The Students: Prelude II

Prelude 1.

The Admissions office was crowded. No, full, packed full was the word. Students poured in, out and through the building; many held files and clearbags. Among these freshers, a few staff members moved around. Some were chatting, others, directing the fresh students, others quarelling. In between these, here and there, a few doting parents and guardians followed their children and wards for registrations. Alone, jammed with the crowd, Dera stood in a long queue. Tired, sweaty and thirsty, she clutched to her clear bag holding her documents.

CHIDERA MARTINS

17YRS

GUFUA STATE UNIVERSITY, GUFUA 100L BUSINESS ADMIN

"Shift!" Someone pushed roughly against her arm. It was the admissions officer handling her queue. He was leaving again. He had been leaving and returning since the morning. Dera sighed. The last time he had left, someone had to go to look for him when he didn't return for over forty five minutes. Now, he was leaving again. Dera groaned.

I'm coming back tomorrow o." Someone said. Dera sighed. She had come yesterday, and the day before, yet, she hadn't gone past one point. It would soon be over. She comforted herself. She was lucky that she began on time. At least, she was close to being through now and, in a few weeks time, after their Matriculation, she would be a full student of the University. A Gusuite.

"Up Acheiving Gusuites!

"Never Backing Down!"

"Up Achieving Gusuites!"

"Together For The Goal!"

"Up, Up Unbeatable Gusuites!"

"Never Backing Down!"

The Damien Ophey hall was jam packed with students. It was dark, stuffy, choking yet, the excited crowd moved against one another, yelling at the top of their lungs. One could almost hear the whole building vibrate from outside. Student groups like this weren't uncommon in GUSU in fact, they always had big turn ups. Junu stood on tiptoe although he really didn't have to, considering his tall frame, but he did anyway.

Junu Masawi

20 Yrs

Business Administration 300L Student Leader, Gufua State University

He held out his phone, trying to capture the moment. Apart from his political involvement, he himself was interested in these kinds of things. This gathering was a movement against misactions and overactions of staff members. Many students suffered mistreatments from Lecturers and other staff members. It was a part of his campaign- To fight that out. The tempo in the hall increased as the speakers made firing oratories. Junu got excited. His girlfriend, Rhoda prodded his arm. She always followed him to almost every programme, as much as she could attend. He turned to her and raised a brow.

"Baby..."

Crash! The sentence choked in. Someone set the first alarm and like a set on, the rest followed. Screams. No one knew how it started or what happened exactly but Junu knew that he was in the middle of a stampede and Rhoda was nowhere to be found. He felt as if he fell asleep right there and dreamt of the sound of gunshots. He woke up in a hospital room.

I've introduced the four major characters of "The Students" aeries. Two in this post and two in the previous post. See the previous post here.

"The Students" follows the lives of four random Nigerian students -their education and social living.

Main Themes

• cultism

• Examination malpractice

• Peer pressure

• Prostitution - Carryovers

• Body for grades, money for grades

• Yahoo (internet fraud)

• Hustle for money and girls

Here are the four major characters:

1. DANIEL COUPOR

   21 YRS

   MECH. ENGINEERING 300L

1. EPHRAIM COUPON

   16YRS

   MYRIAD COVERS HIGH SCHOOL, GUFUA.

   SS3 SCIENCE

1. CHIDERA MARTINS

   17YRS

   GUFUA STATE UNIVERSITY, GUFUA

   100L BUSINESS ADMIN

1. Junu Masawi

   20 Yrs

   Business Administration 300L

   Student Leader, Gufua State University