I ATE MAIYAKIS'S BREAKFAST!

I ATE MAIYAKIS'S BREAKFAST!

Saturday morning was inspection. Junior boys arranged their lockers and swept their rooms until there was practically no speck of dust on the floor. I never enjoyed inspections until I was in form three. While in form one however, a forthcoming inspection was a nightmare! I never swept to the satisfaction of my head of room. The saving grace was that by 9:00am, everyone must be neatly dressed, standing by your well laid beds with white bed sheets looking responsible. There were always many shades of white though: from sparkling white, to brownish white.

At exactly 9:00am, the House Master with his contingent commenced inspection. The team comprised; the House Master, the House Tutor when available, the Head of House, and Senior Prefect. They would enter every room on the House grounds. You could still hurriedly stand by your bed if the team was not yet in your room. It was always hectic between 6:15am wake up time and 9:00am. The pressure packed within those 2.75 hours was terrible. You must have completed your morning duty several times to the satisfaction of supervising senior boys, ran unexpected errands, had breakfast and taken your bath if possible. Whenever you were short of time, you did ope (a quick washing of your face and feet with water) in order to make breakfast. I never compromised breakfast, because lunch time was like an eternity away.

This Saturday morning, I had swept my side of the room several times. By the time I was done, I was already late for breakfast. When I arrived at the dining hall, almost all the plates on my table were empty, while a number had unpunk. However, on the next table, only the plate of the head of table was untouched. I drew closer to this plate thinking about what to do. As I looked intently at the plate of food, my stomach started making noise. Should I quickly pick this plate and eat it on another table? That way, no one would trace the removal to me. I looked around to see if anyone was watching. By this time, cooks were packing away plates left on the dining tables. Just then, a cook passing bye understood my dilemma. He spoke in Yoruba and said, �Omo, o je gbe onje yi je. Eniti o ni, ko ni wa mo.� Boy, you better eat this food. The head of table is no longer coming. Just what I wanted to hear! The three slices of yam with stew and a succulent piece of meat became an irresistible temptation. I was hungry, and the remark of the cook made sense, though not for long.

As soon as I removed the plate from its original position and settled down to start eating, lo and behold, Maiyaki the head of table arrived! It was too late to quickly return the plate. I was caught in the act. Instinctively my fork and knife dropped from my hands as if my fingers lost control. I stood up shivering and frightened. You don't touch the plate of the head of table.

Now, Maiyaki in sixth form, was a footballer, a gifted striker who played on the School team. Boys marveled at his skills of ball control and dexterity of maintaining balance while evading the defense of opposing teams. And he was muscular and sturdy. This morning, we were not on the football field. We were in the dining hall and here was a form one boy eating his breakfast!

As I rose up from the table, I said in my heart, "It is finished." I just stood there expecting the worst. Would he punch my face or punish me? What if he decided to just beat me up? I did not want to imagine that. When he got to where I stood, I looked up at his face and our eyes met. I whispered a prayer, "Lord have mercy! Wahala de." I could never have imagined what happened next. Maiyaki's face relaxed into a pleasant smile, which assured me there was no cause for alarm. Like a senior brother showing tenderness to an erring junior brother. I think he saw I was repentant already. I looked at him again, kind of asking him, "You mean I should conclude this good work I started?" He kept smiling and said, "You can have my breakfast." At that, he turned and left the dining hall.

I am not sure he heard my almost inaudible thank you. I sat down quietly and ate Maiyaki's breakfast thanking God the encounter ended peacefully. Each time I remember the Saturday morning I ate Maiyaki's breakfast, I smile.

Source: David Oyesina '69 Field House