JOS DIARIES: Roo, the Rooster.

If anyone had told me that I'd ever have to write about a rooster, I'd laugh them off, but here i am doing that. Writing is a good way to expel anger and frustration, and those are good enough ways to describe what I feel towards that bird.

When I moved here last year, I was impressed by the rural setting of the place and the farmyard setting of the compound which my building sits in. There were roosters and hens running around, dogs everywhere you looked, goats in herds, cattle herds that were seen about once a week, rams, pigs, turkeys, in fact, just about every domesticated animal is found in Bukuru Lowcost, Jos.

Thankfully, in the compound which my building sits, there are only roosters, hens, and a shit load of chicks. Having a natural inclination towards animals, I was soon smitten with them, feeding them, and caring for them, all except the rooster, Roo. He is a bad bird, a constant disturbance, a menace, and he rules his flock with a heavy hand. One week into my stay here, and I already disliked him, I later came to find out that everyone in the compound hated him, and didn't know what to do with him.

You might wonder why we all hate a rooster this much, I agree, it's a surprising thought, but this has nothing to do with how he treats his flock, or how he shits everywhere that he's not supposed to, it's about his crowing. You see, before I moved here, I'd always lived in the city where there are no animals around, and I always thought that roosters crow in the mornings, just like birds sing, and I found that adorable. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Roo crows at every hour of the fucking day. No, I'm not kidding, that rooster crows all day, and by God, he's loud. Roo gets on the fence on most days, and gets in a bark-crow competition with the dogs who live in the next compound, Roo gets up at 2am or 3am on some mornings to crow, Roo crows down every other rooster in the neighbourhood, Roo keeps us up all day and all night.

This has become a serious problem for everyone in the compound, as Roo not only crows to spite us, but does it at strategic places in the compound, places like right under the bedroom windows, where you'll hear it like a train horn. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to catch him, and kill him, he's smart and fast and can't be caught, so now I'm crazily thinking of getting a gun, or a bow and arrow, or poisoning whatever food the birds might eat, because I want him gone, and I want it badly. Even though I don't have the right to kill someone's rooster, I know that everyone would be better off without Roo.