UI CHRONICLES: MY MELLANBY HALL EXPERIENCE(1) -SHINESKYBABA

“Your room number is A12” was what Baba Moses, the then supervisor of Mellanby Hall, University of Ibadan told me. I was so happy getting a room because my admission into the University of Ibadan was a dream come true but Mellanby hall is not my preferred hall of choice. I was expecting to be posted to Zik Hall or Indy Hall because of their political consciousness and AROISM.

On getting to A12, I saw a huge guy with mustache standing in front of the room and he asked me,’na dis place dem post you? Before opening my mouth to answer him, he added, ‘na my room be this o’. That was how I met Muritala Muideen Agunbiade aka MOBUTU who was and is still is the greatest Mellanbite I have ever met.

My perception of him was that of a tough guy that is filled with trouble but our conversations later that day made me to want to be his room mate because of his friendly gesture towards me. The room was under lock and Mobutu told me that he met the guys who were staying in the room and that they had promised to move out that day. So, we (I and Mobutu) agreed to meet the next day to wash the room and move in. I later on went to my faculty to continue my registration.

The next day, we met some other guys like Kehinde Olojede (Kenny),Opeyemi Adeshina (babalegba) and Jelil (Baba) who were just moving to their room too.

Our chatting made us to know that we have something in common and that is our AJEPAKOISHNESS (if there is anything like that) and that we are all students in the Faculty of Education. We discussed at great length about life in UI generally and my new friends (Kenny, babalegba and Jelil) were more experienced because they had previously bagged their Diploma in Education certificate. Mobutu also had higher education experience at the Osun State College of Education, Ilesha, Osun State.

We talked about CGPA, Cultism, and other things like joining the Mellanby Hall Press Organization in order to secure accommodation in the next academic session.

I moved in that day and I had a fight on the football field (the now lush green area in Mellanby) with a 300 level Faculty of Agriculture guy named, Tosin. I remembered dribbling him and he gave me a rough challenge (remember, if you miss the ball, don’t miss the leg tackle?) and I went back as an Orile Boy to warn him, not minding the guy’s stature. He got angry and gave the first attack and I charged at him and the rest is history. It was one athletic guy, Jubril Oyedele who separated us and was telling me in pidgin that “you be Jambito and you dey fight abi? You know who the guy be?” This made me to come to my senses and it was then I realized that I was not in Orile Iganmu. Tosin was very angry that he charged at me again after we were separated.

I later learnt that he was a 300 level Faculty of Agriculture student and that he was very “mouthed” in Mellanby. My new friends saw all that happened and their talks that night got me to be afraid that I had to find Tosin and ‘seek for his forgiveness’ the next morning.

I later made many friends on my floor like Jubril, Salako (Days), TJ(shaida), Wasiu (Historian) and the press guys (Elochukwu, Rete,Kalu,Don Laz,Nas etc ).

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NB: THIS IS THE WRITER’S VIEW ON HIS EXPERIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY AND HE DOES NOT INTEND TO USE THIS ARTICLE TO RIDICLE ANYBODY.