As a first timer, landing on the red soil of Enugu was like being on a strange terrain that is totally different. Amidst chat with Stella Sawyerr of Tell Magazine and Pius Okeosis, a former colleague here at Business Day, and Wole Shadare of The Guardian (who has never stopped telling me he is a fan of this column), I walked towards the arrival hall of the Akanu Ibiam 'International' Airport. But what first hit me was the reality that our luggage were conveyed from the aircraft to the arrival hall manually. There were no conveyor belts, nothing! The men were sweating it out as they strained themselves silly to lift the luggage from the motor car. It was a sorry sight for an "international airport?"
Anyway, we were to eventually survive the luggage "dismay and surprise" as we drove on into town proper on the Coal City BRT bus. It was not exactly a bad ride; at least it afforded us the opportunity to see a few areas in Enugu. At a point, I almost asked myself what happened to the much touted rapid development taking place in Enugu! On the other hand, I reasoned that where we drove through to the Nike Lake Resort, our hotel for the weekend, was the outskirt of town, as such, one may not necessarily expect much in terms of development from the area.
The atmosphere at Nike Lake Resort was though breathtaking. The lake was more like the much needed soothing balm to our aching legs and famished bodies, especially under the hot Enugu sun. Lunch however came rather late since we all left our homes without breakfast and we could not help but heave a sigh of relief when the waiters at long last thought it wise to uncover the ceremonial pans and asked us to help ourselves to lunch. The meal was tasty and I could not turn down Deji Bademosi's (of Channels TV) offer to 'wash down' the meal with a bottle of Amstel Malta he left in my care while he went to help himself with lunch. The day was crowned with the Heroes Night also held by the Lake side which had the likes of Prince Tony Momoh and Ambassador Segun Olusola in attendance.
The following morning was equally interesting but our supposed tour of Enugu city left a bitter taste in our mouth. Our journey began shortly after breakfast at about 11am. We though seemed excited at the thought of touring Enugu and for a first timer like me, it was exciting, as our mini convoy; heavily guarded by policemen (for fear of kidnappers I hear is the beginning of wisdom in Enugu) moved in the full glare of Enugu township that was alive to the rhythm of the scorching sun.
Our first point of call was the newly constructed bridge at New Market road.
There, the government official who was on one of the buses got off to explain to
us the state of the road before the construction of the new bridge. As if that
was not enough, the convoy moved to new estates being constructed in some parts
of the town, we could not believe what we saw and those who got off came back
with a disheartening testimony. After that, we moved to some unknown sites in
other parts of town. By this time, the whole bus had become restless because we
were convinced we could no longer put up with what we were being shown.
"Na wa o!" exclaimed Siju Alabi of Super Screen TV. We were shown some funny sites I cannot make anything out of. "What kind of tour is this?" someone else queried. "We thought we would be shown some historical sites and monuments. What's all these?" we almost asked in unison
In spite of our disdain for the circus show of shame, we were forced to watch, our journey that morning did not come to an end until we were made to visit the stadium where we were told point blank by the guards that we were not expected. This remark angered us all such that we asked to be returned to the hotel.
The state governor was to add salt to our collective injury when he refused to show up at the award night. We were told by Ambassador Segun Olusola that the governor was suffering from food poisoning which he contracted while on one of the campaign tours for the local government elections. It was really sad. If the governor could not make the event, does that also preclude his deputy from representing him? The truth must be told! It was a crazy tour of Enugu and those of us who thought we could write something meaningful about the state as a good tourist destination were highly disappointed. Honestly, there was nothing to write about, except this!
