Some scripts write themselves! One of the exciting thrust in anticipation of my first ever trip to the Americas was to take a welcomed break from Naija for one month. More like a working leave, but from a continent I had been curious to visit.
On Sunday, June 21, I set off on my trip to cover a third successive FIFA World Cup on the books of ACLSports and more than anyone could predict, I got a perfect sending off from my dear Naija; a reminder of why I actually wanted this break.
This past week for me was a summary of the negative feels that have engulfed the country which could get you tired of the livelihood. From postponed flights to avoidable traffic gridlock to battle with assailants and having it wrapped up by a system-distorting power failure. Timely break this is.
While waiting to check-in upon my early arrival at the departure hall of the Muritala Muhammed International Aiport, Lagos, I paid a visit to the “Golden Room” for the last time before I leave and that was when it happened! What? Naija struck!
The most common and never-leaving Naija phenomenon happened – power outage. I’m sure at this point you’re wondering, how is that news then? Since it’s truly not news anymore.
The consequence of this 2-minute outage was what made this one noteworthy, as it disrupted the systems of airline counters and resulted in a 90-minute delay of our flight from Lagos.
Our here refers to myself and Canada-bound ACLSports’ irrepressible news reporter Amara Obah who was on the same plane with me before we departed after the first legs of our flights, before our brief layovers.
For Amara, the disruption occasioned by the outage meant she could not get a proper boarding pass and the airline had to improvise with something like a Liam Rosenior scribbled notes for nothing less than 50 passengers. Bye for now Naija!
My FIFA World Cup 2026 starts officially now and I must not forget another weirdly interesting reason I really wanted to be on ground for this tournament – I do not want to be losing my sleep just in a bid to watch football games at this my age. So, it’s better I am where the times are natural.
Best of luck to the African teams whose games I will grace this week – Senegal and Ghana (twice). I usually bring luck to the teams I specifically want to cover (at least their very first games) so, expect Senegal and Ghana to avoid defeats against Norway and England respectively. Oh yeah!
See you in my subsequent editions of the American Diary, because I promise to be more faithful to it this time. I’ll tell you how my Diaries from previous competitions were pivotal to me securing visas for this tournament in one of my subsequent American Diaries. For now, tell my friends and village people that I HAVE COME TO AMERICA!
ALOHA
