Campus Holiday Chronicles

I had no knowledge of how the day would turn out when I woke up that very morning, and that's because it felt like every other day since we concluded our second semester examination and were given a three-week break before the next section begins. That very day I dragged myself out of bed after hours of rolling around on it with no particular plans, but then hunger got the best of me, and I had no choice but to get dressed and step out. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a long day; if only I knew what the day had in store for me.

On getting to the main road, I walked down to a restaurant I usually eat at, sat down, and ordered a plate of food, after which my priorities changed from filling my stomach to finding a way to charge my phone so I can stay connected with the world, since I refuse to travel home to be with my family like most of the other students. There's this betting shop where I often charge my phone because they usually turn on their generator throughout the day. I went there, plugged in my phone, and sat down to watch gamblers come in feeling optimistic as always, only to lose all their money and go home dejected.

That has been my daily routine since we vacated, basically: eat, charge, and observe at the betting shop till my phone is fully charged, then I'll return home to probably watch a movie or chat with friends on Facebook, but that very day things took a dramatic turn during my observation. I noticed that while observing the color change virtual change, I could literally predict what the next cloth would be, and when that continued for three consecutive times, I summoned the courage to go place a bet for the very first time in my life. I bet 100 naira, while the person sitting beside me that overheard all my predictions cooking through followed suit and bet 500 naira on the same game.

When the color changed and the results were out, I was thrilled to see my guess came through, leading to me winning 5,700 and the other guy winning 25,700. The guy gave me 5000 naira from his prize as an appreciation, and once again I placed another bet, and that's how I ended up winning the next three games, using the same 100 naira and the guy placing 500 as usual. On the fourth try, my prediction didn't come true, making me lose, and I immediately stopped playing and took ¾ of my prize home to keep before returning back to the betting shop to charge and maybe try my luck again.

On my way back to the shop, I noticed everyone was panickly running away from a particular shop, and I must confess I also joined them before I asked someone why people were running, and I was told the pipe of a big cylinder used to sell gas to people at that shop had burst, and the salesgirl had run away out of fear that it might catch fire and burn down the entire place. After hearing that, I tried to look if there's anything like fire around the shop, and when I saw none, I hurriedly ran to the shop, grabbed the hose, and folded it till the gas stopped gushing out, then I locked the cylinder, and that act led everyone who had been looking from afar to come back one after the other.

They came in tens joyfully, thanking me for being so brave and wanting to know how I knew how to do such, and I ended up explaining that I had once worked in such a store, and that was part of the first aid measures I was taught in case things go south and there's any chance I can salvage the situation before it becomes worse. The people, especially house owners around the shop, ended up giving me gifts and singing my praise, saying that if it weren't for me, they would have lost their house to fire, after which I left, feeling proud of myself.

Getting back to the betting shop, I tried my luck with the game again and won again, but everything that followed after the first game was loss upon loss. When I realized I'd almost run out of all the cash on me, I decided I'd had enough and decided to call it a day and leave. On my way home, I walked past a lotto (lottery) shop, popularly known as Baba Ijebu down here, and immediately two numbers dropped in my heart, and I felt the urge to go play, even though I had never played it in my life prior to that day, so I walked down to the shop, told them the exact number, and played it with 2000 naira.

I was told the results would be out in about an hour, so I decided to go back to the betting shop to charge and while away time so that I'll know the fate of my lottery game before calling it a day and going back home. After about two hours, I felt like I'd had enough outside, so I removed my charger and went to the betting shop to inquire about the results of the game, and lo and behold, my two numbers were among the five lucky draws, and I won 53,000 Naira.

I gave the winner tickets to the shop owner and was asked to come for my prize the next day, and so I went back home, feeling drained but excited. I sat down and smiled to myself as I thought about everything that happened throughout the day, and I whispered, What an unbelievable day.

All photos are mine.