Date Published: 03/13/10

Dear Editor,

Altercation between Deltan & Akwa-Ibomite

I am from Akwa Ibom and went to a cyber café in Lagos February 25 th 2010 where I had an encounter with a man from Delta State; judging from name I heard his name, Onome.  

He was waiting for a vacant PC so that he could browse. As no PC was free he moved from one computer to another and on noticing that I had only five minutes left to go, he finally sat nearer me. As I requested the attendant of the cyber café to get me (one-hour) more time, my accent gave me out as an Akwa Ibomite. Out of anger he asked “Which more time; don’t you know that I have been waiting to work with the computer you are occupying?” I replied: “But I have not completed what I am doing and you did not tell me you were waiting to use the same computer; you only drew nearer me”.

Serious altercation ensued: He started “You Akwa Ibom man, are you sure you are not striking a 419-letter that would enable you take another $3.1m dollars of your State money or trying to con a foreigner that you can get him road construction contract at 1billion Naira per kilometer?” My reply to him was simple: “Do you think we are used to taking Bank Shares belonging to our State as collateral for our personal bank loan or use funny Courts to place injunctions against prosecutions?” Even with my lightweight reaction, he charged: “I thought your governor was the only one honoured at the ThisDay Award ceremony the way he went about advertising himself in the media”. My answer was direct: “Did your own governor not advertise himself as well” and the reply I got was that “His governor’s was far, far less than mine”.

There were physical scuffles that earned us bruises. We also had debts – a computer at the business centre was damaged. It could have been worse had other customers not intervened. But one thing I went home with was how unpopular and corrupt our present leaders are becoming.

From: Okon Emerson, 95 Awolowo Way, IKEJA, Lagos State