At this point in my stay in my primary school, it was common knowledge that there weren’t so many extracurricular activities in the school program as the time that could be used for this would pretty much be put into either disciplining the entire school for whatever reason these uncles could present or being locked up in a class till after school hours.

So when we were on the assembly ground on that day, after the usual assembly jamboree – this is actually a thing as this time on the assembly ground has something fun for everyone. Everyone had the chance to enjoy their happy moment on the assembly ground before that time quickly switches into the happy moment of someone else, which might coincidentally be your dreaded moment. My favorite moment on the assembly ground is the morning devotion, not because I love God that much, but because that moment presented the school band with the time to graciously play the band with the most beautiful tunes I was exposed to at that time. One of our favorite tunes was called ‘jegede’ by us, the pupils, because the tune sounded just like the name, as one of the drums played around the pattern ‘jegede jegedegede Jegede jege de jege de jegede’ while the other people carrying the other drum part including the base drum played complimentary tunes to this rhythm, making something beautiful out of something simple.

It was every boy’s dream to have one thing to do with the band, either at the assembly or on a special occasion, even if it meant just holding the drums in place for those who played. As ridiculous as this might sound, this was a widely contested responsibility as we all strived to be early enough to be around just when the drum’s room was opened for the drums to be taken out to the assembly ground as this was the criteria for being the one to bear this responsibility and pridefully show off your drum carrying strength while showing off to the girls in your class. As for our teachers, this bit had nothing much to be happy about; little wonder most of them never liked being on duty to take the morning devotion. Their favorite time, however, is just after the morning devotion, when it is time to pick out pupils who came to school looking unkept or those of us who don’t have our white socks on.

On this particular day, after everyone enjoyed and endured the assembly time. It was time for notices to be made. The teacher on duty on that day announced we would have an interclass match the next week; it was as though the gods were smiling down on us, giving us something exciting to look forward to. We know this announcement had to be backed up with many prayers to make it a reality. This wasn’t the first time a similar announcement has been made without it being a reality. One time, it got to the day of the match, and we were told on the assembly ground that it had been canceled because one uncle forgot to buy the football. Another time, the excuse was that the school field needed to be trimmed and made safe, hence the need to ‘postpone’, a code word for cancelation.

We took this announcement with a lot of hope despite our past experiences with such announcements, maybe because we needed the break as our brains began to feel exhausted and filled with all the teachings we were made to take in each day. From that day, we kept wishing for the day of the interclass football match to come. As every day passed, our joy increased with hopeful anticipation for the day while we prayed in our hearts that no one would forget to buy the football for the match or someone would remember to get the school gardener to make the necessary preparations on the field and every loophole that could result in the match getting ‘postponed’.

The day came, and I was too eager to be in school early that day. I woke up earlier than usual, but I still didn’t get to bathe early enough because of older ‘siblings wahala’. None of this would keep me away from school, so I looked at my breakfast, looked at the time, and it was five minutes past seven that morning. I knew there was no way I’d have breakfast and not be late for school, so I picked up my bag and ran out of the house without having breakfast.

I got to school just in time for the start of the morning devotion, but this time we, the pupil, were really not interested in the day’s devotion as we were fixated on the football match and all the bants between opponents that had built up from the day draws were made till now. We have fixated on the match that no one cared about the band as not even Jegede could take our minds away from the opportunity of playing football in school. Amidst all of these, we heard a rumor whispering that the teacher who had promised to make the football available forgot to do that, and there was a chance it would be postponed again. Our hearts were beginning to sink until another round of whispering went around we the pupils that Osama had snuck out of the assembly ground through a class window and was heading home to steal his elder brother’s football that belonged to the football club he belonged to – our sinking hope immediately began to rise as we knew there was no other excuse for the match to be postponed, we just need Osama to be fast enough to get back to school by the end of devotion and before notices are made on the assembly ground.

From that minute, our attention was drawn from the assembly ground to all the open windows we could see from the assembly ground as no one knew the particular window Osama took out. Devotion had just ended, and it looked like Osama must have been stuck back at home or mistakenly ran into an open portal and ended up in a different state. No one really knew what was happening; all we knew was that it was time for notices to be made. Seeing as Osama wasn’t anywhere to be seen, the first notice might just be the postponement of the match. Just like we guessed, the aunty-as we called our female teachers, who was on assembly duty that morning, walked up and announced that the football match had been postponed. Still, just as she was almost rounding up her sentence, there was a little murmuring from the back. The murmur couldn’t have been from us, the pupils, as this would be taken as indiscipline and insolence by our uncles who lived for every opportunity to use their long canes on us. The murmur came from the uncles who were behind us. As every eye turned to find the cause of the murmur, our sad eyes quickly turned bright and joyful as there in Uncle Bayo’s hand was a beautiful leather ball and kneeling by his feet was Osama, who, apparently trying to sneak back into school was caught by the teacher on duty to get latecomers that morning.

On a good day, we’d have had some pity for Osama, and in reality, we did. Still, the joy of seeing the football was too great for any pity we had for him to have any effect. Luckily for him, the uncle who was originally supposed to make the football available came to plead for Osama to be spared because of the atonement he brought with him – the beautifully designed leather ball.

The decision to postpone the inter-class football match was quickly overturned. We all ran out of the assembly ground to the school field as we tried changing our school uniforms into more casual wear. On the field, my class was scheduled to play with the final year class of the school as the first leg of the scheduled matches for the day. We filed into the field as everyone else stayed on the sidelines. To feel like that dream football team, my teammates gathered around in a circle to pray, which intimidated the other team into doing the same. Our class teacher ran in to join the circle to cheer us up into victory. This cheering quickly became a threat to our existence if we dared lose the match to the opposing team, as she had placed a bet earlier with some other teachers on her pupils winning the game. With this in mind, we ran into our various positions on the field, with our minds more on the threat than on the game itself – how a game we had hoped to enjoy had now become one we feared playing because of the stakes.

The physical health education teacher blew the whistle, and out of desperation, we all ran blindly after the ball. It was amid the running and confusion that it dawned on everyone that there was no way of differentiating one team from the other as we all had different colors of wear on. The referee quickly blew the whistle to stop the game and ordered that we take off our shirts. At the same time, the opposing team kept their shirts on as a way of differentiating teammates. We quickly did that, and the game continued, but for me, the confusion did not seem to stop as it felt like everyone and everything was moving faster than I could meet up with. One minute the ball was in this part of the field, and we were all running after it, and the next minute, it was on another end of the field, and again, we all ran after it. Ten minutes into the game, all I had successfully done was chase after the ball in all directions without actually playing the ball.

The whistle was blown for half time, and our class teacher ran back in with another male teacher she had begged to give technical advice to her pupils to help save her bet and the game. The male teacher quickly sat us down, encouraged, cursed and directed us on the strategy to play with in the second half. I was quickly moved from my initial playing position to an assisting striker as they felt I could do well there. At this time, the reality of skipping a meal to play football was beginning to hit me hard. I could barely see straight without feeling dizzy from hunger. Still, all of that has got nothing on me as the fate of the team was resting on me, the striker and me.

The whistle was blown again, and we ran back in as the game resumed, this time, much more organized than the first. The ball was passed to me, and for the first time in the match, I attempted to kick the ball toward another teammate, but it felt like the ball did the kicking as it felt too heavy for my leg to kick. There and then, I knew we were in trouble as this was my first time playing with a leather ball. The game continued with full force as my strength dwindled faster, and the panting began.

An opportunity presented itself, and we began a counterattack on the opponent’s goal. A long pass was made behind the last defender, and I ran towards the ball to set me at a direct attack with the goalkeeper. I ran with all my energy as the heavily built defender chased me like an elephant after a dog. I was terrified at the sound coming from behind and the screams coming from the sidelines. The goalkeeper ran towards the ball as I attempted to make the few steps left to gain contact with it; it felt like a victory for us as I made to kick the ball. Then I heard a loud noise and then sudden silence.

To be continued