Language Doctor

THE METAPHOR OF A DRAMA TEXT Dear students, on this wondrous day of your lives, I felicitate with you, understanding how much you have been through in the last five years of your lives, in your struggle to become better persons, in knowledge and in character. It’s a sad reality though that a lot of students see school as a short-term prison that parents sentence their children to. So, as you are released today from the beautiful ‘shackles’ of learning, I rejoice with you but, at the same time, wish to let you know that finishing from high school is only a job partly done. As you are about to set your feet on the next rung of the scholarship ladder, I urge you to listen raptly to the word I bear to you this day. For people like you, rounding off with high school, you have some of these options to choose from: proceed to the sixth form (at your current school or somewhere new), move to a college/university, or undergo some apprenticeship or vocational training. Whatever you choose to do ...

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE CHAPTER 3: THE CRACK The triad chatted amid munching of pieces of toast, as they ambled along the front of the school garage. It's a multiple garage which stretched from the corner of the school wall down to the capacious backyard of the school, where a tree mightily stood like the statute of a heroic soldier. The motley collection of vehicles in the garage was a pleasing sight! The large backyard, until Mr Wolsey's arrival, had been a moist abode for some unwanted plants, some lowly animals like grasshoppers, and the mighty tree. When suddenly some construction work began on the ‘fallow’ land, the students and the teachers were all at loss, as to what the school authority was aiming to erect. Their curiosity grew at the completion of the work, which turned out to be a multiple garage. The teachers were so stunned when, two weeks afterward, the principal announced that funds had been made available for every teacher to get a car loan. The triad, like ever...

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE  CHAPTER TWO: BLISSFUL TIMES Thatcher College was a private secondary school, established by a female educationist, famously called 'the mummy of multitude'; though she was a biological mother of one. She had resigned from the government employment as an educational administrator after many years of meritorious service, to establish her own school. The name of the school had been borne out of the pseudonym, 'Lady Thatcher', given to her during her service years in the government, because of her uncompromising stance on the issues of values and ethics. The school fast grew into renown due to its enviable standard, built on a sustained culture of rigid discipline. She had managed the school for just five years before she died. After her death, her daughter, who had been based abroad, returned home to assume the control of the school. Her assumption of control coincided with the enrolment of the triad of Abike, Hubert and Ebube arrived at Thatcher ...

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIFE   CHAPTER ONE: THE TRIAD  Hubert, Abike and Ebube were returning from a holiday coaching class on a cool afternoon. The two girls both had their bags hung on their backs, while the boy had a small box held dangling in his right hand. Both girls wore crew cuts, as was the prevalent trend in the schools of the time. Abike wore a skirt and a blouse, both brown, matching her pair of sling backs. Ebube had a cream gown, complemented by a pair of cream clogs. Hubert had a white short sleeved shirt, neatly tucked into a pair of black trousers, with a pair of moccasins. They were chatting companionably as they walked side by side on the left side pavement of a long, tarred road. That was one of the many road safety measures that had been repeatedly sung into their ears in school: First, use the pedestrian crossings, and always look both ways before you cross, and never assume that the drivers will see you. Second, it's safer to walk on the pavement if a road has...