Kindergarten Maths Is Hard Says Nigerian Poet, Ayobami Kayode.

in this narration of Ayobami's childhood, Ayobami takes us through the world of politics in a certain Western Nigerian state and why mathematics is not his best friend.

I’ve written just a few poems that are inspired by some of my childhood experiences. I can’t remember in detail some of these experiences, but there’s a particular story that inspired a poem from the full-length collection I’m currently working on. It’s titled A RITUAL RUMOUR SAVED A BORING DAY(circa 2010).

I think I had a year or two left to complete my secondary school education. One day, in the middle of a boring mathematics class, many guardians were seen climbing the fences of Loyola College, Ibadan.

They flooded the school premises, each guardian looking for their wards to take home. Later it was said that there was a news spreading all over the city of Ibadan, that the then Governor, Alao Akala asked some people to share food across all public schools, this gesture was meant to prolong his life and maintain his position and power as the Governor of Oyo state then.

The news spread all over the city of ibadan, hence the intervention of the parents to make sure their wards weren’t victims of the food ritual. No one came to collect me. And God knows till now, that I wasn’t scared at that moment. I was just happy that the math class ended abruptly, my yawning and boredom vanished, and I made it home alone with my brother. A line from the poem says “Sometimes, a bad occurrence can smuggle you

Into your freedom.” Maybe this explains why I still find it difficult to solve kindergarten mathematics to date.

Few weeks later, it was made known that the news of the food ritual was a rumour, and it was meant to soil the honour and the personality of the then Governor Alao Akala, and that it (the rumor) was pushed by his opposition.

The poem by Ayobami Kayode
A RITUAL RUMOR SAVED A BORING DAY 
(circa 2010) 

I had two Years to go before 
high school became a memory,
and i looked forward to it like a 
child waiting for his lost tooth 
to sprout, throwing the pain in the 
corner of his mouth behind him,
just like a masquerade throws 
some of the flaps of his costume 
behind. That time, i continued to 
loath Mathematics—like a hungry 
baby sloth, I yawned its lessons 
away. One day, my eyes craved for 
a break from the magic my maths teacher was conjuring on the board; 
A rumour of a ritual food blew an 
aroma of fear into the students' nostrils ,which was enough an external 
magic I needed, to snuff out the 
spell of that day's math's magic. 
Parents, like an orangutan whose 
Offspring is in danger, jumped in 
to fetch their children. No one 
came for me, but a sudden joy
leapt in my throat, I felt It rushing 
into my cheeks and my eyes go liquid with gratitude and happiness—
Sometimes, a bad occurrence can smuggle you Into your freedom.

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Hannah Omokafe Dennis

Hannah Omokafe Dennis Is A 24-year-old Journalist, Voice-Over artist and UNFPA Adolescent Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Advocate Living In Nigeria. She Currently Serves As A Community Manager In Konya Shamsrumi AndHas Some Of Her Written Works Published On Writer's Space Africa and audio stories on Genti media. She Enjoys Using Words And Her Voice To Tell Stories. She Tweets @Omokafe_forite.

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