𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐚𝐣𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭

𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐓𝐚𝐣𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐭
“𝘚𝘦 𝘬𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘢 𝘴𝘪 𝘐𝘭𝘢”?

– Chief Twinkle-Twinkle

My name is Sunday Adenola Senbanjo (Orimolade) known in the Komradik world as Chief Twinkle-Twinkle. I reigned in the keg year of 1986-1987 as a Chief of Ilya de Syringe, Ijebu-Ode in the Ogun hemisphere.

My komradik contemporaries are the like of Chiefis:Taofeek Gbolagade Rahman, (Ogbori Efon of Ilya Ila), Abiodun Bamgboye (Ilya Ogun), HRH Oba Adesina Oriade-Olu of Lakoro-Ile ife (Atobatele of Ilya Meleki), Professor BJO Ayorinde (Osondu Owendi of Ilya du Fatika), Koye (Oluwosan of Ilya UCH ), Babatunde Adebayo (Estopella of Ilya Nateco) Late Taye Kenke of Ilya Lacoed. Yemi Afuwape (Jaye ori e-Iku lo sure ju of Lacost) Olu-Kay of National Hqtrs and Isaac Uzodinma Ogidi (Gbansiki 50-50) of WHQ to mention just a few.

𝗤: 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲-𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻?
𝗔: Many, so many of them. Do you want to hear the good, sweet memories, first or do I start with the challenges?

𝗠𝘆 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗳! 𝗔𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻, 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲(𝘀) 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁
It was one funny day like that. It was to be one of our weekly mini-tapping. In our campus then, School of Nursing, we schooled and worked as students. Most times, we all return back to school from our various assignments in the clinical areas around 3.30 pm. For any meaningful tapping to begin to tik, the clock would have been running down to 6.00- 6.30 pm, given that kutasis would need to shower or refresh before coming to the shrine. But as bad as we all are, if you time the time to be 5pm attendees won’t start to come in until 6.30 pm. You know ‘African time’, right? So, appropriately, we intentionally retained the time as 5:00pm, you understand?

𝗬𝗲𝘀, 𝗜 𝗱𝗼, 𝗺𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳!

This day, it was our mini-tapping. As usual, we receive and expect other important tikadimas like chiefis arounda, felowsis from other ilyasis etc. It was this day that Chief Kako Onikumo Ekun chose to come and gyrate ooo! (laughing)

𝗜𝗻 𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿 (𝘄𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝗲…𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗳𝗲 𝗱𝘂 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲)

He’s more than discipline, my LSF. He was a mobile-raging colossus. Though pleasant but verily intolerant for indiscipline.

𝗢𝗵 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗴𝗼. 𝗠𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲, 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱.

It was ojo buruku, Esu gba water to swallow. So, because some of my G-Lords were tardy beyond patience, like at 6:30 pm, none of them had shown up bécasse many will have to run away from the duty post in the clinical areas to answer their names wokedly. Chief Kako asked me again for what time was the Mini-Tapping scheduled? I repeated 5:30 to 6.00 pm.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 7 𝘱𝘮”? He asked.

I did not know what other excuses to give. There was no phone as it is obtainable today that I would have used to quicken their attendance or to even alert them of the impending thunder!

They all eventually came and we gyrated. Chief Kako would always sing to open any gyration ground as his penchant or signature. It was a super gyration at that, for a moment, I have forgotten that there was any hiccup at the beginning. After the super gyration, Chief Kako called for a meetation.

𝗪𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲!

Baba nla Wahala. He suspended the whole G-Lord! Got all their regalias and pronounced them ‘until further notice suspension”!

𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝘆𝗮𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗮, 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?

Haa aah? Who dare begs Chief Kako? Talo je gbe ina w’oju Onikumo Ekun? Who can we send as emissary nitori Olorun? We knew we were wrong but we expected chief Kako and other Chiefesis to consider our peculiar academic system. We agreed it was indiscipline to be late for almost 2 hours! Most times, he’s nice if you can admit to your guilt but you need to be calculative of what time his forgiven spirit will accommodate your pleas.

Remember there is no phone, we had to get some archiver Chiefesis to attend the following week’s mini-tapping so as to appeal to him for lifting the suspension. Chiefis Pero Agabati, Late Chief Olu of Meleki, Chief Gbenga Okuwobi (Bilisi), Chief Wole Ibitowa (Adakeja Syringe), Chief Ajantala of Healtecho, Chief Natty borgu and my very good friend Tunde Olurinde- 911, Fellow Kuku and many others were on ground to plead on behalf of the ilya Glords.

𝗤:𝗡𝗮𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝗿𝗴𝘂 𝗼𝗺𝗼 𝗜𝘆𝗮 𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗸𝗲𝗴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗖𝟰𝗚 (𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝘆𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻) 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀?
𝗔: That will be nice!!! He came with 911, the popular drumis cum songis of Ilya Lacost. He eventually lifted the suspension but through that time, the period of the suspension till it lasted, was traumatic, it was a very tough time for me and my G-lords and many of my comrads. It was something I can not forget in a hurry.

𝗤: 𝗦𝗼, 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳, 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗲𝗴 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿.
𝗔: Haaa aah… o tipo ju o! I will tell you one out of the intriguing night trips to our numerous world Gyration.

We used to have a pilot then, Fellow Taju. He had a bus that plies Lagos to Ijebu-Ode. I believe his dad (a devote Alfa) owns the vehicle. So, by implication, Fellow Taju does not have total control of the ketekete. He will need to wait for his dad to go to bed before rolling out the van around 10.00pm

𝗤: 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲-𝗧𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗹𝗲, 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗯𝗶 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗺, 𝗜 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗳𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶 𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱?
𝗔: Yes, Fellow Taju will claim he left early for the garage before 5 am! So, all our trips were always after 11.00 for take-off. In one of the trips, we were to attend Phase 1 of Oyo State world jara in Ilya ila and Phase 2 at Ilya UCH

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗜𝗹𝘆𝗮 𝗜𝗹𝗮, 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗢𝗴𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗶 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲: 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝗜𝗹𝘆𝗮
Right…College of Education, Ila – Orangun. As usual, we started our 5-hour journey to Ila Orangun around 11 pm! After about 1hour into the journey, the vehicle’s carburetor was bad, jerking and humping. We parked at the roadside, fiddled with it, worked on it in the middle of the night. Nobody was able to fix it and disappointedly, we headed back home. You know what? Few streets back to the school for drop-off, the carburetor rammed back to life. It worked and ran well. We looked into our eyes, asked Fellow Taju “Se ka pada si Ila” (can we turn back to Ila?)

“𝘓𝘢’𝘨𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘢 𝘖𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘯”, he responded.

We roamed back to the road and we made the trip back to Ila, same night. We got to the gyration ground around 4 am and we were welcomed with a thunderous hypa-woged songis and gyration. Again, you know what? 1hr 30 minutes later, the Lagos hemisphere troupe arrived and the gyration was one of the most memorable in terms of any world jara that I ever attended as a Chief.

𝗪𝗼𝗴𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗶! 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗷𝗮𝗿𝗮.

Karid, my LSF.

𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙛𝙛, 𝙢𝙮 𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙛