Jos Diary: Chilling Jos, Crisis Lagos

 As I stepped down from the aircraft, the gusty cold wind hit me. The sun was at its peak but it was mild.

I had longed for it for 13 years and when it did smack me, it was worth waiting for.

Rayfield Road, Jos

When you have experienced the harsh weather that is Lagos or Kano, having this sea-cool like breeze hit you will come with a measure of satisfaction like it did for me. 

This is exactly why I accepted Doris offer, I thought to myself.

After accepting to make the trip that Monday, I didn’t get any feedback again for another two days.

The same energy Doris showed when she asked for my consent was missing 48 hours after.

That got me a bit agitated.

I needed to be certain if I was still travelling because a lot of things needed to be sorted out.

Tunde's Shot of the Year at Elugushi Beach

Would my newsroom beach party still hold?

How many days will I take off work?

As a rule, I do not joke with my job. It is one of the lessons I imbibed from my late father – Andrew Egbamuno.

“Ufuoma, never, ever joke with your job,” he used to say.

Well, let’s just say I am where I am today, managing the newsroom of arguably, the three biggest radio stations in Lagos, because I do not have coconut head like the present generation.

Haha!

Anyway, I felt really uneasy because a lot of things were left hanging in the balance.

So, I called Doris, late Wednesday evening.

Delectable Doris

"Anty, what exactly are you and your MD doing? Are y’all sure you still want me to come to Jos,” I asked when she found time away from Cool/Wazobia/Arewa Kano newsroom to pick my call.

“Boss, yes we do ooo. It’s just that my MD has been unable to get a flight for you for this weekend,” Doris replied.

“You know how it is na getting direct flights to Jos. It looks like we may have to shift this training till next week.”

A week later, I stood in front of the arrival hall of the Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos waiting for the contact Doris had promised would pick me up. 

As I waited for Femi, a middle aged man in an all-black Senator and a younger man walked up to me.

“Welcome to Jos,” he said as he shook my hands.

Yakubu Gowon Airport, Jos.

“My name is Mr. Clinton and this is my Station Manager, Pedro,” the man said with smiles beaming all over his face.

I did not need anyone to tell me Mr. Clinton was the MD of Jay FM, Jos. The excitement on his face gave it away.

For my mind I dey feel like one celeb.

“I have had a really busy day. We just saw off President Jonathan who was here for our event.

“Pedro will take you to your hotel and provide everything you need. I’d see you most likely tomorrow,” he added and then left.

The journey to the hotel was a smooth ride. 

Unlike me, I didn’t have all the time to enjoy the view of the city during the ride because I had a lot of fire to quench.

The Ojodu-Berger accident that killed two students earlier in the week brought with it too many issues.

I had my reporter Emmanuel out on the field trying to follow up a lead we had got the previous day.

I had a bit of a clash with the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos Governor that morning as I was heading to the airport as a result of the Ojodu-Berger story we had ran.

And that Friday was the deadline to submit appraisals of my newsroom personnel to HR.

I never even do anyone.

And just as I got to the hotel and dropped my bags, I received some WhatsApp messages from the office that got me raging...

 

To be continued!

Jos Diary: When You Can’t Say No to an Adorable City

 The ringing phone cut short the interesting conversation I was having with Nnenna, my hardworking and efficient PA.

The person on the other side was someone I couldn’t afford to ignore.

I had just met her about three weeks prior to this day but it felt like I had known her all my life.

“Boss, I need your help,” Doris said with a shaky voice that showed off she assumed I couldn’t say no.

I’m a broke ass, I thought to myself. If this babe is thinking of asking me for money, she better think again, ooo.

I had less than 20k in my account and just over 100k in my 03 Credit Card which I was counting on to pay for my new lenses at the eye-clinic I was driving to.

 “Can you go to Jos this weekend?” she asked with the sweetest sounding voice she could muster bringing me back to reality.

Jos ke, I thought to myself.

“What’s happening in Jos?” I managed to ask

“My former MD isn't happy with every staff in his newsroom,” Doris said.

“My former colleagues are hard working and it will hurt me if this suspension remains.

“Would you be willing to do the same training and more for them?

“How much will you charge?”

Doris Izang is a colleague I had just met a few weeks earlier when I went to Kano for a training. She stood  out from the rest of the park – of course because she was beautiful – but that’s not all.

She just had this radiating smile that you couldn’t help but notice.

And notice, I did.

Since my return to Lagos, we have kept the communication channel and in that short period, I’ve come to realise what a beautiful soul she is.

So, when she asked if I could go to Jos, I didn’t even need to think about it, I knew for a certainty that I would.

All I just wanted to know were the details and what exactly is expected of me.

I had gone to Jos for the first time in 2008 as a final year student and fell in love with the city. I’d been looking for a chance to return and here was someone begging me to go.

Before nko, why won’t I?

Plus, my good friend Andrew Randa and his Mees Palace team were on the last leg of the annual Jos Chilling festival that weekend.

Everything just felt right.

“When does your MD want me to come?” I asked as it was a Monday.

“If you can come this weekend, that will be fine,”  Doris replied.

“He’d sort out all your logistics, all he just wants is a commitment so he can just start the process,” she added.

My newsroom had a beach party planned for that weekend. I had postponed it twice, and it looked like there would be just another postponement.

But Lagos beach party can wait fes, lemme go and enjoy Jos Chilling and cold, I concluded in a split second in my head.

“Tell your MD I will come this weekend but I need to speak to him so I will get all the details that I need,” I said.

And that’s how the plan to go to Jos began.

To be continued...