THE CLOCK

Episode8: THE SEEDS OF TIME

The month of January ushered in a new school calendar.

Every returning student was anxious to go back to school after the long Christmas holiday. The former year one students were particularly eager to resume to lord it over the fresh year one students. Every class overtly exercised seniority over the class or classes below their level. The fresh year one students were always at the receiving end of the wrath of their seniors. One could hear a senior shout at a Junior or a group of them: "Kneel down there!" And indeed, their command was law, which should never be contravened. It was amidst such a charged atmosphere that Nkechi arrived to take the first step along the tough and rocky road of her educational journey.

"Eh you, come right here at a run," a year four student

shouted at Nkechi.

"Is it l," Nkechi asked innocently.

"So you have the audacity to throw queries at me?" The

senior asked.

"You wanderer," another year four barked at Nkechi from

another direction. "Kneel down there!" The senior barked again.

"Now, begin to jump up and down, you toad!" Yet another

senior commanded.

Nkechi could not fattom the reason for such embarrassment. She did not know which order to obey. As she ran to the first senior to address her, the second would shout, "On your knees." As she made to kneel, the third would cry, "Begin to jump up and down." It was amidst her bewilderment that Mgbafor intervened and saved her from further worry.

Nkechi had arrived a week after the official resumption date. Dressed in plain clothes, she had come out from the bursar's office to buy some confectionery for one of those who had brought her for admission into the school. Being her first day in school, she had cautiously followed the bursar's direction to buy her mentor's needs only to run into the traps of newly appointed acting prefects.

The school authorities had appointed some smart year four students to understudy the final year prefects, who would soon be relieved of their posts to enable them, as the principal had put it, "face their academic work squarely for a resounding success." Mgbafor had been appointed acting social prefect. It was in that capacity that she sought the release of Nkechi.

Seated at a vantage point, Mgbafor had seen the little Nechi alight with some Reverend Sisters and made straight to the bursar's office. School had been over for the day and the junior students were observing their siesta, which was compulsory. It was little wonder then that the seniors vented their authority over such a fresher that dared rear her stubborn head to undermine the established rules and regulations of the school.

"Hi mates, that girl is mine. I mean, she's going to be my school daughter. As you can see, she's the one I've been waiting for. Please, set her free," Mgbafor pleaded.

"Babe, that's her business for all I care," the acting senior

prefect said with all strictness.

"What's biting her in the first place to rush out unmannerly

the way she did?" The acting labour prefect queried

"This is her first day ever in this school. She's not even been admitted in the first place. Please, set her free," the social prefect said defensively.

"On what grounds should she obtain pardon?" The food

prefect, who had come to join her colleagues asked.

"On grounds of esprit de corps and of innocence," Mgbafor fired back.

"Innocence, no; comradeship, yes, the senior prefect overruled. "Now, go and back your newborn baby to your bed before we crucify her," she added humorously.

Nkechi was happy to see her secondary school mother again, although not particularly pleased with her appearance which spoke volumes of hardship and tough living. She had vowed in her mind to search for means and ways of lifting her and Mama Nwankwo from poverty.

On her part, Mgbafor was very pleased to see that Nkechi had fulfilled her dream of becoming a medical doctor. She had always confided in Mgbafor, entrusting her with every minute secret as if she was her biological daughter. Mgbafor in turn had treated her with tender feelings of care, love and affection.

Nkechi was three years Mgbafor's junior in Akamu Community Secondary School. Mgbafor took special interest in Nechi the very first day she was brought to the school by a group of Reverend sisters to be admitted into form one, as the classes were then progressively graded. She had mobilized a group of fresh students after siesta to assist Nkechi carry her things to her hostel. Mgbafor had used her influence to make sure that it was her own hostel that Nkechi was allocated. The Reverend sisters who brought Nkechi had been especially delighted when Mgbafor called her, "My school daughter," and had then entrusted her with that responsibility, which she had voluntarily assumed. To formalize the relationship, Mgbator had relocated a year two student occupying a bed next to hers and had ordered Nechi to occupy the vacated bed space. Since then, and by virtue of sharing the same corner of bed space with her, Nkechi had become a sacred cow. Other students her seniors were accustomed to say,

"Leave that girl alone, she's Senior Mgbafor's school daughter."

It was not long before the truth about Nechi's parentage came to light. Nechi herself had been the carrier of the tale of her life history, which had spread throughout the school. Senior students would come and ask Mgbafor, "Is it true that your school daughter had no parents?" Although Mgbafor had been briefed about the circumstances surrounding Nkechi's birth, still she would feign ignorance of it. Of course, juniors dared not confront her with any such interrogations as that would earn them tough sanctions. She had then warned Nechi to be more circumspect in future in revealing her private secrets which could be used against her by some unprincipled elements.

One day, Nechi had some disagreement with one of her classmates, who had unfeelingly told her that a school mother could never take the place of her real mother. Nkechi had cried the whole day, which had attracted the attention of the acting senior prefect. The girl concerned had been severely punished to act as a deterrent to others who might, in future, want to cash in on Nechi's parental issue to ridicule her.-

One day in the staff room, Mgbafor had overheard some teachers discuss the issue of Nkechi's motherlessness. It had pained her to the marrow to learn that it was her own daughter that was being so freely discussed. The Geography teacher had added some spices to the story which made her listeners quake with violent laughter. Mgbafor had excused herself from the group of acting prefects, who had gathered in the staffroom at the instance of the Labour Master, and had gone back to her hostel in

tears.

The truth, however, was that Nkechi was an orphan, who had no clue as to her lineage. In clear terms, she was an abandoned child.

According to her story, she was barely four days old when she was picked up by a good Samaritan beside a rubbish dump near a popular market called Ekeonunwa Market. She had then been taken to the police station, and later to the motherless home where she had grown under the watchful eyes of Catholic missionaries.

The missionaries had identified Nkechi's inborn tendencies and were determined to explore her talents and make them blossom.

Nechi's primary school academic records were a success story of laurels won on merit. Throughout, no pupil had ever contested the first position with her. And there in the secondary, she had performed a similar feat which left no one in any doubt that her limits were beyond the sky. But that was a long time ago.

The signs of her brilliance had manifested in one of the noblest professions the world over.

"Dr. Nkechi," Mgbafor muttered. "This is the real definition

of a dream come true,

" she muttered again.

"Mgbafor allowed her memory to drift back in time again to her secondary school days. She recalled the very first day Nkechi told her of her dream of becoming a medical doctor to which she had given her a muted response. She was not, however, doubtful of what Nkechi could achieve going by her sterling qualities. In fact, she was exceptional, and everyone knew it.

Mgbafor also recalled her membership of the Future Female Medical Doctors Association (F.F.M.D.A) in her secondary school days. Mama Nwankwo, Nkiru, Nkechi, Ogechi and Adaugo were the founding members. Due to her outspoken nature, Mgbafor had been elected leader of the association. From its inception, the association had inspired many students to shift to, and develop keen interest in Mathematics and the Sciences. Every term, the association would, with the permission of the principal, and through their patrons, invite some prominent practising medical doctors to come and speak to them on the medical profession and the opportunities that lay ahead of a medical practitioner.

With time, the association had recorded a large membership, many of whom actually read medicine to qualify as surgeons, pharmacists, dentists, eye specialists, to mention but a few.

Time and the passage of it also witnessed the growth of external interests in the F.F.M.D.A. Dr. Rita Eze, one of the first female doctors of Akamu origin and an old girl of Akamu Community Secondary School had begun to champion the cause of the association alongside other influential Akamu sons and

daughters abroad to give the association an international recognition

Dr. Rita Eze, the leading patroness of F.F.M.D.A had written America promising to sponsor any girl child of Akamu origin, who might aspire to read Medicine to any level. She had also made her influence felt, to a certain extent, by setting up a free health care centre in Akamu village to take care of pre-natal and post-natal health challenges.

Many had availed themselves of Dr. Rita Eze's offer to read Medicine and qualify as medical practitioners among whom Nkiru, Ogechi and Adaugo were beneficiaries. Because of Nechi's zeal, the Catholic Missionary Orphanage Home (C.M.O.H) had used their influence to win Nkechi Dr. Eze's sponsorship. After unrelenting passionate appeals and detailed explanations of the circumstances surrounding Nkechis birth, Dr.

Rita Eze had accepted the mission's request for sponsorship, which was earlier an exclusive preserve of Akamu female citizens.

She had invited Nechi over to America strictly on compassionate grounds, and had assisted her in every way possible to make her become an accomplished doctor.

Time and tide, they say, wait for no one and Mgbafor was quick to realize, regrettably though, that her dreams had been overtaken by the ever ticking time. Besides, it had never occurred to her that one of her own children could redeem her aborted dreams by becoming a medical doctor. So, she made no efforts towards channelling her efforts in that direction.

Looking at Dr. Nkechi, Mama herself had come to realize how time had mercilessly passed her by. She had remembered one of the inspiring talks which one of the patrons of F.F.M.D.A had delivered to them on the occasion of a seminar organized by the association long ago. The patron had concluded his speech by alluding to time. He had said "Procrastination is the thief of time.

Time itself is so very rich that a poor student today, whose parents are not financially stable can derive abundant wealth from time by keeping watch at the clock that tells the time and by making use of every second, minute and hour. Diamonds, silver and gold are the treasures lined up in the path of time. With patience and diligence, those who move with time find them for themselves. The only bad news is that time flies and waits for no one; but the good news is that man is the pilot of it."