Three generations episode 35

TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 35

Nwanneka was obviously intelligent and had maintained the top three position in her level. She had her own fair share of s€×ual harassment from both lecturers and students, especially cult members.

A lecturer, Dr Ononiwu, was popularly known for ‘consuming’ any students he desires. He targeted Nwanneka in her third year. He had noticed her in her first year and waited patiently for her in her third year when she would take his courses. The harassment started then.

He called her to his office and informed her she would never graduate from the university. When she inquired why, he replied crudely, “I want to s€× you. If you allow me s€× you, then you will graduate with at least a C. But if you refuse, you will keep carrying over my course until you become frustrated and leave. The ball is in your court. Is it a yes or a no?”

Nwanneka refused and assured him she would pass his course in flying colours. When she wrote the first-semester examination of his course, he claimed her script went missing. It was the same thing he did in the second semester. This prompted Nwanneka to inform her mother, Nwakaego about it. She knew she had to act fast as she would be scored zero in the examinations and made to rewrite them. This was his style of forcing female students into submission. Nwakaego knew of only one person who she would cry to and something will be done immediately. She went to see Chinyere’s brother, the Colonel. He was angry when he heard and was furious with Dr Ononiwu’s audacity. He promised Nwakaego he will handle it.

The Colonel arrived at Rivers State University of Science and Technology in grand style. He was accompanied by a truck of army recruit from the Bori camp army barracks in Rivers state. He first went to see the Vice-Chancellor to inform him of his presence and his mission in the university without disclosing the lecturer or student involved. Next, he met with the Head of Department. Meanwhile, the soldiers were manning all the exits while ten of them followed him. He told the HOD why he was there and what he intended to do. The entire faulty shook when they saw the military men had taken siege of the faulty.

Colonel then went to Dr Ononiwu’s office. He asked the man if he knew his niece Nwanneka. The lecturer fidgeting claimed not to know her. He showed him a picture and her matriculation number. He asked to see her first and second-semester examination scripts. He claimed he didn’t have them.

The recruit with the Colonel released a lash of the wh¡p in his hand on his body. Dr Ononiwu who was a small man didn’t know what hit him. Just one stroke and he began to dance. The pain hit his brain differently. He couldn’t afford to receive a second one. He quickly brought out the two scripts from the bunch of scripts he had hidden away to get his way with the students. He showed the Colonel the two scripts.

“Let’s go together to the HOD and then to the Vice-Chancellor. You didn’t mark this script and I wouldn’t want you to mark them. They will be marked by external lecturers and vetted by other lecturers. You are already guilty of hoarding a student’s answer script. If you have more, I will advise you to bring them out, mark them and submit the results before I visit again. Every girl you approach on this campus is either my daughter, sister, cousin, niece, or whatever. You will have me to contend with. If I allow you to mark Nwanneka’ script, you will claim I subjected you to adding marks for her. I would rather an outsider marks her answer scripts and scores her. If she scores highly, I will come back for you. I will teach you a lesson you will never forget. For now, I just want her scripts marked and submitted”

Dr Ononiwu wasn’t himself after they left. He couldn’t believe Nwanneka was that highly connected. “No wonder she walked around like a peac*ck”. The VC and HOD asked him to clean his slate before the Colonel comes back otherwise he will be dealt with.

There was a delay in the approval of results by the senate because of this. Everyone in the school knew Nwanneka had an uncle in the military. The cult boys avoided her completely. Other lecturers never allowed their paths to cross.

After her script had been marked and submitted to the VC, Nwanneka had As in both courses. It was recorded for her. Colonel paid another visit to Dr Ononiwu. It was an unexpected visit so he met him in the class where he was giving a lecture. Immediately Dr Ononiwu saw him, he was obviously perturbed. It was so bad that he began to stammer. When the lecture was over, he went to meet the Colonel.

“I promised you I will visit again when the results are out. She scored As in both courses. They are the same scripts you reported missing. Have you released the scripts of other students you held back to the department?” Colonel asked.

“Yes sir, I have. I have released all the students”

“That’s good. That will reduce your punishment. Frog jump to your office”

“What did you say?” Dr Ononiwu asked not believing his ears.

“Frog jump to your office. I will be walking to your office. If I get there before you, you will be in big trouble. You can hand over your lecture notes and glasses to a student to take to your office. Preferably a female student”

He did as e was instructed and this man who was over fifty years old frog jumped to his office in the full glare of students and fellow lecturers. Two military recruits were behind him to ensure he did and did it right.

The Colonel had been in the office for over ten minutes before Dr Ononiwu caught up. As he entered the office, he asked the recruits to leave the door open. He asked Dr Ononiwu to strip to his underwear and climb the table. By this time, students had gathered outside his office on the lawn. Dr Ononiwu begged the Colonel. He wept begging him to please forgive him.

“How many times did students beg you not to defile them but allow them to get their scores and graduate in peace? How many times did you make them write your examination and still either fail them or declare their scripts would be missing? How many times? How many times did they beg you to be merciful to them but you refused and violated their bodies? After today, it will never happen again. I don’t know how many girls he violated but ensure he is beaten enough for other lecturers to learn a lesson or two from him. Begin”

Dr Ononiwu spent a month in hospital after the encounter. He was also sent on suspension. He came back a changed man. He began to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter how well endowed a female is, he never looked twice or showed interest. Most of his intEr×¢tions with his class were mainly via the course representative.

Nwanneka wasn’t troubled by any lecturer again. They didn’t even dare mark her down in retaliation. No one wanted to be flogged and humiliated like Dr Ononiwu. She maintained her position and never joked with it. She was on a mission to conquer the world regardless of her scars.

Paul was on training in Port-Harcourt. He came with some of his colleagues to the Rivers State University of Technology to pick up girls. There was a pimp that was contacted who had made the arrangement for the girls. They were to take their pick.

As Paul and his friends waited outside the hostel, Nwanneka stepped out of the hostel. She had her books in her hand as she walked past them. Paul noticed her height and then he looked at her closely. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt which was quite long in length. He saw a full-figured girl with a full bosom, h¡ps and a big behind. He liked what he saw. Many of the ladies were very slim because they wanted to attract white men. This girl who looked ordinary from where he stood had always been his heart desire. He didn’t want a fat lady but an endowed woman, so endowed that it looked sinful. This was the girl that just walked past.

He excused himself and walked over to Nwanneka. He stopped and asked to have a word with her. Nwanneka had enjoyed tranquillity since Dr Ononiwu’s encounter with the Colonel and she wanted it to remain so as she only had one semester left of school before she graduates. She wasn’t interested in a relationsh¡p now or anytime soon. When she turned back to look at who had stopped her, she knew right away he wasn’t a student. The way he dressed was casual but sophisticated. It showed he was a dresser. He was a bit taller than her. She stopped to talk to him.

“My name is Paul. I saw you leave your hostel and decided to talk to you. What’s your name?”

“Nwanneka, my name is Nwanneka”

“Nice to meet you Nwanneka. Do your friends call you Nwanneka? They don’t have a short form for you?”

“No, everyone, even at home, call me Nwanneka”

“I will call you Nikky. It is short for Nneka which is part of your name”

Nwanneka was actually amazed at his lines. He had quickly given her a pet name. She wondered how this would play out.

“Where are you heading to?”

“I am going to have dinner and head to class. What about you?”

“I am here with some friends. We have a one-month training. This is our first weekend and we wanted to have some fun. What fun can we have without girls?” he asked as he laughed.

“So you came to pick up girls?” Nwanneka asked expressionlessly.

“Yes I did but in the process, I found my wife” Paul replied.

Before she could reply, one of his friends came to call him to join them. He told them to go ahead, he wanted to talk more with Nwanneka. The friend smiled at him and left. He turned back to Nwanneka and said, “Let’s have dinner and talk some more. I will bring you back to go to class”

“I am not going anywhere that isn’t within the school premises. I have to leave now”

“Are you angry? Please don’t be. Take me where we can have a meal together and also some privacy so we can talk or will you be willing to go back to the hotel with me?”

Nwanneka on a good day wouldn’t have listened to him but she decided to throw caution to the wind and hang out with him. A free meal was also very welcome. She joined him in his car to a restaurant just outside the university. They took seats aside at the back of the restaurant so they could have some privacy.

They ate and talked for hours. They looked like old friends catching up but in reality, they were strangers who enjoyed each other’s company. He knew everything about Nwanneka whom he called Nikky. He knew she lost her father when she was very young, she has been raised by her mother who is a successful businesswoman, she was in her final year studying Marine Engineering, while she knew he was the first child of five children and only son. His four younger sisters were two sets of twins. His parents were civil servants who just relocated to Abuja. He studied Petroleum Engineering at the University of Benin, served in Lagos and now on training in Port-Harcourt for his new job with Shell. They shared their experiences with their respective families and school. They had very engaging conversations which drifted fast from one topic to another.

By the time Nwanneka glanced at her watch, it was past midnight. She asked Paul to drop her off in school so she could read for the night. She also gave tutorials and now she had missed it. He agreed to drop her off at her faculty. He parked his car at the car park.

“I had so much fun talking to you tonight”

“Same here. Thank you for the meal”

“It was nothing. I will love to take you on a proper date. We could have dinner tomorrow. We can continue from where we stopped tonight. What do you say?”

“I will be busy all weekend. I have lost most of this night already”

“You need a day to just unwind. Just one evening together. If you don’t want me to come tomorrow, what of next weekend”

“Let me think about it”

“I will be here on Friday to get a confirmation”

“Ok”

“Will I be asking for too much if I ask to give you a peck?”

“Yes”

He took Nwanneka’s hand in his and said, “I’m serious about you. I want to get to know you” then he squeezed it gently.

Nwanneka quickly came down from the car and walked into the faculty. Paul stared at her as she walked and said to himself, “I will marry her”