The Last Flight from Abuja

 My day did not exactly start well as 'Aunt Flo' decided to rudely visit me. I had a lot of errands to run coupled with the stress of work and tailor's disappointment as I set out to the airport for my flight to Lagos.

With a pretty smile on my spotless face, I got to the airport just in time for my 7:45 pm flight and I seated patiently waiting for my flight to be announced....little did I know I was in for a ghost bumpy ride with  this airline - Air-peace.

I sat down quietly as I hurriedly swept the hall with my tired eyes, I made calls to by sister Joan and my amazing friend Shontelle  who were eagerly waiting for me at the Lagos airport. I could tell from the excitement in their voice they couldn't wait to see me as it had been over 3 years we last saw. After the call I decided to catch up with messages on my mobile phone, then the airport attendant announced different flights to board. Though I could barely hear her as she was whispering through her nose which made it was hard to comprehend what she was saying but I noticed the waiting hall was getting empty but I was still seated with a few others traveling with Air-peace. It was a few minutes pass 9 pm and we were just the only passengers remaining to board. 

By 10 pm, the airport workers had closed the boarding gate and walked away without any sort of explanation to us. I hurriedly went to  inquire what was actually going on, then one of the staff now informed me in a hushed voice that we were not able to board because the flight that will take us from Abuja to Lagos was still in Lagos and it will land in Abuja at 11:05 pm! 

No apologies whatsoever, if I didn't go to inquire, no one would have told us. I shared the update with my fellow travel mates...and then hell broke lose. 

There was a lot of screaming, cussing, wailing and shouting that kept going back and forth. My heart could feel their pain, my heart went out to the women with kids, then another woman who sat nearby who was looking too old and weak to shout, she just sat down looking defeated by this system, one of the passengers was busy screaming 'fuck fuck fuck', this actually cracked me up and I wondered why he couldn't express himself properly. Fuck kwa? Issokay.

My heart went out to my sister who by this time was too tired to wait at the airport, Shontelle my dear friend who now informed me she came to the airport with Tayo my other friend to surprise me. Tayo had wanted to surprise me but not only was her surprise ruined, she was surprised herself by the turn out of the event. They were quick to reassure me they would stay put until I arrive Lagos. In Shontelle's voice ''How I go take sleep when you are out there''. This made me emotional as I dint know what I did to command such loyalty from them. Indeed, there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

By this time, I had engaged myself in a brief discuss with my seat mate, who by now has made peace with the situation,  he told me that he was expecting this to happen as this is the usual experience he has had with the airline especially in the evenings. He ended the discuss by saying ''the struggle and battle in this country is between the rich and the poor''. Not sure I get that but I knew that as I made up my mind that I was not going to lose in the whatsoever battle he meant.

The funny part of this story is that I totally enjoyed the experience! While some of my fellow travel mates were sleeping, some snoring and the other man in front of me was setting p with a young beautiful lady, I decided to keep watch by writing this on my laptop.

The flight to take us to Lagos landed Abuja at 11 pm, the airport attendants crawled out of their holes with rumpled faces and shirts, I could tell they were sleeping while we kept watch. 

We finally made our way to board the flight, we landed Lagos at 12:20 am! I rushed to the warm embrace of my friends and all that hassle were lost in our chats, laughter, catching up, hugs and kisses as we made our way out of the airport to the house. 

Till next time.

XoXo