August, 2004
Rain
Siji made the sign of the cross countless times before he knocked on the office door. He was acting silly, even to himself. There was no need for him to be nervous, his project was going on fine and nearing completion, the only thing slowing it down was his final semester examinations.
He knew he had impressed the Prof. The last time he had met with the Prof to update him on his progress, the Prof had nodded more than once and said "good". For a man who hardly gave out praises, that was more than an A grade, and Siji was smiling from ear to ear when he left the office that day. He also decided that day, that he would not see the Prof until after his exams. He had an examination to face and since his relationship with his supervisor was good, he need not stress himself unnecessarily
--So why am I now nervous?-- he asked himself.
It was because of the way the Prof had sounded on phone. The Prof had never called him even though he had had his number from the outset, same for Pago. Hence it was no small surprise when Siji had picked a call from an unknown number and heard the thick voice say gruffly
"it's your project supervisor, come to my office right away"
He needed not introduce himself. The voice that Siji would have recognized even in his dreams was not changed by the transmission process it went through.
"Don't break my office door down, come on in" the voice called from inside the office. Siji entered and closed the door gently behind him. The Prof was seated behind his desk and was staring into a scandalously mighty text book with his horn-rimmed glasses hanging on his nose as usual. Siji stood uneasily in the middle of the office waiting to be acknowledged. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the Prof without looking away from the textbook said "You look unkempt. Where were you when I called?"
--when did my appearance start becoming a thing of a concern to this man-- Siji thought as he quickly attempted to straighten his rumple shirt and adjust the flying collar. There was nothing he could do to his uncombed afro.
"I was at the hostel, in my room" he thought it would not be wise to add that the call had made him abandon the meal he had been eating.
The Prof looked up then and smiled at him
--that was a first-- Siji thought
"Please do have a seat" he said waving to the seat facing him across the desk.
---another first---
He smiled back uneasily as he sat down wondering what the Prof was up to. ---Why is he so nice?--- hope he isn't trying to fatten the bull before leading it to it's slaughter?---
"I want you to solve this again for me" he said immediately Siji sat down . He was all business again and the transformation was quite seamless. He gave Siji an answer booklet and a question paper. Siji looked at the question paper, surprised. "Sir, this was the paper we did yesterday" he protested.
"Don't you think I know? I want you to solve it again"
"But.....but...but"
"You did it yesterday yourself right?"
"Of course sir."
"Good, then you should be able to reproduce what you did yesterday." the Prof said and continued reading his textbook. Siji sat there looking at the questions and wondering for the second time that afternoon what this was all about.
"Your time starts now, you've got two hours thirty minutes." The Prof said startling Siji from his thoughts.
"I will need a pen and a calculator sir."
"That won't be a problem" the Prof said as he fetched a pen and a calculator from the desk's drawer and gave them to him.
Siji's first instinct was to rush through the questions, but on second thought he decided to take his time. He took his time as if he were in an ideal exam situation. It took him about an hour to finish since they were all familiar questions. He went through his solutions just one time then submitted to the Prof.
"I am done sir"
"Oh! Good" he said, then collected the answer booklet and flung it to a corner of his office as if it were some garbage. It landed a midst some dusty papers.
---Really? That's how you're gonna treat my work after all?--- Siji thought but said aloud. "Is that all sir?"
"Of course, that's all. You may go now." He replied, dismissing him.
★★★
He knew he had impressed the Prof. The last time he had met with the Prof to update him on his progress, the Prof had nodded more than once and said "good". For a man who hardly gave out praises, that was more than an A grade, and Siji was smiling from ear to ear when he left the office that day. He also decided that day, that he would not see the Prof until after his exams. He had an examination to face and since his relationship with his supervisor was good, he need not stress himself unnecessarily
--So why am I now nervous?-- he asked himself.
It was because of the way the Prof had sounded on phone. The Prof had never called him even though he had had his number from the outset, same for Pago. Hence it was no small surprise when Siji had picked a call from an unknown number and heard the thick voice say gruffly
"it's your project supervisor, come to my office right away"
He needed not introduce himself. The voice that Siji would have recognized even in his dreams was not changed by the transmission process it went through.
"Don't break my office door down, come on in" the voice called from inside the office. Siji entered and closed the door gently behind him. The Prof was seated behind his desk and was staring into a scandalously mighty text book with his horn-rimmed glasses hanging on his nose as usual. Siji stood uneasily in the middle of the office waiting to be acknowledged. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the Prof without looking away from the textbook said "You look unkempt. Where were you when I called?"
--when did my appearance start becoming a thing of a concern to this man-- Siji thought as he quickly attempted to straighten his rumple shirt and adjust the flying collar. There was nothing he could do to his uncombed afro.
"I was at the hostel, in my room" he thought it would not be wise to add that the call had made him abandon the meal he had been eating.
The Prof looked up then and smiled at him
--that was a first-- Siji thought
"Please do have a seat" he said waving to the seat facing him across the desk.
---another first---
He smiled back uneasily as he sat down wondering what the Prof was up to. ---Why is he so nice?--- hope he isn't trying to fatten the bull before leading it to it's slaughter?---
"I want you to solve this again for me" he said immediately Siji sat down . He was all business again and the transformation was quite seamless. He gave Siji an answer booklet and a question paper. Siji looked at the question paper, surprised. "Sir, this was the paper we did yesterday" he protested.
"Don't you think I know? I want you to solve it again"
"But.....but...but"
"You did it yesterday yourself right?"
"Of course sir."
"Good, then you should be able to reproduce what you did yesterday." the Prof said and continued reading his textbook. Siji sat there looking at the questions and wondering for the second time that afternoon what this was all about.
"Your time starts now, you've got two hours thirty minutes." The Prof said startling Siji from his thoughts.
"I will need a pen and a calculator sir."
"That won't be a problem" the Prof said as he fetched a pen and a calculator from the desk's drawer and gave them to him.
Siji's first instinct was to rush through the questions, but on second thought he decided to take his time. He took his time as if he were in an ideal exam situation. It took him about an hour to finish since they were all familiar questions. He went through his solutions just one time then submitted to the Prof.
"I am done sir"
"Oh! Good" he said, then collected the answer booklet and flung it to a corner of his office as if it were some garbage. It landed a midst some dusty papers.
---Really? That's how you're gonna treat my work after all?--- Siji thought but said aloud. "Is that all sir?"
"Of course, that's all. You may go now." He replied, dismissing him.
★★★
Pago was waiting for him in his room when he got back.
"Where did you go to for so long that you didn't lock your door? I have been here waiting for an hour."
"I actually forgot to lock it in my hurry."
"Where did you hurry to?"
"You won't believe me if I tell you"
"Try me"
"Jasper called me."
"Called you how?"
"On phone."
"Really? Are you serious? He's never called us on phone before. It must have been something important."
"Exactly what I thought, and he sounded even more serious than his usual self. I had to leave my meal half finished and rush to White House"
"What did he want?"
"He asked me to do yesterday's paper again."
"I really don't get you, which one?"
"His course na, EEE 504."
"Why?"
"That's the question on my mind too"
"He gave no reasons?
"No, he dismissed me immediately I was through."
"Maybe he lost your script or something happened to it and he needed to grade you since he knew you did the exams." Pago offered.
"Maybe, I thought of that too but I am not convinced that's the reason, Jasper is not the kind to misplace scripts, he is too meticulous."
Pago wasn't convinced that that was the reason either, and it made him very worried. He needed to know what the Prof was up to. It may be nothing but it can also be something. Was Jasper on to something?
"Where did you go to for so long that you didn't lock your door? I have been here waiting for an hour."
"I actually forgot to lock it in my hurry."
"Where did you hurry to?"
"You won't believe me if I tell you"
"Try me"
"Jasper called me."
"Called you how?"
"On phone."
"Really? Are you serious? He's never called us on phone before. It must have been something important."
"Exactly what I thought, and he sounded even more serious than his usual self. I had to leave my meal half finished and rush to White House"
"What did he want?"
"He asked me to do yesterday's paper again."
"I really don't get you, which one?"
"His course na, EEE 504."
"Why?"
"That's the question on my mind too"
"He gave no reasons?
"No, he dismissed me immediately I was through."
"Maybe he lost your script or something happened to it and he needed to grade you since he knew you did the exams." Pago offered.
"Maybe, I thought of that too but I am not convinced that's the reason, Jasper is not the kind to misplace scripts, he is too meticulous."
Pago wasn't convinced that that was the reason either, and it made him very worried. He needed to know what the Prof was up to. It may be nothing but it can also be something. Was Jasper on to something?
★★★
"Immediately Siji closed the door to his office, Jasper stood up and walked to the corner of his office to retrieve the booklet had he flung. He took it to his desk and brought out the other exam booklets, assignments sheets, and handwritten chapters of the projects of both of his students. He had always been amazed at the similarities in their hand writings. And from the assignments and quizzes they had obviously helped each other write, he had also proven to himself that each of them can so imitate the other in writing that it would take a very careful observer like himself to spot any difference . He opened the exam booklet of the paper from the day before and compared it with the one he just retrieved. He smiled sadly as he looked at both of them. He was very sure he was staring at the work of one person. Not only were the writings exactly the same, the steps taken to solve the questions and inferences drawn from each solved questions were exactly the same too. Two people's work can't be this similar, not even by plagiarism. He closed both booklets to check the back covers once again though he already knew what he would see. The matriculation numbers on both booklets were different, one ending with 3, the other with 8.
About the Author
Soji Adeola Ayanleke was born about 3 decades ago in Kano.
He studied Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, he speaks Yoruba and Hausa fluently and he is
trying to learn Igbo and Spanish. His hobbies are reading, writing and
playing some indoor games.
What was his discovery from the rewritten exam?
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