Abiola, not Ebola

I was recently invited to a Model United Nations (MUN) conference to chair a committee. On the third day, as a delegate was preparing himself to present the draft resolution, all of a sudden, the committee room’s door opened and I saw a well-dressed and presentable young man walking towards me. He was an African, that much I was sure of, but who was he?

Following him was another friend from Karachi’s MUN circuit, Abdullah Jamal, and he introduced him by saying his name was 'Ebola'. The whole committee started laughing. The guy laughed as well but he playfully hit Abdullah with his hand and clarified, its Abiola and not Ebola.

After that a few more jokes were cracked and with the unexpected realisation that Abiola could speak and understand Urdu very well, we left the committee. I kept looking at him and kept wondering why he had come to Pakistan? Just to chair an MUN conference? That can’t be the sole reason. As Abdullah would have joked, he might be an agent or he might be part of a ‘yahoodi sazish’. On the contrary, Abiola was from Islamabad. He has been an exchange student from Nigeria in Pakistan since 2011 and he loves debating.

The next day, we had the opportunity to hang out and get to know one another. He beat me comprehensively in Pro Evolution Soccer twice. He then invited me to his play Siachen, showing at the Arts Council, written by Anwar Maqsood. He had a small part in it. I went there and promised to send flying kisses to him when he was on stage, which later I did.

Over the course of these few days with Abiola, I learnt a lot of important lessons in life. Your race and nationality never reflect who you are. Your personality and the way you treat people will always determine if they will love you or not. Looks can be very deceptive. The only thing that can move another person’s heart is the purity of your thoughts and intentions.

Through my interactions with Abiola I realised that in a world that demands beauty, which can be seen, I actually heard beauty in the voice and thoughts of Abiola.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2016.