Fallible

four

"Gently maami, E rora o" Alhaji Ismail Adebola assisted his Mum alight from the vehicle.

"Oseun oko mi"

Mamman suhail held Maami's wrist and gently walked her to their tent. It was Mubeen's graduation ceremony. The proceedings were to hold in the school hall and merriments on the school field. There, tents were put up with the name of each graduandattached to a tent. Only 3 guests were allowed to enter the hall per graduand. Alhaji Ismail, Mamman Suhail and Suhail hurried to the hall. The event was scheduled to start at exactly 10a.m and it was few minutes to 10. Rahmat; Suhail's wife, their son, Maami and their other guests sat under their tent enjoying okin's recitation of Suratul Maryam that blared through the speakers.

Mubeen's eyes never left the entrance. He was anxiously waitingfor the arrival of his parents. The hall was almost filled and there was no sight of them yet. They were always late, always. He was getting pissed when the sound from the speakers distracted him. He was supposed to perfect his speech as the best graduating student. He looked at Farhan who was revising his speech as the senior prefect. Farhan was his best friend and his parents had arrived very early. No wonder he could focus. The event was about to kick off, he turned for a last time to catch a glimpse of them. He was disappointed when he saw the security man closing the hall doors. Suhail saw the disappointment on his face; he covered his mouth to subdue his laughter. He knew the reason behind the face. Oh God, he loves his brother so much.

"Mubeenu",that came out louder than what Suhail intended. Mubeen recognised that voice. He turned to confirm and saw his brother stick out his tongue at him. He grinned. But wait, can Suhail ever change? Even after becoming a father. He is just too playful. Aunty Rahmat is trying.

"Bismillahi-Rahmani-Raheem. Allahumma salli wa sallim 'alaa sayyidinaa, wa maulana wa nabiyyinaa wa rasulunaa wa murshidunaa Muhammad, salallaahu alayhi wa sallam..." and the MC began the event.

Fourty minutes into the event, the guest lecturer was rounding off his talk. Afterwards, graduands were pronounced graduates of the criterion college. Farhan and Mubeen were to deliver their speeches next before the vote of thanks. Salmah and Zaynab were standing by to recite their citations before thespeech. The citation was a brief academic milestone covered by the Senior prefect and the best graduating student. It was usually a heartmelting and emotional moment for most parents. Salmah and Zaynab were picked because of their accent. They both have a heavy British accent, though Salmah can speak the Nigerian accent. Both of them actually attended the same primary school where they picked the accent from.

After Zaynab read the citation of Farhan which was projected, there was a round of applause as Farhan was ushered onto the stage. Dressed in a white shirt with a beige trouser and tux, his graduation grown on it, he stepped up with confidence and delivered marvellously. He had always been good at public speaking. Mubeen was the shy type. He had made some presentations in school though. When not important, he hardly speaks publicly. He was that quiet handsome teenager. So, he had rehearsed more than Farhan did.

Salmah was reciting Mubeen's citation. She spoke in her British accent as instructed by the coordinator. Mamman Suhail was getting emotional while Alhaji Ismail and Suhail had smiles plastered on their faces. Who wouldn't be proud of him? He was not near the top when he was in JSS1 and JSS2. He had slowly risen through the hurdles to the top. The applause was resounding it could deafen. Salmah reciting it was the most beautiful part for mubeen. There was something different about the way she called his name with that accent. She was the motivation behind his flawless presentation.

The principal presented the award of the best graduating student that comes with a cash price of a hundred thousand naira. Pictures were taken by several photographers including media houses that were invited. Alhaji Ismail is a prominent figure in the media scene. Heis a very wealthy man. He owns an architectural company which has subsidiaries in other line of business.