A PROMISING CHILD (A SHORT STORY)

“I knew it from the first day that I saw you,
that you’ll make us proud”, Prof Adebanjo said.
The prof was excited as Olanitemi Alabi was
given prize as the best graduating student in his
department and the faculty. Alabi finished at the
Communication and Language Art department
where Prof Adebanjo is the HOD. It was a
memorable day for him and his parents.
Alabi was born into a monogamous family of Mr
and Mrs Olanitemi. His mother was born into
Christianity but his father is a Christian convert.
They had a son before Alabi who was named
Wasiu by Mr Olanitemi’s head of family. It’s a
tradition in the family that the head of family
who is an Imam should name every fruit of the
family.
The reversed was the case for Alabi. He was
named by a pastor because her mother registered
at a mission clinic due to attacks from spiritual
forces. Alhaji Olaonipekun, the head of family got
angry and vowed not to do anything with Mr
Olanitemi anymore. This was the beginning of
unforseen problem in their family.
Few year later, the storm of misunderstanding
separated Mr And Mrs Olanitemi. Alabi and his
brother were enrolled into a public primary school
yet he was an outstanding pupil. In fact, many
parents withdrawn their children from private
school and enrolled them at Alabi’s school. Alabi
was seen as a promising child by all his class
teachers.
This was shown in his performance during his
elementary education. His parents later reconcilled
when he wrote his entrance examination into
secondary school. He scored 90% despite the fact
that he wrote it at primary 5. Alabi still proved
his worth at secondary school as he was
appointed among the school prefects.
Mr and Mrs Olanitemi family is a middle class.
Mr Olanitemi is an Electrician in one federal
medical institution while his wife is a trader.
They make sure that Alabi’s education didn’t stop
at secondary school. Although, he stayed at home
for some years after his secondary school
education due to financial constraint of his family
but he was lucky to gain admission at his first
attempt.
He was given admission to study Communication
and Language Art at the premier, University of
Ibadan. He didn’t relent in his stride to be the
best always and he graduated as the best student
in his department and the faculty. This gave him
the opportunity to get many job offers but he
was finally employed as the Senior Correspondent
for BBC in Nigeria.
Alabi married Adeshola and they have two sons
and one daughter. He became the pride of his
family and a role model in the society.
** THE END **