DIARY OF A PATRIOT

  CHAPTER TWO           Some of the few things I could remember about my father in those days as a little kid was how my elder brother, Chimezie, Adaobi, my younger sister and I used to rush out of the house to welcome him home each day when he returned from work. At the honk of his car, we would dash out of the house like starved dogs reaching out for a fatty bone. How we used to discern his car honk from that of others remains a mystery to me till now.        All our neighbours had cars of different models and make, but we never mistook their car honks for our father's. We always rushed out with outstretched arms from the three storey building where we lived to the frontage, suspending whatever we were doing. Nothing mattered more than welcoming father: It was more important to us than our meals.     Mummy would try to make us sit back and finish our meal but she was always un

             CHAPTER FOUR  My childhood experiences were mostly blissful. Dad and Mum were around to give us the best they could afford. My father treated us as every loving father would. Every Sunday after church service at the St. Pirans Anglican Church Enugu, We would stand beside our father and watch him greet and hug his friends. Most of them were Doctors and Professors in their various fields of endeavour.                I admired the way each of them comported and carried themselves with prestige and grace. Their hearty laughter and confidence really made it look like the world was really a bed of roses; devoid of problems.  St. Pirans Anglican Church was  known throughout the city for the calibre of men and women who worshipped there. Most of the highly-placed inhabitants of the coal city worshipped there. The Academia, the Army Generals, the Busines

                         CHAPTER   SIX                  My father, Mr Agbanusi, passed on at the young age of Fifty-five after a long battle with prostrate cancer. Dad in his usual way, did not show his emotions. He hid the ailment from us for a very long time, even from my mother, and he acted as if everything was okay.Though he was secretly seeking medical attention, he didn't want us to be thrown into any panic as all his children were at school, pursuing one academic laurel or the other in order to make him proud and also to make something meaningful with our lives.                         According to our Mum, Dad had thought that it was something he could easily handle on his own but as each day passed, the health issue wasn't getting better. At a point, he wanted to fly o

                     CHAPTER EIGHT          When I graduated from the prestigious Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka in the eastern Nigeria, I was in my parents house in Enugu, waiting for my call-up letter for the compulsory National Youth Service. Enugu is a major city in the eastern region of Nigeria, popularly known as the 'Coal City'. This was because of the presence of coal mines in the city and the heavy coal mining activities there. It is a really lovely city, quiet and serene. The city is surrounded by hills just like Jerusalem. It has so many beautiful sights which I guess made the colonial masters very reluctant to leave the city even after independence.     I never had the opportunity to travel to the Northern part of the country, not even to visit my late elder brother when he was alive and was working there unlike my younger sister, Adaobi, who had stayed wit

                                                      CHAPTER TEN             As the scorching sun began to lose its power to the dusk and our shadows grew taller, our faces litted up with smiles because the parade for sure would come to an end with the appearance of the darkness. Every new day, deducted a day from the three weeks we had to stay in the camp. Everyone was eagerly counting the days. We could hardly wait for the last day.After the evening parade, the bugle sounded again for our dinner.  Immediately after dinner, we moved to the hall where one form of entertaining event or the other would take place: It could be a live band, the NYSC band or our welcome parties, beauty contest, inter-platoon drama, dancing competitions, cooking competitions, talent hunt and so m