One afternoon I was using the school Wi-Fi in the hostel to browse, when I saw something about a newly discovered virus in China. I thought to myself 'This'll be one of those wannabe diseases begging for unnecessary attention and cheap fame'.
Meanwhile school work had been hell of hectic since January, I was stressed out and deficient especially in the area of sleep. But I was okay with that, at least exam was in a few weeks time and everything 'd be over. But the next thing I knew, there came the two weeks warning strike! I was okay with that too or at least I thought I was, it came in handy considering I had to recharge myself a bit. I even went home to spend the second weekend, planning to return to school on Monday. But the next thing I knew, I was trapped! I heard the school was shutting down due to a lethal world wide pandemic.
I couldn't believe it was the virus I had previously underestimated. I couldn't believe I thought COVID-19 was a disease of the Chinese, for the Chinese and by the Chinese alone. I thought the lock down would end as soon as it came, I thought an Albert Einstein-like progeny will pick up the microphone one day and say 'Hallelujah, I've finally found a cure!'. Not knowing that the real deal had barely begun. I had abandoned some of my books at school and the ones I had with me, I couldn't compel myself to read them for long. I am usually a very imaginative person, I love to draw and write stories any chance I get. I had always thought I was the type of person that can never be bored in my life. But with the lock down, boy was I wrong! My next consolation was watching TV. Leaving me at the mercy of the electricity distribution company and of course the price of fuel. It was either our street transformer was aggressively epileptic or it just decided to play the sympathy card, because I can count the number of times the TV watched me instead. And to think that the ubiquitous virus was what held we students from resuming, when the lock down was finally called off, I understood the true meaning of the quote 'Some Viruses are infected, when some others are elected'. Chinese contagious COVID-19 hadn't been this country's problem all along. What had been our problem is Nigerian political COVID-19. It finally dawned on me that I'm stuck in a country where leaders can wake up one morning and say 'I'm feeling thirsty, let's use our civil servants salary to buy a sachet of water'. Staying at home for over seven months had made me learn a lot of things, no doubt. But it had also made me unlearn a lot that I already know. And to make it worse, for every good thing I learn, I unlearn something better. For instance, now I know 'Soro soke' means 'speak out' but I've forgotten the functions of the parathyroid hormone. I'm already tired of seeing rumours about FG and ASUU reaching a compromise and planning to dissolve the strike, and it's not also helping to hear that they are telling each other to go to hell. I feel so foiled right now that I wish it's possible I could store myself in ice and come out when all these political-induced academic instability is finally over. This country has failed us youths, but we are not giving up yet. From the ashes of our grim adversity, we will rise, we will refuse to yield, we will wax. My only fear is that; from our yield of proportionalities, it's only a matter of time before we start getting to our breaking points. It's quite true we younglings have hope ever dazzling like the meadows of spring but there's only much hope that can go round for every crisis we're facing and one day spring will be over... the meadows will need to be mowed.
I always thought about that 'storing myself in ice' thing. Me I wanted to sleep till all these is over. Lol
Dear Prosper, your use of English is splendid.