Ebi aba oo! Ebi aba oo! [A couple have arrived oo! A couple have arrived oo!]. These were the loud chants made by continuing students as Kamus and I arrived on (T.I. Ahmadiyya SHS) campus.
It was our very first day in school while fellow ‘freshers’ (newly admitted students) were as well happily reporting to school to get themselves registered. Parents’ and guardians’ aim on such a day, as always, is to solely fulfill all requirements necessary to getting their wards recognized as T. I. Ahmadiyya Senior High School – Kumasi, first-year students.
At last, our longing dream had come to pass as our craving to attending this cherished school had been fulfilled. Six choices were required to be made in selecting the anticipated S.H.S to attend, as my J.H.S classmates including Kamus were anxious and hopeful of being admitted into their first-choice S.H.S’. Obviously, I couldn’t settle for any different. Luckly, a handful of colleagues joined the train and once more found feet in the same school after progressing from J.H.S.
At the admission block, protocol was being duly observed – awaiting the penultimate stage where payments of all sought are to be made before distribution of reading materials follow. At the accounts office, the accountant toppled through our details as presented to him flipping through with smiles all over his face. “I see! The two Lambons. Jamal! and Kamal!. You are twins right?”, Mr. Saddique asked. Responding in shy faces, we concurrently nodded while he continued with the smile. We knew not what was going through his mind at that moment.
Unexpectedly, he brought forth a sentence which was capable of causing an immediate collapse. The school’s accountant added, “I will send one to Business 1 and the other to Business 2”. At that moment, I didn’t know for Kamus but for me, my heartbeat immediately averaged about 80 beatings per minute. In a nutshell, Mr. Saddique wanted to prevent us from being in the same class for the very first time throughout our educational lives. Neither dad nor mum whispered a word but he quickly reconsidered his decision when fast-dropping tears started running down my cheeks moments after his threat. Not only were we once more fortunate to be in the same class, at last, we as well enjoyed being in the same boarding house, same boarding room and even shared the same bed.
That famous phrase “Ebi aba oo! Ebi aba oo!” fast became more intense as we approached House 6 ( Masroor House); which was the boarding house we stayed in for all those years in S.H.S. It was usually a norm that whenever a shout of that akan phrase is heard, continuing students rush out of their rooms to witness the arrival of newly admitted students; as though it were a prison where fresh inmates were observed for the first time by inmates. During these moments, executive prefects for all hostels (houses/halls) had the duty to welcome and assure guardians of their wards’ safety. It was not any different in our case as a mum, dad and uncle boarded the car and left us behind after that very proceeding. It seemed like a dream, but the reality dawned on us when we realized no wake from our slumber.
Dressed in the colorful green T.I. AMASS ‘preps’ (night studies) uniform and the cherished brown ‘khaki’ shorts on top of our shiny black pair of sandals, one needed not to be a rocket scientist to realize we had just breathed our foremost air on the school compound. As skinny as we were, with frowned faces, we uncomfortably carried our ‘chop boxes’ and ‘trunks’, soberly heading towards our room; which was on the first floor. Mahmoud also arrived in those same moment and together, we moved into Room 4 only to realize two ‘freshers’ had preceded us.
As we entered the room, the entertaining Richard and humble Abdul-Fattah were surrounded by a number of seniors as they were coerced to compete among themselves in a dancing competition. These guys were the foremost newly admitted students. Though too early, the three of us could not in any way have escaped the forces against us to join Richard and Abdul-Fattah. Against our wish, we had to join and dance to the rhythm of the popular Nigerian music “Kukere” sang by Iyanya. Of course, we all were and are still bad dancers anyway but this early encounter of stress was just a tip of the iceberg.
Time for supper was fast approaching and a number of freshers kept trooping in. At around 4:40 pm, Richard and Abdul-Fattah, being the most experienced on campus amongst all freshers, led us all to the dining hall. It was the very first time we got to realize that cagy encounter at the dining hall as well as the might evident in the serving-ladle.
Aside confiscating all freshers’ sleeping pillows on baseless grounds, our seniors again meted out on us some unfounded punishments which were surprisingly accepted as a norm in those circles. Maruf; as was nicknamed “Agama”, a JHS classmate joined a few days after and from then, the six of us became very good friends throughout our stay in the school.
The undesirable happened a few months after completing S.H.S. In a space of two and a half years, the first 2 people to have reported back in first year sadly returned to their creator. Richard and Abdul-Fattah passed on. As I draw my mind back, I just could not fathom how Richard; who undoubtedly became the most popular student on campus and Abdul-Fattah; who was full of inspiration and subsequently became a students’ Imam for quite a long time, were both sadly touched by the filthy hands of death. Ever after, I truly realized that death is a friend to neither the popular nor the humble. The source of solace for the remaining living friends (after losing such wonderful brothers) have always been in the verse evident in the Holy Qur’an which says, “To Allah [God] we all belong and to Him we will surely return”.
In the Ghanaian educational setting (mostly in our senior high schools), such uncouth practices of continuing students meted out at the disadvantage of junior-level students have taken over – causing more and more pain to freshmen and women year-in-year-out. The aspect, I find difficult to understand, has been the notion of continuing students, who proudly mention that “just as we were bullied when we arrived, we have to make tradition continue”. It is an act that should be outrightly discouraged to make “freshers” have fond memories whenever they recall those early moments in school. However, there are some signs of hope as several schools are currently doing their best in changing this narrative and I am proud this is a case in my alma mater.
Individually, we have roles to play towards causing material changes – as we subtly believe these behaviors will be eradicated in the shortest possible time. May The Almighty, keep the gentle souls of Richard and Abdul-Fattah in His safest abode.
Peace 🕊️
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