Chapter 5 Jason's Warri

Thank God it's Friday. Jason sat on his desk, his computer in front of him. He has been working on the network connectivity of his company Which was down for hours. His mind travelled back suddenly to how hectic his week has been. His assignment at the Warri branch office to carryout inspection and maintenance of their equipment was quite successful but very stressful. On getting there, the financial controller and Manager in charge of the Warri zone, a woman in her early forties heaved a sigh of relief on seeing him.

'We have waited to have this change change for about ten years, thank you for coming Mr Jason.

Whatever she meant by that comment, he wasn't about to dig it out, all he knew is that he was there on an official assignment to see to the repairs and maintenance of their equipment. In a split second, he wondered why he was never allowed to come in the past even though it was part of his job, specification. Mr Ola, an external consultant had always been the one to come to Warri. At least he is here now to see for himself that Warri is not a gold mine but a place of serious work which must be finished in two days he thought.

Mrs Josephine took him to the company's store where most damaged systems ranging from laptops to printers, scanners and some other equipment lay. 'Well Mr Jason, from experience, I can almost tell you are not here for these but you can at least check them to see if they are as bad as we think. Maybe, some of them could still be redeemed and that will save us some money'.

At first, he couldn't make out anything from what she was saying other than the fact that he was there to carry out repairs and maintenance. If she has a doubt as to his professional, she could as well say it to his face instead of beating about the bush. He set to work immediately, testing systems upon systems, opening, screwing, installing softwares and a lot more. At the end of the day, four out of seven laptops were as good as brand new. Two out of the remaining three had major problems and one was completely damaged. Two printers were back to life, one had factory problem, he learned it had never worked right from the time it was bought.

He made a recommendation that the printer be taken back to the marketers for a change since the warranty date had not expired. By the time he was done with the repairs, it was past working hours. He had initially declined their offer to take a break and have lunch so they brought him snacks and a cold drink which he nibbled at while he worked. Now he has this satisfied look because he can confidently say that he has made remarkable progress. He carried two of the laptops so he could finish running the installation back in his room since the company driver was already waiting to take him back to the hotel where he was

The sound of the telephone at the corner of the room jolted him back to consciousness. He had some minutes ago placed an order for pounded yam and edikaikon soup. They told him the yam is prepared on request to enable it stay in top condition so that their customers will have nothing but the best. He opted to wait a whole hour for the food to be ready so when the call came 50 minutes later, he was sure it was for him to confirm the order he made earlier.

'Hello!

'Hello, and a good evening to you. This is from the reception and I would like to know if I am speaking to Mr Jason Akogu of room 306A?'

'Yes, I am Jason, he responded

'Ok, just a minute sir, a call is being transferred to you'. The sing song voice of the receptionist died off only to be replaced by a thick baritone voice from the other end.

'Hello Jason, this is Mr Ola'

'Ah boss, Jason called out jovially. 'Good evening sir, today must be full of pleasant surprises. You are the least person I expected to hear from.

'Ehm, yes then, I decided to surprise you. I was at your office today and learnt from a source that you are presently in Warri for an official duty. I felt duty bound to call you and know how you are doing. He spent some time trying to engage him on a friendly but all the while Jason kept wondering at why he truly . Mr Ola' has never struck him as one who would be this concerned about anybody or at least not about him. 'Sir you should have called my cellphone instead of going through the trouble of calling the hotel in order to reach

.

'Don't you think I tried, severally I had tried reaching you but your phone wasn't going through. You must have been quite busy. I just felt I should make the extra effort by calling the hotel. How's the food over there, I hope it is still as good as it usually is ' Well...' Jason said I just hope it is as good as you say. I have been quite busy and haven't had much time to experiment on their food.

' Never mind, I'm just kidding. How is Mrs Josephine, have you been speaking with her before he could respond Mr Ola let out a hypocritical laugh and continued ' that's one woman that thinks she can change the world if given the opportunity ' Since Jason didn't know the direction the discussion was going he simply made what he thought was an honest contribution. ' hmm she must be an amazing woman to have such a dream '

Amazing ke' Mr Ola responded snearing in a usual Yoruba fashion ' that is how they go about with dreams that are bigger than them. She needs to ask Joseph where his dream landed him' Jason let out a small laugh and was about to say ' as a Prime Minister of course ' but Mr Ola completed his statement without giving him the chance ' in a pit of course ' He was lucky to have escaped with his life but he did not escape the punishment. Instead of enjoying his life as a free born he eventually ended up as a slave. Infact his story is pathetic '

If Mr Ola knows the story of Joseph so well, Jason wondered why he left out the part that Joseph's dream brought him to an enviable position in Egypt as the second in command after Pharaoh. His dream was what saved a whole generation of Israel from being wiped out. His dream brought a life time solution to food scarcity. The biggest food production industry of all times was born because a man dared to dream. Nowadays, companies have learned to prepare ahead of time and not just to live for now. He wasn't about to stir up an argument though.