The story you’re about to read may come across quite like some fictitious

creation, especially because of its spooky parts; but make no mistake about

it, for this is as real as as it gets.. It is the lamentation of a young girl in one

of Nigeria’s ivory towers as told to her close friends in the dying minutes of

her life. Another story of wanton sex–capade ending on a “sore”note,

Tolani – that’s her name – told her friends how she wished she had lived her

life differently and stuck to her life-long goal of obtaining a university educa-

tion as a means of combating the poverty that had engulfed her from child-

hood. For effect, we serve you her story in the first person narrative.

Hope! Does that word really exist? For me it doesn’t. I

have reached the end-point of my life. There is simply

nowhere for me to go from here. I’ve debated this

within myself for a long time before deciding to come

out with it. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’ll do no

good to keep it to myself. At worst, somebody out

there will learn from my mistakes and hopefully

decide against toeing the line I unwittingly toed, because right now I have

reached the point of no return.

My name is Tolani. I am 25 years old. I am tall, slim and good-looking. I come

from a very poor background. My father was a retiree from one of the govern-

ment ministries and the gratuity he was paid was not enough to feed the family.

My mother was a petty trader. Although we had little materially, we were rich

morally and spiritually. My father taught us to be contented with the little we

had.

I went to the primary and secondary schools my parents could afford, but

because I was intelligent, I soon became one of the best students in my class in

my primary and later secondary school. Right after my school certificate exami-

nation, I passed my JAMB and gained admission into one of the higher institu-

tions in Nigeria. Owing to my resolve, I got serious with my academics right

from day one at the university; and my results were there to show for it. My

grades were very good and I was happy with myself. I closed my eyes to all

things that could distract me academically. However, my days of academic

glory were numbered.

In my third year in the university, I met a clique of girls and we became very

close. I began attending parties and the big clubs in town. Soon I became a

party freak. There was no party on or off campus I was not invited to; and I

made it a duty to attend them all. As a result, my school work suffered. I

scarcely attended lectures and would rather collect any of my classmate’s notes

to photocopy. As the first semester wound down, I knew my results would be

bad alright but I was not ready for what I got.

I failed all my courses and by the time my GPA was calculated, it had fallen

below 1.0. I also got a written warning from the university authority to either sit

up or face expulsion. I was devastated. I used to be very good in my first and

second year. So I knew I had to sit up. I made up my mind to get serious with

my academics because I could not live with the disgrace of expulsion.

But before long, I began to miss the thrill of night life. I began to drink heavi-

ly. I also smoked and even had two abortions along the line. I started getting

involved with older married men. I dated for the money and because my

friends were doing it. I needed to keep up with my lavish lifestyle and to

‘belong’. I didn’t want to be left out. I became a top ‘aristo’ babe and I had

everything I wanted financially - bags, shoes, clothes; even a car. I was a big

chic. Thanks to my ‘runs guys’ and my older boyfriends. I did a lot of dirty

things for money. I was a prostitute in the real sense of the word. Of course, I

justified my actions since I used part of the money to cater for my parents and

my siblings. They were bothered about the source of my money but I told them

that I was working and schooling at the same time.

On one of my usual weekend gigs, I met a very rich chief. He came in the

company of another girl but something happened and the girl left the party

early. I found myself sitting next to him and we started gisting. We spent the

night in his guest house. Hmmm! That night changed my life entirely. Chief

removed his clothes and what I saw horrified me. His body was covered with

terrible sores. He offered me money that was really mouth-watering if only I

licked all his sores. He said that I would die if I refuse since I had already seen

them. I guess that was a threat. But, I licked the sores anyway, collected the

money and left.

After that night, I never felt normal again. I became sick and started throwing

up continuously. I was getting weaker and slimmer, and kept having terrible

nightmares. I went to the hospital to see if they could diagnose my problem,

but the doctor found nothing wrong with me. I wasn’t surprised though. I then

turned to a spiritualist who told me that the legion of sores on the chief, which

I had licked was the cause of my sickness. He also bluntly told me that there

was no cure for my illness. Death was the last thing on my mind when I licked

those sores, but here I am, in my prime, struggling with death. It’s very painful

to think that I have nothing to show for my little sojourn on mother earth. I will

never graduate from school like I always dreamt. I will never have a second

chance to correct the foolish mistakes I made because I have only a few weeks

to live. So I’ve decided to tell my story to the world, to learn from it. Please

don’t feel sorry for me. I got what I deserved.

*Tolani died a few weeks after telling her story.