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As Chidi lay in his foam at his humble abode
situated in Awka, the Capital Territory of Anambra State, he couldn’t wait till
daybreak. He kept rolling from one end of the outdated foam to another as sleep
ceased to come at that ungodly hour of the night. All he was focused on was the
job interview that lay ahead of him, which was scheduled to take place at
9.00am the following day being Friday 28th March 2014. As he rolled
and rolled on the foam, he stylishly glanced at the well-ironed black suit he
was to wear on the D-day as it hung by the wall sited directly opposite the
foam. He quickly returned his seeming vigilant sight to the
pathetically-looking multiple-coloured carpet spread on the room’s floor, felt
like shortening the remaining five hours he was supposed to spend on the
archaic foam but all the wishes were obviously to no avail.
Mr.
Chidi Okafor who graduated from Federal Polytechnic Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria
over eight years back, precisely in November 2005, had earnestly been
job-hunting ever since he concluded his National Youth Service programme a year
after his graduation, but it seemed his best was not good enough in spite of
the fact that he finished with Upper-Credit in Electrical Engineering. Since
four years back he relocated to Awka from Benin-City, he had almost toured
round the city on foot in the name of searching for a white-collar job that was
apparently not forthcoming.
However, he couldn’t despair as he had vowed
to remain resolute and resilient regardless of the circumstance. All he
depended on was the menial jobs he had been into right from his school days. As
one who hailed from a poor parental background, while in the Polytechnic, he
catered for almost sixty per cent (60%) of his needs yet was able to graduate
with promising grade.
“How long would I wait for the day to
break?” he thought amid the restlessness, fumbled his weary pillow. “Please, I
can’t wait any longer.” He added as the wall clock in the room read 11.56pm.
He got the notice of the interview the
previous day, and since he received the information via Short Message Service
(SMS) he hadn’t rested emotionally, thinking that would mark the end of his
job-hunting era, not minding that he had been invited for such occasion for the
umpteenth time yet nothing fruitful was recorded.
In the last interview he participated,
he was asked to undergo a certain professional programme that could cost over
half a million naira, before he would be eligible to be employed by the firm;
each time he recalled the experience, he kept pondering over what the country
was turning into. According to him, if HND/B.Sc wasn’t enough to secure an
employment for the bearer, then it was needless to delve into the four-walls of
a higher institution in the first place let alone spending about four to five
years therein, as the case may be. Nevertheless, he wasn’t deterred by the
lingered challenges surrounding the seeming endless odyssey.
Indeed, there was still a longtime to
cover prior to the awaited daybreak. The electric bulb hung on the old ceiling
was on, thus its brightness enabled him to see each of the few items in the
small room as sleep frankly refused to visit his eyes. He calmly stood up, took
his time to walk round the room, taking note of each of the wears he was to use
for the interview. He went to the black plain shoes positioned on the floor
directly below the hung suit and plain trousers, raised and re-dusted them with
a very clean rag kept beside where he stood. He looked at the clock once again
– it was 12:15am. He sighed as the night appeared to have already taken over
twelve hours, went back to the foam, and grabbed the pillow while keeping his
eyes closed. In few minutes time, he was eventually caught by the sleep that
was earlier not forthcoming.
Five hours on – at exactly 5.00am – he
was awake as if he was working with an alarm. He rose, went for his towel, soap
and sponge, and dashed outside to have his bath. It was a public yard, so
someone was already in the bathroom, thus he had to queue up and await his
turn.
“Who is there?” he shouted after fifteen
minutes of wait. “Please, do quickly.”
“Abeg, wait joor.” A lady’s voice
replied from the bathroom. “Did you rent this bathroom?’ she rudely added.
He was quiet, couldn’t utter a word
towards avoiding further delay. He had planned to be at the company’s premises
latest by 7.00am about two hours before the scheduled time.
After all said and done, at exactly
7.10am, he found himself at the firm’s premises.
“Good morning, sir!” He greeted the
gateman, standing.
“Morning, my brother.” The gateman
responded cheerily. “Are you for the interview too?”
“Yes sir.”
“Okay, go inside.”
“Thank you.”
When he walked in, he noticed an applicant was
already there before him. He wondered when the young man left home. “Good morning.”
He greeted as he stood next to him.
“Morning
brother.” The colleague responded. “Are you for the interview?”
Both were well-dressed in their black suits.
“Yes.”
Chidi said. “Are you?”
“Yea.”
quoth the applicant, stretching out his arm for a handshake. “I am Dan.” He
introduced.
“Chidi.” He succinctly said as he
reciprocated the gesture. “You really came so early.” He added.
“Yes
I did.” quoth Dan. “I have been in this train for ten years now.”
He was actually referring to how desperate he
was to secure a job.
“Which train?” Chidi naively inquired.
“Job-hunting of course.”
“Are you serious?” Chidi exclaimed,
astonished.
Dan nodded.
Prior to this time, Chidi thought he was the
oldest member of the ‘Job-hunting People’s Association’, not knowing that many
had subscribed their membership years before he joined.
9.00am – the time for the interview –
came calling, yet there was no sign of commencement. Two hours later being
11.00am, the littered applicants of about a hundred and fifty individuals were
still earnestly waiting for the commencement yet no iota of sign was perceived
let alone seen.
“Are you sure this interview will still
take place?” Chidi anxiously asked Dan who was still standing very close to him
as they continued to converse about life amidst the hardship.
“My brother, I am tired ooh.” quoth Dan.
“I don’t just know what is really going on.” He lamented, paused. “No staff has
come to address or even welcome us.”
Within a twinkle of an eye at about
11.16am, a female staff eventually surfaced from the company’s building and
stood in front of the crowd. “Sorry, for keeping you waiting.” she said. “I am
here to inform you that the interview has been shifted to next week Monday
being 31st March 2014, by same time.”
The teeming applicants watched with utmost
surprise, dumbfounded.
“Thank you!” she concluded, quickly
turned and walked towards her office.
What transpired afterwards ought to be
a narration for another day, so stay tuned.
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