37. African Queens

A hybrid of autofiction, memoir and criticism considering 2Face's debut Face 2 Face.

Twenty years ago, I was a frustrated school leaver trapped in Ibafo, a dusty satellite town near Lagos. A predicament entirely of my own making, I passed the University Matriculation Examinations on my first attempt. I was poised to study Medicine and Surgery at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. But there was a year-long waiting period. A protracted strike by the lecturers’ union disrupted the academic calendar for a whole year. So, I waited at home for Ife’s call. My less fortunate peers who flunked their examinations were rewarded with a vibrant social life, attending preparatory lessons and A Level classes. 

Indeed, no good deed goes unpunished. My punishment for excelling in my UMEs was the busy schedule of household chores that began at dawn with locking the house gate after my parents and ended at dusk with washing their cars for the next day's hurrah.

Cleaning cars was an exercise in futility, particularly in Ibafo. We lived at least five kilometres from the busy, shiny as…