Through, it all my biggest challenge was explaining to my nine-year-old why our flight that was scheduled to depart Abuja for Lagos by 6.30p.m, was not even on the tarmac by 10p.m!
They kept rescheduling the flight time – 7.30p.m; 8.45p.m; 9.30p.m until at some point, all the airline officials surreptitiously disappeared from the boarding counter when restive passengers looked like they might lynch them at any moment.
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When this happened, there was no one to give us updates (false or real) any more. We no longer knew whether we would still fly later in the day or the flight would be totally canceled. We heard rumours that the plane that was supposed to take us was stuck in Sokoto because of scarcity of Jet A1 fuel! Absolutely no official explanation why we were made reluctant actors in a real life simulation of the famous play: ‘Waiting for Godot,’ by Samuel Beckett. They probably felt we did not deserve one.
But back to my 9-year old, he was eager to return to Lagos after graduating a day before from his primary school in Abuja. He had feverishly looked forward to this day so much so that according to his mum, he had woken up earlier than usual on the day to pack and be ready ahead of time. Yet, here he was, with each passing hour putting a wider chasm between him and his already-laid out plans for his first day back in Lagos.
On the top of every hour, I kept inventing new reasons for the flight delay; kept raising his hope that they would soon call us to come and board. Each time, we were disappointed.
From sheer waiting and the attendant ‘furious’ engagement, his tab’s battery was drained repeatedly after being recharged. He asked a gazillion questions, of which I ran out of answers a long time ago. Out of exasperation, he exclaimed: “Daddy, why can’t they just ban this airline,” shortly after which he fell asleep on my laps! This was around 10.45p.m.
The sleep turned out to be a blessing as I did not have to explain why we were still at the airport by 4a.m the following morning when they eventually announced that the flight was ready for boarding!
I carried him to board with his heavy back pack strapped behind me, and holding his shoes on the other hand. We didn’t have the luxury of the usual transport from the boarding gate to the aircraft so I had to join other hapless passengers to walk the distance to the plane, which was a bit far out.
Anyway, no sooner had I strapped the boy to his seat preparatory for take-off, than he woke up. He asked for the time, and I told him. He could not believe that we had spent 12 hours at the airport in Abuja!
Shortly after, the pilot came on air apologizing profusely for the delay, and I almost shed tears when my son said: “Daddy, this pilot should keep his apology, we don’t need it!”
Lobatan!
