HENRIATTA BARLAY

It is not unusual to see people pass through life accompanied by a straight face and a frown as if they had been placed under the weight of the whole world. Infarct quite frankly, the sight of a random stranger smiling even in casual and off-handed situations is a very endearing and beautiful sight to behold.
Asatta as I preferred to call her was one of those people whose beautiful faces and effervescent smiles always made them an instant attraction. With a magnetic personality to cap the teeming galore of allure, she had more friend requests in real life than on Facebook and any other social media platform as a matter of fact.

With a voice so melodious that it makes mine seem like a frog crocking at night, her singing skills would make most of our Nigerian musicians reek with envy and respect. In spite of all these, her best feature is yet to be mentioned. Someone of such attractive appearance and talent could easily be excused if they were found in possession of pride and loftiness

but her case was the opposite, she remained very humble and freely interacted with everyone alike.
In addition, she also happen to fall among the ranks of those who had their friend circle cut-out from the outset, she stuck with the same set of friends from matriculation till graduation, although with minor adjustments to this list along the line.

In possession of a very good dress sense, eloquent use of both the spoken and written forms of the English language, and an inert ability to keep conversations lively and running for hours, her social skills also extended to her ability to observe subtle changes in people’s demeanour and a show of genuine interest to help in whatever way possible.

On the basis of inter-personal relations between She and I, we were more like two aliens residing in the same house until our last year in school, during that short period of time, we made a drastic leap from being two people who exchanged pleasantries to becoming more cordial and intimate. Suffice to say, it was a situation where the best was saved for the last.

She was a strong influence in the success of my one year service as the president of the Department’s students association and I would always remain indebted to her for her selfless support throughout that one year.

In a nutshell, I am happy to have met her and grateful to God that I encountered such inspiring and qualitative friendship at a time I needed it the most.