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Oni Tomiwa

New Principal

Rumours had it that Mr. Mommoh was a great disciplinarian, accepted no form of laziness. That he once beat a student so badly the boy fainted; that he kept beating him until the student regained consciousness. The first time he entered our class—the notorious SS3 A—he stepped from the shade of the mango trees outside our doorway into a feud between two boys over betting spoils. A great silence fell. Silence, then panic, as we all cursed our births while scurrying to our seats. His face was as fierce as an eagle’s. He strode to the chalkboard and divided it into three columns:

Well. . .       |       Maybe       |       I can

He turned around, and in place of his earlier severity was a broad smile we couldn’t understand.

“Tear out a sheet of paper,” he instructed, “and write down each and every one of your dreams.”

measuring how long
our voices can echo. . .
mountain climbers

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About the Author

Oni Tomiwa is a lover of every art form and an amateur nature photographer. He resides and writes in Osogbo, Osun State. He has been published in Praxis Magazine, Kalahari Review, and Africanwriter, among other literary journals.