This series is rated 18+
• EPISODE THREE (Omoge Kámpùs)
Morning broke gently over Moremi Girls’ Hostel, the sunlight sliding through the thin curtains like soft golden ribbons. Asa blinked awake, rubbing her eyes as the faint sound of highlife music drifted in from outside. The hostel was already alive—girls shuffling about, water splashing in buckets, laughter echoing through the corridors.
She sat up slowly, folded her wrapper neatly, and reached for her enamel bucket.
The water queue had already begun.
Asa stepped into the corridor, her wrapper tied tightly around her chest. Girls moved in clusters, buckets balanced on their heads or held in their hands, wrappers rustling as they hurried toward the tap outside.
“Asa, come join this line o!” one girl called.
“Thank you,” she replied softly, squeezing into the long line of chattering bodies.
The tap creaked loudly when it ran. Girls joked, gossiped, complained, and sang. Some shook their hair, some adjusted their wrappers, and a few were already applying morning powder in their room.
When it got to Asa’s turn, she filled her blue enamel bucket, balanced it carefully, and headed to the bathroom area. The stalls were made of wooden partitions, some with cracks wide enough to see shadows through.
Inside, she placed her bucket down, scooped water with a small bowl, and bathed quickly, the cold water shocking her skin awake. She scrubbed her arms, legs, and neck, the smell of black soap rising sweetly around her. When she finished, she wrapped her towel tightly and hurried back to Room 17.
Inside the room, the chaos had already begun.
Yemisi stood before the mirror, tying her wrapper around her waist before slipping into a long, fitted skirt with a slit that flirted dangerously with her thigh. She paired it with a cropped blouse that stopped just above her navel, showing smooth brown skin and a confidence Asa could never imagine owning.
Amope applied makeup with the ease of someone who had been doing it since childhood, thick eyeliner that curved like a cat’s tail, bright red lipstick, and powder so heavy it almost dulled the sheen of her oiled face. She puckered her lips and smacked them dramatically.
Ewatomi sat on her bed, one leg crossed over the other as she brushed her afro. “Hand me the blue eye-shadow,” she said lazily.
Amope tossed it to her. “Don’t waste it o. That one is from my cousin in London.”
Ewatomi laughed. “ I hear you o, ehn ehn girls,”
She said as she stop brushing her afro. “I’ll be seeing Professor Ikolaba today.”
Yemisi snorted. “Ewa baby, leave that old man alone!”
“As if,” Ewatomi said, rolling her eyes. “He’s the one chasing me. And today after lecture…” She paused, smiling slowly. “I’ll give him what he’s been begging for.”
The three girls burst into laughter, bold, careless, unbothered. Their voices bounced against the wall, scandalous and loud.
Asa ignored them gently, focusing on dressing. She rubbed her skin with the small tin of shea butter cream she brought from home, the scent was soft and familiar. She brushed her hair back and tied it with a simple ribbon.
Her gown was modest, plain cotton, neatly sewn by her mother. She smoothed the fabric carefully, as she always did, then laced her shoes.
She glanced once at the girls.
She admired their dressing, the way their skirts moved like music, the way their makeup shone, the way they owned their femininity. But the innocence in her heart held her back. She had no crop top. No bright lipstick. No slit skirts.
She didn’t belong in that world.
Amope noticed her and smiled.
“Asa baby, you’re dressing like somebody going for harvest festival. Loosen up small now.”
“I’m fine like this,” Asa murmured.
“Leave her,” Yemisi said. “Not everyone wants to show body.”
Ewatomi dusted more powder across her cheekbones.
“But if she tries it once, she won’t go back.”
Their laughter echoed behind Asa as she picked up her books and slipped out of the room before they could ask more questions.
Outside, the sun greeted her warmly. The smell of akara drifted through the air. Students crossed the campus in clusters. Asa inhaled deeply and felt a small surge of excitement.
She had taken a few steps when someone called her.
“Hey! Excuse me… are you going for Mass Communication lecture?”
A girl approached, small-statured, light-skinned, wearing a patterned gown with neat braids.
“I’m Deborah,” she said shyly. “You’re a fresher too, abi?”
“Yes. I’m Asa.”
“Ah, good!” Deborah linked arms with her. “Let’s go together. I thought I wouldn’t find anybody in my department.”
They walked quickly toward the lecture hall.
A tall boy approached them, shirt faded, sandals worn, but his smile warm.
“Good morning,” he said. “I am Adeshina. Mass Communication.”
“Asa,” she replied.
“Deborah,” the girl added.
“Let’s enter together,” he offered.
They did.
Inside, the hall smelled of chalk and dust. Students murmured, laughed, teased. Asa felt small but safe beside her new friends.
They talked before the lecture started.
Deborah smiled proudly. “My father is a trader. We are not rich, but God is helping us.”
Asa nodded. “I come from Oshogbo. We are average too.”
Adeshina looked down at his hands. “My own… I came from a poor home. Sometimes no food. Sometimes I farm before school. But I believe I will rise.”
“You will,” Asa said sincerely.
A small friendship formed, quiet, simple, comforting.
As the lecturer entered, Asa opened her notebook.
For the first time since arriving on campus, she felt she was beginning to find her place.
A small place.
A hopeful place.
A beginning.
Continue reading, below is episode four, don’t forget to leave us a comment, that is the only thing that makes our effort seen and aknowledged.
This story is written by Abisola Olowoyo
Detail Researched source from Oyetunj Odebola (Okolo Griot)
• EPISODE FOUR (Omoge Kámpùs)
The sun had softened by the time Asa and her new friends stepped out of the lecture hall. Students spilled onto the dusty paths like eager ants, their chatter rising into the warm afternoon air. The faint sound of Victor Uwaifo’s guitar drifted from a gramophone near the canteen as boys argued about politics and girls compared hairstyles.
Asa held her books close to her chest and walked back toward Moremi Girls’ Hostel while her friends headed to their various hotels, her steps light. She had survived her first lecture. She had made two friends. She felt, only a little like she belonged.
Her stomach rumbled loudly as she entered the hostel compound.
Ah, she thought, smiling weakly, I must cook before I faint.
In the 1960s, cooking in the hostel was always an adventure, girls crouching near small kerosene stoves, wrappers tied high above their knees, laughter mixing with the smell of hot pepper.
Asa placed her enamel bowl on a small wooden bench beside her bed in Room. The room was unusually quiet; Yemisi, Amope, and Ewatomi were nowhere to be seen. Their makeup kits were scattered as always, but the air felt empty without their loud laughter.
She changed into her wrapper, washed her hands, and brought out the ingredients she had packed from home:
a handful of dried pepper, locust beans, palm oil wrapped in a small nylon, a little vegetable and the eko wrapped leaves and white paper.
She set up her small kerosene stove near the window at the small balcony in her room. The flames sputtered before steadying. Soon, the room filled with the smell of hot palm oil.
Asa hummed softly as she cooked, an old highlife tune her mother loved. She stirred the vegetable slowly, letting the pepper, oil, and iru blend into the rich scent of efo riro. When she finally poured it over the soft, white eko, her entire body sighed.
She was just settling onto her bed to eat when there was a knock.
Tap-tap-tap.
Before she could reply, the door creaked open.
Odelola stepped inside, her afro catching the evening light, her scarf tied fashionably across her shoulders. She smelled of talcum powder and sunshine, the kind of scent that made a person feel safe.
“Asa!” she exclaimed, smiling broadly. “I said I should come and check on you. Ah, you’re cooking? Wonderful!”
Asa stood quickly. “Good evening, sister. I made small efo and eko.”
Odelola inhaled deeply. “Haa! This one is not small o. This one can wake the ancestors. Shift, let me join you jare.”
Asa laughed shyly, brough out extra eko for odelol and shifted on the bed. Odelola sat beside her, stretching her legs comfortably.
They ate together from the same plate, as was common among girls who trusted one another. Odelola scooped a portion and closed her eyes dramatically.
“Asa… this food can make a man marry you without asking for your name.”
Asa giggled. “It is just small cooking.”
“Small ke? Continue like this, and you will scatter the hearts of many men after campus.”
They ate slowly, talking about classes, hostel life, and home. Asa felt warmth settle in her chest, she liked Odelola’s company. It reminded her of her elder cousins back home.
When the plate was empty, Odelola leaned back on her palm, studying Asa carefully.
“So… those your roommates,” she began softly.
Asa’s smile faded a little. “Yes, ma. They are in three hundred level.”
Odelola chuckled. “Ma? Stop that. Call me by my name. I am not your mother.”
Then her face grew serious.
“But listen well… those girls, Yemisi, Amope, and Ewatomi are trouble wrapped in perfume.”
Asa’s heart thumped quietly.
“They are beautiful, yes. Well connected, yes. But carefree beyond measure. Their legs are always in one place or the other. Nightclubs. Secret parties. Men’s quarters. Some men even leave their wives at home to come chase them.”
Asa’s eyes widened.
Odelola nodded. “Hmm. Ask anybody in this hostel. They are famous. Infamous, sef.”
“Asa, my dear, use your sense.”
She leaned closer.
“In this campus, temptation is like breeze, it will touch you whether you call it or not. But you must choose the people you follow. Those girls…” She shook her head slowly. “They will soon drag you into something you are not ready for. And by the time trouble starts, everyone will deny you.”
Asa swallowed, her fingers tightening around the edge of her wrapper.
“But they have been kind to me,” she said quietly.
“Kindness is not the same as good influence.” Odelola’s voice softened. “I know girls like them. Sweet mouths, sweet laughter, but their footsteps…” She shook her head. “May we not use broom to sweep another person’s mess.”
A gust of evening wind blew into the room, rustling their clothes. Asa felt something unsettling settle in her stomach.
Odelola placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
“You are a good girl. Don’t let anyone change that. Let your eye be clear. If they invite you for night outing, don’t follow. If they bring men into this room, find a reason to step out. If matter begins to smell, don’t involve yourself.”
She paused.
“Because trouble might be near…...”
For a moment, they sat in silence, listening to the distant rustle of trees and the faint laughter of girls in the corridor.
Then Asa whispered, “Where are they today? The room was empty when I returned.”
Odelola raised her brows. “Those ones? Who knows. Maybe flirting with boys near the cafeteria. Maybe visiting men in town. Maybe planning another night escapade.”
Asa’s heartbeat quickened. “I hope they won’t bring any problem.”
“My dear,” Odelola sighed, picking up her bag, “problem does not send postcard before it arrives.”
She got up and straightened her blouse.
“I will check on you again tomorrow evening, when I’m coming, I will bring food. Lock your door. Rest. And remember everything I said.”
Asa smiled and nodded slowly.
Odelola smiled gently, squeezed her shoulder again, and stepped out.
When the door closed behind her, Asa looked around the quiet room. The shadows stretched long. The evening breeze felt colder.
Her first day in school had been sweet… but now, a strange heaviness lingered.
Perhaps Odelola was right.
Perhaps danger walked close to Room 17.
Perhaps innocence was not enough protection on this campus.
Asa lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, and whispered to herself—
“I will be careful.”
But even she did not know how much trouble was already on its way.
Continue reading, below is episode four, don’t forget to leave us a comment, that is the only thing that makes our effort seen and aknowledged.
This story is written by Abisola Olowoyo
Detail Researched source from Oyetunj Odebola (Okolo Griot)
• EPISODE FIVE (Omoge Kámpùs)
Night settled over Moremi Girls’ Hostel like a dark cloth spread gently across the sky. The compound quieted slowly, voices fading, footsteps dispersing, lamps flickering one after the other. Asa lay on her bunk, her kerosene lantern turned low, the smell of palm oil still lingering from the efo riro she cooked earlier.
The room was empty, the three senior girls are not back yet.
Now the silence wrapped around her like a wrapper.
She lay on her back and closed her eyes.
She tried to sleep.
She really tried.
But sleep, mischievous as always, danced just outside her reach.
And everywhere felt like eerie to her, she wasn’t use to sleeping alone.
It must have been close to midnight when the commotion began.
Footsteps stumbled into the corridor. Loud giggling. Off-key singing. Bangles jangling. Sandals clapping against the floor with no rhythm whatsoever.
Then a familiar voice shouted:
“Ah! Amope, stop pushing me jare! You are drunk!”
Another voice, Amope replied dramatically,
“Drunk ke? Me? I can walk straight… see?”
A thud immediately followed, like someone bumping into the door.
Asa sat up weakly.
Her heart raced. She blew out her lantern and lay back down, pulling her wrapper to her shoulder, pretending to sleep.
The door burst open.
“Haaa! Room seventeen, we are back o!” Yemisi called as she staggered inside.
Giggling. The sound of a bag falling. The smell of gin and cheap perfume filled the room instantly.
Asa kept her eyes closed.
She heard them shuffle around, their bracelets clinking, skirts rustling, shoes kicked off carelessly.
Then Ewatomi let out a long, dramatic hiss.
“Ahhh! My body is on fire. Professor Ikolaba will not kill me, I swear!”
Yemisi burst into scandalous laughter.
“Serve you right! Small girl, big engine!”
“Big engine ni?” Ewatomi scoffed. “That man ehn… if I knew, I would have told him to allow me rest small. See heat everywhere.”
She fanned herself vigorously.
“Ehn-ehn, look at you,” Amope teased. “Did he carry you to farm?”
“Farm ke?” Ewatomi replied. “My sister… let me not talk before this innocent girl wakes up.”
Asa’s heart jumped.
They were talking about her.
But she kept her eyes shut, breathing slowly to appear asleep.
“She acts holy,” Yemisi said, “but let me not lie, that kind of innocence doesn’t last in campus. One senior boy will scatter her bumbum one day.”
“Asa?” Amope snorted. “She is too timid for anything. See how she dresses sef. Like choir mistress.”
“She is cute sha,” Ewatomi murmured. “The soft type boys like. If one smooth-talking final-year boy catches her…”
She snapped her fingers.
“Gone.”
Their laughter rose again.
They dropped onto their beds, still giggling and whispering. Bottles clinked. One of them chewed groundnuts loudly.
Asa thought they were settling in.
Until—
“Haaa!” Ewatomi groaned. “This place down here is still burning.”
She fanned herself faster, muttering curses and praises at the same time.
The girls howled with laughter.
“As you enjoy am, endure am,” Yemisi joked.
Asa remained still on her bed.
But their talk… the laughter… the boldness… the unapologetic freedom…
They stirred something deep inside her.
Something warm.
Something forbidden.
Something she didn’t understand.
Her body reacted before her mind could stop it, warmth spreading under her skin, a strange curiosity rising, an innocent hunger she had never encountered before.
She squeezed her thighs together.
“Jesu,” she whispered silently, gripping her wrapper tighter. “God forbid.”
She recited a short prayer in her heart, trying to swallow the rising feeling. But the girls weren’t helping. Their voices teased her imagination, their words painting pictures she never asked for.
Asa turned on her side, facing the wall.
The girls continued laughing, teasing, gossiping. Their scandalous words floated around the room like wild spirits refusing to rest.
Then Ewatomi let out a loud, dramatic sigh.
“God, I need cold water down there.”
Another burst of laughter.
Asa’s body shivered.
Her eyes opened.
Sleep had run away.
She sat up slowly, adjusting her wrapper, clearing her throat just enough for them to know she was awake.
All voices stopped abruptly.
“Ah! Asa!” Yemisi exclaimed playfully. “So you are awake? Sorry o, we thought you were sleeping.”
Asa didn’t know what to say. She only managed a weak smile.
Ewatomi sat upright on her bed, her hair crooked from dancing. “We didn’t disturb you, abi?”
“No… I’m fine,” Asa whispered.
Amope burst into laughter. “Look at her face! Or you will to follow us tomorrow, so it won’t be only you in the room!”
“No, I’m okay—” Asa started, confused and embarrassed.
Yemisi waved her hand. “Leave her jare. She’s a fresh girl. She don’t have to follow us yet.”
“What?,” Amope disagreed. “Give her one year. She will be worse than us.”
The girls roared again.
But Ewatomi only stared at Asa, longer than necessary like she could see something Asa herself couldn’t name.
“You should be careful in this campus,” she said quietly.
“You are too soft. Too pure. Boys like softness. They like innocence. They like girls that don’t know anything.”
She paused.
“And you… you don’t know anything. So they don’t give you baba blue for free”
Her voice held no insult. Just truth.
Truth Asa couldn’t deny.
Asa swallowed softly.
“I’m fine,” she whispered again, more to herself than to them.
Yemisi waved her off with a laugh.
“Don’t mind Ewa jare. She is only jealous you have fresh blood.”
“Me jealous?” Ewatomi snorted. “I’m only warning her before she meets with osho free guys. This campus boys aren’t kind.”
Amope nodded seriously.
“Especially girls like you. You will attract attention without knowing. And trust me, attention alone is not always good, yrur connection does.”
Their voices dropped a little, as if a shadow passed through the room.
Asa felt it.
A strange heaviness.
A warning.
A whisper of a future she had no language for yet.
She clutched her wrapper.
“Thank you,” she muttered softly.
“No problem,” Ewatomi said, already stretching out on her bed. “But if you like, don’t hear word. Campus boys will teach you.”
One by one, they began to settle removing makeup, loosening wigs, kicking clothes onto the floor. Their laughter softened. Their chatter slowed.
Soon the room grew quiet again.
But Asa did not sleep.
She sat by her bed, her mind swirling with questions, curiosities, fears, and strange pulses she couldn’t explain.
The night pressed heavily on her chest.
She wasn’t the same girl who entered this hostel.
Something had shifted inside her.
Something small.
Something dangerous.
Something waiting.
And though she closed her eyes and tried once more to sleep…
Her body and mind remained wide awake.
Something had been awakened.
Something she didn’t yet understand.
This story is written by Abisola Olowoyo
Detail Researched source from Oyetunj Odebola (Okolo Griot)
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