I

nTheBubbl
eBur
st,
Ibi
rogbar
efl
ect
spol
i
tical
mal
admi
nist
rat
ion,
expl
oit
ati
on

ByBay
oOgunmupe

29Nov
ember2020 |3:
04am

TheBubbleBursti
sthelatestfi
cti
onalgenr
etobur stf
ort
hfr
om thelaptopofFemi I
bir
ogbaof
TheGuardianNewspapers.Iti
shisfir
stnovelaf
termanyshortst
ori
es.Fir
stpubli
shedin
September2020,i
npaperbackbyKr aft
gri
ots,
aliter
aryi
mpri
ntofKraftBooksLimit
ed,Ibadan,
Nigeri
a.

JanetKut
iandSandraOmarbecamef
ri
endsonbei
ngadmi
tt
edasunder
graduat
esst
udy
ingl
aw
attheOpenAirUni
versi
ty.

Bot
hgi
rl
shav
etomakel
i
fedeci
sionsi
nthecour
seoft
hei
rfut
urecar
eer
s.

I
birogbausesconversati
onall
anguagetoespouseprofoundi
deol
ogi
esandi magery
.With
developedchar
act
er s,
perhapstoomaturefort
heirages,t
heaut
hordescr
ibestheacademic
real
it
iesinouri
nst
ituti
onsofhigherl
ear
ning.

TheBubbleBursthas18chapt er
s,130pagesshowcasi ngthehurdles,decepti
ons,andpitfal
ls
student
sgothroughinouruni versi
ti
es.Iti
saney e-openingreadi
ngf orwould-beuniversi
ty
student
s.Theprotagonistofthenovel,Janet,want
st otakeafterherpolit
ici
anfather.Through
campuspolit
ics,
shel earnstheropestopol i
ti
calpower.

Unli
kereal -
li
feNigeri
anpol
iti
calparti
esbereftofi
deologies,theOpenAi rUni
versi
typolit
ical
part
iesar etornbetweenconservati
sm andsocial
ism.“ Thesociali
stshadbett
ermani festo.
Theywer ewel lver
sedinpoli
ti
calphil
osophyandr esoluteagainstallf
ormsof
maladmi nist
rati
onandexploi
tati
on.Themember swer ehighlyindoctr
inat
edwit
hsoci ali
st
pri
ncipl
esofequal r
ight
sandjustice;andequit
abl
edi stri
buti
onoft hecommonweal th.
Capital
i
sm wasseenandt aughtasanaber rati
onandacl assweapon. ”

Janetwantstoshar
etheideasofthesoci
ali
stswhosheadmir
es,gener
ally
.Thesocial
istl
eader
,
Afr
oman, i
stheoneJanetadmiresthemost.Thepol
ymathi
salawunder graduat
e,i
ntr
epid,
and
ver
sedinthesocial
i
stdoctr
inesofdial
ect
icmater
ial
i
sm.Popul
arl
yrefer
redt oastheAl
uta
Bul
l
dozeroft
hest
ruggl
e,hei
sthemostsal
i
entAl
utacommanderi
ntheuni
ver
sit
y.

Anotheracti
vistadmi r
edbyJanetisthecleveryoungman, amedicalst
udentnotedforhi
s
wisdom ander udi
ti
on.Hei sversedi
npoli
ticalphi
losophyandtheartofpol
it
ics.Heisoneoft
he
gr
eatestoratorstheirstudent
s’uni
oneverproduced.HeisregardedastheSquealeri
nGeorge
Orwell
’sAnimal Farm.”

Thoughf
reet
odowhat
evershel
i
kedont
hecampus,
Janetchoset
obedi
sci
pli
ned.

“Heriti
nerar
yoncampuswasf rom herroom tothelect
uretheatr
eandfrom l
ect
uretheat
reto
thelibr
ary.I
twasadeliber
ateregi
ment all
ifest
yle.Andi
nther oom,whenshewasnotcooking
orreading,f
orshewasav oraci
ousr eader,
shewoul dbeli
steningtomusic.I
twasherwayof
rel
axation.Musicr
eli
evedherofacademi ctensionandrej
uvenatedherf
orgreat
er
performance.”

Thoughther
eweredresscodes,
theywereusuall
ydisobey
edbyst
udent
swhowant
edat
tent
ion.
Att
enti
onseeki
ngisacommonsi gnofadolescence.

Themostnot ori
ousamongst udentpi
mpsi sPallad.Hehadt hephotographsofal l
campus
racketeersathisdi
sposal
.Ther acket
eersbeli
eveinusi ngwhatt heyhadt ogetwhattheydid
nothav e.Pall
adhadspentsixyearsstudyi
ngaf our-yearcoursebeforeJanetent er
edthe
universi
ty.Academicsandpolit
ici
ansdiddealswi t
hhi m.Het hri
vedfrom thesedeals
throughouthisstayonthecampus.Atapoi nt,hewasar r
ested,accusedofbei ngacult
ist
.Aft
er
apol i
ceinvesti
gati
on,hewasf r
eedbutwar nedtost ayoffcri
mebyt hepolice.

“Perhaps, misery
,vices,
andsocial maladiesarenotdi vi
ne.Theyar etheresul
tsofhowsoci et
y
i
sor ganized.Theyar econcomitantsofasy stem t hati
ntenti
onall
ydestroysever
y t
hingt hati
s
rati
onal andjustforself
-gr
ati
fi
cationandav ar
ice.Whenagov ernmentcannotallevi
atepov ert
y
andt hosei npowercannotseebey ondthemsel ves,acountrybecomest hebreedinggr oundfor
themor allydepraved…Unempl oymenti sthemot herofpovert
yandgr andmotherofpr ostit
uti
on,
drugt r
affi
cking,andkidnappi
ng.Ani ncreasingcr i
mer ateinanaftermathofhowasoci ety
organizesi t
self
.”
Theexami nat
ionscameandwent ,butJanetf
oundi tdi
ff
icultt
or eadjusttoherol droutine.Her
sleepbecameer r
aticwhenshewentbackhomef ortheshortaft
ert heexam br eak.Afteraf ew
weeks, Janetreadjust
ed.Hert
otalgradei
nthefir
st-semesterexam pl acedhersol i
dlyinthef i
rst
-classr
atingandt hatbecameherhallmar
kthroughoutcoll
ege.Howev er,Janetdidn’thave
thingssmoot hsaili
ng.

Afli
rt
ati
ouslecturer
,int
oxicat
edbyherbeaut
y,appr
oachedJanetf
orl
ove.Janettur
nedhim
down.Howev er
, t
hetutorfoundanoppor
tuni
tyforv
engeancewhenJanetr
egist
eredfora
cour
seinhisdepar t
ment .

‘
Feelingrej
ected,thetutorr
etal
iat
edandJanetfail
edthecour se.Butcer
tai
nofher
preparedness,Janetl
odgedacompl aintwi
ththeuniver
sityauthori
ti
es.Theuni
versi
tycall
edfor
herexam script,
reassigneditt
oanotherl
ectur
er;sur
pri
singly
, sheemergedthebest
.An
i
nv esti
gati
onexposedt heagendaofthetutorandhewassuspendedf oroneyearwithoutpay
.T

“Poli
ti
csisameanst oanend.Andthepart
ici
pati
onofri
ght-t
hinki
ngpeoplebecomesinevi
tabl
e
becauseallowi
ngrougesandmediocr
eindivi
dual
st omanagetheaff
air
sofpeoplewil
l al
ways
breedsystem f
ail
ures.Mor
eimport
antl
y,myambi t
ionar
isesfr
om myintenti
ontobett
erthelot
s
ofMor i
sQueensofwhom y ouar
eone,”Janetsai
d.

Midwaythroughherstudi
esatOpenAirUni
ver
sit
y,JanetKuti
alsocont
estedandwonatAfr
i-
Theat
re,t
hebeautypageantnamed:TheMostBeautif
ulGir
lontheNiger
ianCampus,f
rom
whereshewon$10, 000.

Butalongthewayshecont r
actedHIVdi
seasewhichwasdi agnosedwhil
etr
yingtohelpher
bosom fri
endSandraOmarwhohadanacci dent
.Sheev engav ehercart
oSandrawhile
contemplati
ngsui
cideoverherpli
ght
.Butshewasmiraculouslyrel
i
evedonheari
ngfrom
tel
evisi
onthatacur
ef orHIVhadbeenfound.

Thisbooki
sgoodfort
headol
escentwhohasjustf
oundt hesexual
freedom best
owedt
othe
youngadul
tawayf
rom par
ent
sacquir
inghi
ghereducat
ion.

Ir
ecommendi
tforadopt
ionasat
ext
bookf
ort
ert
iar
yinst
it
uti
onsbyt
heFeder
alMi
nist
ryof
Educati
on.I
tisaguideforsoci
albehaviour.HeheadstheAgricul
tur
edeskwit
hdecadesof
exper
iencei
njournal
ism.Heholdsdegreesi nLanguageArt
s&Educat i
onfr
om Obafemi
AwolowoUniver
sityandapost-graduat
ecer t
if
icat
einAdvancedWr i
ti
ngandRepor
ti
ngSkil
l
s
fr
om thePan-At
lanti
cUniver
sit
y,Lagos,Nigeri
a.