Dis ember Months

Today I suppose would be considered a typical day.  I was in the rafters at the boarding house installing the wiring for new security lights.  When Ezekambe, our security man on duty, came and said “come”.  This could mean many different things.  This time however, as I was soon to find out, it meant there are four revenue officers in the HM’s office with two armed policemen waiting at the door.  Sometimes less information is more but not this time I think a heads-up would have been nice.  After explaining to the head revenue man for the third time in as many months that we paid all our fees last January and produced some receipts to back up our claims they left.  I’m not sure but it might have had something to do with me directing the conversation to the fact that they felt a need to bring armed “policemen” to our mission school and to any who have been here and know Miss Agnes, our HM, know that she is not a real threat.  After the revenue man repeated several times “it’s not like that”,  I think he realized it was like that and politely left.  After they left Pastor John and Agnes were discussing how the police uniforms didn’t match and they were either off duty or not actual policemen hired for the purpose intimidating people to collect extra “taxes”.

 

We have been told and remember last year after we arrived the “Dis ember Months” (these months ending in “ember”) are crazy everyone is out trying to get what they can before Christmas, or X-mas as they call it here.  You expect different agencies out on the roads trying to get the “year end bonus” and we are taking extra precautions when traveling because for less reputable people on the roads this time of year.  But I was not expecting them at the school admin building.   AH NIGERIA as we are learning to say…