So, where do I start from…

Something I’ve always known growing up is that I’ll never survive working in an office. The first profession I had in mind back in primary school was AeroNautical Engineering. With that, I believed I would get to travel and see the world. Then I grew older…and more ambitious. I decided becoming a NeuroSurgeon is better than AeroNautical Engineer. Of course I can’t be either of the two considering how terrible I was at science and maths.

I was fairly good at drawing though and I’ve always been fascinated with the beauty and complexity of building designs. Architecture till this day is still my dream profession. Mama never liked the idea of choosing that over becoming a NeuroSurgeon though but what could she do. Oh, and I loved computers too. Those are the two fields of study I chose in my UTME registration.

LAUTECH and FUTA were my choice schools. One because my high school crush (who I never had the balls to ask out) was a student there, the other because it’s a really good school. You can decide which is which by yourself. Wrote UTME twice, made cut-off marks twice, wrote post-UTME twice. Till date, I don’t know the result of the second post-UTME exam I wrote because I got the opportunity to join a field that better suited my dream of seeing the world.

Before leaving Nigeria for Egypt, the plan was to study Naval Architecture. On arrival however, there were only two options: Nautical Science or Marine Engineering. Remember what I said about how good I was at maths and science? I’m sure you can guess which of the two I chose. Four years and many shades of Egyptian rice later, I got my license as a Second Mate and I can finally see the world…or so I thought.

 

 

In every maritime school, they paint a picture of what kinda life you’ll live as a sailor. Lecturers telling you tales of when they sailed from Qatar to USA to China to Russia. You sitting there daydreaming about when you’ll post pictures on Instagram when you finally get to visit those places. Then you come home to Nigeria and reality hits you hard, really hard.

Graduated in September 2014, I decided NYSC is a waste of time when I could spend that one year sailing on a good ship, seeing the world and making lots of money. I applied to every shipping company that has a website and e-mail address. Edited CV many times. If only someone had told me back in school that in Nigeria, you have only two major options – You either sail on tankers or OSVs, I would have saved time and lots of internet data.

I was lucky though, I got my first job as a Third officer in January 2015. M.T Garroch. Shitty job. Amazing crew. Good Life. Lots of enjoyment. Plenty prostitutes (didn’t patronize any). Plenty booze. That’s everything you’ve heard about sailors. Lagos to Gabon on the first voyage, and then nearly a month at anchor. While it was real fun being on a ship like that, I didn’t really feel settled in. Everyday i see bigger and better ships around us. I was a 22 years old boy working on a ship and earning 90k plus per month. That wasn’t enough for me but everyday I had a reason to be thankful.

April 2015, I joined M.T ADELINE.
If you don’t leave your comfort zone, you’ll never realize how much greener the grass is on the other side. While it was fun working on Garroch, I wasn’t really learning anything essential for development in my career. Adeline provided the opportunity for growth. And that’s also my first time working with Indians. In case you don’t know, Indian officers are brilliant (or maybe the ones I worked with on Adeline). That ship helped build a good foundation for me. First voyage was from Lagos to Lome Offshore to load. Finally seeing the world-ish. Loading completed in Lome, cargo to be discharged in Oghara, Delta state.

You see, it was on this voyage i started to have a different outlook on life. While you’re stressing yourself everyday to get the luxuries of life, some just want their daily bread. Passing the creeks from Escravos to Oghara, you’ll come across different communities. From the fancy buildings of Oporoza to the not-so-fancy villages of people who till date I don’t know how they manage to survive living in those sheds with their kids. I was told they fish to survive. Every time a ship passes, they race in their canoes towards the ship to shout “Oga dash”. Kids and  adults, mothers with babies on their laps, men. This is repeated for every ship passing, everyday.

I want to see the world but I realized then that I haven’t even seen my own country..or Africa. Before then, I’ve never been to any village. I’ve been to slums..and live in one.. but never any this bad. I decided then that I’ll need to see Nigeria instead. Of course i didn’t leave the ship and pack a bag immediately to start doing Ajala travel. I love my job plus free transportation to other parts of the country.

Four months after, I was off the ship and back home. One thing you should know about sailors is that we’re only rich when on the ship. Once we come home, we spend so much money we didn’t plan to. It’s like all the responsibilities you’ve been running away from finally catch up with you. Then the hustle for the next job begins. Majority of seafarers are on contract jobs, so job-hunts never end.

Joined KING DAVID late in November 2015. On that ship, I stayed the longest – 9 Months. Not because it was the best ship there is at sea…considering half the time we slept without working AC…but because I felt relaxed on the ship. In February/March 2016, we left Lagos for Dakar. You really won’t know how terrible a country Nigeria is until you visit other “small” African countries. A country without the resources Nigeria has managed to get it right with basic amenities. I never saw lights go off in Dakar and I never saw a pothole on the road. I did see and visit many good restaurants and many lovely bars/nightclubs. Texas is still my favorite bar and I’ll love to see Odile again…I still owe her money though.

I’ve always been a fan of history and culture. Senegal has a rich culture. Unlike Nigeria where everyone was born in the U.K, Senegalese people speak french only when they need to. Wolof is their choice language for conversations. They dance their crazy, energy-consuming Mbalax dance even in nightclubs. Their love for their local wrestling is only rivaled by their love for football. Even their hiphop and rap has some of their traditional musical instruments incorporated. Maybe that’s why when the producers of Black Panther’s needed African local music, they went to Senegal.

I visited their Slave museum on Goree Island and the African Renaissance Monument (The tallest statue in Africa). Passed by their presidential villa many times with no police harassment (I don’t think regular Abuja residents have ever gone near Aso villa). Ate some of the best fruits (imported of course). And drank plenty beer. It was a vacation, really.

Rest is important.
My second officer (Indian) on Adeline told me that once he signs off a ship, he travels to the mountain resorts with his friends for two weeks and he never comes back to sea for few months. That’s a really good idea but not for someone who has certificates to renew, or so I thought. Joined LADY ELIZABETH about a month after leaving KING DAVID. Managed to spend two months on that ship then left to avoid losing my sanity.
I really needed rest and mind reset. And I rested well in December. Enjoyed my christmas at home/O.L.I.C with my brothers, Taiwo and Salam. GTBank Food and drink festival with that weird Fulani friend of mine, Omolola. Pork ribs and cold palm wine is a really good combination. Alfred and I went to a slightly fancy restaurant to eat “fried rice”. That was a proper holiday.

DIVINE MERCY gave good and bad (sorta) experience.
After leaving LADY ELIZABETH, I decided not to take another Third Officer job. I felt it was time to step up, but what can you do when a good company (which there are few of in this Lagos) calls you…Flew to Dakar mid-January 2017 to join the ship at dry dock. Couple of weeks after, we were out of Dock and off to Nigeria. Some weeks at anchor then off again to Calabar.

Calabar was the only Nigerian port city I had not visited at the time. I was quite excited to go there. Smooth sailing to FWB and all went downhill from there. Ship ran aground (not anyone’s fault of course), company spent plenty money to get it refloated, managed to get to berth. Not much sleep for those few days. Commenced discharge…then power-pack decided to fuck up again. Never have I seen people work so hard and tirelessly in my life like the engine crew of Divine Mercy. Never have I seen a man so dedicated to work like the M.D of Camship.

Ship eventually got kicked out of the jetty after multiple attempts to get the power-packs running failed. Transferred the R.O.B to KING DAVID then left Calabar for Lagos. On arrival in Lagos, owner decided heads must roll for the misfortunes of Calabar. Capt, me and duty AB signed off. Really bad thing… which was changed to good only two weeks after. Got a job on ELOHIM as Second Officer, a position I would have waited six months or more for if I had remained on DIVINE MERCY.

Like KING DAVID, life on ELOHIM was good…only after Capt. Vivek joined.

A quick review of Captains I’ve worked with :
Garroch              – Capt. Babatunde Taiwo : Fun guy, nice guy.
Adeline               – Capt. Prabhat Kumar : Nice guy, good teacher.
Adeline               – Capt. Jitendra Patil : no nice way to put it, he was an ass.
King David         – Capt. Jahangir Alam : Fantastic guy.
King David         – Capt. Bivash : Meh…..
Lady Elizabeth  – Capt. Navnit Kumar : Nice guy, good teacher.
Elohim                – Capt. Andreas : young prick
Elohim                – Capt. Vivek Chandra : Favourite Captain worked with so far.

Back to Elohim, first month was shitty because of the young Capt Dsouza who made the ship prison-like. God eventually brought a messiah called Vivek Chandra who brought fresh air to the ship and made everyone feel alive again. And that, among other things,  was why I stayed seven months on the ship before taking a break in december to rest and reset. And I did at home, in Republic of Benin and in Port Harcourt.

 

Now I’m sober…I’ll continue when next I have alcohol in my system.
What was the point of this many words sef? I dunno either.
Yeah, I’ve been lucky to travel to many nice places and still enjoying the sea life…