Skindudu

They met when he got to the boarding \
school 
She was a tomboy, a very friendly cat 
She was also a sapiosexual 
She was in a relationship with a guy she 
had to settle for 
The guy started following her about 
the school from their Junior Secondary 
days and somehow they got stuck to
each other 
The guy was not such a smart guy 
He was lousy and average but he 
liked her 
Of all the girls in their set, she was the 
first to be asked out for a real relationship 
The guy asked her out when they were 
in JSS 2 
It took her a whole year to tell him yes 
He was steadfast throughout the 
waiting period 
Doting on her and even going out of 
his way to be friendly and kind to her 
school mother 
He really meant business 
The downside to his steadfastness was 
his lousiness 
Everybody knew he asked her out 
He told his roommates and all the other 
guys in the male hostel inevitably 
heard it 
Boys are as good a gossip as girls 
The news soon took over the female 
hostel too 
It put her in a very difficult position 
She didn't know if he told them 
because he was so sure she was going 
to say yes or out of excitement and 
feverish love for her
Some of the envious ladies in her hostel 
started teasing her because his nickname 
was Ogi (Pap), they started calling her 
Moinmoin (Bean Pudding) 
She resisted the name vehemently but 
as it is with a prank name meant to drag 
someone in the mud, the more she resisted, 
the more the nickname stuck 
Eventually, she accepted it 
Whenever they were together, she 
and the guy, someone will come 
along waving and saying "Ogi and 
Moinmoin, how are you?" 
She learned not to get offended by it 
one day she asked him why he had 
to get a nickname like Ogi of all the 
names in the world 
He told her it happened one morning 
when the breakfast in the boarding 
school was Ogi and beancake 
Most of the other students avoided 
the Ogi, they only ate the bean cake 
and dumped the ogi in the dinning 
but he loved to drink ogi so he would 
take as much of it as he could, so the 
other students started calling him Ogi. 
It wasn't his fault boarding school 
students can be so mean and such a 
ridiculous name was no reason not to 
be with him He had his fine qualities 
He was friendly, jovial, kind, caring, 
very attentive to her needs and whenever
he saw her in the school area, he would 
leave his friends for her no matter how 
ridiculous it made him look 
She really liked the fact that he didn't 
care what his friends and roommates 
said about him 
They sometimes call him "woman wrapper", 
"Samson" and so on to her face but he
always ignored them and acted as if she 
was the only person that mattered to 
him in the whole world 
They started dating proper when they 
resumed for their JSS3 
She had kept him waiting for a whole 
year and he had been patient and very 
understanding 
What convinced her to say yes
to him was his support during the 
sports season 
She was a sprinter, a long-distance 
athlete, and a long jumper and a 
high jumper right from JSS 1 
The second term was always her 
term to shine in school 
The school got invited to the inter-house 
sports competitions of other schools
Her school also held its own inter-house 
sports competition every second term 
of every academic session 
She was the queen of the tracks and field 
She won awards from so many schools 
and was celebrated far and wide 
Whenever she got on the tracks, 
she was something else 
Her light frame came alive and like 
a gazelle, she would outrun and 
outjump the competition 
He followed her to all her events and 
was her number one supporter 
He acted like her personal coach, 
timing her during training and giving 
her moral support, carrying her 
glucose, water and so on
He had proved his love and devotion 
beyond doubt 
She remembered the day they started 
going on 
She went looking for him as soon as 
her father dropped her off and found 
him in their spot (they had a love spot 
in a classroom next to the technical 
drawing lab) He was waiting with a
smile She said "If we are going to 
be proper boyfriend and girlfriend 
this year, you must show some more 
excitement when you see me. 
Why can't we run into each other's 
arms and hug?" His jaw almost 
dropped to the ground 
He ran towards her and hugged her 
He said "Am I getting a Yes?"
She nodded! 
That year was a good year 
They were a couple and didn't hide it 
They ate together during the school's 
break time and read together at the 
school's library 
They wrote their JSSCE 
They passed and were both placed in 
the commercial class 
It was more than a dream come true
SS1 started without a hitch 
They had settled down into their 
new relationship statuses and began 
to grapple with the reality of being in 
the senior secondary class 
They both found academics challenging 
They had always been average students 
Ogi planned to go into farming in future
his father runs a huge farm (Mechanized) 
He had discovered that he loved the farm 
and would rather work on it than do a 
white-collar job 
She planned to make a career out of 
athletics 
She had been invited to National Camps 
several times to train with semi-professional 
athletes
Although her father was vehemently 
against that idea because the competition 
was fierce and most of the athletes end up 
with broken lives and broken dreams. 
Her alternative plan was to become a 
businesswoman like her mother 
Her mother sold bags and other fairly 
used (imported) things like shoes, 
thermals, sweaters, belts, caps and so on 
By the end of their first term in SS1, 
they went on holidays looking forward 
to an exciting second term of sporting 
activities, travel adventures and 
deepening the ties of their relationship 
They exchanged letters during the 
holidays 
They couldn't see each other because 
of the distance His parents lived in 
Abeokuta Her parents lived in Ibadan 
But they told each other everything 
in their letters 
They also didn't have to pay to exchange 
letters, all he did was take the letter to 
the motor park her father was a 
transporter and all the buses plying that 
route knew him and would deliver her 
letter to him and his to her 
It was young love and it was a delight 
School resumed for the second term 
And with it came a huge distraction 
A new student, an egghead, a disruptor 
He had his eyes set on her and he 
pursued her relentlessly 
She found herself smitten by him 
His ways were very different 
He was very brilliant and wise 
He also knew how to play mind games 
From the moment she met him, she 
didn't want to be called MoinMoin again 
It felt demeaning
He came in from Loyola College, an 
all boy's school 
He was rough around the edges 
He didn't understand that they had 
settled into a pattern as a school since 
their JSS1 
He came and in trying to create a space 
for himself shook everybody 
She thought it was harmless attention but
he was more than that 
She didn't know how she came to 
prefer his company, his words, his attention, 
his presence 
When she was with him, she forgot herself 
So many times she stayed with him in 
the school area till late in the night 
She tried very hard but she couldn't 
resist him
She met him while waiting for her
boyfriend at their love spot
He had a friend who was dating 
another girl
So he came to the love spot with
his friend
He said hi to her
She said hello
Then he began to ask her about the
school and all
It was just "talk" but there was 
something about him that resonated
with her
She felt warm and intrigued
As they talked he started walking
away from the love spot
And somehow she followed him
until they got to an empty classroom
He sat on the frames of the broken
window
She stood opposite him, like one
under the influence of a spell
He was like a fountain and she was
thirsty
That was the beginning of the end
for her relationship
He was like a whirlwind and she
like a piece of paper
She was sucked into him and he
carried her helplessly in his wings
Her boyfriend cried and begged
She swore she was not dating the
new guy and promised not to talk
to the new guy again but she 
couldn't keep her promises
Being casual friends with the new 
guy felt better than being in a 
relationship with Ogi
The new guy helped her tremendously
especially in her academics
His knew so much and was always
sharing
For example, he spoke only in the 
English language and forced her to
speak only the language too
Suddenly her command of the language
was better and so was her confidence
He counseled her to switch to Art class
and drop accounting and commerce,
two courses she was struggling with
for Literature, Government and CRK
She did and she found her grades
started getting above average simply
by studying with him
He was like a different kind of teacher
to her
He accessed her mind and unlocked it
She blossomed with him
She nicknamed him "Skindudu" because
of his dark skin and handsome features
He had the kind of mind that could 
change the world
That year, she went for her sporting 
activities with him 
She held his hands and watched over
him with eagle's eyes
For the first time, she was concerned 
another girl could catch his fancy and
she was jealously protective
By the end of that term, Ogi was gone
He was like a dream and their relationship
like a mirage
He sent so many people to her to
plead and reason and beg
Nothing worked
People didn't realize what had happened
to her
They felt it was just a matter of leaving
a guy for a guy
She stuck with him at all times
He didn't ask her out
but he didn't keep boundaries either
She couldn't tell him no
When he clapped, she danced
And he sometimes clapped away her
blouse and bra entangling her senses
in an eruption of moans and sighs
She remembered asking him several
times if she should take off her skirt
and panties
He would stop then and tell her no!
She would have done whatever he
wanted
She would have given him anything
He brought colour to her black and
white life and made her feel alive 
She was afraid a more beautiful lady
would snatch him if she told any of
them the truth about her situation
She was so immersed in him that
the opinions and ideas of other people
stopped making sense to her!
When they wrote their WAEC she
passed her examinations in one 
sitting and so did he
They both gained admission into
the higher institution and studied
law
Ogi made a "C" in English the year
she went off to law school
It reminded her of the gulf in class
between the two guys and how one
can be a reflection of the company
he or she kept
When she was in 200 level, he got
born again
She didn't think twice about it
She gave her life to Christ too
She had come to see his leadership
as true and right for her
He had taken her far beyond her
wildest dreams in life
He left her after she graduated from
law school
They had been together for almost
ten years
He never slept with her
She had always felt there was something
about her that did not fit into his plan
It was always there
He told her he saw a potential that
needed to be nursed but not for 
marriage 
He just wanted her to do more with her
life
He traveled abroad after that
She got a job and met her husband
A very intelligent litigant and pastor
He told her husband all about him and
confessed that meeting him changed
the course of her life and preserved 
her from all the wrong decisions she
could have made
He was the one factor that led her
to success
They didn't see each other again
until 2019
Their secondary school set organized
a 20 years after reunion
He came with his wife
She also attended with her husband
When she saw him, she walked to his
table in front of all their friends and
family members and knelt down to
thank him
He was the reason she became what
she was in life
He lifted her to her feet and hugged
her with tears in his eyes
He understood the gesture and so
did she

PS: What impact is your life having on
people?
What sort of influence are you?
Can people follow you blindly and not
fall into a ditch?
Are you leading people to the well
of salvation?
Or are you a life wrecker
A defiler of young girls and boys
An abuser of destiny
A scavenger
A vulture
A disease walking on two feet
How would you define yourself?

GSW's notes: My feet are beautiful
I bring good news to the world
I proclaim peace and announce the
news of happiness
I spread the fragrance of Christ
My God reigns and I reign in Him
This is what is testified of me by
all those who come across me
People say "Blessed be the God
of Gbenga Samuel-Wemimo everyday
because Christ is daily expressed
in me
Glory be to God!"