The diary of my ordeal

Date:  Friday, 26 August 2011

Time 10:20 AM

Place:  United Nations House, Abuja, Nigeria

Event:  Suicide bombing of the UN house

                                                                                                         

The day was a normal day in my professional life in Nigeria.   Hectic, so many deadlines to meet, so much on my plate….this is like a norm in my work environment.  The day was special for one thing though.   The new executive management members of the WHO –Nigeria staff association was to be inaugurated.  A general staff meeting was called to witness this event.  With divided heart between attending to urgent issues on one hand and the wish to express solidarity and be part of the historic event on the other, I opted for the later and went to the first floor main meeting room – just above the epic-centre of the bomb blast.

The President-elect made a very passionate speech about his vision and aspiration.  He actually had a campaign-like manifesto and was very enthusiastic to make a difference in the lives of his comrades.   He received a sounding applause for the promises he outlined in his speech.  Once the main event was over, the chairman requested staff to come closer and together for interactive discussion.  It was about 10:19 AM. 

I then decided to go to my office to finish the email I started before coming to this meeting.  I often try to avoid the elevator and take the stairs to ‘exercise.’  On this day, I requested a colleague who wanted to discuss some issues with me to join me in the elevator to the fourth floor where our office is located.  The elevator got us at the 4^th floor. 

 

One…two…three… seconds a sound of explosion was heard…. We turned our face to the east where we heard the voice coming from.  Two seconds later, all I remember was another  deafening explosion accompanied by smoke and so much debris hitting me and sweeping me to the floor.  For the next few seconds (in actual time but felt like much longer than that), I was trying to cover my face and head to save from whatever was hitting me.  The room went dark and filled with dust and smoke.