Reporter’s Diary: My Trip to Kano state (2nd leg, Chan qualifier) Akin Bolarinwa, Abuja...

My good man Akin Bolarinwa has decided to bless us with his personal experiences during the CHAN qualifier against Benin Republic last weekend. It is a two part series. ENJOY.

Reporter’s Diary: My

Trip to Kano state (2nd leg, Chan qualifier) 

Akin Bolarinwa, Abuja...

Shortly after I arrived at the

Super Eagles camp in Kano after a long trip with my colleague Ola Aro of ITV Abuja, on Saturday, I received a call from Ex-international Patrick Pascal (Super Eagles coordinator) stating that he would like to see me.

 

What came to my mind immediately was that it was going to be an interesting interface with journalists and other administrators but first I needed to refreshen up after that torturing road trip, so I put up with Biola Shodiya of ITV and I left for the appointment a few minutes later. 

11:45 Am

I proceeded to the Super Eagles camp and stepping out of the reception of the Eagles hotel  was the man who had been hoping to meet me in person for a very long time, the man of the people himself, Alhaji Ahmed Fresh and I was  introduced to him by Ola Aro and from there the friendly gist and banter lasted for an hour.

Honestly, I was not surprised seeing the humility expressed by Alhaji Ahmed Fresh because he is the man of the people and they everyone respects a lot.

With 'Fresh'. Man of the people

12:00 pm....

I saw Toyin Ibitoye approaching and I quickly hung around him with "flies" of reporters wanting to extract information from him so I waited patiently while I bantered with Ayo Olu-Ibidapo concerning some of my controversial issues (lol). We ended the conversation with me apologizing when I was convinced I erred.

12:30 pm...

Now it's 2 hours to the anticipated game against the Benin Republic and 

I contacted Patrick Pascal (MON) on the telephone, he insisted I show up for some discussion.

On getting to his hotel room, he was happy to see me and he offered me a sumptuous meal as we converse along while devouring the hot meal of pounded yam and egusi soup with assorted meat.

Midway into our lunch date, he quickly reminded me that the game is at hand and the need to take a bow, so I granted his wish and off he goes...

I departed his room (Patrick Pascal MON) with smiles on my face and I hid my "last resort" from Ola Aro who said he was recuperating from a sudden illness and that the prayer of all

was that he recovered fully soon before leaving Kano.

2:38 pm

Game time and tension set in for most of us covering the game, with Ola Aro not feeling better and Biola Shodiya not yet in sight, the next option is to activate our option B plan for the day...

THE GANG IS GROWING...

Soon, Tobi Adepoju (Oganlamedia) and Biola Shodiya appeared from nowhere and we headed for the game venue together.

2:46 PM

SANI ABACHA STADIUM...

Scanty crowd lurking around but we noticed the security arrangement put in place to checkmate any ungodly activities.

With our accreditation tags crested on our shirts, it was a smooth passage to the press gallery...

Some sports administrators were already seated for the game when we got there, but one man became the cynosure of all eyes. The man? Alhaji Ahmed Fresh, a man of the people. He was flocked around by many people and on sighting me ( for second time same day) coupled with a huge smile grinding on his face, I knew I had gotten into his good books already. I took advantage of the situation to pay my homage to him once more..

3:04 pm

Retreating back to the press gallery and exchanging pleasantries with friends and colleagues, I suddenly  got  hit from the back and it was Andrew "Andy" Randa, the "gentle giant"... Meeting him for the very first time gave me the impetus to prove to him that I am not just a "WhatsApp Warrior" but a very "good bad guy", if you know what I mean....honestly I have nothing to prove to anybody but moral standards must be exhibited on and off-duty.

Randa is a guy of few words but very intelligent so we greeted and moved on but after the game, we became a tag-team partners...I respect him a lot for his industry.

Jane Oyinye was also in the mix, apparently, she was the one who spotted me and must have revealed my identity to Andy (I didn't call her Amebo o) any-ways I approached her and offered her my greetings despite the fact that we hardly relate well to social media (never take WhatsApp issues serious )

2:22 pm

Wale Ajayi and Kola Daniel came on board and we took group pictures, which am yet to publish due to time factor...yes I also saw Mallam Shehu Dikko and Alhaji Ahmed Kawu and I had a quick chat with them but left when the crowd that came to greet them interrupted us. 

The arrival of Wale Ajayi and Kola Daniel gave us new point of discussion ...it was nice having this guy around  few minutes before the game, 

With Wale Ajayi around, trust me no dull moment at all.

Akin with Wale Ajayi

We all watched and reported the game which saw Nigeria qualify for CHAN 2018 and we left stadium feeling happy and hey !!! we were back in our hotel in no time....

AFTER THE GAME: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT ?...

What really happened after the game, who hosted us and why we got stranded at the Kano state government...

Please permit me to stop here but watch out for the part of this diary (the concluding part )