Professor Sadist

  "Lanre is this not the toothbrush you have been looking for for the past ten minutes?" Ify stood holding up what looked like a new toothbrush still in its pack and yet to be opened. Lanre looks at it and dashed it off Ify's hand with delight mixed with relief. "Where did you see it?" Lanre asked Ify. "I saw it on the kitchen counter. Maybe you had left it there!" Ify said. "Damn this forgetting memory of mine! Anyway thanks!" Lanre said and hurried into the bathroom. 

Both friends could be seen scrambling among the crowd into there department. It's a Monday morning and students will always refer to it as the rush our. If you go out if classes to the roads that lead to various faculties and departments, you will see different individuals on their various departmental wears rushing off to meet up with class. Some take the school shuttle, while some make use of their legs to trek down to their classes for lecture. 

"Hey, good morning!  Come give daddy a hug!" A tall dark guy on round cut, wearing the same departmental wear said while approaching Lanre and Ify. "Who be daddy? You?" Lanre laughed mockingly clapping her hands. "Okechukwu, you better grow up before you refer to yourself as daddy! Ify you can hug daddy, as for me I don enter class like this!" Lanre said emphasing on that word daddy before leaving with an hiss. The young man Lanre has just called his name as Okechukwu stood dumbfounded. He looks at Lanre's retreating back untill she disappears into the classroom. 

"Okechukwu, keikiwe?" Ify asked Okechukwu how he was doing. Okechukwu gruntles and then replies Ify that he was fine. "Ify, tell your friend o! Warn her make she no go chop slap for this campus o! Which kind insult she de give person this early morning?" Okechukwu said. He had told Ify to talk to Lanre because he may end up slapping her if she repeated what she just did this morning. Ify smiled. "Please don't be offended. It's just that Lanre is having a bad mood today!" She said beckoning on Okechukwu to bring his ears close. "Actually she is on her period that's why she was like that. Her period is usually painful!" Ify said lying to cover up for Lanre so that Okechukwu no longer picks offence against Lanre and it worked. Rather than picking offence, Okechukwu felt sympathy for Lanre. "You ladies are trying! God bless you all for the troubles you go through! Please tell Lanre that I am sorry for annoying her!" Okechukwu said sending his apologies to Lanre through Ify. Ify assured him that she will pass the message to Lanre and then she left him.  

"Lanre, why did you talk to Okechukwu like that na? Don't you know that was rude? Even if you didn't want to hug him, you should have at least been polite!" Ify said. "Ify please allow me to read! I just realized that I am yet to read for this course!" Lanre said raising her hand up showing Ify her palm as a sign that Ify should stop talking.  Ify clears get throat and took a seat beside Lanre. "Anyway, he said he is sorry for annoying you! I told him you were on your period and was experiencing mood swings!" Ify said whispering it to Lanre's hearing. 

Lanre looks at Ify with the face that says, "who sent you?" And just when she was about to say something, the professor came in. 

"Good morning everyone!" The man said with a smile on his face. He seemed to be beaming with joy which was unlike the professor. Everyone knew him to be someone who never showed his teeth. Most of the students already nicknamed him "Professor sadist". "Hope you are all prepared for the test?" The professor asked. Some of the students said yes while most of the students in the class chanted no. While the professor was addressing them, some students rushed in. Everyone was expecting the usual that he would ask them to leave and then tell the class representative to shut the door, but he didn't. The students started to look between themselves exchanging eye contact. They were all surprised that the man was being lenient that morning. 

"Every get your pen ready as well as your fullscap paper". The professor said. All the students started scrambling for paper. Some of them who were not prepared for the test were busy asking others to tear them a page from their books. "I am not surprised at the number of students in my class today, I know it's because of the test the class is full. Over 50 percent of you do not attend lectures which is a pity. You are preparing yourselves for failure not me. I am already a professor, I won't go back to school again to get a degree!" The man said to them. This led to murmuring as some of the students were urging him to read out the questions so they can write what they know and leave the rest for God. 

The Professor asked all of them to keep quiet and threatened them saying that if they should disturb his class again, he will make sure none of them graduates that year. Then he asked them to take down the question. "Make a research in the aftermath of the Nigeria civil war till date. To be submitted in two weeks. The man said with a smile following in. Everyone was confused. Was it an assignment or he was still going to give test. "It is going to serve both as test and as an assignment. If you like do it, if you like don't, that is thirty marks". The professor said. "Thank God!" Lanre whispered taking a breath of relief. She was glad it was turned into an assignment. More so, it is related to the Nigeria civil war of 1967-1970. It is something she can do even without stressing herself to make much research.