Emmanuel Adebiyi
"Even Pastor Kumuyi did Zik Baptism."
That was what I heard. I didn't know if that statement was true, but I understood what he was trying to communicate. He was talking to those skeptical about the Zik Baptism, and I was skeptical too. I mean, who wouldn't be skeptical? Freshly out of your home into school of the loads of advice given by your parents not to join the wrong group, seeing the opposite palm fronds, the calabash, and the fetish songs, you wouldn't just hop in without a second thought.
Stanley had always told me that I wasn't a Zikite yet; I would be once baptized, and the spirit of Zikism would descend upon me like a dove descended on Jesus, or perhaps like a lion, because that is the emblem of Zik Hall that I have been seeing around. The spirit of excellence, oneness, and togetherness that comes with a small package of the spirit that wakes you randomly by 2:30 AM to give the loudest scream you have in your lungs is not bad.
I would get baptized; my curiosity outscores any other reason not to be there. Shivering in the rain already with a long queue that ends with a guy who dips a bundle of leaves into a calabash of whatever is in there and 'baptizes' us. I wonder why the rain wouldn't stop; maybe it was a sign that God approved my baptism. The long queue eventually remained a person and then none. Then the vibrant move began—songs as we headed to Queen Idia Hall. I don't know what got me so excited; maybe Stanley was right about the spirit of Zikism descending, and it was what got me excited—the fact that I was heading into a female hostel or a combination of both. I could not afford to be shirtless; that was the only thing covering my padded physique.
To Awo Hall and back to Zik. I got cold, got the vibrant spirit of baptism, got the certificate of baptism, and got late to my matriculation. The next set of Zikites need not worry about the last part, as they will get baptized this Saturday, July 13, 2024, weeks after their virtual matriculation. Whether Pastor Kumuyi actually got baptized, I still don't know. What I know now is that I was baptized and that I am a full-blooded Zikite.
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