Thick Madam And Her Iphones

I sat on the long form in front of my lodge, wondering how I will navigate my way to the local government secretariat for I have never been there. I knew the town it was situated in but I don’t actually know how to and where to enter bus that will take me there without wasting my meagre resources. 

      I was given project topic that warranted me to interview some of the key staffs of the local government area. My school is about three towns away from my village and another three from the local government secretariat. 

I don’t have money to engage in bus trial and error navigation and the drivers at the motor park were not friendly types. I wanted to know where to get on and off the bus. I decided that the only way to do that intelligently was to stop at my aunt house in the village and got the information from her.

         As I entered her compound, I met her taking breakfast with the husband, I greeted and was offered food which I did not refused for my stomach was empty. I narrated my ordeal and was put right on the right course to follow for she might have guessed why I was seeking for the information. 

       On entering the secretariat compound, I saw many people under one mighty canopy by the East wing and another group in the hall by the west and both were lost in prayers. On enquiry, I was told that it is the protocol of the secretariat to pray for about one hours thirty minutes every Tuesday morning. One wonders why they shared themselves into two groups while talking to the same Jesus.

After the end of the prayers around 10 after 10, they all gathered in the west hall for twenty minutes briefing by who I believed must be their spiritual guard. Then, around 11:00 am, I was ushered into the officer of the Secretary to the chairman who attended to me and gave me all I needed. On getting to the ground floor from the man 4th floor office, there was about seven students from my school that came for the same reason I was there I guessed. 

        I decided to wait for them for two of the seven is from my department. I went to the canteen opposite the main building and sat there without ordering nothing for frugality was my bedmate then. Shortly, I saw the same group heading towards a two storey building adjacent to the main building, I wondered what they business inside there was. They came out almost immediately heading towards the same building they left not up to three minutes earlier. 

I concluded from their demeanors that their business inside wasn’t successful. Maybe the person they were sent to wasn't around or what they wanted wasn't given to them. 

Why wasn’t I sent to the building?,  I rechecked my questionnaire to be sure I got all I needed from there for I don’t intend visiting there again on the same purpose. Everything was in order, only my inquisitive mind was in disorders. To quieten it, I turned to the girl working in the canteen and put my questions to her:

“ Excuse me please, I begun. What is that two storey building over there for?”

“ For computer workes and none regular staffs offices”

“ None regular staffs?”

“ like security, sweepers, grass and flower cutters.”

“ Oh, thanks a lot”

“You are welcome”

        They came down again few minutes after entering the main building and about four gathered around the flag pole in front of the building while two started towards my direction. On approaching, they were murmuring to themselves and I asked what happened:

“ Could you imagine telling us to photocopy and submit our questionnaires to the sweepers and come back in three days time”

“ You decided on what?”

“ We decided to wait until they finished their brainstorming as he said. Where do we have money and time to come here again?”

“ When will their session be over?”

“ He said he doesn’t know”

I dusted my ass bid all of them healthy wait for that was what it looked like to me. I found my way back to the campus went to work organizing myself and the work before me. 

        All that was fifteen 

Years ago, and most of those students have disappeared from my radar. Some for fifteen years, some less. In fact, the girl I had that conversation with is now Secretary of the same local government. I wondered how she is handling the information hunters that came her way. 

You need to see her now to understand fully what passage of time does to people. She is now one of those ladies that people refers to as ‘Thick Madam.’ She looks like Equator, and has this habits of juggling two iPhones while carrying empty hand bag. She had this habit of demonstrating with her hand while speaking. 

       When we first met again at the state house Assembly complex, she was representing her local government and I covering the convention. She was with the other local government representatives and they gathered near the entrance talking while waiting to be ushered in. 

She kept glancing towards my direction where I stood with my colleagues over and over again, I turned my attention to her, wondering where I have seen the face too. Suddenly, she started marching towards us and with an outstretched hands, she introduced herself. 

Immediately, her younger self stood before me and 15 years old conversation with her came flooding back. This was two years ago. 

Acquaintance reestablished, and others were reacquainted through her too. 

    I am freelance reporter for many years now. I have covered many events in the state for about 14 years. family, private and government events, hunting for news to pitch to the media houses. I am a kind of naïve person that believed what my eye is telling me more than my ears. I have covered events where my colleagues were spreading money as if it is being plucked from a tree. I usually wonders how those monies were being made, I rested my query on pitching more stories than I. 

     What, where and how they pitch those stories, I don’t know. I met more road block than I could recount in this pitching business. I never made such huge money till one of my acquaintance opened my eye on the money making secret of this profession. She taught me how to pitch one story to multiple media houses home and abroad. Thanks to the Equator lady for her connections. 

 Thick Madam is thick madam in most settings. I must confess that this my local government woman is not actually local in her connections. She Is widely Internationally acquainted abd connected within fifteen years of leaving school. 

     Friends, what you’re reading is just summarized version of my re-acquaintance with the iPhone juggling Madam. I was surviving before that chanced encounter happened, today, I have survived.