The Day I Benefitted from the Evils of Witches (Adventures of Alabi)

When the news of the pregnancy of my first girlfriend reached our village, my mother was very excited and jubilant. She was happy because it confirmed that the man who circumcised her last child (me) did a great job. I was barely 18 years old, and my girlfriend was 17. My mother's joy was short-lived when I told her I  was not responsible for the pregnancy on arrival from Offa.

She reluctantly released the fowl she had tied to prepare a delicacy in celebration of my achievement. It did not matter to her that I was about to seat for the West African Examination Council's (WAEC) examination to further my academic journey to the top. She belonged to the generation that believed that children were the profits of life and that being pregnant cannot stop a woman from attaining her full potential. My mother would warn against teenage pregnancy and sexual intimacy between unmarried young people, but she would celebrate pregnancy and warned against abortion. She believed that God makes all things possible.

 The truth is that my girlfriend and I never had any intimate moment. I was not only innocent but was equally a virgin. She had gone to learn Mathematics from a classmate, and the devil must have been the third party in the room. She later apologized to me, and I forgave her, but I found it difficult to fall in love with any girl again. I was hurt.  I carried the hurt in me until I met Bukky.

I was done with the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Nigeria upon graduation from the university. I was a certified Microsoft System Engineer and Oracle Database Administrator in Lagos. Life was good, and I had a jalopy BMW 5 series to paint the town red. Bukky was unique to me in many ways; she was young, beautiful, and innocent. An Ilorin girl whose farthest distance travelled was just within Baboko and Oko-Erin. It was, therefore, easy for me to colonize her thoughts with Lagos swags.

I drove to Ilorin to spend some time with her to avoid calamity with my previous girlfriend, especially as she (Bukky) catches everyone's attention wherever she goes.

 One fateful Saturday, after we had both enjoyed sumptuous meals at Alhaja Ayo Food Canteen and went back to my uncle's house at number 8, Kajola Road GRA, I started telling her how easy it was to drive. I got so carried away that I asked her to come and drive the car inside the compound. That was when the devil took over.

 I explained the accelerator's functions, brake, and clutch to her and showed her the gear system. I then told her to drive while I sat in the front passenger seat. She engaged the gear in reverse, and I told her to accelerate. She pressed down the accelerator, and the German machine jumped with full force in reverse. At top speed, we smashed the fence, bolted through the wall and was charging toward the sitting room of the next compound. It was fast and furious. I was perplexed, and she was confused. Just a few meters from hitting the wall of the sitting room of the next house, the car hit the iron poles of their overhead water tank, the tank crashed on us, and the car came to a standstill. People started trooping out. I quickly evacuated Bukky and sat behind the wheel.

 Those who knew me wondered why? Despite my years of driving, how could this have happened? I was lost for explanations, especially because the next house's landlord was already angry and threatening to involve the police. At that juncture, my Uncle, Captain Dayo, calmed everyone down and asked that we be checked for injuries. Bukky was shocked and shaken!

In the end, Captain Dayo convinced everyone, including me, that the incident was caused by witches who were jealous of my "achievements" as a young man. Up to date, I still do not understand why and how everyone believed him. In fact, the landlord and his wife became sympathetic and offered to invite me to their church for thanksgiving!!!

 So, you see? Not everything about witches is bad.

Tunde Alabi writes from Nigeria.