Oh man!! I feel like I’ve just been kicked in the gut by a huge horse! I’m just finding out that due to a technicality on our visas, we have only 15 days to spend in Europe!!!! @#!!#@@#!!#@!!!!!!!! The hits just keep on coming.
It’s been one hell of a day. Mentally and emotionally drained. We finally have found an air cargo company to move our bikes to France for a boatload of money. It’s not that it took almost 4 days that’s the kicker. It’s not even that the cost is through the roof and beyond our original budget. By God’s grace, that’s something Toyin’s Pandora’s box will overcome. The biggest problem is that the freighting company will only take payment in cash!!! Can u even begin to understand the rigours of putting almost 3million CFA together in cash? It’s unreal. First, the maximum that can withdraw from any ATM here is 480k per day. That’s if u find a machine that will accept MasterCard cards. Let’s all do the maths. If you have money in only the one account, then you’ll need 7 days to get that money together. Getting the picture?
The bikes now have to be prepped for the long trip. This entails draining all three of all fluids, petrol, engine oil and brake fluid. We call our friend Saidu who had worked magic on Raph’s bike when his transmission oil had been leaking. He eventually met us at our hotel to carry out the necessary works. In the midst of this all, a friend of ours, Gerald, who is Nigerian and works with the West African Democracy Radio based here in Dakar, came out to interview us. The plan is to run our story, our trials and tribulations, on his radio show later today. I definitely have a lot to say! I think the copy of the show will be posted on our page soon. I’ll confirm that.
We then went to the bank to start the tedious process of putting the freight company’s cash together. While this is going on, Raph also has to keep track of the moving company representatives coming to move our bikes to the airport for processing and onwards movement. They are supposed to be coming in a truck of sorts. We battle across three or so ATMs, skimming the max values till we get about half the money. We even convert dollars to CFA to add to. Side story….in Senegal, petrol attendants willingly change forex to CFA for you. True. Weird abi? Anywhoo. We pocket what we have and scoot over to a travel agent to make arrangements for our own tickets to France.
Oh man!! I feel like I’ve just been kicked in the gut by a huge horse! …… Oh. Did I say that before? Sorry. First, we can’t buy one-way tickets cos they say the airlines wouldn’t let us fly out. Even though we plan to ride back, we are forced to buy two-way tickets at least for Toyin and myself. Raph is ok, as usual. I’m thinking we should get him a Nigerian passport and see how long his luck holds out. Tsk. He gets a one-way ticket and is good to go. By now the cost is absolutely astronomical. I think this totals another whopping 800k CFA. That’s another 2 days ATM surfing added to our worries. Please bear with me, I’ve temporarily run out of swear words. We are now all looking weary. There’s just so many speed bumps a man’s shock absorbers are designed to take before they’re kaput and I’m wondering how much more resolve the team has to call upon. I hope, collectively, we can overcome this. I’m made more and more aware everyday about what it takes to push a unique idea to completion. The sacrifices are immense. And no matter how strong a person is, having people who share your ideas and values can only be a huge plus. This project has to be about overcoming obstacles. The road to this present day is paved and littered with obstacles and challenges. Sadly, most of them are centred around the mistrust Nigerians have come to be synonymous with. At all levels, in almost all quarters, we are met with resistance, mistrust and animosity. What causes it? Just our 419 boys? Drugs? The phenomena of international crime is not our sole property. Every country on earth has their own fair investors in the world of crime. Why then is ours singled out for this particularly harsh reaction around the world? I keep asking myself. As we in Nigerian colloquialism, “wetin we do wey dey make dem wan fall we hand so?” And now that we find ourselves in this quandary, what is the required cause of action from here on? Do we continue to ostrich away in the hope that this situation and reputation will somehow wipe itself away like footprints in the sands of a particularly windy shore? This trip has just unearthed more questions than answers for me. One thing for sure “we can’t continue like this” is no longer just street slang or a pun. Change can either be anticipated or unforeseen and history may very well be unkind to them that tarry.
As for the OON team, we soldier on. Our bikes are good as on a ‘Cossair’ cargo plane destined for Paris. We are likely to be on a similar flight to be reunited on Thursday, by God’s grace. Chin up and chest proud. Raph came up with a catch phrase: One Jew and two Nigerians walk into a bar….. (what’s the punch line to that???!!!!!) Have a great evening, folks.
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