Okeke arrived at the Frankfurt central train station at 11 o’clock for the first in Germany to receive the prestigious Nollywood Award. As he came out from the train, he walked down to the shopping malls and in front of him were two Nollywood volunteer staffs holding the poster of the event to welcome him. What a VIP reception! He met cheerful and passionate volunteers who offered to help him out with his small luggage. Okeke started to feel the spirit of the festival as the car was pulling down to drop him at his hotel.
At one time “his volunteer host” on the steering was looking for a parking space but Frankfurt like other big cities have this problem except for paid parking spaces. Big cities, big problems, space is rare and a free parking space is expensive. Finally, he found a parking space to allow the second volunteer, the cheerful lady who offered to carry Okeke’s luggage, to buy baby milk in one of the stores. It took her less than ten minutes and there she comes rushing down to the car.
“Sorry sir”, she told Okeke.
The car moved straight to Patty’s home for refreshment. And what a feast! Everybody was in a festive mood. The festival hasn’t started yet. The ladies were in the kitchen preparing delicious dishes; Agbono soup, pounded yam, meat pie while the paparazzi was taking pictures and reporting the event live on facebook as he interviews anyone in front of his lens. And in less than a second the news of the festival in video format was on his facebook wall.
Yes “the show must go on” and really it went on with much excitement when two Nollywood Stars, Peter Orji and Francis Dasu walked inside the living room. The ambiance of the house was charged with positive energy. Laugh and jokes filled the air. Two ladies were dancing in a sexy manner, twerking their waists to the appeal of the men in the room. The smell of the meal from the kitchen created a hungry mood in the house and Okeke wished some dish would to land in front of him. Now the two Nollywood Stars opened more his appetite when they called boldly for the food to be served. Patty’s wife called the stewards in the kitchen to serve everybody food. ‘Agbono soup and pounded yam’ were served immediately.
What a delicious meal shared with two popular Nollywood Stars in the house. Okeke was impressed by their humble profile. After lunch the photo session started with the stars and the afternoon was real entertainment. At the time to leave the house to his hotel, the Madam of the house gave Okeke ‘chim, chim’ a type of Nigerian biscuit which is called “one for road” which means something to eat in case you are hungry. It was the master of the ceremony, Patty who drove Okeke down to his hotel in the center of Frankfurt. The StandbyGuttenTag hotel was just a stone throw away to the tramway station. It was a four star hotel and he had to take an elevator to his room on the sixth floor. At the reception of the hotel, the receptionists were speaking perfect English and that was helpful to Okeke because his couldn’t have checked him inside his room. He discovered that you don’t even need to speak the German language when you are in Frankfurt. It might differ in other cities but Frankfurt being the business hub, has turned the city to a bilingual city. Patty left him at the canter and promised to send someone to pick him up for the opening ceremony of the festival in the evening. He pulled his small box on its rollers to his room.
