Nothing To Lose

She caught his attention as she walked in, her slim frame was the first thing he noticed. That always seemed to do the trick for him. She was bubbly and happy, her laughter was from deep within and it was infectious. They were attending a conference, so he stayed professional until they went dancing over the weekend. She could move and she filled the place with the way she danced, one could not help but notice her. He found that he got more and more drawn in, all he hoped for was that she would give him a chance.

He spent time trying to help her settle in as she would be around for a month. He constantly proposed activities, and started by picking her up for breakfast the next weekend, then showing her around town. She was a curious one so it worked out well as she had so many questions, some he could not even answer. At some point, they had to resort to google to satisfy her curiousity. They spent a pleasant day together and he found himself laughing much more than he had in a long time. Since he called it quits nearly two years ago, he had not been attracted to any woman and had started to question whether he was still normal. The hurt from those years ran deep.

A Day at the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters in Abuja

My sister and I set out for the immigration office early, hoping to finish in good time, before there would be a rush. On what seemed like a normal work day, the officers attitudes and behaviour was far from normal.

On arrival at the gate, this conversation took place:

Officer - what are you here for?

Us - passport renewal

Officer - who are you going to see?

Us - we are going to renew a passport

Officer - one of my officers will join you so he can help.

We stared at each other blankly while the officer was waiting at the door. I unlocked it and he got into the car. It really was not a request, the senior officer was informing us. As we drove to the car park with the officer, he asked whether we had made the payment online for the passport renewal and if we had the print out. We didn't, with the assumption that we could pay there. He confirmed we could, so there was no issue. However, with the ongoing National Identity Number (NIN) registration, an extra layer of hassle had been added for those who did not have their NIN. My sister was in that category.