Mr Bepo’s passport had expired two years earlier and he did not bother to renew it as he had not been too keen on relocating. He was also afraid of going to renew it as he had heard tales of the new rules and hassles that applicants were experiencing. However, when he realizes that he has no other option than to renew it, he is not ready to face the hassles and so he explores other options.
He realizes that he could bribe an immigration officer but he would require up to N200,000 to N250,000 and could have his passport renewed in less than a month. He could also travel to the Immigration Service in any neighboring state. He eventually chooses to go to Ibadan. Although the law states that the process could be done online or manually without the use of “middlemen”, he is told by an agent in Ibadan that this law existed only on paper.
At first, Bepo speaks with the agent. Tai, on the phone where he is told to pay N1000,000 for a 10-year renewal (64 pages) instead of the official N70,000. He sets off on the journey to Ibadan on a Tuesday afternoon so that he would be able to meet up with Tai by 7:00 am the next day as discussed on the phone. The journey to Ibadan is stress-free and takes only 50 minutes as opposed to the one he had with his students on an excursion about 10 years ago which took about two hours.
On the road, he observes a lot of churches and mosques. He finds it ironic that Nigeria has “many religionists but few godly people” Bepo retrains himself thinking this to be a judgmental thought. He also notices a lot more businesses along the expressway. As the Sienna car, he rode on enters Ibadan, he is fascinated by the phenomenal Ibadan landscape. He is reminded of the poem “Ibadan” by J.P. Clark:
Ibadan, running splash of rust
and gold-flung and scattered among
seven hills like broken China in the sun.
The Lekki Headmaster (pg. 51)
He arrives at the Immigration office around 6:40 am the following day. He discovers that Tai is not an immigration personnel but a business center operator working in cahoots with some immigration staff. Tai gives Bepo all the necessary data and sends him off to the official that he works with. The official takes the document in for validation and tells Bepo to return for data capturing in three weeks. Bepo is surprised that the exercise was so fast and the officer tells him that this is why he paid extra. Bepo gives him a N2,000 tip.
