Travelling to Owerri, Nigeria to attend the Matriculation Ceremony of my Friend

It was a Friday morning, last week to be precise. We thanked God it was Friday. It was a day I would leave my state to another state to attend an event. The mother of the celebrant told us a day before that she would be leaving Uyo by 6:30Am in the morning. This was a major challenge for me because I don't usually wake up early. I sleep late and wake up late. What did I do?

The night before, I fiddled my phone till it was 5Am so my eyes won't close and I miss out on this opportunity. I was also hired to be the acting photographer. So it would have been bad to miss such important event. Once it was 5Am, I left with my neighbour to the woman's house. Everywhere was covered with dark clouds as she were after meeting her in time. I've never been dragged out of my comfort zone to walk in dark streets at such times. It was the first of its kind.

Our going early was so as not to miss the grand entry of the celebrant we were going to celebrate there. He lives in Owerri now, the campus hostel. Upon arriving the house of the celebrant's mother,the Sienna was already there to upload things. We weren't late though as the celebrant's siblings were still preparing. At the rise of dawn, we took off with everything loaded in the boot. The prepared cake for the celebrant was held by the mother in front of the vehicle to avoid breaking it.

Travel destination	Federal University of Technology, Owerri
Travel Date	11th April, 2025
Location	Google Maps
Duration	3 hours or more

Departing from Uyo

Departure Time	8:05

The Sienna took routes that would be easier for him to get there in time, on good roads and minimal check points which causes delay. **On our way out of Uyo local government area, the Sienna broke down with car battery being the fault. We waited over 30 minutes before the problem was solved. The man rented battery from someone and off we needed for Owerri.

Uyo is a beautiful city in Akwa Ibom State. We use Ring Rd route to Abak Rd and then to Ikot Ekpene rd where we passed the rice mill down to Ikot Ekpene local government area. Ikot Ekpene is another beautiful local government area but can't be compared to Uyo. The Four Points hotel that looks more like a skyscraper makes Ikot Ekpene a place many long to visit. The roads are very busy roads and that's actually the heart of the Local government area. The rest is village even on motorable roads.

From Ikot Ekpene, we entered Abak Local government area where I opportune to do this video. All through from Uyo to Abak, I was seriously crashing on the vehicle because I barely slept that night. I woke up to see myself in Abak local government area where I started this video. The driver has been on a fast pace and his ride was just so enjoyable. He knew all the straight roads to enter and the bad roads to avoid.

Check points were much on this particular route. We got stopped by force men but the driver was just so smart to tell them we're heading to Futo, the university doing Matriculation in Owerri. Once he said this, They'll allow us pass conveniently. We then got to Abia state — God's own state. I got a picture of the welcome board. Abia state is a state full of igbo speaking people and it has various clans. I made a video of Abia state urban areas.

	Me on the vehicle

When we got to Abia, the driver hauled for us to alight at an abandoned fuel station to urinate. I used that time to take pictures of me and the Sienna in Abia state. When we were done, the driver accelerated, this time at a very fast pace that I couldn't capture places clearly. The speed at which he move coupled with air resistance made it difficult to capture with clarity. I just got a few schools and their Iron Rod market at Obingwa local government area.

We got to the most busiest place of Abia state which is more like a plaza. People offloading goods and selling their products on the streets. Tricyclists struggling to load passengers in their keke as it's fondly called. I observed that the colour of their tricycle is Green while that of Uyo is red. 18-seater bus drivers were also by the roadside trying to gather passengers to fill their buses. We then kept moving till we got to Aba.

Aba is known as a dumping site of imported goods which are then channelled to other states. Aba isn't a state. It's an urban city and Local government, sharing boundaries with Abia and Owerri, mostly in Abia metropolis. I was shown Mami water. This place is always known to be a stinking place as all the dumps are put inside the river. Anytime one passes the bridge, the hard smell would hit the person and from what I heard, the place smells like a dumping site for dead people.

I got to see beautiful places like fountain area, eateries and the popular Rhema university. I've been hearing of this Rhema university but haven't seen it before. I saw it that day. I also saw Abia state secretariat and some popular buildings in Aba. The place is big and the biggest in Abia if I'm not mistaken. I didn't get to see the market in Aba, Aba market but saw other places.

	Rhema University

We were still in Aba before entering the Metropolis of Owerri, the capital City of Imo state. They are also igbo speaking people. We got to the heart of the city which I covered with my phone. Along the road, we saw people hawking their goods. They sold what is called Ukwa in their language with coconut. At first, I doubted the taste and didn't want to put it in my mouth until I was told it tastes like groundnut. This was my first time tasting an appetizer in the igbo land.

I used Google maps to check how far the journey was. Seriously, it was as if we didn't even start journeying. Owerri alone got half of the travel time — 1hr 30 minutes. The journey was still unending. I played songs in my phone to keep myself busy as network didn't allow me to online. Finally, we arrived school rd, the road leading to the Federal university of Technology, Owerri.

Arriving the Outskirts of the University

The celebrant gave us directions on how we would get to his hostel. Seriously, the road was bad. I wondered how this place looks like during heavy rainfall and the worst part of it is that there's a dumping site there which mixes with the water and pollutes it. This is my research project topic. So I took pictures and videos to make up the teaching strategy I'm using**.

I wonder how they survive in such a place that's stinky. Some vehicles stumbled in the water as it was deep. The accelerated speed out bus driver used geared up his vehicle so he won't get stuck in the mud. We used the back entrance of the university as the front area was still miles ahead. From the back, we got to the male hostel of the university. There, we saw the celebrant dressed in his splendor. The siblings and mother were happy to see him. Instead of reducing in size due to the stress of university, he's increasing..

	Hostel

Arrival time	11:00 Am UTC

I gave him a warm embrace as a friend and we moved to the Faculty where the event would be held. It's done Faculty by Faculty to avoid crowd and traffic. They are more coordinated than the institution I am. I won't blame my institution because of lack of facilities. Federal university of Technology in Owerri is like an estate.

	Picture of me giving the celebrant a portrait

Very big that you can barely tell the end. It's even bigger than University of Calabar in size. From the hostel to the Faculty was just 15 minutes drive. Motorcycles who drive students to their faculties for lectures charge them 500-1000 naira. Very exorbitant.

My friend, Derick was dressed in Brown suit with his black matriculation gown. We got to a parking space and ate before he did procession with his faculty members. I was given rice and stew with goat meat. I ate but wasn't satisfied. It was then I remembered it's not my sibling's matriculation that I'll ask for more and besides, we just arrived. The celebration hasn't started.

Commencement of the Event

I then gave him a portrait with his suit with my video stand. The background wasn't really giving though. I just had to use my photography skills to enhance the picture. I was then captured as the photographer of day. I stood in a background that looks cocky. There's no Engineering faculty you would go to without seeing drawings on the wall. You'll always see slangs, skulls etc...These people are known to be the most dangerous people in the entire school as majority are Boys.

Processing started and I took pictures and videos of Derick with his department. Other departments that make up the faculty also matched in their elegance to the Matriculation venue. Only students were allowed to enter the hall while canopies were pinned for parents to wait for their children.

The Matriculation ceremony ended in an hour time and we took pictures of the celebrant and with him in an open field. I was the official photographer and did what I knew how to do best. After taking pictures, we moved to the hostel where we did the celebration with his friends and colleagues. Cutting of the cake was the first thing done before moving to other item 6. I covered everything. Some students were like, which phone is this? The camera is giving, they said

We enjoyed ourselves with the foods and drinks there. I can remember eating thrice to my satisfaction and drinking moderately to avoid being parked to the house. I took some icing sugar and cakes home so I can distribute with my siblings. The event was a wrap. I took pictures with him before leaving and bid him goodbye. We took of at exactly 16:53 pm UTC and arrived Uyo by 20:13 pm UTC. I slept throughout the drive till we got home.