Episode 9: Struggles and Steadfast Love
402 Words
After graduation and the long wait for NYSC mobilization, I was finally posted to Cross River State.
My primary assessment was at Ogar Science Academy, Otukpuru, while I also did contract teaching at Gaken Model College, Gaken, both in Bekwara Local Government Area.
During my service, I told my parents I wanted to formally introduce my girlfriend, Patience, to the family. They were overjoyed. I traveled all the way to Abuja, and the introduction was a success — a moment I will never forget.
It was made possible because I had saved some money from my service and from participating in the election that brought President Muhammadu Buhari into office.
In November 2015, I was discharged and returned home to my parents in Iwili. But my desire to be with Patience in Abuja was stronger than ever. I told my parents I needed to go find a job there. They wanted me to rest, to take a break, but I persisted.
I spoke to my maternal uncle, Uncle Sam, who invited me to stay with him in Abuja.
I finally arrived in Karmo, Abuja, near Life Camp. But there was no job.
I had brought some foodstuffs from the village — stove, utensils, everything I could carry — and for the first month, I survived on cooked yam three times a day.
Things got worse. Uncle Sam often came home drunk and demanded I leave, even in the middle of the day.
One faithful morning, wandering aimlessly, I met Halogen Private Security guards in training. I spoke to them about my desire to join, and they asked me to come to their office in Utako. I trekked all the way from Karmo, determined.
After three days of training, I was posted to a beat — an incomplete 7-storey building opposite Chida Hotel, all alone in a bushy compound.
The training was supposed to last two weeks, and guarantor forms needed signing, but my posting was different. I was on a 7-days-on, 7-days-off schedule, entirely alone.
When I collected my first salary of #25,000, my mother sent another #25,000 to help me rent my first apartment.
I finally secured a room — no ceiling, goats roaming everywhere in the compound.
But through all this, Patience didn’t leave my side.
Even in the hardest times, she stayed. She believed in us.
And I knew… love like this, steadfast and unwavering, could weather any storm.
- Writer
