Time Calculations

   “ Are you coming tonight?” She screamed into the phone. She probably thought that Mr. Ken wasn’t hearing her above the noise of the vehicles for she noticed from background noises that he was in the bus.

“ I don’t know as of now, I still have a lot to cover today, I will give you an answer in three hours time.”

Mr. Ken Obiakor had been on the road since 6:00am. He knew from experience that Nigerian time is different from the rest of the world. When you’re hosting or being hosted in any occasion, just know that any hour you put on the card means plus one hour. It has became a tradition here now to add one hour on any occasion one is invited. Courts, banks, hospitals, ceremonies etc. Any kind of invitation. 

People don’t like being the first to arrive in any meeting or occasions for they see it as belittling themselves by loitering around waiting for others to show up.

He was invited to lecture the market women on the do’s and don't's of fire prevention. It was scheduled to start around 9am and the journey was two hours journey. He left his house around 6am and got there by 15minutes to 9 but ended up staying another 50 minutes before people began trickling in and the event finally took off around 5 after 10. 

It lasted about two and half hours before he started his home ward journey. It was really a stressful journey but he doesn’t have choice nowadays like most do since after the covid-19 locked down was lifted. Most firms embarked on laying workers off and he was one of the victims of his organization's down sizing. 

He had gotten work in the privately owned firefighting firm after graduation. after his lay off, he had used his contact in getting lectures and demonstration on anything concerning fire out break. Thanks for four years knowledge he garnered in the firm. It has been the means he had used in supporting his family while hoping that his applications to government own firms would be successful. 

He had used the opportunity provided by the occasion to water ground like the saying around here goes. He handed over his contact cards to the organizers of the event and most women he believed has connections. He noted that they were impressed by his presentation and drill demonstration. 

     On disembarking from the bus after two hours plus journey, he entered a restaurant nearby and ordered a plate of fried rice with goat meat. He would have preferred pounded yam and Egusi soup but he still have three invitations to honour, the food would be heave in him. He opted for rice. While on the food, he remembered that he had not returned call to his former classmate as promised. 

She and her husband is organizing Thanks given party for the contract her husband got in supplying spare parts to an oil servicing company in Rivers state. First part of the contract had been successfully executed and they decided to host their friends to little get together. 

While on the food, he did his calculations and decided that attending that get together was practically not possible. He signed, focused on his food and promised to call the lady after meal. 

         On finishing the meal, his phone rang and it was his landlord calling to remind him that his jubilee wedding anniversary has gone half way already, “Where are you?” he demanded.

“ Ah, sorry sir, I am on my way immediately”

30 minutes later, he entered the man compound. After presenting his gifts, and chatting with the celebrants and other guests, he excused himself to attend yet another birthday party of a friends kid. He entered a supermarket and demanded for a toy. 

“ Why is the gift too expensive?” he queried.

“Sir, there are all foreign products”

“foreign products?, you mean to tell me that toys can not be produce here?”

“ No sir, no company like that exist yet”

“ How do you mean, you mean that all these engineers don’t know yet that children toys are hidden treasure?”

“ I am not sure that any foreign companies would listen to their advice to invest in the country sir”

“ I don’t mean partnering with any foreign firm, I mean going it alone”

“ Ah, sir, they don’t have that knowledge and money”

“ How do you mean?, you mean they can’t produce toys?”

“ Maybe manual wooden ones sir,”

“wooden?, I mean like all these ones here”

“ Ah, sir they can not. I think their lecturers don’t teach them these things”

“ Don’t teach them?, ah, these guys can produce real cars for goodness sake”

“ Sir, if they producer, would you buy?, the bridge they built in my village fell within three months and kill six people. No body will buy anything they produce, it is too dangerous”

“ What type of mentality do you have?,, 

“ Sir, this mentality is normal I tell you true. my cousin was among the victims of that bridge. I see a lot of those engineers every evening here, they knew a lot of politics, money and women, not toys”

“ Hand me my gift, I hope you wrapped it well?”

“ sure, it will need scissors to open it”

On getting to the friends building, he noticed a crowds of about 50 or more people gathered in front of the three storey house, he went near to know what was going on. He had only been there for a minutes when suddenly they were rounded by the police vans. Everyone was pushed into the van and taken to the station. On getting to the station, they pushed everyone inside the holding cells after collecting everything on them for safe keeping like they said. 

One hour later, they started calling them out one after the other for questioning. 

Mr. Ken's dilemma was that no one knows where he was. The friend he went to his house don’t even know he was arrested in front of his house, his family don't know too. His phone has been confiscated and Nigerian police and they cell is never anything to write home about.

“ Who is Kenneth here?” one officer asked.

“Yes, I am the one”

“You seems to know a lot of caring friends, they have been calling this line for long now, you are the type of customers we need here. Follow me”

As he picked up the phone, a woman voice barked into his ear; “What happened, are you coming?”