How the University of Ibadan Staff Club Got Me Home Safely

My father recently wrote about returning to the University of Ibadan Senior Staff Club, remembering its tennis, friendships, pepper soup and lively conversations. His memories took me back to a different moment, when the club became my refuge as a frightened schoolgirl. While preparing for Common Entrance lessons, I was left waiting for my mother one evening. With no mobile phone and darkness approaching, I tried to find her at her office. We missed each other, and I was left unsure of where to go. I remembered that someone at the Staff Club would know my parents. There, Pastor Steve Shaba stopped his game, listened to my story and took me safely home after first informing my lesson teachers. My mother had been searching frantically and was close to reporting me missing. That night showed me what community meant. Before instant calls and location sharing, the University of Ibadan community was a village where adults looked out for one another’s children. I was simply somebody’s daughter, and that was enough.

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