EDO DECIDES PART 3: THE MORNING AFTER

Hello!! Day three of my trip to Benin cos #Edowasdeciding; click here to catch up with parts one and two.

I slept well, woke up about 5am to do a bit of writing, and then caught up with Oshiomole’s landslide victory at the polls; that explained the noise I was hearing just as I woke up. The breakdown of the results of the election are here, a very vivid pictorial representation of the results are here, and an interim statement by the coalition of civil society groups who monitored the election is here. About the interim statement, our team had the privilege to sit in on the meeting where it was drafted and all I can say about that meeting is, there is a balance to be made between events as they occur, and the way they are reported. Infer as you please. Then of course, there was the chairman of the meeting who was a few inches away from bullying everyone, and then the joker who couldn’t make a sentence without making us laugh. Was funny at first, then it became a waste of our time. *sigh*

About the celebration of  ‘Oshiobaba’s’ victory, people (civilians) were shooting in the air. I understood that they were happy and everything but err, where did they get the weapons from? Or is it rejoice with the weapons in the morning and then use them to wreak havoc at night? These questions need to be asked!

Right. I honestly think the members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) need to sit down and evaluate their strategies, especially measured against the way the electorate feels about them.

Again, much as I was excited about Oshiomole’s win, I couldn’t help but worry about how productive this second term would be. History shows that by the time politicians in Nigeria are running their final term, they have nothing to lose so they do nothing, absolutely nothing. I pray to God Oshiomole goes against the grain, and does something other than a fountain!

There was a bit of drama that morning, and I got really really, really angry. So the day before we ordered toast and egg sauce for breakfast, we told them we didn’t want onions in it (anyone who knows me knows I cannot stand onions, red, spring, autumn, fall or winter) and so it was garnished with green peppers and tomato chunks. Was really lovely. Today, I rang the restaurant and said, “can we please have exactly what we had for breakfast yesterday? So toast, egg sauce and pots of tea and coffee?” They said ok, and brought the trays soon after. Problem number 1? No tea, coffee or anything to drink. 2? No butter. 3? There were onions in everything! For some reason I woke up hungry so I really wanted to eat soon. I called them again, took care of problems 1 and 2, and then asked why my food had onions. The lady said she’d check with the chef, and then rang a few minutes after to say the chef said they were leeks, not onions. Hello!! Anyone heard the ‘same 10 and 10 pence phrase before? According to Wikipedia, the leek is “Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum (L.), also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Allioideae.^[1] ”  That definition is so you don’t think I was just making a fuss over nothing. 

I was hungry, and upset. In my most calm voice, I asked that whoever was bringing our drinks bring me a fresh dish (without leeks or onions or anything else in that family), and next thing I know the chef sends a waiter to me with a leek in the tray so I can see what he was talking about.

The nerve! As in ‘just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about’. Seriously? Seriously!!! Look at the shriveled looking root sef!

What!! I flipped, and hunger is not a good background for anger. I was so angry!! As in! I felt so insulted! What on earth was the chef thinking! Well, I was going to find out. I gave the waiter a good piece of my mind (the hungry side), then I floated to the kitchen and asked to see the chef. Somewhere between my yelling I know I explained to him that when someone says they’re allergic to nuts, you don’t give them peanuts, macadamia, Brazilian, ground nuts, you don’t substitute one for the other. I think I scared him, lol, because he said he didn’t have any green peppers and he wanted it to be as nice as the day before. I softened a bit but still told him that if he had to deviate from what we had complimented him about, the logical thing would have been to ask. Then I spun, and slammed the restaurant door (for good measure).

Yes, they brought me a fresh dish, devoid of onions.

P:S – Did I mention the chef was diminutive? It’s true talk that short men have the most drama. SMH.

Related articles

• PDP is finished politically in Edo – Ihonvbere (vanguardngr.com)
• Edo Election: ACN Chairman commends Jonathan, Jega (abangmercy.wordpress.com)
• Its Oshiomole Again: Edo polls (whoaskyou.wordpress.com)
• Finals with a sidecar of Mojito Maximus! (shedrinksheeats.wordpress.com)