Globusz^® Publishing 

Success Academy was one of the numerous extra-mural coaching centers in town. It was always a beehive of activities partly because it was located in the busy Awka road but mostly because of the actual business going on there. Under the guise of extra mural coaching, success Academy runs a thriving special center for virtually all ‘A’ level and ‘O’ level examinations in the country. The Academy had both permanent staff and ad-hoc staff who are called upon during exams to help with the affairs. The staff consisted of university students who are gifted in each of the examinable subjects.

Their modus operandi was not very different from the others’. Advertisements were made to notify the public about the availability of forms for a particular exam, in their office. The publication could be printed on posters, handbills, and banners or even announced on radio or television. Anyone who showed up to buy the form would be coaxed to register in their programme. They would assure the victim that an impressive result awaited him. UME candidates would be assured of an express admission into the university of their choice. Then the entire programme would be outlined to the interested candidate. All the candidates would be conveyed to an obscure center in a faraway village where they would write the exam conveniently. The staff would be readily available to aid all the candidates freely inside the exam hall, the external invigilator having been settled with. Almost all who were presented with this proposal accepted and got registered. Some declined largely due to the size of money involved. With time, Success Academy needed no announcements to attract the huge numbers of young people that storm their office enrolling with all eagerness. The month of July was particularly brisk for them in view of the approaching GCE exams. News had gone around town that they can make things work. Fidelis had been informed by Onochie, the distributor.

On Monday, Ifenna and Fidelis sat on one of the desks in the large classroom of Success Academy, waiting for their turn to go into the inner office and obtain their GCE forms. The whole room was about the size of a three-bedroom flat. Blackboard were hung at different sections of the wall. Several wooden desks and benches were arranged to face blackboard. Evidently, each of such arrangement served as a separate classroom. At one of them, a lecture on Biology was going on. A young bespectacled male tutor was explaining, with great animation, the significance of Darwinian theories while half the class chatted away.

“I’m going to like this place, “ Ifenna said.

“Why?” asked his friend, looking around casually.

“Can’t you see how everywhere is vibrant and everyone is free? It’s not like our class at BSS where you have to be on your guard all the time in case the prinScipal or the dean shows at the door,” observed Ifenna. He then burst out laughing.” Like the day you were singing that Westlife song on top of your voice without knowing that Mr. Okala was at the window. I can still remember how shocked you looked when he finally emerged and called you.” Fidelis laughed too.

“Don’t mind that horrible man. He is always sneaking around looking for trouble. Well, we are out of that hole now. Damian told me how the Dean nearly killed him the day he caught him punishing some junior boys at the hostel during school hours. Damian was often in his traps”

“Yes,” agreed Ifenna. “Damian is a tough guy .Do you know whether he will be writing the GCE? “

“I don’t know. I may pay him a visit one of theses days. He said they live in Obosi.

“Heh! Ifenna, it’s getting to our turn. I will go in after this girl” Fidelis stood up and walked nearer to the inner office door, followed closely by Ifenna.

Some thirty minutes later, they descended the stairs on their way out, clutching big envelopes containing their GCE application forms and Success Academy’s registration cards.

About a week after Ifenna joined Success Academy, he got the news that UME result were out. He wasted no time traveling to the JAMB headquarters of the state. It was located at Awka.

When he got there, Ifenna was startled by the throng of youths that besieged the large bungalow housing the offices. He soon noticed that the attention of everyone in the crowd was directed towards standing in the front veranda of the building. A vehement looking gray-haired man was sitting on a chair attending to the people. In front of him was a large table with large sheets of paper. Everyone around seemed to be either pushing or tugging at some other person in their eagerness to get to the front. ‘Thank goodness I’m on jean and polo’ Ifenna thought as he plunged into the crowd.

Far from his position, he could hear the man at the table swearing vociferously at the excited students. Ifenna glanced around at the sweating bodies around him. A good-looking girl was tearing her way out of the throng, shouting to anyone who cared to listen that the money in her trouser pockets had disappeared. Ifenna shifted his attention back to the table. A girl that just checked her result was shedding tears as she left the table. As Ifenna prodded his way through the crowd, he wondered what his fate would be. He was not worried. He was sure his result would impress everybody. His mother would be very proud of him. No one would ever know he cheated in the exam. His parents would start buying him things he would use in the university.

Someone gave Ifenna a nasty knock on the head. He looked around in anger and met the glare of a huge and tall boy behind him.

“Why did you do that? “Ifenna asked him, rubbing his head.

“Do you always go about stepping on people’s toes?

Do you think you ‘re the only one who wants to see his result?” Ifenna’s assailant retorted ferociously. Ifenna ignored him.

He was too preoccupied with his result. If it were to be at any other time, he would have taught the boy a lesson or two.

About an hour later, Ifenna stood facing the gray-haired man flaunting his UME registration slip bearing his number and exam center.

Ifenna’s heart pounded furiously as the man brought out the result sheets for Onitsha and shuffled through to locate the one for Townsend Girls Secondary School. His fingers then raced through the list of names and numbers till it got to Ifenna’s. Ifenna’s eyes had been scanning through the list too. His heart somersaulted when he located his name and saw his score. The man said something, which he was too dazed to hear. Impatient hands behind soon shoved him aside to take their turn.

Ifenna blindly made his way out of the crowd. He could not believe it. He had scored 152.If he had not gone to check for himself, he would not have believed it. ‘Which kind of failure is this’ he wondered. ‘Not even anywhere near 200. What has Edwin done to me? What has this guy done to me? What can I do with 152? He wailed inwardly. As he looked around him, he caught sight of Dan, his former schoolmate, looking much fatter. He was just arriving and had not seen Ifenna. The latter turned in the other direction before he could be spotted. Ifenna did not want to share his woe with anybody, let alone his former schoolmate. Not yet, anyway. He hung around for a while until Dan had merged with the crowd and then left the compound.

He walked across the road and branched into Unizik road on the left. It led to the expressway and the bus park. As he walked along the road, many thoughts deluged his mind. He thought again about Edwin, his exam mercenary. He could not fathom how Edwin, a third year student, wrote could have gotten him such a low score .He had totally used everything Edwin had thrown to him during the exam, neither adding nor removing anything. ‘The fool,’ he swore ‘he should have told me that he does not know anything. He should have told me he couldn’t do the job. Just what kind of mess is this? Oh my God.’ He thought about how his mother would feel. His ever-busy father would not even look in his direction. He would probably be too preoccupied with his business, as usual, to bother with him. The idea of having to stay at home waiting to write another UME appalled Ifenna. Again, he wondered whom else he could trust with his exams when a university undergraduate could not help him out.

At the park, he scouted around the sea of vehicles until he found one headed for Onitsha.

An hour later, Ifenna was in Inland Town, Onitsha. A city bus took him to Inland town. As he drew nearer his street, his mind began to fail him. He paused for a moment and contemplated going to check whether Edwin was home from school then reasoned against it. In his present frame of mind, he might do something he would regret later. It would be better to leave Edwin out of the scene at the present, he thought. Again he considered turning back and going to see Fidelis and pour his heart out. It might help to sooth his nerves. He might even obtain useful suggestions on how to handle the situation. Ifenna also brushed the idea aside. He would be seeing Fidelis at Success Academy the following day, anyway. Finally, Ifenna shrugged and marched homewards.

A very moody Ifenna sat beside Fidelis in their extra-mural class the next day. He had just broken the sad news to Fidelis.

“You are very sure that this is your result? I mean, did you see the result sheet with your own eyes?” asked Fidelis.

“Of course I did. It’s my result alright. Fidelis, that is not even the issue. What am I going to do about my admission—with this kind of score? What am I going to do?”

Fidelis thought for a while. “152. I thought you said you went with somebody...what was the name again?”

“Edwin” muttered Ifenna

“Yes, Edwin. What happened?”

“I don’t know. I never knew I’m even better than some of the so-called undergraduates. What do you think I will do now Fidelis?”

“Well, we’ll have to wait till admission time. Who knows, you might be lucky and buy your way into school. Some people have done it before with even poorer scores. It is just a game of whom you know and what you have. You could get admitted into school.”

Ifenna nodded. Gazing around him, he noticed that most of the others were talking about the UME. Like Ifenna, most of them had just seen their scores. Some were in high spirits and others in low, the rest were in neither. From his position, Ifenna could predict their levels of vivacity. He could feel them—each one of them.

“When are you going to check your own result?” Ifenna asked his friend.

“Probably next week. Though I’m not bothered about it. It is the SSCE that I am a little worried about. I just hope this Success Academy’s arrangement is going to work out.”

“It had better work out or they will just frustrate my life. This is where my hope lies, as far as my level is concerned. You should have seen my mother’s reaction when I told her my score.”

“What did she say?” Fidelis prompted. Ifenna shook his head, ruefully, gazing, vaguely at the blackboard not very far from them from them.

“Her countenance was dreadful to look at. She kept asking me why the score is so low and not even listening to my explanations. I‘ve never seen my mother in such a mood before; I kept explaining how the time allowed for the exam was not enough and stuffs like that. When she started talking about how I am messing up my future, I stormed out.”

“What about your Dad, or is he on business travels as usual?” asked Fidelis.

“No, he is with us now. He was there when I come back to the house at night. He did not say anything, though I could sense some tension in the air. We hardly talk as such anyway. All the same, I was expecting the hell to break loose last night, but nothing happened. Well that’s some pain off my neck. May be, his own outburst will come when I‘ll start demanding money for ‘processing’ my admission. What do you think, Fidelis?”

“May be,” his friend answered laconically. They were silent for a while, each lost in his thoughts. Fidelis wondered why some parents would not let their children be. He could not understand why adolescents should not be allowed the same amount of freedom in examinations, freedom in dressing and spending. He counted himself lucky not being under the bondage of any parent. At least, his brother, who sponsors his education, does not bother him with much restrictions and parent-like rules and monitoring.

Some minutes later, their Mathematics tutor, a short young man, appeared in front of the class. Chiedu, as everybody called him, came around every Wednesday to teach Maths at Success Academy. He claimed to be a Maths teacher in a secondary school; the name of which none of the students were allowed knowledge of however. Since he could teach the subject very well, no one seemed to mind.

“Good afternoon, students, “he greeted.

“Good afternoon, sir “answered several students, while some continued with what they were doing Chiedu ignored the latter group. That was the first lesson he had to learn as a tutor in a private school or extra mural class.

“ Let me see the assignments I gave you on the last topic we treated – Circle Theorems. If you did yours, signal to me so that I will come over. Chuka, where is yours? You did not do it? I know you would not do it. Ada? Good. Let me see ... “ He went round the class checking, marking and correcting. Ifenna tapped Fidelis.

I forgot all about the assignment, did you do yours? “ He asked.

“ No. I won’t bother myself with assignment and tests. I ‘ m no more in school.” said Fidelis.

“ SO what are we going to tell him when he come around here? Tell him we didn’t do it? “

“ Yes of course. What is he going to do to us?”

Oh boy, I don’t want anyone to disgrace me in front of all these girls. Anyway, I don’t feel like taking any lecture. Not yet, anyway. I’m going out. What about you?’ asked Ifenna, standing up.

“I guess I’m with you,” replied Fidelis, joining Ifenna who was already finding his way out of the class.

“... is why you are given assignments. Even if you don’t know the solution, your attempts would go a long way in aiding your understanding when the correction is being made, so for your own good...” Chiedu’s admonishments kept bouncing off their ears till they left the class. They were soon downstairs.

Across the road was what could be called a ‘joint’. Panama club was a two-storey affair containing a restaurant, a bar, a movie rental outfit and a hall. The front yard was a popular table tennis game gathering for the youths from both the Inland town and Omagba Phase I. The more flambouyant among the students of success Academy also took solace in the club. Their greatest attraction was the movie rental room where the television played all grades of movies any time of the day.

Ifenna and Fidelis entered the club and headed straight to the movies rental, which was on the ground floor. A handful of young people of ages ranging from 14 to 26 years were comfortably seated in the plastic armchairs that filled the room, their eyes glued to the screen. Ifenna and his friend waved to the boy in charge of the place, whom they were already in very good terms with. They procured their own seat and sat down. The television continued to display lurid pictures of scantily dressed American actors and actresses who withheld nothing in entertaining their viewers.

The days wore on.

Most days at the Success Academy began and ended, for Ifenna, Fidelis and some other students, with a cooling off at the Panama Club. Some of the days were spent at the table tennis, others at the restaurant and others, at the bar. With time, Ifenna got acquainted with some of the girls at the Academy and took pleasure in entertaining them at the panama restaurant. At other times, he would snatch some other kinds of pleasure with any of them who was willing and as he often had money around him, he did not have to look far.

By and large, the Success Academy became a front to stay away from home and gallivant around town. Ifenna became happy again. Time for the G.C.E. exam continued to draw nearer.