Different Worlds

Chapter Thirty-nine

Enjoy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ijeoma's POV

"Number 45 - 50. Oyah enter oo" the coordinator announced. (Get in)

A group of people noisily filed into the small classroom that was used for the JAMB registration. The coordinator cross-checked their names on a list at the entrance of the classroom to avoid people from acting smart.

I was currently at a state government owned University that was being used as a JAMB registration center. A large crowd of people were situated outside the building, some gallivanting around and other seated on anything that could be used as a seat as they waited to get their registration done.

JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board) was a organization that dealt with the admissions of people into the various Universities in Nigeria. The Jamb examinations were compulsory for every person who wanted to attend a university in Nigeria. The examinations were held every year and before that people would have to register for the examinations in person.

The scorching hot sun shining down us made the whole experience even more stressful than it already was. When I had done my JAMB registration a couple years back, the procedure wasn't as tedious as it was now. Back then, you could register in any cyber cafe but now registration for the exam was only done in specific centers accredited by the JAMB officials.

I wasn't surprised though this is Nigeria, a country where we work tirelessly to make things harder for others.

I asked for the day off because of the sole purpose of registration and since Chioma had returned to work, it didn't really affect anything.

"Please, what are they asking for?" A girl not older than 17 years asked the guy sitting next to me.

The boy looked at the files in his hand before he replying. "You have to meet that man standing there first. He'll ask you to pay 3k (three thousand Naira) and then--"

I tuned out the rest of their conversation. I had already gone through all those procedures, I was just waiting for the main registration exercise like most of the people sitting on the elevated pavement with me.
I released a tired sigh follows by a yawn. This was the third yawn in one hour and I wasn't even close to getting attended to. I was No. 68 on the list and they were still attending to the last five people called in.

I let my eyes roam around the rowdy crowd of people and my eyes fell on a fair young girl. She was standing under the shade of a gmelina tree, talking to a group of two girls and a guy. She detached herself from the group and looked around for any signs of the coordinator. With no sight of the man anywhere close, she squared her shoulders and walked into the registration room with confidence as if she had been asked to.

Not many people saw her because of how rowdy and noisy the place was and those who did assumed she had been asked to go into the room because of how confident she looked. Seconds later, the coordinator returned to his position in front of the door, he looked his head into the room briefly before turning his gaze to the list in his hand. He didn't suspect a thing.

I chuckled at her craftiness, I wouldn't be surprised if she said she had lived in Lagos. Lagos was one place that required a decent amount of street smartness to survive in.

Lagos people no dey carry last.

I decided to stretch my legs by going for a walk, I had been seated at one spot for over an hour and my bum was becoming numb. I used my small fancy napkin to wipe the beads of perspiration that formed on my forehead before returning the napkin to my bag.

"Ah ahn, fine girl"

I looked up to find the JAMB co-ordinator heading in my direction. He was a very dark and tall man. As he got closer, his facial features became more and more clear. He had deep sunken eyes, a broad wide nose and a protruding bottom lips which were very dark as a result of frequent smoking. He was probably in his mid or late forties.