My Kigali Diary: Day 10 - Eagles Fail To Fly Plus Oliseh's Outburst

As the crucial game against the Guineans drew closer, there was a seeming wave of optimism from Nigerians that got me a bit worried. I don’t know if it was the Chisom Chikatara inspired Niger win or the near defeat at the hands of the Carthage Eagles. I just didn’t share that same feeling. Even among us journalists in Kigali, I can’t remember anyone openly admitting we could get knocked out.  I remember praying for a Guinea loss so as to pave a smooth path for us. After watching the Sylli Stars battle to get a point against Niger some days earlier, I knew we were one defeat away from me rescheduling my flight ticket back to Nigeria.

On the day we beat Niger, Rotimi and I had an interview with Chris Green, the NFF’s

Nigerian Rwandese

Technical and Developmental Committee Chairman. He revealed that Oliseh had got his job for as long as he wants and that his job wasn’t determined by whatever happened at CHAN. However, following my experience of how fickle the average football fan can be, I wanted to know from coach Oliseh what his message would be to the Nigerian fan if for any reason he failed to get the desired result. To be fair to the coach, I missed out two phrases that should have been in my question. I should have added that Green noted that his job wasn’t determined by the performance at CHAN and I should have also noted that the 90% percent I meant was callers into my show. Notwithstanding, Oliseh’s response ( https://soundcloud.com/stream ) was very aggressive and showed someone who probably was pissed off by something else and just saw a good excuse to lash out. Truth is, as he was replying me, I just typed a text message and showed the Super Eagles media manager Toyin Ibitoye who was just behind me. In it I said, it seems coach didn’t really get what I asked. Toyin was quick to send a DM to me saying “maybe he didn’t get right context of your question. These things happen. Just take coach reaction the shin like a man.” And that was what I truly did.

Sylli Stars Overpowered Eagles

But my patience almost ran out when in reply to another journalist’s question just after, coach Oliseh said, “What this boys have gone through, at the end of the day when you find out, you will go there and shake them…. So that’s why when I heard the other question that is so negative I asked myself, ‘what the hell is he doing in Rwanda, he should go back home”

Like seriously? What the ….. ! Jeeeeeez!

I almost said that out loud. Did he pay my flight down to Rwanda? Has he been responsible for my welfare? My first instinct was to interrupt his speech and ask him these questions cos that just felt so wrong and below the belt. First off, I only asked a question and if he didn’t like it, there were better ways to respond. But I just said to myself, No, Ufuoma, it isn’t worth it. Truth is, according to some who were sitting in front, the CAF coordinator Aisha Falode kept tapping Oliseh asking him to calm down. Almost immediately after the presser, Oliseh’s technical assistant Tijani Babangida walked up to me and muted a few words. He just advised me not to take Oliseh’s comments personal that he probably misunderstood my question. I just smiled back at TJ as we all call him and told him not to worry.

As all the Nigerian journalists stepped out of the presser to go watch the team’s training which was scheduled to start almost immediately, we all made an editorial decision: there was no point using the reaction from Oliseh cos it was bound to generate controversy which was the last thing the team needed on the eve of a crucial game. We all recalled the Vincent Enyeama situation a few months ago and didn’t want a repeat of that.

Game Day: Toyosi and I Ready

And so, game day came. Nothing much happened apart from a little disagreement between us which was promptly settled. We all arrived at the stadium about 1 pm cos Aisha had warned us the day before to be punctual so we can get our press tickets on time. For the first 20/25 minutes of the game I didn’t really concentrate on what happened on the field of play. I was busy putting finishing touches to the previous blog. But as soon as I started watching, I saw a different team from the one Kelechi, Toyosi and I had sat down to watch train the previous day.  As soon as Guniea scored on the stroke of half time, I said to myself: God abeg make dis people no lose ooo. Cos na my head dem go put everything. Lol

You can blame Nigeria’s ouster on the Sports Ministry/NFF for not providing funds or Oliseh’s tactical decisions (as some are saying) etc; but as far as I am concerned, Nigeria lost to Guinea cos about half of the first team on the day had an off day. Just imagine how the Chelsea team played in the first half of the Premier League season with about 6/7 of them in poor form; that’s exactly how the Eagles played on the day. Poor touches; misplaced passes; a seeming weak midfield for most parts of the game; non-creative wingers; you name it. This much was confirmed to me later that night by at least 3 of the players who said they just couldn’t explain what happened.

At the post match presser, we saw a subdued and calm Oliseh responding to questions. It almost seemed like there was an unwritten agreement among the Nigerian contingent not to bother Oliseh with too many questions. We were all sad at the outcome of the game maybe. I didn’t stay that much for the second presser from the Guinea coach. After answering about two questions, I left to catch up with the bus back to Kigali which we heard was already waiting.

By the time we got outside, we heard the bus had ferried the Nigerian Supporters’ Club plus the acting High Commissioner back home. We had no other option but to join the buses provided by CAF which were on standby. The first bus we were told was for the Guinea media exclusively. Ehen? So where Nigeria own na? When we got to another bus, there were a few journalists inside including some of us who had got there early. I looked for a seat close to one Cameroonian lady. And then, she just decided she wasn’t going with the bus anymore. We didn’t know she had gone to report to the one of the CAF officials that people who didn’t come with the bus in the morning had crowded it. Next thing the CAF woman came and asked us all to give her our accreditation tags. She went on to talk about how priority would be given to those who came with the bus in the morning bla bla. Our Ugandan friend, Clive told her some of the journos who came with the bus were staying behind. So, in essence, the bus should be ok for everyone present. But as at that time, some of us were already pissed off. We were

Rubavu - Kigali Road

trying to battle with fact we just lost a game and then this unnecessary CAF politics. So most of us angrily got down and demanded for our tags. By the time I saw it was a unanimous decision, I got down too. To be honest, I already told the crew in the morning that we should stay back cos the sharp corners plus hilly slopes along the Rubavu-Kigali route would scare the living daylight out of you during the day talk less of at night.

Lake Kivu Towards Evening

We headed for the Super Eagles hotel, Gorilla Lake Kivu which was just opposite the lake. We got there on time as they were heading for dinner. You could see from their faces how dejected they were and how much of a missed opportunity this was for them. I talked with 3 of the players, Paul Onobi, Stephen  Eze and Okemute Odah who confessed that it was indeed an opportunity lost for them. Thereafter, we went to book our hotel for the night and after settling in, headed to Lake Kivu to go unwind after a hard day’s job

A day earlier, I retired early cos I was very cold. The guys came back with so much

Lake Kivu in all its Splendour

tales that is enough to fill this page and maybe just maybe ….. Never mind! With all the tales from the day before, there was no way I was going to miss out on this night. So to Lake Kivu we headed….

To be continued…

My Kigali Diary is an account of my activities of coverage of the 2016 Africa Nations Championship in Rwanda. There are a few blogs preceeding this one.

-Ufuoma

My Kigali Diary: Day 8 And 9 - Road To Rubavu

It wasn’t until past 4 am Sunday morning that we arrived back home from K Club; exhausted, tipsy and damn right weary. I jumped on the bed almost immediately without even bothering to take off clothes. Maybe, I could have been taking off my clothes if only I had agreed to Fiona's request. What request?

We got to K Club at about 11 pm. Unlike Tuesday when we just strolled in, we were stopped at the gate and asked to pay a fee. 

'For what?’ was our first ‎reaction. 

Fiona and Emmanuel Hitting It

We were then politely told by the bouncers at the door that it was a club day and there's a gate fee of 5000 RWF - that's about 1500 naira. We then asked why the club didn't ask us for money the other night and we were told it was because Tuesday wasn't a club day. If we pay 5000RWF for entry fee, how much we wan take drink?

We then decided to head to another club. Just then, one of the bar attendants, Diane, came out of the club and met us as we were about leaving. Now, there's a story behind Diane that I had left out from Day 4 of the diary. She's a part 2 student in one of the universities in Kigali. Attending to customers at the bar was a part time job for her to make ends meet. Both of us had been getting along that Tuesday evening. In fact, we had even planned on going to see a movie together ‎before Fiona arrived and more or less stole the show. 

Back to Saturday night, Dianne was surprised we were about leaving. We told her the reason why and then she asked us to wait a minute. She proceeded to talk to the cashier and bouncers at the door and after a few minutes, she told us we were free to come in. E clear say she tell dem say omo these people get money ooo. Wetin dem go spend for inside big pass this gate fee when una wan ask so. 

Emma Enjoy Sha

Anyway, we got in. Took our seats and ordered drinks. There were more people than we saw on Tuesday. Unfortunately, ‎unlike Tuesday, the DJ was playing songs that didn't really tickle our fancy. I tried reaching Fiona cos I couldn't find her in but she didn't pick her calls. At about 2 am, she finally arrived looking all beautiful. She apologised for coming late and then sat down for a drink. We talked a bit and she more or less insinuated she would love to go home with me.  At that point, I had a decision to make. Do I miss out totally on having a good friend in Dianne or take Fiona home? For the next hour or so that we stayed at the club, as the rest of my crew where busy flirting and dancing with the pretty ladies around, I kept wondering what exactly to do. Just then Fiona's cousin arrived. She was amazingly beautiful with hips Shakira could die for. Some of the guys that tried talking to her were met with a brick wall of 'pay me 200 dollars or nothing.'

Eh? 200 Kini? My mind was made up afterwards. I paid for the drinks for herself and her cousin and then opened her bag and dropped a little change for their transport and then our crew left the club. When we got downstairs, I asked Emmanuel to go back up for me and get Dianne's phone number. We were already friends on Facebook and I could chat there with her. But for about 3 days now, my Facebook account was blocked and so only way I could talk to her was getting her number. And I didn’t want to do that with Fiona present. You no women and their wahala. Emmanuel returned with the number and I saved it. Only for me to get to the hotel, dial the number and discovered that it was Fiona's number....

Sighs! I’d have to go to K Club again cos

Acting High Commissioner and I

Sunday morning went by without much hassle. I planned not to step out of the house all day cos I was still feeling a bit of hang over from the lack of proper sleep. Kelechi and Emeka insisted on going to watch the Rwanda vs Morrocco game for that day but as tempting as that was, I decided against it. Nothing significant happened for the rest of the afternoon apart from writing my diary until Nigeria's Acting High Commissioner Ferdinand Nwonye came visiting. Highlights of his visit were him promising to provide a bus for us to take us to Rubavu, venue of Nigeria's next game. We took pictures with him after having an interview session. 

As I got back to the room, I called my good friend Chris Green, the NFF technical and developmental committee chief who was the only NFF member still in Rwanda. He said he wasn't feeling too good and I offered to go visit him. So off I went to the bathroom to have a shower and proceeded to Serena Hotels to see him. I got there 16 minutes past 6 and he jokingly told me he'd give me a red card for not coming at 6 as promised. We watched the Arsenal vs Chelsea game together with him taunting me bout Metersacker's red card and all. After the game, we talked a little about the seeming crisis in the NFF and at about 9 pm, I left for UTC to hang out with the boys. Toyosi, Emmanuel, Kelechi, Rotimi, 2 Complete Sports guys (I don't know their name yet) ‎and I chatted for another 2 hours or so before we all decided it was time to go home. 

MONDAY - RUBAVU TRIP... 

The bus promised by Nigeria's Acting High Commissioner arrived at about 7 am as we were all set to leave. Toyosi came from his own hotel to meet us at Grilla ‎. Unfortunately for him, he left his CAF accreditation tag at his hotel. So we begged the driver to take us through his route so he could get it. TVC's (or is it Nairabet’s) George Essien was nowhere to be seen. So someone called him to find out where he was. Oga dey him hotel dey lounge come dey tell us make we wait for like one hour. We told him point blank if he doesn't get to Toyosi's hotel by the time we get there, he would have to find a way to Rubavu himself.  We set off for the journey at about 8 am. With almost all the Nigerian journalists in the bus, it obviously was never going to be a dull moment. We had Rosemary, a worker at Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry, who volunteered to be our guide. 

The road leading to Rubavu turned out a narrow one way with loads of dangerous corners and hilly slopes. To be honest, I was both scared and excited at the same time all through the journey. I was quite curious about how buses plied that route and avoided accidents. Then someone explained that he had been told the buses have specific time of departures from their terminal. The timing is spaced such that few buses are on the road at the same time. Rwanda is indeed a nation of orderliness. 

George and I

After about an hour, we stopped at Nyirangrama to rest. We took the time to snap pictures and stretch our legs. I went down to get bananas which are sold at 100 RWF that's about 25/30 naira for one piece.  I bought about 4 pieces. Ate one and there was a dust bin by the corner. Orderliness at its highest order!

We proceeded on the journey and got to Rubavu about two hours later. Rosemary our guide took us to a hotel, CAS‎FXN, reportedly owned by Roman Catholic Church, Stella Marris. After settling, we then decided to visit the Lake Kivu which was just a stone's throw from us. In fact, the Super Eagles hotel is just opposite the lake. For the next 3 hours or thereabout we absolutely had the fun of our lives.

Loads To Eat And Drink

Situated on the border between Rwanda and DR Congo, Lake Kivu offered a wonderful tourist attraction. From where we were seated, we could see buildings from a town in the DR Congo. The view was absolutely amazing plus getting to watch people swim. Remi Kisu (of the cable.ng) lamented how she would have brought her swimming trunks to join the swimming part. Toby (LMC reporter) was more interested in taking a drive on a speed boat but needed 9 other volunteers. Nobody even answer am sef. Instead we ordered for all kinds of food and drinks, watched the Congo DR/Rwandan ladies dancing to number of Naija tunes. Some of us even threatened not to go for the Super Eagles pre-match conference scheduled that evening. Somehow, we managed to drag ourselves to the stadium but not before getting our hands stamped (to allow us free entry later after we paid 200 RWF earlier) cos we were told there would be strip dancers later at night. We arrived the pre-match conference of the Guineans just as it was about to end. The CAF coordinator at the Rubavu Stadium, veteran Nigerian broadcaster Aisha, chided us about coming late and proceeded to lecture us about the essence of punctuality (some of us for punch am like say dem give dem chance).

 

Sunday Oliseh arrived 45 minutes later for the Super Eagles presser. Alongside him were his technical assistant, Tijani Babangida and Super Eagles media manager Toyin Ibitoye. After answering about 3 questions, Aisha asked if there were any more. For about 5 seconds, there was a deafening silence. Just then, it occurred to me I had a pre-planned question. I meant to ask that after the Nigeria vs Guinea game. But with the split-second silence, I just raised my hands. And that’s when the presser got a little bit hotter….

To be continued……

My Kigali Diary is an account of my coverage of activities at the 2016 Africa Nations Championship This blog is a recap of Saturday night, Sunday and Monday.

-Ufuoma

My Kigali Diary - Day 7: Rwanda Genocide Memorial

Unlike the last two days, Saturday morning was a bit warmer. I had woken up feeling feverish the last two days as a result of the cold. But Friday night into Saturday turned out different. In fact, I was damn too tired following the exhaustion of match day activities to even remember putting on my cardigan. I practically dozed off on the bed and it felt really cool waking up on Saturday morning without the usual rush of trying to edit sounds and send stories or prepare to receive calls from any of the CoolWazobiaInfo Group. 

At Kigali Genocide Memorial

After much postponement, it was all agreed we would pay a visit to the Rwanda Genocide Memorial. 12 pm was the time agreed. There was enough time for me to finish up work on My Kigali Diary of the previous day. Since I was dependant on Emeka's computer, I had to wait till he was done with his diary (nna, no so so diary we come Kigali come write?). For me though, the trick I'd learnt to work around this was typing major part of the work using my BlackBerry. Then, send it via email from one of my accounts to the other. Get the mail from the system, put on Microsoft WordPad and then edit and finish up the process. Quite hectic I have to admit, but the joy of reading all the comments and seeing how many anxiously wait for the next edition, beats whatever 'stress' involved in getting it done. Matter of fact is, I should have completed at least a novel by now, but I'm damn right lazy and the world's greatest procrastinator. If only there was a prize for that. 

Anyway, back to Saturday morning. At the point where the diary was almost complete, we got news the Super Eagles would be training at 2 pm. Just before then, Kelechi, Emeka and I were already looking ahead to how the team's final group game would affect us. Super Eagles play Guinea on Tuesday at 4pm local time (3pm Nigeria time) in Rubavu - that's like 164 kilometres from the capital Kigali – about 3 hours drive. We deliberated on whether or not we should leave Kigali on match day or go on Monday to meet up with the pre-match conference as well as final training session. Somehow, our plan of visiting the memorial almost changed all of a sudden. I was of the opinion that there was no point going to the Rwanda Genocide Memorial and dash out after an hour or two. Instead, it was preferable we go for the training, get all the interviews we can get, forget the presser on Monday and just go straight to Rubavu on match day. However, Kelechi insisted on going to the memorial and going to Rubavu on Monday to meet the pre-match presser. That yeye boy can be an a** sometimes as he was a bit aggressive about not postponing the memorial visit. 

So the memorial it was then. We got to the location after about 25 minutes motor bike ride. We were met at the reception by Venessa – a dark skinned lady who welcomed us warmly. She proceeded to tell us give us a brief history of the memorial. According to Venessa, about two hundred and fifty nine thousand people where buried where we were standing. She also told us the memorial was opened in 1999 but officially commissioned in 2004 to mark 10 year anniversary of the genocide. 

Me Staring at Some of the Dead

At that point, the magnitude of it all began to set it. 259k people where I am standing? Lord have mercy!

She then told us the rules and regulations. First, we could get an audio guide for 11,000 Rwandan Francs (RWF) - that’s about 15 dollars or 4,500 naira. It was optional though but Kelechi and I decided to pay for it. We also had to pay if we would take pictures ‎inside the memorial archives. For that, we needed 20 dollars, about 6,000 naira or 15,000 RWF. Just then it dawned on me: do we even have relics from our own Biafran Civil War? Is there anything like a Civil War Museum in Enugu - capital of the then Biafran State? I imagined the amount of revenue the memorial was generating on a daily basis and how we probably would have also. Truth is, Nigeria still has a long way to go in terms of diversifying our economy. I digress. 

Back to Venessa. We all contributed the cash needed for taking pictures and she duly informed us we would watch a ten minute video before proceeding inside. And that's when our journey to the horrendous imagery that was the Rwanda Genocide, began. You can pride yourself about reading a lot about the 1994 massacre or better still you may have watched the popular movie Hotel Rwanda; but none of these comes close to watching real victims of this dastardly act recount their stories. ‎

There was the young man who was 16 at the time. He lost both parents. Another was a little boy who watched his mum and sister get slaughtered right before him. The most touching story however, was a woman who recounted how she lost her husband and 3 kids after she was assaulted by their invaders led by her neighbours.  Her husband was god-father to the children of the supposed neighbour and the man in turn godfather to her own children. But that fateful April 1994, just when she thought her family could seek refuge with their neighbor, the man was the one that led the attack on them.

How sad!

Murdered In Cold Blood

We then proceeded inside as we got more information about how it all started. Apparently, the deep seated hatred between the groups in the country had been sown by colonialists. The Belgians and Germans who first settled in what is now known as Rwanda found a way to separate the tribes with several criteria including the number of cows you have. According to quotes in the museum archive walls, persons who had 10 cows and above where described as Tutsis while if you have anything less, you were Hutu. That animosity from the onset continued for well over many years until the bubble finally burst. On April 6^th, 1994 the airplane carrying Juvenal Habyarimana , the President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira , the Hutu President of Burundi, was shot down and both presidents died when the plane crashed. According to the info in the audio we were listening to, till date, no one knows for sure who was responsible for the act. What followed in the early hours of the next day, the 7^th, remains one of Africa’s deadliest massacres. Neighbours turned on each other, friends turned enemies and even children were not spared. With mass media employed as a propaganda tool, the seed of hatred which had been built over the years manifested in such deadly fashion as anything cruel you can think of

Murder From A Priest?

Newspaper Editor Hassan Ngeze and broadcaster Ferdinand Nahima were most responsible for the hate speech which helped fuel the crisis. People fled to churches and stadiums to seek refuge but that only made the killings a lot easier. In fact, some catholic priests helped murder their congregation. The case of Father Seromba who gave an order to bulldoze his own church and kill the entire congregation inside almost brought tears to my eyes.

Preserved Remains of the Dead

An estimated 1 million people lost their lives in the space of 3 months from that fateful April date. Even the Nigerian Civil War which claimed as many people lasted over a 3 year period. Makes you wonder why some people back home in Nigeria still go all about Biafra this and that. However, I have to admit that the clamour for Biafra 40 years after the war is testament to the fact that Nigeria has failed to deal with the issues that led to the civil war. There is still a deep seated hatred amongst all the tribes in Nigeria. I am Isoko. I was born in Lagos, left at age three for the East; lived 14 years in Igbo land; went back to Lagos and lived among the Yorubas for another 13 years and have stayed a few weeks or thereabouts in the North. Presently, I live in Rivers State the last three years and from my sojourn all across the country, my humble opinion is that we Nigerians still have deep seated distrust and in some cases, hatred for each other.

Unlike us, Rwandese have moved on 22 years after the genocide. Its President, Paul Kagame, has overseen a massive reconstruction of the country such that people, who for over 70 years fought themselves to a standstill, now relate to each other perfectly well. The Western World - who it must be said turned a blind eye despite warnings about the impending massacre – has donated massively to Rwanda. Kigali is reputed to be the cleanest city in Africa. I am a witness! The difference between Paul Kagame and all the leaders we’ve had since the Biafran Civil War is to use President Buhari’s favourite word, kwarupshion!

Kelechi Staring at Pictures of the Dead

Up until 6pm, Kelechi was still wondering how they have been able to live among themselves after such a horrific experience. Meet any Rwandese on the street and ask him/her about tribe and the emphatic answer you will get is “I am Rwandese.” Maybe, just maybe, we can copy a lot from this tiny African nation

FRIDAY NIGHT

Fiona’s question about coming over to the hotel did leave me confused for a split second. As much as it would have been nice to have her around, I knew I would be asking for trouble accepting her request to come over. It was already past 9pm and though she could still go back home, I just knew it would be a damn mistake allowing her to come. So I politely said: “I’m sorry darling, I am damn too tired. Hopefully we would see Saturday night at K Club.”

Weapons Used to Commit Genocide

I could feel a bit of disappointment in her voice but e better say I no take my own hand bring wahala for myself. I am sure a lot of the guys reading this don’t believe this. Hahahahaha! E concern una oooo

SATURDAY NIGHT

We all came back home after the Genocide Memorial visit exhausted from the shocking revelations. It didn’t stop us making plans for the night though. It was going to be Toyosi’s birthday on Sunday and he said it wouldn’t be a bad idea going out to celebrate. First off, we all went to eat at Eden Restaurant and thereafter retired to rest in preparation for the night groove.

At about 10 pm, we left for UTC, our meeting point. Some minutes later, Toyosi and Rotimi came to join us. We weren’t sure where to go at first. Emmanuel wanted us to go somewhere different since we went to K Club the other night. Toyosi was of the opinion that since we already had friends at K Club and we could convince the DJ again to play mainly Naija songs, K Club was the better option. He then asked me to call Fiona to know if she was coming with her friends.

“Hello Dear,” I said as soon as she picked up the phone. “Where art thou?”

“Hi Ufuoma, I can barely hear you,” she replied as I could hear the sound of a vehicle in motion.

“Where are you,” I said almost screaming.

“I am on my way to K Club,” she responded.

To be continued……

My Kigali Diary is my account of activities of my coverage of the 2016 Africa Nations Championship in Rwanda. This blog is for Saturday, 23rd January 2016. There are 3 other blogs just below or click the home page.

- Ufuoma.

My Kigali Diary - Day 6: Match Day Blues

Its Match Day! Yippeeeeeee! Friday morning was just as cold as Thursday. But the thought of going to see my darling team, The Super Eagles superseded whatever cold was out there. To be honest though, the cold sha no be here. I always feel feverish every morning and Friday wasn't any different. Anyway, my day was already planned: work on Day 5 of this diary, have a haircut, go to eat at UTC (United Trade Centre- in case you're reading this for first time) to eat, then head to stadium. Number one on the list was done with ease and posted. Cue all the reactions including some people threatening not to allow me go to Ethiopia and Brazil for next set of tournaments. Dem no know anything. Me wa‎y don plan Brazil this July, Gabon next January and Ethiopia in 2020? ‎

Waiting For Light

Salon was next. Emeka and I decided to stroll down there. No, not really, Emeka was going to the Bureau de Change at the airport to get us some Rwandan Francs. At the salon, I was fortunate that the barber could speak English a little. I quickly told him, like I would any new guy using my clipper, that the instrument was faulty. Power button was bad so as soon as it is plugged in, it never goes off except the plug is taken off from socket.  He nodded his head and got to work. A few minutes into the job, power at the salon went off. As a Naija boy, I was expecting the barber to go put on the generator. But instead, dude told me, “Just wait for 5 minutes, the power would be back.”

Barber Working On Clipper

Now that was a new experience. Well, I had no choice but to wait. I turned to twitter to give that update. Next thing I saw, the barber started working on my clipper. He turned to me and muttered a few words. I could barely comprehend what he was saying. At least his gesticulations suggested he was showing me what was wrong with my clipper and that he would fix it. Just then, the power came back on. And as I was about to update on twitter that it was back, it went off again. Came back on and off a few times before it finally settled. Finally, I had the haircut and was ready for match day. 

By the time Emeka and I got to the hotel, our other colleagues were ready to go to the stadium. In fact, we met Toby (who's reporting for the LMC), Kisu (who's with The Cable), Charles (New Telegraph) and Elebute (Freelancer) at the hotel gate trying to get a motor bike. I dashed to the bathroom to shower. It turned out every other person was practically waiting for me to be ready. That feeling when others think you're the 'woman' who's wasting their time can be such a terrible one. Hahaha! Well, I tried to be as fast as I could so I wouldn't be tagged the 'woman' of the group. 

‎

Cab Guys At Kigali Airport

‎Kelechi, Emeka, Rotimi, Julius (Who's with The Nation/Sporting Life) and I were finally ready to head for the Nyamirambo Stadium by a few minutes to 1 pm. When we got the gate, the bike men there insisted on taking 1500 Rwandan Francs. For the same trip wey we dey enter 1000 or 1200 every day? Na Craze dey worry dem!

Reminds me of the night I landed at the Kigali International Airport. First, I went to the Bureau de Change just outside the airport to get some Rwandan Francs (RWF). With a dollar changing for 760 RWF, I decide to change 60 dollars for a start. I got just over 45000 RWF. For my mind I dey think say I don get better money. Reality started dawning when I bought an MTN Sim for 1500 RWF(about 400 naira) and was told I would need about 8000 RWF (about 2500/3000) airtime for data subscription. Then the cabs refused to take anything less than 5000 RWF (about 1500 naira) to take me to Grilla Hotel. I finally found one who accepted 3000 (about 1200). Guess what? Distance from airport to hotel wasn’t more than Ojota to Ketu or Rumuokuta to Rumuola Under Bridge. E no even reach sef!

Press Match Tickets

With that experience, we didn’t even bother with the bike men at our gate. We just trekked down the hilly slope to the junction. We did get a bike to the stadium half way into the trekking for 1200 RWF (about 300 naira). At the stadium, I quickly went to get my match tickets – not the normal ones for fans but ones that would give me access to the media mixed zone where players come after the game as well as the major press conference. With that done, I went down to the restaurant across the Stadium. As I got there, I saw Kelechi, Emeka and Rotimi were already ‘razzling’ two babes.

Me? I wasn’t so interested joor. Hungry dey catch me. I ate. Stayed a while and went back to the stadium. The Super Eagles were already out for training. Just then, my heartbeat increased. For the Niger game, I wasn’t so perturbed. But having watched Tunisia live in the first game, I knew they would be our biggest threat in the group. More so, paying for a new apartment was also dependent on us topping the group like I noted yesterday.

Anyway, when I saw starting the line-up with Chisom Chikatara in the first 11, I wasn’t as confident as the tension increased. Good thing is he did get a goal and of course increased his popularity as we managed a point from the game. The amount of love Kolanut boy received at the press box was just amazing. In fact, at the pre match presser a day before, a Tunisian journalist told Kelechi and I he had been mandated by Tunisian club Esperance to get Chikatara’s contact. Good luck to him!

Press Stand, Nyamirambo Stadium

After the game, I decided to go the Mixed Zone while my CoolWazobiaInfo colleague Kelechi went to the general presser. It was really fun finally getting to be in a mixed zone at an international competition. This trip for me was all about getting that experience and it’s been a worthwhile trip. I was able to talk to Man-of-the-Match Osas Okoro, Austin Oborakpor (who I secured an exclusive lifestyle interview with for a later date), Paul Onobi and coach Sunday Oliseh.

Rest of the day went smoothly. Hurriedly sent unedited audio of all interviews to the CoolWazobiaInfo group; called into the Nigeria Info PH studio; watched the first half of Guinea vs Niger and then left for UTC to go have dinner with Toyosi and his troublesome cameraman Emmanuel. As we were discussing over dinner, events of the previous night at the bar came flooding.

Super Eagles Training Before Facing Tunisia

“Do you know how we won the 2013 AFCON?”

“Do you know the referee for our last group game against Ethiopia was changed by CAF twice?”

“How on earth could Keshi start bragging about AFCON win when some underground work was actually done to aid that championship victory?”

“Why would the minister's PA be tweeting stuff from a supposed close door meeting?”

“Do you know Sports Minister Solomon Dalung and Chris Giwa were former colleagues?”

“Is the supposed peace meeting a plot against Amaju Pinnick?”

Those were some of the questions members of my crew asked as we sat down at the bar adjacent to Eden Resturant were we had just had dinner. Clive our Ugandan friend was the odd man out. Odd cos he was only one not drinking beer and more odd cos na pidgin we been dey speak. Although he tried to grasp a bit, we seemed just too fast for him. 

I decided to try something I hadn't taken before. So I went for Mutzig. Kelechi and Toyosi ordered for Heineken while Emeka went for Tusker. Funny enough, none of us had more than one bottle. But for two hours or there about, some of the dirty secrets of Nigerian football were laid bare on our table. I'm sorry, I can't reveal anything here. I no go fit pay for libel when dem come for me. Make una no vex. 

Fiona called in the middle of our discussion. Have to say it felt good hearing her voice again‎. I asked where she was and she said home. Then she asked if I would take her out. I was already out so I told her she could come join us where we were. As I was giving her directions, Emeka interjected and said she shouldn't come alone ooo. She then promised to come with her “beautiful” cousin. See how boys face light up when I relay message? Kai! 

With Fiona

We waited for more than an hour that Thursday evening expecting to see Fiona and her supposed beautiful cousin. When we just couldn’t wait anymore, we all decided to retire. Five minutes after I got to the hotel, my phone rang. It was Fiona on the line.

‘Hello Ufuoma, I’m about to start coming,” she said.

“Sorry darling. We've already left the bar. I am at my hotel now.”

“Oh, ok. Can I come to the hotel to meet you?” ……..

To be continued…..

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My Kigali Diary is my account of activities of my coverage of the 2016 Africa Nations Championship in Rwanda. Today's blog is Day 6, Friday 22nd January. Two other blogs have been written before this. You can catch up just below...

-Ufuoma