Cup as a student. I was always with him to the extent that my set boys started calling me Little M. I was quite little at that point, no lies. I was so little that even though I was brilliant (if you know me from uni, I’m not lying—I was brilliant in secondary school), a prefect post wasn't exactly in the books for me because of my size. But Sir M was the Dean of Student Affairs, and come SS2, I was made one.

The above has a mission: to portray Overfamiliarity. If it didn't do the work, let me tell you a story about my ordeal with Anaemeka, the single ordeal that created the domino effect that eventually led to me writing this piece.

Soooooo—Anaemeka was the assistant house prefect for SS1, which put him in SS2, the class above us. Well, the hostel prefect at the time, Achi Paul (an insufferable bastard, by the way), decided to create a rule to curb us from messing up the toilet during siestas: NO going to the toilet during siesta. Essentially, you can't use the toilet in the afternoon; you are allowed to go in the morning and at night.

Mind you, our schedule was as follows: you wake up by 5, go to the chapel. You have from 6–7 to do your chores, bathe, and be at the dining hall. 7:30 am is assembly. Classes start from 8 and run till 2:30. Dinner is till 3:00. Siesta till 4. Evening prep till 6. Dining till 6:30. Chapel prep from 6:30 till 7. At 7 pm, you are at the chapel. 8 for night class, which runs till 9:50. 10–11 is hostel prayers and lights out.

See how we follow a strict schedule? Yeah, that boy took out the siesta period as a viable time to ease yourself. So what did I do? I went ahead to tell who I knew, and all it took was a little conversation and the toilet doors were open. Everyone knew I told Sir M. My set loved me for it; the SS2 didn't like it one bit.

Anaemeka made it about him. Apparently, someone told Sir M that it was him, "Anaemeka," who set the rule. So Anaemeka, deciding he wanted to prove his innocence in a case that was already resolved, came to my class during night class, slapped me, and dragged me by my shirt to Sir M’s house, with one of my classmates (Ndinechi) in tow... like a moth to a flame, he flew.

Whilst he was beating me in class, I didn't make a sound. Immediately we reached Sir M’s house, the floodgates were open. I started wailing: "Master, he beat me!" That's all Sir M needed to hear. Anaemeka received the beating of his life. Me?? I was watching Zee World.

After the beating, Anaemeka was sent to the Ghetto to spend the night there (miniature prison for our secondary school equivalent of hardened criminals; the structure was an old toilet with no lighting, and you were to sit on the floor; the only source of light was the keyhole. I've been inside it twice, courtesy of Sir M). It didn't end there: Anaemeka was stripped of his position as the assistant house prefect that night, courtesy of Sir M.

I felt invincible. That night, the vibes felt like:

The thing with being at the top was that you became a target. I received threats from all the SS2 students in my hostel. Master Basil and Ekene Ubah, the house masters for SS1 and SS2, adults/teachers, came to my work post—me, a 14-year-old student—to threaten me, in their words: "THEY WILL DEAL WITH ME IN THIS SCHOOL."

And boy, did they succeed....