At primary 5 in the year 2009 in power holding company of Nigeria (PHCN) staff school, I remembered vividly how Mr. Muhammad announced on the assembly after we sanged the national anthem that the senior class will be going on an excursion in few weeks time which towards the middle of the term.
I was so excited because I've never been out of town since i got to primary school
Well, I got a bit worried when the teacher mention the transport fee, I became sad. The amount is almost equivalent to my school fee.
When I got home, I tried talking with my mum about it. Well, she referred me to my dad. I waited patiently for him to come back from work and after he ate his dinner, I went to his side with a worried look. I knew he would asked me "what happened"? And yes he did, so I told him about the announcement at school today and he was very happy that her child is going on an excursion to places he's never been to.
I got excited too, when my dad promised to sort it out, I had a very sound sleep that night.
Although, I had wished my twins sister is going with us but she was in grade 4 whike i was in 5 back then and only grade 5 and 6 are appointed to go.
On the appointed day, i realised my dad haven't made any payment. Infact I already given up on going because when he was told that my twins sister won't be part of us, he wasn't good with the idea, he tried to pay for both of us but it would be an issue because of other students in her classroom too. So, I watched each of my friends boarding the bus, deep tears well up in my eyes ready to pour down like rain.
That moment, the bus couldn't took off because they were expecting two more pupil so I sat down watching, one of the instructor on the bus called me closer and she asked why I'm not boarding the bus. I told her I haven't paid , so she contacted my mum, seems they're close, they spoke for some seconds.
During their phone conversation, one of the pupil we were waiting for arrived, my heart began to race faster due to anxiety. I wanted to cry but I felt shy to do that in front of my mates. We were supposed to leave around 7:30am, it's almost 8 am, the driver is complaining already. The other female instructor alighted from the bus so she could call the parent of the other pupil but to no avail, that was when I sighted my mum coming in through the school gate. She brought the money and apologized to the female instructor Mrs. Taiwo. They talked for some minutes and my mum came to me explaining that she had to beg my dad to let me go since my sister is not in the same class with me, it's no one's fault.
Amidst joy and tears, I embraced mum and she prayed with us before we left. The parent of the boy we were anticipating called that he's not feeling well so he couldn't make it. That was how we began the memorable journey. We were about 40 pupils in the long white coaster bus. I so much love the movement of the breeze, the speed was accurate. I was just looki6gwre and there outside the window.
Then suddenly, about 20mins into the journey, a car overtook us and the driver waved at our driver to slow down and he did then he shouted rubbers are hijacking vehicles some kilometres away. All of us stood up when we heard the word "Arm robbers".
It seems true because we came to meet a long queue of vehicle on the road after the man informed us. I wasn't afraid though but I was shivering already. Our health teacher, Mrs. Adekunle who was a pastor's wife tried to calm us, then she lead us to pray. Also, Mr. Ahmed who was an islanic teacher also led the Islamic prayers. So, they were telling us to calm down while we heard gunshots and noises from distance but thank God at the same time, about five police van drove pass us. I was at rest at the sound of the siren.
A boy in my class then named Idris was caught urinating on his short, there was a roaring of laughter, he said, "please call my daddy, I don't want to die", crying and wetting his uniform with urine. Oh my God, I couldn't hold the laughter as well.
Few minutes later, we received signal to keep going. We didn't move until the other vehicles began to go too. When we got to the spot where the robbery occurred, we got informed by some passersby that the thieves had escape through the thick forest before the police arrived.
However, We landed safely at Ilorin, the journey of 1hrs 30mins became 3hrs.
How fast the news spread. My mum had called in asking about us, I was giving the phone and I responded quickly so she can be sure I'm good. Other parents also called to know their children's welfare. I was happy to be part of the event. Although, I had blamed myself for joining them, I wouldn't face such situations but it was all good.
We first went to a detergent soap industry, seems they're on workers holiday, only one man attended to us and show us a few things but the engine room had been locked , we could not get a view of the soap making machine.
Afterwards, we went to a nail making industry. I got to know the difference size of nails and their name by inches. Then we saw how the nails are being prepared, it's actually like a dust made into an metallic objects. They came out fine and hot too.
Lastly, we went to back into the bus, we were served egg roll and soft drinks. The company also gave us some nails each to take home. They also gave us refreshments.
We got back to jebba town around 5:30pm in the evening. Everyone was full of joy and exhausted too. I ran hope despite the weakness and hugged my mum so tightly. Infants, parents were already at the school waiting for us to return. It was a safe trip, full of memories I can never forget...
We later go for another excursion after that but it was within the locale. Story for another day.😃
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