Article written by actress Mercy Johnson Okojie...
My
picture and that of my daughter, Purity in a Lagos train has surfaced
online and quite a number of people have asked me what I was doing in a
train and in Lagos for that matter; not Paris or London.
I
was around Iddo at Ebute Metta when my Range Rover developed
a mechanical fault and I had to make a very important appointment in
Ikeja regardless of the usual traffic congestion in Lagos. Luckily, a
member of my management team was around, he suggested a train ride and
we were in Ikeja in less than 30 minutes but that is not the crux of
this statement.
Like
I mentioned earlier, I have had to answer questions in private and
public as to why I would board a train because trains in Nigeria are
considered a means of transportation for the ordinary and not-so-rich
people. A friend called and said I just devalued my brand by being on
the train with ordinary people. I couldn’t help but laugh. Are we extra ordinary people because we are celebrities?
In
as much as I understand the concept of branding, packaging and
exclusiveness, I will never trade the experience to sit, interact and
feel the pulse of so-called ordinary people.
By
the way, I am part of the ordinary people. I grew up as an ordinary
person among ordinary people. Why would I avoid them now? Would that be
because I am now famous? Without these ordinary people, how would I have
been famous in the first place? Without the so called ordinary people,
where would Nigeria's growing population of so-called well packaged
celebrities be today?
For
the purpose of clarification, I was not on that train due to lack of
money to get a well packaged cab or to get somebody to bring another car
from the house but, my car developed an unforeseen fault
and I needed a fast , reliable and convenient alternative immediately as
there was urgent business to be attended to and I respect time a lot.
The
train was available where I was; most importantly, I did not want to
turn down the opportunity to be with the people who would ordinarily not
have access to me so I grabbed the opportunity with both hands and here
we are. I
want to thank my co-passengers, officials of the train for treating me
with absolute respect and courtesy, I am indeed, very grateful.
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