I traveled all night from Makurdi to Ilorin (about 3 stops and different vehicles through the then very dusty roads of Benue, Kogi & Kwara states) only to arrive Ilorin in the early hours of the next morning. I put up with another male colleague and friend. It was there I refreshed and waited till the birthday party in the evening. As I arrived the venue of the party (the secretariat of the Nigerian Christian Corper’s Fellowship, NCCF Secretariat), I could tell I was about to sweep my fiancée off her feet. Then came the time for photographs and as varying groups, in the NCCF took their turns snapping with her, I couldn’t wait for the photograph of the day (the one with the both of us alone). But to my shock, as the Mc announced my name (as husband to be) and I stepped up to her in the midst of the ovation and shouts, she turned me down and publicly. She didn't want to take any photos with me. I could feel my intestines turning within me, my head spinning around me and my heart sinking within me. I prayed for the ground to open and swallow me but it wouldn’t. It was so embarrassing even to the brethren, that a few of the executives of the NCCF had to take her aside; for a pep talk, for her to stop the humiliation. Finally she reluctantly obliged, just to save the day. By the next day I was sick of high fever and for about a week after I couldn’t stand on my feet. Who has been there?
