*THE LAST DIAGRAM ON THE CHALKBOARD*Malam Sani had been teaching Biology in the same classroom in Suleja for twenty-three years. The same classroom where the paint peeled from the back wall every rainy season, where the second window never closed properly, where the blackboard had a permanent white ghost in the middle from where thousands of diagrams had been drawn and erased.He was not a man who believed in miracles. He believed in textbooks, in past questions, in waking up at 5 a.m. to draw the heart before the students arrived, because if he drew it when they were watching, his hand would shake.That morning in early March, the principal called him to the office. The principal was a younger man, a man with a neat agbada and a laptop that never left his table."Malam Sani, we are going digital," the principal said, smiling but not smiling with his eyes. "The ministry has brought in a new young corps member. He will be handling Biology with projector and slides. We will move you to Agricultural Science for JSS 1 and 2."Malam Sani did not answer immediately. He looked at the principal's laptop, at the glowing apple on its back."I have taught Biology for twenty-three years," he said quietly."I know, sir. And we appreciate. But the students, they want modern teaching now. Your method is... chalk. They want videos."Malam Sani nodded. He understood dismissal when he heard it. He did not argue. He walked back to his classroom, his staffroom cup rattling in his hand.The bell rang. SS2B filed in, noisy, sweaty, dragging chairs. They saw him standing by the board, not sitting as usual."Sir, are we doing Agricultural Science today?" a girl in front, Aisha, asked. She was his best student. She wanted to be a nurse."No," Malam Sani said. "Today, we will do one last Biology diagram. After today, another teacher will teach you."Silence fell. A complete, confused silence."Sir, why?" several voices asked.Malam Sani picked up his chalk. It was a fresh stick, long and white, that he had been saving. He usually broke his chalk into two to save it."Because I want to teach you something that is not in your WAEC syllabus. But you will need it for your life."He began to draw. Not the heart. Not the amoeba. Not the nephron that he had drawn ten thousand times.He drew a large circle in the middle of the board. Inside that circle, he drew a smaller circle."This," he said, "is a story."The students leaned forward. A story was not expected."There was once a boy in this town. His name was Musa. Musa was not brilliant. In primary school, he came 18th out of 20. His father was a vulcanizer by the Suleja market, his mother sold kosai by the roadside. They had no money for lesson teacher. When Musa reached SS1, his Biology teacher told him, 'You will never pass Biology. Your brain is too dull for science. Go and do Art.'"The students laughed nervously, because they recognized themselves in that."Musa believed him for one term. He stopped drawing diagrams. He stopped coming to class early. He started sitting at the back. Then one day, the school cleaner, an old man named Baba Audu, found Musa crying behind the laboratory."Malam Sani drew a second circle, connected to the first by a line."Baba Audu did not know Biology. He could not read English. But he asked Musa, 'Why are you crying?' Musa said, 'I cannot understand Biology.' Baba Audu said, 'Can you understand how to fix a punctured tyre?' Musa said, 'Yes, my father taught me.' Baba Audu said, 'Show me.'"Malam Sani's chalk moved faster now. He was drawing what looked like a bicycle tyre, with its tube."So Musa explained. He said, 'First, you find the hole. Second, you roughen the place around the hole. Third, you put gum. Fourth, you cut a patch and press it. You wait.' Baba Audu smiled and said, 'That is Biology. Every sickness in the body is a puncture. Your work as a doctor, or a nurse, or a farmer, is to find the hole, clean the area, apply the cure, and wait.'"Aisha whispered, "Sir, is that true?""It is more true than what is in your textbook," Malam Sani said. "Musa went home that day and took his Biology note. He did not try to memorize the whole kidney. He asked, 'What is the hole here? What is the patch?' He realized Biology is not memorization. It is repair. The kidney repairs blood. The leaf repairs air. The skin repairs the body. Everything is repairing something."He drew arrows from the circles to smaller circles all over the board. Soon the board was full of connected circles, like a great network, like veins."Musa started drawing his own diagrams. Not to copy the textbook, but to understand the repair. His grades moved from F to D, to C, to B. In SS3, he scored A in Biology. Not because he became a genius, but because he stopped trying to memorize and started trying to understand the job of each part."He stopped drawing. The chalk was now half gone. His hand was white."The boy in the story, Musa, was me."End!!

The story of Romeo and Juliet is one of the most famous tragedies ever written by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1595. It is set in the beautiful city of Verona, in Italy, and it is a story about two noble families who hated each other for centuries, and about two young children from those families who fell deeply in love, and whose love ended in death. This is their complete story.*Chapter 1: The Ancient Grudge*In Verona, there were two great and wealthy houses, both alike in dignity and honor, but divided by an ancient grudge that no one could quite remember how it started. One was the House of Montague. The other was the House of Capulet.The hatred between them was so deep that it had soaked into the blood of their servants. If a servant of Montague met a servant of Capulet in the street, they would bite their thumb at each other, which was a grave insult, and draw their swords.On a hot Sunday morning, this is exactly what happened. Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the Capulets, were walking in the public square when they saw Abram and Balthasar, servants of the Montagues.Sampson said, "I will bite my thumb at them, which is a disgrace to them if they bear it."He did so. Abram asked, "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"Sampson replied, "I do bite my thumb, sir."Abram said, "Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?"Sampson said, "Is the law on our side if I say ay?"Gregory said, "No."Sampson then said, "No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I bite my thumb, sir."This foolish wordplay quickly turned into a fight. They drew their swords. Benvolio, a nephew of Montague, a good and peace-loving young man, came upon them and tried to stop the fight. He cried, "Part, fools, put up your swords, you know not what you do."But then Tybalt, a nephew of Lady Capulet, came. Tybalt was a fierce and proud young man who loved to fight. He hated all Montagues as he hated hell itself. He saw Benvolio with his sword drawn and shouted, "What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death."He attacked Benvolio. The fight grew. More citizens joined. Old Capulet and old Montague themselves, despite their age, called for their swords and wanted to join.Finally, the Prince of Verona, Prince Escalus, arrived with his guards. He was the ruler of the city and he was tired of these street brawls disturbing the peace. He shouted in a mighty voice, "Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, profaners of this neighbour-stained steel!"He declared that if ever the Capulets and Montagues disturbed the streets again, their lives would pay for the peace.After the Prince left, Montague and Lady Montague asked Benvolio where their son Romeo was. Benvolio said he had seen Romeo early that morning, alone, under the sycamore grove, weeping. Romeo was a young man of about sixteen, handsome, intelligent, but given to great sadness and daydreaming. At that time, he was in love with a young woman named Rosaline, who did not love him back. She had sworn to remain chaste. Romeo was lovesick for her.Benvolio went to find his cousin Romeo and tried to counsel him, telling him to look at other beautiful women of Verona to forget Rosaline. Romeo said it was impossible, that his love was like no other.Meanwhile, in the House of Capulet, a great event was being planned. Paris, a young nobleman, a kinsman of the Prince, handsome and wealthy, had come to old Capulet to ask for his daughter Juliet's hand in marriage.Capulet said, "My child is yet a stranger in the world. She hath not seen the change of fourteen years. Let two more summers wither in their pride ere we may think her ripe to be a bride." Juliet was not yet fourteen.But he also said that Paris could woo her, and that he would allow the marriage if Juliet consented. He invited Paris to a great feast and ball that he was holding that very night, a traditional masquerade. He sent his servant Peter with a list of names to invite.Peter could not read. He met Romeo and Benvolio in the street and asked them to read the list for him. Romeo read it. On the list was Rosaline, his supposed love, as well as many other noble ladies of Verona. Peter, grateful, invited Romeo to the feast as well, if he was not a Montague. Benvolio had an idea. He told Romeo to go to the feast, masked, so he could see Rosaline and compare her beauty with other ladies, and see that she was not the only beautiful woman.Romeo agreed, though he said his mind was more concerned with his love for Rosaline than with any feast.

👑 Cinderella: The Girl Who Lost Her Shoe 😂👠Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her wicked stepmother and two ugly stepsisters who treated her like a housemaid.Every morning, Cinderella cleaned the house, washed clothes, cooked food, and did almost everything.One day, while Cinderella was scrubbing the floor, her stepsister shouted, “Cinderella! Bring me my breakfast!”Cinderella replied, “Coming!”The other stepsister shouted, “And bring me a mirror!”Cinderella asked, “Why do you need a mirror when you already have a face that scares people?” 😂Her stepsisters became so angry that they refused to eat breakfast!One morning, an invitation arrived from the royal palace. The king was organizing a grand ball for his son, Prince Charming, who wanted to find a wife.Cinderella was excited and said, “Wow! Maybe I can meet my future husband!”Her stepmother laughed. “You? Meet a prince? My dear, the only prince you'll meet is the prince of cleaning!” 🤣Her stepsisters dressed in beautiful gowns and left for the ball, leaving Cinderella behind.Suddenly, a magical fairy godmother appeared!“Why are you crying, my child?” she asked.“I want to go to the ball,” Cinderella replied.The fairy godmother smiled and waved her magic wand. POOF! ✨Cinderella's old clothes turned into a beautiful gown, and a pumpkin became a magnificent carriage.The fairy godmother gave her a pair of glass slippers and warned, “You must return home before midnight. After that, the magic will disappear!”Cinderella nodded. “No problem! I'll be home before midnight. I'm not trying to turn back into a pumpkin myself!” 😂At the palace, everyone stared at Cinderella. Even Prince Charming forgot how to talk!He whispered, “Who is that beautiful girl?”His friend replied, “Bro, I don't know, but if you don't approach her, I will!” 🤣The prince quickly invited Cinderella to dance. They danced all evening, and the prince fell deeply in love with her.But suddenly, the clock began to strike twelve!“Oh no! My time is up!” Cinderella cried.She ran down the palace stairs, accidentally losing one of her glass slippers.The prince shouted, “Wait! What's your name?”Cinderella called back, “I'll tell you next time!”The prince looked at the shoe and said, “Next time? My brother, she has already left you with a shoe as her phone number!” 😂The next morning, the prince announced that he would marry the girl whose foot fitted the glass slipper.He visited every house in the kingdom. When he arrived at Cinderella's home, her stepsisters tried desperately to squeeze their feet into the tiny shoe.One sister pushed her foot so hard that she nearly fell off the chair!The prince stared at her and asked, “Are you trying to wear the shoe or destroy the kingdom's property?” 🤣Finally, Cinderella came forward and tried on the slipper.It fitted perfectly!The prince recognized her immediately.“You're the girl from the ball!” he exclaimed.Cinderella smiled. “Yes, Your Highness. And I hope you remember that I left before midnight, so technically, you still owe me another dance!” 😂The prince laughed and asked her to marry him. Cinderella happily accepted.They got married in a grand ceremony and lived happily ever after.Her stepmother and stepsisters learned that kindness was more valuable than beauty, expensive clothes, or a royal invitation.And Cinderella learned one very important lesson:Never underestimate a girl who cleans the house—she might become the queen of the palace! 👑😂THE END! 🎉