Laycon

33 MOMENTS BEFORE 33
DAY 11/33
My Oldest Friend

There was a time at UNILAG when I would walk out of my room at Biobaku Hall, stand across from @biggbyson room, and shout his name.

“BISIIII!”

He would come out and ask, “Why? Why are you shouting my name like that?”

It became a routine. Even his roommates knew what was going on. I would shout his name, he would come out, and we would have our little moment. Looking back, it’s one of those seemingly ordinary memories that I know I’ll carry with me for a long time.

But what makes that memory special is everything that came before it.

Adebisi and I had crossed paths a few times in junior secondary school, and even in SS1, but we weren’t particularly close. We were more like mutual friends. You know how it is in school. “My guy, my guy.” You know each other, you greet each other, but you’re not necessarily spending time together.

We became much closer around the time we were trying to get into university.

My mum had a beer parlour, and his mum had a cold room about two streets away. I started visiting him there regularly. We would hang out, talk about music and rap, and generally spend time together. And I would sometimes visit him at home too.

Bisi was into games, comics and all those things. We had different interests, but music was something we could always talk about. Without either of us planning it, the friendship grew. Then he got into UNILAG before I did.

I remember how he would come home and tell me about his experiences in school. He gave me advice, shared tips about what to expect, and encouraged me through that period when I was still trying to get in myself. He had already experienced what I was hoping to experience, and he was willing to help me find my way.

When I eventually got into UNILAG the following year, we became roommates. He was in a different faculty, but we spent that first year together. It was a different feeling having someone I had known for years right there with me as we started this new chapter of our lives.

As the years went by, we weren’t always in the same room or even the same hostel. Our schedules changed, and we had different things going on. But somehow, we kept find