Decade Blogs - Emeka John Okoye - Welding Relations

Decade Blogs

Emeka is one of my good young friends on Twitter who has honoured me with taking up the offer of writing a blog for my blog to celebrate my 10 years of blogging.

Blog - To Celebrate My Decade of Blogging

Having given writers free rein to write about anything that catches their fancy, I find myself learning a lot from the experiences and ideas that bring excitement to life.

Emeka is studying to be an international relations and foreign policy expert, but in the time that his lecturers have downed tools, he has forged relations in welding and melding, which by no mean extension is about making things and understanding ideas people have to make things and make things work.

I dare say he is also a sesquipedalianist, but do not worry, all that is in hand. I love this blog for the father-son rapport and the fact he has just applied himself productively to something else rather than just sit at home.

On Twitter his handle is @emekaxi, enjoy this piece. Thank you.

On July 1^st, when the Academic Staff Union of Universities started their industrial action, I was oblivious of what the future portends. Although, I have written all my exams at Nnamdi Azikiwe University. I was only hoping that the strike will end in no distant time, so as to enable me prepare for my sophomore classes in October. Little did I know, that the industrial action will be a drawn-out and a protracted saga.

Days later, I was in the village to see my parents and meet few of my townsfolk. As days went by, it was unbeknownst to me that my father had a plan for me. A week to the day I came back, dad invited me for a tête-à-tête. We discussed at length how my studies has been. During the discussion, he said “son, it’s expedient for you to you to learn a skill now that you’re an undergraduate, in order to forfend the growing cases of unemployment in Nigeria”. I quite understood where he was heading to, and I willingly accepted his proposal.

The next day, I was in his welding workshop to start work immediately. Albeit, I wasn’t novitiating because I had a little savvy of welding, but I still found it hard to adjust to the environment and rigours of welding. Few minutes later, he came in and told me to unray [context - disrobe] and put on my working clothes. I did as he said, and in no distant time he gave me my first assignment.

He told me to paint 13 burglary-proof frames, he constructed earlier in the week. Throughout, the week, I was enmeshed in painting, sandpapering and welding faulty wheelbarrows. The whole experience was operose and gruelling, but in no time, I began to make a little money through working for other people. I relished the moment and blithely went about my work without problem.

As days went by, we began to go for outside work in neighbouring communities, carrying along our start-and-weld generator in the trunk of my dad’s Volkswagen Golf car. My happiest moments were when we were called to work on an oilrig.

The name of the oil firm is Orient Petroleum Plc; this was an oil firm in charge of exploration in Anambra State. They were based in our local government area (Anambra East). We welded some of the faulty rig frames and did some other miscellaneous work. I saw it as a singular honour to have worked in the oilrig, and this increased my keenness for welding.

Five months later, without hearing any positive news from ASUU. I can aver with all hardihood that am now a welder waiting in the wings. I have learnt a lot and can undertake some high profile works like constructing a door and other stuffs.