GHANAIAN PHOTOGRAPHER IN NIGERIA Pt.1
I knew I was about to witness the most
expensive engagement/wedding ever – at least one that I would be a part of.
My
(Ghanaian) mate was marrying a Nigerian woman of a certain hallowed profession.
Not only that, she was from quite an illustrious background. And you know
Nigerians, right? Right.
So there was a certain degree of extravagance, panache
and display of excesses expected. Guaranteed.
I knew there would be something for me to
blog about, but what I thought was what I was going to blog about turned out not
to be what I’m about to blog about. (That last sentence did not make sense,did
it? Just ignore that).
THE
ENGAGEMENT
Anyway,
you are not going to read about the amount of cash (in dollars) spent on first
class flights to Nigeria and back for about twenty-odd people. Or the prices
charged per head by the so-called five-star hotels that were provided for the
same number of people for a whole weekend. My God.
I am not
even going to write much about the police escort -yes police escort- from the
airport to the hotel or the eleven or so identical range rovers that were
chauffeured by uniformed gentlemen who never spoke a single word. The motorcade
was serious. I mean complete, with blaring sirens and all. No half-stepping with those lot.
I won’t
dwell on the palace-sized auditorium hired for just the engagement. The family
members had come out in full regalia. Gold and all things golden were
everywhere.
For the
boys that quaffed, the types of hard liquor and champagne available was the
stuff of their dreams. Black Label, Ace of Spades, Moet and Cognac were more
common than water on the night. No, really.
For
someone not impressed by material things, that first impression did
impress me but not as much as a five-minute speech by the photographer
that was hired to take still shots of the event.
THE
PHOTOGRAPHER
OK,so
the show started and the groom and a few others were presented to the igwe and
other dignitaries around the table. After lying prostrate on their faces three
times in three minutes in the presence of the dignitaries,
as was customary, the groom and his best men in their all-white gear were asked to return to their
tables.
And then
each one of them, including the groom had to state their professions. Nigerians and money. They reserved their loudest cheer for the Customs Officer. All they could see the money. They assumed he was neck-deep in bribery and corruption.
In my
mind, I was wondering how expensive the wedding was going to be if that was
just the engagement.
Finally,
after the dogs were let off their tethers, we set out to explore the
world-famous Lagos town. That was when anyone took notice of the photographer who had been with us the whole time. He was taking pictures of everything. He was taking so many
awkward pictures, people started taking pictures of him taking pictures.
Then in
my peripheral vision, I caught a security man sitting in front of a bank fast
asleep. He had this hat at an angle that shadowed his face but he wasn’t
fooling anybody. My fears were confirmed when the hat fell to the ground and
exposed him. Five minutes later, he was still in the same position. That was
when the photographer saw him and aimed his lenses at him. As if by magic, the
security man stirred, woke up, saw us and bolted towards us. All 6’4”, 100kg of
him………
To be continued
To be continued
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