Kehinde Fadeyi - OSCAR

I have been an ardent reader of people's blogs for some four years but the decision to actually have my own blog wasn't taken until 3 days ago. Usually I read people's blogs once or twice and then move on to another person for good. The first blog that I read consistently was Temmy Tayo's and I stumbled on it by accident. It was a murky evening last October, I decided to do a little soul search and reflections on my life so far as I do once in a while. I decided to start, on this particular day, with people who had had impacts on my life focusing on the friends category. I could think of two from my street while growing up, two at the primary school, one at the secondary school, one at my first university (I left after 2 sessions) and two at my second university (where I eventually graduated from). The focus of this blog is the guy from my first university- Oscar. On this fateful day, I decided to google his name and the only entry on the internet with his name was in Temmy's blog. I followed the link and the rest is history.

I met Kehinde (Oscar) Fadeyi at the Uni. We, actually, first met through a mutual friend at the same Uni. Both of them had gone to the same pry school. I found Oscar to be cool, easy-going, witty, very friendly and extremely generous. We initally had separate groups of friends at the time but he always sought me out so we could hang together. Oscar had the most terrible hand-writing I had seen up till then and I teased him to no end about it. Oscar always had a lot of funny childhood stories, mostly mischevious, and involving pranks he played over his twin sister or parents. I remember always trying to measure up to his stories by fabricating my own stories or more correctly embellishing them. Oscar would never burst my bubble immediately. He would laugh along and wait for 3 or 4 weeks before telling me what parts were true and what parts of my stories I had made up. He saw so easily through me. Oscar did not have a natural smilling face, he had what some would call a serious look but when he smiles you could tell it was from deep within him.

Oscar was better than me when it comes to handling girl-issues. Towards the end of our first year at the Uni, Oscar gave me an ultimatum to approach a girl I had a crush on. I either make my intentions known to the girl or the following session, I would be "relegated to Nursing school chics in the city" - hmm... my courage failed me but I made up for it the following year. Oscar rewarded me with two of five T-shirts he had just bought. Can't remember the number of times I had lunch on Oscar. Oscar had two nicknames for me. Farii was the usual one but he would change it to Eshin when Exams was around the corner and we needed to study together the night before the exam. Even though I consistently had better grades than him and we sat together at most exam halls, Oscar neither asked for nor accepted any form of help from me- apart from the study time together. Even on one occassion when he was ill for two days prior to the exam.

I left that Uni. for another one after two sessions (about 3 years- ASUU strike) because I wanted to study another course and my dept. would not allow me change. Oscar made 80% of the efforts to keep in touch. I lived in a town between Oscar's Uni. and his city of residence. My friend would stop by and sleep over at my house on his way to/from the Uni. He would even stay the night with my family when I wasn't home and then come see me at my Uni. which is in the same city where he lived. Whenever he met a girl in my room, he would not hesitate to tell the girl that he was the facilitator in my being Uni-babe-compliant. According to him, I had skills suitable only for high school chics when he met me in '94. And so we kept in touch even after we were separated by schools.

I remember the last quality time I spent with Oscar. He had visited me at my home on his way to school. His Datsun car had just been stolen and he gave me some descriptions too just in case I saw the car. We went out in the evening, came home a little late to sleep and he left early the following morning, before I woke up properly, to be at his Uni. for an appointment. He insisted I continue my sleep and not bother to see him off to the bus station. How I wish I had indeed bother maybe I would have had a little more moments with my great friend.

My last sight of him was just that- a sight. He was in a commercial bus from his Uni. going home. I was walking on the major road in my town and Oscar saw me and asked the driver to slow down a little just enough for him to tell me he had been posted to Kebbi for his NYSC.

Some months later my cousin who was a student at Oscar's Uni. told me he was dead! It was shocking to say the least. He died in a car accident. He was even buried already. No goodbyes, no nothing. I sat for the whole day thinking about it. When I got home and told my mom, she was shocked. Dinner in my house was abandoned that night. My mom had grown to love Oscar. On one of his visits to my home while I was away, he had helped my mom in the kitchen to prepare moi-moi for my dad using leaves. It was in contrast to her image of him as a city-kid. That was the Oscar that I knew, That was the Oscar that I lost, That is the Oscar that I will always remember.

Akehindegbegbon omo Fadeyi, ma j'okun ma ma j'ekolo. Ohun ti won ba n'je l'ajule orun ni o maa b'awon je. Sleep on my dear friend, sleep on.

Tekinologi

Was just thinking the other day of how modern technologies including the internet had made the whole world a single village...for Better and for Worse. I wonder though which category blogging belongs to - better or worse? Lots of otherwise more productive hours a day spent on reading and composing blogs. On the other hand, I read of a girl who decided against her planned suicide after reading somebody's blog. And what with all those planned suicides and high school massacres that were busted 'cos some people stumbled on them in the mastermind's blog? Maybe more good than harm.

It's good to belong to this generation. I wonder sometimes how people had coped in the 20's. Pretty sure they were feeling cool then with all those steam engine cars and what not. I guess in another 90 years some fellas would be wondering how their great grand parents were ever able to cope around 2007...hmm.

Job/work/career... It occured to me last night that what I need is to win a lottery; Those Megamillion lotteries. I'm kinda tired of having to wake up 6.30am daily to go and work for 8 hours and then get paid for 5.5 hours at the end of the month- having remitted the remaining 2.5 hours to govt as income tax. Who needs that?