“The Wrestling Match at Izzi County Secondary School”.
Since we are all in a reflective mood before DC, I recall Jokey – Izzy. Does anyone else remember? It was 1967 (or was it 1966?) and the school wrestling team was quite good with very able wrestlers. I was a member of that team and Jokey was the captain of that team. Does anyone remember our travels to watch several wrestling matches around the villages of Afikpo? I distinctly remember the travel to Ibii in the school lorry. It is not the lorry that I remember most; it is the surprise I felt when we discovered that the sand-flies in Ibii were bigger and more vicious than the ones at school. Whoever thought that was possible?
Any way, the match with Izzi Boys High School is one I will never forget. We left school early that day and arrived at the outskirts of Abakaliki at around lunch time. After we checked in at the school (Izzi) they offered us lunch. Of course, we were from Government Secondary School, and our Wrestling Captain, along with the master (I think it was Pago) refused the lunch. Instead, we drove into town and ate at a restaurant (It was really a buka). After lunch, we proceeded back to Izzi high school where they put us up in a wing of a dormitory to get some rest. Before we settled in to rest, our master in charge of wrestling (I am sorry I forget his real name) gave a pep talk which was followed by Jokey’s pep talk. Jokey assured us that this match was ours to win. He wanted us to do our best and just make sure that the score was in our favor or, at the worst, that we were tied when it got to his turn to wrestle. He was in the heavy weight category and he was the last wrestler. He and all of us were sure that his tournament was one we would win.
And so, at about 4:30 pm the match started. Our lead off wrestler was Enwo N who easily won his tournament. The next wrestler was a class 2 boy who lost his tournament. So, we continued to see-saw until we got to the heavy weight division. At this time, the score was tied at 2 a piece. There was only one tournament to go and it was between our very popular captain, Jokey and the captain of the Izzi School. We were sure we had won. When Jokey stepped into the arena, we erupted with cheers and jubilation at the sight of him standing next to the Captain of the Izzi School. Jokey easily dwarfed him by a good 6-9 inches. When the whistle blew for the wrestling to start, the Izzi captain got in his stance, and Jokey turned around and looked at us with an arrogant smile on his face. We erupted in another round or very loud cheering. So, our venerable captain turned around and got in his stance.
Some of us were still in mid cheer when we saw our captain, our hero, our very own Jokey begin to peel himself off the ground. It happened so fast. As soon as the two wrestlers grappled, Jokey was on the floor. Whoa!!! Surely my eyes were playing games with me. But no, it was true. Jokey had been floored, we had lost the match. Needless to say, the ride back to school was twice as long and not a word was uttered. When we got to school, it was still prep time. But before prep was over, the news was all over the place and chants of Jokey Izzi could be heard from the senior classes. I still remember it like it was just yesterday.
Nkama, E
Mboto house 1966