On Thursday evening, I had just made a call, one of the thousands of calls I have made in the last couple of weeks bringing together the many different elements that have propelled the amazing COSON Week. The next call did not go through. Instead, I was told that my number had been barred for ‘insufficient registration’.
I thought it was one of those unending jokes that our telcos play on us. Now and again, they will tell you that a number you have been calling every day for ten years does not exist or the number you dialed is incorrect or your number is not registered on the network. Just dial again and suddenly, the number exists, the incorrect number suddenly is correct and the number is registered on the network.
It was not one of the jokes. I tried every trick I knew and my phone was truly barred! How could that happen on the eve of the COSON Song Awards?
I am not one of those guys who carry a battery of phones all around. Apart from my official Closed User Group (CUG), I am a one phone guy. Apart from my old naught-nine-naught, when the cell phone became reality in Nigeria, I subscribed to Econet, the first GSM company to roll out in Nigeria. I paid nearly N30,000 for a SIM card, the same SIM card that is given away for free today! I have stuck with the same number through the dizzying change of names from Econet to Vodafone to VMobile to Celtel to Zain. Put together, I have spent millions of Naira on this network.
Last Thursday, the company that I have so stringently supported nearly ruined everything I have worked for. If their intent was to thoroughly mess me up, they could not have chosen a better time. There is no way you can organize a multi-faceted event like the COSON Song Awards without having a working telephone line. There I was at Eko Hotel & Suites going absolutely crazy. Borrowing a phone would not do it. I have configured my phonebook in such a way that I understand it and can deploy it efficiently. What of the many people trying to reach me?
The nonsense about insufficient registration is what it is; arrant nonsense! I am a guy who goes out of his way to try and comply with every rule in the book. When the NCC ordered that every cell phone user in Nigeria should register his number, I quickly complied. I registered my number at the Airtel Desk at MM2 in Lagos. I took the photograph and did the finger printing. I answered every question I was asked. No one told me that there was any further question down the road I knew nothing about.
Borrow a phone I eventually did to call everyone I know to beg Airtel to release my line. It did not work. I was advised to recharge and everything would be alright. It did not work. Yesterday morning I was like a mad man. I had to be in touch with my set designer, the guy working on the tunnel, my animator, the graphics guy, my printer, the Master of Ceremonies, the nominees, the presenters, performing artistes, the security team, the protocol team, the video team, the media, the many special guests, etc. My meticulously planned event was blowing up in smoke before my eyes because of a phone.
It was the General Manager of COSON, Chinedu Chukwuji, one of the many people I reached out to sort out the crazy situation, who reached me on the CUG and told me that Airtel has a sales office on Sanusi Fafunwa Street in Victoria Island. There was no time to look for a driver. I ran out of Eko Hotel like a man possessed. I kept running and dodging traffic. When I got to the Airtel office, I was panting. I met so many people shouting. Some of them were going through situations similar to mine. I shouted at the smiling lady in the front office. I was in no mood to be nice to anyone. I think that my blood shot eyes told her that this guy might be dangerous. I like to think that I am a gentleman and would always line up in a queue. Friday was not a day to be a gentleman. The lady detected the urgency in my voice and assigned someone to me quickly. I had to do finger printing and photographs all over and answer all the questions I answered two years ago at MM2. I was in no mood to argue with anyone. All I wanted was a working telephone line. If they wanted my toe print, I was prepared to give it to them.
I was told that it could take about one hour for the phone to‘re- align’. As I ran back to Eko Hotel, the phone line was back! I had missed a whole night of co-ordination. Most of the morning was gone too. Red Carpet Fantastico was scheduled to begin at 7.00 pm and it was almost 12.00 noon.
I know that there is some contest going on between the NCC and the telephone companies. Innocent citizens have become the grass while the elephants fight. In these parts, everyone fears the government, no one fears the citizen.
At the end of the day, we had a really good time at the COSON Song Awards. The red carpet was hot, very hot! There were many explosive performances by the likes of Timi Dakolo, Frank Edwards, Vector, Dammy Krane, Ebenezer Obey, etc. Once again Majek Fashek turned an award show into an incredible orgy of mass singing and dancing but the event nearly fell apart. This is how important your cell phone has become.
See you next week.
By Tony Okoroji
About The Nigerian Blogger
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