DOZ Chronicles: Rume

I am Rume. And what you’re reading is my story. It’s not the story of my entire life in case you were wondering. It’s a story about a bizarre meeting with one man. Nansak Danjuma. It was quite an insightful event which taught me a thing or two. I hope you glean as many lessons from my story as I have.

It was my final month of the yearlong National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, and, like a few other corps members, I was getting just a little bit anxious as I had yet to secure a job. I spent a large portion of my days and nights in deep reflection on what my life would be like if I left Abuja at the end of my youth service without gainful employment.

Most corps members I spoke to had one absurd suggestion or the other about who to meet and what to do to secure permanent employment. The truth is, I heard all kinds of ideas, some of which I won’t even bother to write here.

Anyway, it was during this period that I met a middle-aged man named Michael Hendricks. He was originally from Nigeria but had spent the better part of his life in America and as such had naturalised. He was on a visit to Nigeria in search of a contract as a friend of his had recently become a very prominent member of the Federal House of Representatives.

Michael was lodging at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Wuse where I happened to be working at the Nigeria Airways ticket desk. If you’re a Nigerian reading this, you can probably guess how long ago this was. This was before the final collapse of Nigeria Airways. We were the last staff of the nation’s flag carrier airline. I don’t know if that is something to be proud of though, as it does give off the impression that we delivered the final straw that broke ‘the camel’s back’. Working with Nigeria Airways was my primary assignment under the National Youth Service Corps scheme, but it was not a job I could keep as the airline was already having management problems and downsizing its workers.

Michael was passing through the foyer where the desks of all the major airlines in the country were stationed and he stopped at my desk. At first, I thought he was interested in making enquiries about our flight times, but soon it became obvious he was interested in me. I was certainly not interested in him. However, as we were talking, I mentioned I was leaving the job in less than one month as my service was coming to an end. He wanted to know if I had secured a permanent job. I said that I hadn’t, and he proceeded to go on and on about his influential friend who he felt sure could get me a job. The man’s name was Nansak Danjuma.

I did not know Nansak Danjuma as I had never met him. But I knew of Nansak Danjuma. Who didn’t? I had heard his name from several quarters. My fellow youth corps members talked about him everywhere I went and from what little I had heard about him, he was not only influential but from a very affluent family and if anyone could get me a job in any organisation I desired to work within the country, he could. He was the man, so to speak.

Michael noticed I had become more attentive and assured me that he could introduce me to Nansak. He added that Nansak was expected to join him for lunch later that afternoon and asked if I would like to come over when I closed from work. I said that I would. It was a Saturday, and on Saturdays, I closed early. We agreed that when I closed at 1 pm, I would make my way upstairs to his room. He provided the room number, and he left.

I was excited, to say the least. I couldn’t believe that after hearing about Nansak Danjuma I would be meeting him in person, and he would help me secure a job and prevent me from joining the unemployment market after my service year. Finally, 1 pm came, and I closed my desk for the weekend and made my way upstairs to Michael’s room.

When I knocked on the door, he opened almost immediately. He was expecting me. He offered me a seat, and I sat and tried to concentrate on the TV show as I wondered how long it would be before Nansak arrived.

Then Michael excused himself and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I felt a bit uneasy, but I shrugged it off. Big mistake. A few minutes later he resurfaced with only a towel around his waist. And might I add, a very small towel?  I began to wonder if I had done the right thing in coming up to his room. He looked like a responsible man, no less than fifty-five years of age and I had assumed he was a decent fellow, but the truth was I knew very little about him and for all I knew he could rape me right inside this room.

If he noticed that I had suddenly become a little tense and sitting on the edge of my chair, he remained silent about it. He walked over to where I sat and reached out a hand to stroke my back.

I jumped to my feet immediately and picked up my handbag as I did.

“I must be on my way now Mr. Hendricks,” I informed him.

He seemed surprised.

“Oh. But why?” he asked and waited for no response. “You only just got here and besides you wanted to meet Nansak who I can confirm is even now on his way. So, what is the hurry? Relax.”

As he spoke, he moved closer and placed both hands on my shoulders trying to draw me towards himself.

“Mr. Hendricks, please stop this at once! I came here because you appeared to be a decent man and I believed you wanted to help me when you said you would introduce me to Nansak.”

“Yes, I do want to help you, and I will introduce you to Nansak. I have told you he is on his way, so why don’t you relax and let’s – “

Let’s nothing! I thought.

The man’s request was becoming crazier with each moment that went by. And frankly, I had heard enough. I did not wait for him to finish; I pushed him away and moved towards the door. I paused as I reached it and turned to look at him.

“You lured me here for sex under the guise of introducing me to Nansak?” It was a question, but I did not require an answer. “Shame on you, Mr. Hendricks.”

He shook his head in disbelief.

“Why are you behaving this way? Why are you doing this? Come on! Surely, you are not a baby. And you are not a virgin either. You should know by now that nothing goes for nothing. It isn’t every day you get an opportunity to meet a man like Nansak Danjuma. Surely, you know how this meeting will change your life. Come on.”

“You want me to sleep with you in exchange for an introduction to Nansak?” I asked although I already knew the answer.

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick grey afro hair.

“And is there anything wrong with that?” He sounded exasperated. “You know what you stand to gain when you meet Nansak.”

“I do,” I confessed. “But I won’t sleep with you.”

He shrugged. “Well then, the ball is in your court. Do as you please. But remember that nothing goes for nothing.”

I opened my mouth to respond but closed it again. I would not respond. I was too disgusted. I turned towards the door and opened it.

“Think carefully about this!” I heard him say as I walked out and shut the door behind me.

As I left the hotel, I was so deep in thought that I didn’t realise I had walked to the end of the road. I had intended to get a taxi just outside the hotel gate, but here I was already at the end of the road. I decided to go across to the other side of the road and hail a taxi from there.

I crossed the slightly busy road and stood on the other side, ready to hail a taxi, when my eye caught a black Toyota Land Cruiser. It was on the opposite side of the road and the driver seemed to have been watching me the entire time because as soon as I looked at him, our eyes locked and he began to make wild gestures with his hands requesting me to wait where I was as he was going to make a U-turn and come to me. I wasn’t sure I had correctly interpreted his ‘sign language’ but as I looked on with a frown on my face, I noticed that he was already indicating and trying to pull out of the traffic, so he could turn and come over to my side of the road.

I found the development rather fascinating. I did not know the fellow although I had to admit that I was flattered because he was the kind most girls dreamt of; tall, dark, and handsome. He had to be tall, his head almost touched the roof of the vehicle, although now that I think about it, he could have been sitting on a cushion. He also looked very rich and young which meant that there was a possibility he was single and available. His eyes never left me, and he continued to signal with his hands for me to wait for him.

Finally, he turned his vehicle around and came to a stop in front of me. He opened the front passenger door and leaned over, and I could see a smile of relief on his face. He appeared delighted to see me even though he didn’t know me. He couldn’t know me. How could he? I had never seen him in my life.

“Please come in. I will take you wherever you are going.”

I hesitated at first, not sure if I should, but he reassured me that he had no plans to harm me.

“Listen, I saw you at this same spot a few days ago, and I tried to turn around to pick you but before I did you had entered a taxi and disappeared. Since that day I have prayed to meet you again, and when I saw you today, I realised it was an answer to my prayer. Please come in, I only want to meet you.”

I got in, and as I put my seatbelt on, I looked around the luxurious interior of the vehicle. What was a bit strange was that the seats were covered in the country’s flag complete with the coat of arms.

“Very impressive,” I muttered under my breath as he drove off. “Are you someone important?”

He shook his head. “No. I am just a government worker,” he said, then asked, “Where am I taking you?”

“Home.”

He took his eyes off the road for a fraction of a second to look at me.

“Where is home?”

“Fort IBB, Asokoro.”

He nodded. “Great. I get to know your house today, so you will never escape from me again.”

“Really?” I asked intrigued.

“Yes, really.” Again, he took his eyes off the road for a split second to look at me. “You know I am supposed to be meeting a friend now at the Sheraton Hotel, but it can wait. I have prayed to meet you again, and now that I have, I am not going to lose you. Tell me your name.”

“Rume,” I answered. “Aren’t you going to be late for your appointment at Sheraton?”

He shrugged. “I will be late, but it doesn’t matter. You are more important. The guy wants something from me so surely, he can wait for me.”

“Hmmm,” I commented. What else could I say? Then it occurred to me that I had not asked his name. “So, what is your name?”

He looked at me and smiled and then looked back at the road. “Nansak Danjuma.”

I almost passed out. “No, you are not!” I exclaimed, wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.

I looked around me quickly. My eyes took in the luxurious interior of the vehicle, the flag that covered the seats, and the nation’s coat of arms.

“Of course, you are,” I muttered drily.

He chuckled, apparently both surprised and amused at my reaction to his name.

“Obviously the name is familiar to you but not the face. Why did you react that way?”

“Oh, it’s just that a little while ago, I had a very unusual experience with a man at the Sheraton Hotel who had promised to introduce me to Nansak Danjuma.”

I proceeded to tell him about Michael Hendricks and his amorous behaviour towards me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have. He pulled off the road suddenly, brought the automobile to a stop and turned to face me. There was anger in those eyes.

“Did he touch you?” he demanded to know.

I was not expecting this reaction from someone I had only just met.

“No, he did not. I walked out on him.”

“Good. I would have killed him.”

He dropped me off at home and later that evening he returned to take me out to dinner. On Monday morning, Michael Hendricks came downstairs to my desk to confront me. He demanded to know what I had said to Nansak. It appeared that Nansak had had a word with him, and he was not a happy camper. What did I care? I had told no lies and made no false accusations. I politely asked him to leave as I was working. He was not delighted, but he complied. I never saw him again.

So, in a nutshell, that’s how I met Nansak Danjuma. We went out on a few dates before I left Abuja and lost touch with him. No, he did not get me a job or make any significant changes to my life. I reckon that was not the purpose of my meeting him. Looking back I realise that my meeting with him had been God’s way of teaching me a valuable lesson, or maybe I should say a couple of valuable lessons.

Lesson number one is that the things that we seek, are usually already seeking us. If I have heard it said once, I have heard it said a million times, that what we seek, seeks us. I was seeking Nansak but unknown to me Nansak had already seen me and was praying to meet me. He was seeking me even as I sought him. How awesome is that?

The second lesson is that there is always more than one way to achieve a goal. Did you ever hear that African proverb that more than one road leads to the market? Well, that’s the lesson right here. I didn’t have to lower my standards and sleep with Michael Hendricks to meet Nansak. I didn’t even need Michael Hendricks to meet Nansak. I could have met Nansak any number of ways outside of meeting him through Michael Hendricks. And, I did.

-The End-

 

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