Elder Anthony Osadolor recalls some of their wild exploits…
‘“Iyahen was one of the prime movers of our annual long vacation events of the University College undergraduates of Edo origin. It was a multi-purpose gathering that included solicitation of financial aid for Edo students and, of course, a party where drinks and girls featured.
“We often held the event at Central Hotel. But, we sometimes also held it at the Edo Municipal Board Hall and the Minister of Commerce and Industries, Bishop Enoyogiere Obakpolor, was usually the chairman of the occasion. That’s when we enjoyed ourselves. Sometimes, we invited the popular Highlife musician, Victor Olaiya, from Ibadan, to play for us.
“Bishop Obakpolor would attend in his signature men’s jumper called danshiki and dance so joyously, crowing, ‘Ooohhhh, when I grow old, it will pain me oooo!’
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“That is, when he might have been too old to join in that kind of merriment, he’d really miss the fun…
“Once, a first cousin of mine, Major Emmanuel Ufumwen Uzamere, who was in the Army, had a close shave with death when he was coming back home. He drove his car under a lorry loaded with logs. He had his scalp scraped, but his skull was spared. He didn’t go to the hospital or his mother’s place when he arrived in Benin. His mother was the younger sister of my mother. Uzamere came straight to my place, his scalp bloodied. When I saw it, I was alarmed.
“He just said, ‘Please, don’t announce it to my mother.’ Then, he opened my refrigerator – I was then the Regional Manager for Glaxo in the Midwest. He opened my fridge and ordered, ‘Fill it up with drinks. Get some cartons over and stock up.’
“The next thing I did was to mobilize boys. I went straight to find Iyahen because he was an adept organizer.
“I said, ‘P.S.O. O ya!’
“We rallied up the remaining rascals. Everybody was there. Iyahen just told his mum, ‘I’m going to Pedro’s place.’ That’s my name that he used to call me, Pedro, while I called him P.S.O.
“Our parties often made headlines in the (Nigerian) Observer at that time.
“We drank ourselves to stupefaction. That was how we celebrated Uzamere’s survival. We didn’t take him to the hospital right away.”’
Excerpt from: GOD HAS DONE ME WELL
