BEYOND Disappointments by
Florence Adedoja Elegba centres
on Tessy Adams and her journey
through life, right from her teenage
years.
The story starts at the Jubilee
Model High School, where the
brilliance of Tessy and Francis
Omolola Ademola is a pride to
staff and students alike in the
school.
While Francis is always leading the
set academically, Tessy is always
coming second; both are also so
close that they study and do
things in common.
This, therefore, makes their fellow
classmates to think that they are
into a relationship that is more
than just academics. This is why
their classmates label them
‘husband and wife.’
While Tessy, who is also a very
religious person, sees nothing in
this, Francis, on the other hand,
begins thinking about the popular
saying that ‘the voice of man is
the voice of God.’
His submission is that since their
classmates have unconsciously
‘married’ them, Tessy can actually
be his future partner.
As he keeps thinking this, he just
can’t bring himself to telling Tessy,
but just before their final year
examinations in school, he
develops the courage to inform
Tessy that they should start a
relationship because he loves her,
and that a lot of their classmates
actually think they are dating
already.
This didn’t go down well with
Tessy, a very serious student who
is committed to her studies and
religion, with the hope of securing
of better future for herself, but
Francis will not easily give up.
The subsequent chapters focus on
the stress Tessy and Francis go
through before securing university
admission, with the former
particularly having to wait for
three years at home; this is not
because she is not doing well in
her examinations, but issues come
up anytime she gets admitted.
In the end, she is admitted to the
Alpha University, while Francis is
admitted to the Sigma University,
which is less than an hour drive
from each other.
With this development, Francis
continues to woo Tessy, telling her
of his love, and why he wants her
to be his wife.
The fact that Francis comes from a
Muslim background is not
counting in his favour; his name is
actually Fatai, but changes to
Francis because of the influence
one of his teachers has on him.
Tessy also believes that because
they are mates, it will be difficult
for them to marry because when
she will be ready for marriage,
Francis might still be struggling to
stabilise himself economically.
In the end, Tessy agrees because
of her convictions that Francis has
converted to Christianity, and his
promise that he will be ready for
her whenever she is ready. The fact
that Francis is also an only child
also counts in his favour, as Tessy
believes his mother will want him
to get married early so that he can
give her her grandchildren.
As the story progresses, the author
introduces one of Tessy’s friends,
Tina, who becomes pregnant while
still seeking admission. This
pregnancy then puts a stop to her
education, while she becomes a
wife when her mates are already
securing admission for further
studies.
More worrying for Tina is the fact
that Siraju, the boy who gets her
pregnant, is not the person he
paints himself to be while he is
toasting her; his parents are not
rich, and he is a drunk.
Tina has her baby, Enitan, but she
is spared the agony of a lifetime
with a bully and wife-abuser like
Siraju when she losses him after a
brief illness. With the death of
Enitan, Tina leaves Siraju for good.
She, however, gets another chance
when she finally marries a
responsible man, and returns to
school, studying part time.
Throughout Tessy’s university
days, she is always disturbed by
boys who want to date her;
however, she is committed to her
relationship with Francis.
One of her ‘toasters,’ Sam, even
tries to rape her, while hoping that
she will get pregnant and will have
no other option than to marry him.
Another of her ‘toasters,’ a PhD
student in her department, Dennis,
is also always disturbing her, but
being who she is, Tessy is not
swayed.
In the end, she finishes her degree
and goes for her service
programme; it is during her service
year that Francis visits her and
tells her his mother is not
supportive of their relationship.
This surprises Tessy, since she is
yet to meet Francis’ mother.
Tessy is finally able to overcome
her depression, meets another
man, Brother Steve Akinlawon, who
she eventually marries.
The author, Elegba, a lecturer at
the Federal Polytechnic, Idah, Kogi
State, has been able to draw on
her experiences with young
students, in the writing of the
book, and it is hoped that
teenagers, especially girls, would
read the book in order to know of
the distractions that come their
way in today’s world.
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