Where were you in 1989? Well, until November of that year before I immigrated to the U.S., I was in Lagos , Nigeria as sports editor of Newswatch, Nigeria’s leading weekly journal at the time, and I remember a year filled with epochal events: George H.W. Bush succeeded Ronald Reagan as the 41st president of the United States; the Great Revolution for Democracy against Dictatorship began in China’s Tiananmen Square, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini succumbed to a heart attack; Frederik de Klerk is inaugurated as South Africas president and promises to end apartheid and release Nelson Mandela from prison. I also remember the confusion I felt when I woke up the morning I was scheduled for my visa interview at the US Embassy in Lagos to hear about the Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco. There were also several remarkable events to recall such as my coverage of the world cup qualifier between Nigeria and Angola, where the great Sam Okwaraji collapsed and died while serving his country. I do also remember being a member of the organizing committee of the All Africa Track and Field Championships in Lagos, becoming great friends with the VOA’s Barry Maughan, and witnessing our efforts at organizing a successful championship end with Nigeria’s record haul of 35 medals at the end of the games: youtube/watch?v=4S2ptmXsxzs
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 03:27:07 +0000
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