We’re here! The land of a thousand hills! (Part 2)

Welcome back! Part one is here, and ended with me falling asleep, despite my best intentions to watch Minions!

Addis Ababa.

We disembarked, and I met up with Fatu and Shamsudeen who were going on to Kigali, and Japheth and Rotimi who would spend the night and meet us the next morning.

And then the struggle for WIFI began. I’d flown through Addis at least three times this year, and I knew the airport didn’t have WIFI. But, my companions said to ask one of the Customer Care agents and she pointed us to one connection that didn’t work. So we went to a café and they said if we bought stuff worth $30 ($10 each), they would let us connect one device each. Didn’t make sense either, so we walked around for a bit, and then it was time to get on our connecting flight.

Oh, before I forget, while we were waiting in the departure area, there was this guy playing music really loudly from his phone. Like, with every song, the music became louder. So, I brought out my Bose mini speakers, covered it with my poncho, connected it to my phone, and started playing Nigerian music. Turn up! Didn’t take long before the guy turned off his music. (I’m sorry!)

We boarded, took off and for some reason I was really hungry. Ate, went back to sleep (again movies were useless), and then interestingly I dreamt about the movie Raid on Entebbe. When I woke up, even more interestingly we’d landed at Entebbe to drop off some guys and pick some others. I told Shamsudeen we were in Uganda; he said we were in Kigali. I looked at the time and said we were more than an hour early to have landed in Kigali, but somehow he convinced Fatu and they both got off the plane.

Hian. I thought about it again, got out of my seat, and went to the door of the aircraft. I asked one of the hostesses and she confirmed we were indeed at Entebbe, and then I saw my friends standing there (by this time they’d found out they were in the wrong country), smiling (shaking my head).

Anyway, so we got back in our seats, and it was back to sleep for the hour-long flight to Kigali. We touched down at 2am.

Hello WIFI! Like, it was a bit like Frankfurt airport, where you’re spoiled for choice with WIFI. Apparently, there were a lot of us who’d come in, and after we finished with immigration, sorted our visas we got into buses and headed for our hotels. Mine, the beautiful Lemigo!

My room was reminiscent of the old bedchambers I’d seen in movies, so quaint, so warm, so beautiful. Want to see?

Fit for my royal majesty!

What a beauty! When I make up my own house I must have a bed like this…

By the way, there was a beautiful Bible on the bedside stool, and two packs of condoms in the drawer beneath it. Lol. I stayed awake long enough to take in the beauty of the room, and then it was lights out. Literally.

By the time I woke up, it was already time to head to the first of the sessions; rushed a bath, grabbed a bite (their food is gorgeous), and off to the meeting halls we went. God being super merciful, we were lodged in the same hotel the event was holding. Good stuff!

Potatoes, the sexiest sausages I’ve had in a while, and eggs. A bit of a tale with the eggs, communication, and language. I asked for egg whites with peppers only, even pointed them out to the chef. I got eggs with bacon. #StillGrateful #INeedToBrushUpMyFrench

I thoroughly enjoyed the panels, listening to election issues and hindrances to youth and female participation across Africa. Interestingly, the problems are the same – high cost of participation, election funding, tokenism, lack of intergenerational trust and knowledge sharing, partial election umpires, patriarchy, I could go on and on. In that regard, can’t we say that Africa is a country? Up for discussion.

Then it was lunch time and after we said hello to a bunch of people (ticked off the ‘networking box’) we made our plates, and joined a table where one lady was spitting half her food out as she spoke. I was happy to leave the table. Urgh.

We got back into the sessions and Nana who was supposed to be up the next morning had been moved to that afternoon. Boy did she bring it! She spoke as a young female actively involved with a political party, and I was so proud. So very proud of the knowledge she brought to the panel, the confidence of her delivery, and the passion as she expressed truth after truth. So proud!

That night, we decided to go to the hotel gym. Brethren in Christ, it was an intense workout! According to my Polar, I burnt about 750kcal; very productive.

Dinner was a drag. I rang room service, ordered chicken and chips, and they said it’d be ready by the time we got downstairs. We got downstairs and it wasn’t ready so we waited. 30 minutes after we sent the first person to the chef, nothing. He didn’t even come back. I was irritated by this time cos I was hungry and the language barrier made communication a bit more difficult. Nana sent the second person to the chef but it seems the thing that swallowed the first guy swallowed this one too!

Of course we left. Ended up in a lounge called People’s and the music was off the chain! From Nigerian songs to the 90’s, to chart toppers, the video DJ (like audio wasn’t enough) dropped hit after hit, after hit! Turn up! Oh we had an amazing time, and I had two bottles of water instead of ordering food because I was distracted by the really great music, and it was really late anyway.

Got back to the hotel about 3am and the receptionist said my food was ready. Shaking my head! I just went to bed. Good night jor!

#31Days31Writers: Oladayo learned the futility of comparing himself to others

Yes!! One male, one female! That’s what I’m trying to achieve this year with the #31Days31Writers series… Love it! The different voices, the diversity in our experiences, I love it! Again I’m humbled when people I don’t know/don’t really know reach out to offer entries for this series… Thank you for considering my blog worthy of your time, effort, and experiences!

Say hello to our entry for today, Oladayo!

2015. Oh 2015, you gave me quite a scare at some point but trust God to make everything beautiful in His time.Yes!

My name is Oladayo and 2015 has been the year. Started routinely, life going as usual, then came the bump in the road. However, it only helped me find myself in God and made me a better, stronger man. And like any good movie, the end of the year is much better. All bumps were navigated and multiple lessons were learned. Will share a few:

I have learned to lean totally on God and avoid self-help especially when He’s promised to sort me out. You can never underestimate the leading of God in life.

I learned how to overcome my fears and reduce my tendency to worry. If I really can’t help it, why worry? Better to commit to God and wait on Him to show up.

I have learned the importance of building one’s faith in advance so that when great faith is needed, it can be tapped into. I have learned the power of organic growth and the futility of comparing oneself with others. Trust me, we all have our challenges. Grow at your pace and run your own race. There is space for us all to thrive.

I have many things to be thankful for:

1. My wife – my rock, the soft-spoken, gentle tower of strength beside me.

2. Friends who show up for me, giving what I ask for without asking why I need. Nothing is too much to ask friends. I needed a loan for a project and my bank took months to say no. It took my friend less than a day to give the funds needed when I asked.

3. Many minute, day-to-day blessings that tally up to very big miracles. I ventured into projects that normally would look scary and I am coming out unscathed through God’s Grace.

4. Nigeria – thankful that we still have a country. With all its flaws, we are still standing. The turn of the year brought a lot of fear and even now when I see Syria, I am thankful for the relative peace we enjoy in Nigeria

5. Safe travels – been another intense travel year, rate of over 1 flight a week. I see all the issues in aviation worldwide and I can’t but be thankful for safe and eventless flights.

All in all, I am looking forward to 2016 with the assurance that it’s going to be a much better year on all fronts. I believe I will be reaching new frontiers, all by God’s Grace.

Thank you Oladayo! Here’s a big amen to all your prayers, for you and your family, and all the readers on this blog! Someone said recently on Twitter that beneath all the smart quips and laughs on Twitter, some of us struggled this year, and she prayed that the joys of 2016 would make us forget everything that hurt/stung. 

Come back tomorrow everyone!

#31Days31Writers: @denikeoyetunde starts the series with being grateful like never before!

Welcome to the #31Days31Writers Series!! I’m so excited it’s here, and grateful that two years after the first one, we’re back here again!

2015 has been an incredible year full of stories, near misses, mistakes, joys, etc. But, I’m excited we’re winding down, and looking forward to a most inspirational 31 days with all our writers sharing their lives and experiences with us!

We start with the gorgeous Adenike, who I met in Lagos in October in the company of a very good friend of mine, Francesca. My spirit loved her as soon as we met, and she strikes me as someone who loves God passionately, but won’t shove Him down anyone’s throat because she’s such a joy you want to know what’s she’s high on all the time! I can’t wait to meet her again, and very soon!

I messaged her about the series, and her post is below. She kicks off our first day of the series with, “

Adenike Oyetunde is my name, a Nigerian, resident in Lagos State, Nigeria. I am a media personality, specifically with Radio now.

Reaching out to complete strangers in 2015, will always be a part of my story, and one I shall be continually be grateful for. Such an exhilarating experience, taking up the causes of people who had no hope; and ensuring their immediate needs were met. The excitement in the renewed belief of the united spirit in Nigeria is just unexplainable! Imagine that a little, three-year old friend of mine needed at least N1,500,000 to undergo a medical procedure, and we put the word out. In no time, Nigerians flung into action. I remember vividly, his mum calling and weeping, because she in her words, “had never had people rally round her, being an only child herself.”

My year started out with one of my friends buying me a ticket to go on vacation; I sure knew it was going to be a beautiful, expense paid year indeed *wink* (who no like awoof)!

Very recently, someone sent a picture to me with “family isn’t only blood, but those who stood by you in your trying moments.” It struck a chord in my heart, particularly because there are many more qualified, and better equipped (in all ramifications) persons; but I made myself available to be used in helping these people. Family.

I will forever remain grateful for the realization that because I lived through 2015, families had a cause to be joyous. I grew up with just my immediate family (no siblings, just mum, dad and myself), and didn’t understand it whenever people spoke of having ‘random strangers stand by them, closer than family’. 2015 re-emphasised that.

In this year, like never before, I have understood and re-learnt what ‘live your life purposefully’, means. Losing three people to cancer , with three others still fighting on, you would agree with me, ‘no  be beans’. I also learnt to get things done as soon as they pop in my head. The last person I lost had promised to call me back, that clearly never happened.

Yes, some say regrets; others say things they would love to undo; I think the closest experience in this regard would have to be with matters of the heart. For whatever it’s worth, I strongly believe, if for any reason I didn’t learn anything, I learnt to ‘guard my heart oh’!

The roller coaster, emotional quagmire in 2015 *phew, thank goodness, I made it*, the tough decision of not settling to being second fiddle, re-affirming my worth and then standing my ground?

Finally, in 2015, I have learnt to be grateful for each day like never before. Of what use is the money, car, house, etc. when I am dead and gone?

Cheers.

Adenike.

She’s gorgeous, and always smiling! Such a glorious lady!

Ha ha! There you have it! Can I say Adenike, that when I read this post and I saw ‘Cheers’ at the end, I felt like it was one of those ‘drops mic’ scenarios? Love it, and thank you for writing in! Mwah!

Everyone, come back tomorrow for day two!

Lagos, hotels, and another Medview flight

Exactly one week ago I was in Lagos recently for the #TheREDSummit, the 10th anniversary of Red Media Africa, and the gala in honour of 121 media legends of our time. Truly successful event which I was proud to be a part of. It was exciting to meet people (some I didn’t know and others I’d built relationships with on social media), to listen to different views on media, communication, the next 10 years, etc. Two ladies stood out from all the new people I met; Adenike of Naija Info FM, and Toyin Poju Oyemade – gorgeous women who love God and are fun, down-to-earth, I could go on and on! Truly exciting.

Gala night… so much fun! Rocking my new haircut – love it!

I also enjoyed the time away from work (even though I was pretty much working from my hotel), from Abuja, from the norm. I thank God for the opportunity to travel which always ‘disrupts’; I wonder how bored I would be if I couldn’t ‘up and go’ every once in a while.

I spent a lovely time in Lagos, almost destroyed by the traffic (which is high up on the list of why I  detest the place to be honest). On Saturday I’d gone to the University of Lagos to be a part of the event organised for students in media and communications drawn from a number of schools. I met some really fascinating people, including Anita Erskine, a former Studio 53 presenter who was brutally honest when we spoke about wake-up calls, women helping women, and how she got to where she is now after waking up one morning and Studio 53 was over (for a number of reasons). Love her!

I left with Tosin Ajibade (Olorisupergal), and we were stuck in traffic just leaving Yaba for approximately 2 hours 45 minutes. Sweet baby Jesus I dislike Lagos for the traffic! It was awesome to talk through social media et al with her the entire time (wonder what I would have done if I was in a cab) but I got back to my hotel and passed out!

Speaking of hotels, one day I’ll chronicle the different hotels/hostels I’ve stayed in in this life; this trip was spent between Oriental Hotel and The MoorHouse. Obviously the latter beat the former hands down!

On Sunday the 18th of October I went to brunch with my girl Tokes and her friend (now my friend) Joy; we went to The George Hotel, also in Ikoyi. Hilarious afternoon full of good food (which I love), great laughs, and even greater conversation! I know we shouldn’t (so soon) but I’m looking forward to doing that again!

Then it was back to the hotel, snatched up my things and sped off to the airport. Made good time, checked in, and we boarded a 5.30pm flight on time. Medview. Remember the drama on Wednesday when I flew in with them? That story is here.

So we take off, I’m wedged between a guy with a really smelly armpit and a buxom, really chubby lady. I decide I will distract myself from the fact that I don’t have a window seat.

The pilot comes on to say hello and announces there’s a storm coming over Abuja and he’s going to try to get us there before it, and to enjoy the flight. I settle into the book I took off my friend Chinma (was so good to see her, especially since we missed each other in Boston just last month)!

Next thing I know, the plane LITERALLY drops; taking my stomach with it. The next 10 -13 minutes all I can see from straining to see past the lady’s arm/body are thick clouds, all we can feel is bumpiness, like we were trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to avoid potholes. Everyone started praying (loudly), except the man with the smelly armpit. He just looked straight on.

I was afraid. I’ve seen turbulence, but never  like this. And then someone started saying, “Father if it is your will”, and in my mind I’m like, “I’m under 30. God’s plan for me is NOT a violent death”. And so I willed myself to block her voice out of my mind, and started praying for composure for the pilot.

The longest 11 minutes of my life. I thought of my nephew, and how he wouldn’t remember me, and then of my folks and how crushed they would be. Instructive to note I didn’t think of work, folks owing me (and they are plenty, sigh), or of anything beyond my nephew and my folks.

I snapped out of those thoughts, and this song came to my mind. “Miracle Worker” by Glowreeyah Braimah and Nathaniel Bassey (it’s one of my favourite songs ever) and so I was alternating between the song and prayer.

Pilot (Captain Boye) comes on. Says we couldn’t avoid the storm, and he can’t land so he’s going to go ‘try’ through “The East”. He sounded so calm (and I was really thankful he was communicating with us – God bless him). Cue at least 30 minutes of circling. Lagos to Abuja is approximately 50 minutes; we took off before 6pm and by 7.30pm, we were still solidly in the air.

I started listening for the sound of the wings broadening (I’ve become used to that sound) because it tells me we’re starting to descend. Sometimes I’d hear a sound, but it wouldn’t be it. The woman beside me started singing Igbo songs, and I remembered my mother. And I prayed even harder.

It went quiet for a bit.

Then I heard it. The unmistakable sound of the wings. We’d commenced our descent! I started crying. Then the pilot announced it, and the woman beside me started crying too. She hugged me, and in that moment I felt my Aunty Pat. So I hugged her, and rested my head on her ample bosom for a bit.

The landing was rough but I didn’t care. What!!! People started clapping, shouting. “Praise the Lord, Halleluyah, God is good” rent the air, and people congratulated each other as soon as they dried their eyes. Even the men. Even the hostesses. Pilot was unavailable to the folks who wanted to say hello (I totally understand). Everyone started calling everyone. I rang my sister.

She said she was asleep and when the rain started (apparently it was that intense), it woke her up, she rang me and when my number was unavailable, she knew I was in the air and started praying.

Here’s the birdie that brought us home… Notice I wasn’t the one taking pictures…

I got my luggage, got in a cab, tweeted “God himself landed our plane tonight”, and wept all the way home. Get there and guess who runs to get the door? My nephew. Cue fresh tears as my munchkin wrapped himself around my neck. Boo thang didn’t even notice my tears with the 100 questions he started asking.

Exactly one week after that flight, and my eyes are still watering as I type. As I imagine how the story could have ended different.

But it didn’t. And I’m thankful. Today, and everyday.

 

Do unto others… including your staff

Over the last few days I’ve trained my eyes to tell distances from my fuel gauge, no thanks to the scarcity that means cars congregate on fuel stations like they’re sharing something else there. Of course I went to fewer places as the dial danced closer to the ‘E’, and then last night, I knew I had to humble myself and queue.

Why use the word humble? Well, I braved a black market purchase the last time there was a queue. It not only cost me double the normal thing, but the fuel was bad so there was the cost of changing the injector and something else when the car refused to run properly the next morning.

So this time my darlings? I finished all the work I had to do, and at 9.30pm, I joined the queue at Forte Oil, opposite Transcorp Hilton. While I was there, I started tweeting a few things I’ve had on my mind for a few days, starting all the tweets with ‘shout out to…’. Did you catch them? Lol…

About 10.15pm, it was my turn, and typical me, I started chatting with the attendant. Apparently, the station is open 24 hours, and they run shifts. Which sounded nice till the guy said he resumed at 4pm and wouldn’t get off till 5am the next day!

What!! That’s 11 or 12 hours! So, two shifts, and these attendants are on their feet the entire time. And this is a very busy period, because very few stations have fuel, and so the lines are like the never-ending lists we tale before God. Daily.

It gets even more interesting. Guess how much these guys earn? Attendants – N10, 000 per month. Not per shift, or per week. Every 30 days. No wonder they’re trying to fleece everyone every chance they get. No wonder they connive with their managers to fiddle with the meters and sell you N500 fuel even though you pay N1000. Am I excusing theft? No. Stealing is wrong. All shapes, forms, and sizes. Even the Bible says a thief who stole bread because he was hungry should still be punished. However, the same Bible says that if eating meat (or paying a deplorable salary) will cause your neighbour (or staff) to sin, don’t do it.

How do you pay a man (or a woman) N10, 000 in Abuja where everything is triple the price? Not in any of the really cheap states where money goes further? How are their bosses able to sleep at night? In their million dollar houses and bourgeois lives? What are their staff supposed to do with N10, 000?

I didn’t bother asking if they had health insurance or a pension contribution from their management – didn’t want to waste my time. Or his.

Interestingly though, he was very excited with this job because it was hard to get, and it was only because his brother knew someone who knew one of the managers that he got it. So, I also didn’t talk about leaving this or applying for any other jobs. Again, I didn’t want to waste his time. Or mine.

It’s like one multi-millionaire I used to know… who would owe his staff for months on end (and he was paying the exact definition of chicken change) yet they would see him flaunt his wealth on his children and associates. And expected loyalty and honesty, feigning surprise that they were pinching sums whenever/wherever they could.

Again, for absolute clarity, theft/fraud/misappropriation/add other synonyms in all forms is wrong. Wrong, and should be punished.

However… Think about it. What are you paying your hired help? Not saying you should pay beyond what you can afford, but would you accept that with joy and gladness if the positions were reversed? Even if you had no option and the job in itself was a favour?

To paraphrase a saying I’ve heard several times about racism and slavery… there is the bad thing the government has done to its citizens, but there is also the bad thing that citizens have done to themselves.

This thing about the golden rule sha…

 

PS: I got home a few minutes to 11pm. Exhausted, but with high spirits. I have fuel!

OCCUPY TILL I COME!

In the last three weeks, if I had a dollar for every time I heard the word ‘occupy’, walai I would have bought my own island by now, complete with its inhabitants. Even people with no inkling whatsoever as to what was being occupied, where the ‘occupation’ (lol) was taking place, why, and even how it was happening, took pride in the word, and maybe even mouthed it the loudest.

Fast forward a couple days, many nocturnal meetings after. The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) accepted the reduction of the pump price of fuel from N141 to N97, and then called off the strike. I was very disappointed in that resolution because it made a mockery of the time and energy expended on the protests inside and outside the country; plus on the surface it also appeared that the people who lost their lives on the altar of the strike died in vain. But then again, I kind of expected it. Isn’t it the NLC we know?

On another level though, I think that the protests were not in vain. What we lost in failing to reverse the subsidy removal, we gained in unity, which perhaps is one of the greatest things ever. We gained in looking out for each other; realizing that the enemy is not the next man with a different religion/ethnic background, but a system and its handlers who say they want to serve us but then rule with an iron fist and no conscience. Without meaning to be dramatic, the protests in Kano where we all saw pictures of Muslims watching over Christians and vice versa when they were praying, the Sunday when CAN and the Islamic Council went around churches in Kano as well….. what else have we been asking for?

And then we heard that the bomber responsible for the dastardly attack on a church in Madalla, Niger State on Christmas day that left scores dead and many more injured, escaped from detention. The rate at which we misplace priorities in this country is scary. So you punk the entire country, telling us you’ll address the nation by 9pm on the 15th of January and you don’t, (and without any apology whatsoever) and then by the next day you’ve rolled out the army to clamp down on protesters who have been peaceful, contravening their rights as humans to assemble. While all this is going on, someone who was single-handedly or in collusion with others responsible for the deaths of Nigerians escapes? How did he escape?  How stupid does this government think we are? *sigh*

Most disgraceful is that while you have the army out on the streets in Lagos state, Boko Haram turns Kano, Bauchi, and Yobe States into mourning parlors! For God’s sakes the amount of explosions in Kano state in one night were between 15 to 20! Are we at war? What the hell is going on? The part I will never understand is the effrontery with which this agents of the devil ‘claim responsibility’ for the bombings. The brazen stance they wear, encouraged by a toothless government with priorities as warped as a two-year olds. Do they deliver their statements to the media via post? Over the phone? In person? Can’t their numbers be traced? Can’t they be found? Is that so difficult? And no Mr President, you don’t score any points for visiting Kano! Where’s decisive action when we need it?

Again (one time too many I must say), my heart goes out to everyone who’s lost a brother, sister, father, mother, relation, friend, or enemy in the attacks of the past weekend. May God in His infinite mercies comfort your families, and somehow strengthen you all, amen. I speak peace to our nation, and decree that by the Blood of Jesus every worker of iniquity, any one profiting from this mayhem will himself and his family be visited by quick destruction, in Jesus name. AMEN.

Today’s post is all about ‘occupation’. Not of Wall Street (which in these times can be listed as the birth place of the word), not London but my very own Nigeria. This post is different though; here the pictures do all the ‘occupying’. I searched for images using #OccupyNigeria and the pictures below appealed to me the most.

courtesy voiceofnigeria.org

 

I don't know where this originated from, but it was at the heart of the protests, especially on social media

This is another picture that was at the heart of the protests.....couldn't find its origin too...

                                                                          Courtesy @i_blend

One of the billboards on display at the London Protests...

Courtesy campusheathq.com

courtesy storyful.

Got this one off Twitter; if you know what 'waka' means, yes that's what they were telling the choppers circling over the grounds where they were protesting!

P:S – I have tried to credit original sources where possible and/or the website I found the pictures on. If however you feel there’s an error please get in touch and I’ll make the correction. Thanks!

Related articles

• Are We Done Occupying? (fairygodsister.wordpress.com)
• ‘Occupy Nigeria’ Protest: Photos and Video of Latest Unrest (ibtimes.com)
• Occupy Kano : Protesters file N500m suit against Jonathan (vanguardngr.com)
• One Blast Too Many (yomzie.wordpress.com)
• Nigeria city on edge after deadly attacks (edition.cnn.com)