March 17th - Jos to Yola - What is in that box?

Today there is only one goal. To get from Jos to Yola. Pastor Ansom picked up at 6:30 sharp. He checked my out of the lodge and took me to the bus park where I got in a bus (15 seat van) of the Adamawa Sunshine Transportation Company. The first clue there could be problems was when they push started the bus. It kept running but the shifting was difficult for the driver. Unfortunately, with the pot holes and many check points the transmission has to be shifted often as we slow or stop and accelerate back through the gears. At each checkpoint I peer out from behind the large box I am taking along with me. The policeman or soldier looks a little surprised to is a white man on public transportation. Then they ask what is in the box. I explain it is donated items from America and show them the TSA seals on the box. Sometime the driver says clothes. One soldier wanted to see documents. I should him a letter I had prepared that explained what was in the box and where they were going. He noticed my slogan “The CIA that is helping people.” and asked if I worked for them pointing to the CIA and smiling. I smiled and said yes. He laughed and waved us through. 

When we got to the middle of Bauchi at the military check point just in front of the Peoples Democratic Party zonal headquarters the gear box gave a bang and the gear shifter was no longer doing anything. The engine shut down and the conductor jumped out to get some men the help push start the bus. The driver tried to jam it into gear but nothing was happening. They pushed us to the curb. Now here we sit in front of the main political party zonal headquarters, just beyond their entrance road. People were gathering for a big meeting with to head of the party scheduled to arrive. My big box in the window of the bus. Security was not happy. The driver called a mechanic. I could hear him sawing and hammering under the bus. The puddle of transmission grease in the street told me this van was not going to move.  Finally, they told us to push it back beyond the entrance to the PDP building. People were arriving by the car load and the line to get through security was out to our bus.  Here we set with a bus full of bags and my large box. After about an hour and a half they called for another bus. Soon a truck load of soldiers showed up. The Captain shouts “What is this bus doing here. Where is the driver. Move it. Move it Now.” The people had been unloading the van and their luggage was on the sidewalk. They explained what happened and showed the Captain the transmission fluid on the pavement. He told us to push it back into the parking area for a nearby store. Soon the newer but slightly smaller van showed up. With only a 2 hour delay we were off and I was glad we were away from the biggest target in northern Nigeria. 

Loading baggage into new bus

This new van was not as long or wide as the last van. My feet barely fit between our row of seats and the front seats. The seats had more padding which was good since we had most of the journey left to go. After a few hours without being able to move my knees my old soccer referee injury began to ache in my right knee. An hour later we arrived at the Numan bridge over the Benue River and another check point. The two year old that was two rows back could not hold his pee any longer. They handed him forward and I lady held him up to the window as we crept slowly up to the check point. Some of the vendors sitting along the road quickly covered their wares.

At the check point, an Army Corporal with fancy sunglasses and an attempt at a New York accent asked me where I was from then asked for my passport. He looked at it and one of my older Nigerian Visas then asked about the big box. I told him there were computer donated in the US going to Yola. He said “Let me see them”. I told him that I have documents and he said “I don’t want to see documents, I want to see the computers.” So we emptied bus and got the box out. It had been opened and inspected at the Minneapolis airport so it was sealed with TSA tape. We found an old saw blade on the ground and cut open the boxes. There were four computers also with TSA tape and each marked as inspected. I told him. “See, 4 computer each sealed by the US Government.” He was satisfied and my knee was no longer hurting. I thanked him and told him I really needed to get out and stretch my legs. He gave me a big smile. We loaded back into the bus and headed into Yola. I turned and apologized to the people in the van. The laughed and said no problem. 

I had been texting Yakubu my progress whenever I had a cell signal. As we approached Yola I sent him a message but the status stayed at sending. Finally, I checked my account balance. My prepaid account had 0.30 Naira. I takes 5 Naira for a text. Now I can only receive calls and texts but I cannot send. Yakubu called me and I told him where were and I did not know where bus was going to finally stop. When he called again, I told him we were now turning on to the road to the market, he said he was not far behind. The bus stopped at the Jimeta “Ultra Modern” market right at 5 PM as the market was closing. The streets were jammed with motorbikes, peddlers with wheelbarrows filled with merchandise, people and cars. A few minutes later Yakubu drove in the cluster of vehicles. We tossed my box and bagging in the back of his truck and headed down the street to the Jimeta Cathedral compound. 

The kids of the security man that lives in the round house between Yakubu’s office and the old mission house I live in, saw me coming and started jumping up and down. Their family has been working on cleaning the house the last few days. No one had been there in almost a year. They had it pretty clean for having had two Harmattans this year. But there was no water in the water barrels. I will stay at the Adip Hotel for the night.