“The only thing you can really count on is that things change” – Edward Unspooled by Craig

Michael Ajiboye is the foreman of the Patterson yard I’m working. He is from Nigeria. I’m still not sure why he now lives and works in Texas. We’ve had a few intriguing conversations.

A few weeks ago he shared with me how he learned to fly as a teenager in Nigeria. He often flew with his Dad who was a licensed pilot. Apparently his Dad also liked the sauce and would fly FUI (flying under the influence). Sometimes he would pass out at the controls and Michael had to take the helm. Loved that story.

Today we talked about his enlistment in the Nigerian Army in the early 1990’s. Wow. What a story that was.

Liberia was embroiled in a civil war. The United Nations and an organization of West African countries (ECOWAS) sent a peace keeping force there to enforce the peace. Michael was a member of that force.

Peace did not last long and suddenly this peace keeping force was involved in a very nasty war. He spent 2 years in Liberia fighting that war. He was wounded 3 times and several of his fellow soldiers were killed. He summed up that entire experience with “It was horrible”.

Most soldiers are reluctant to discuss their war experiences and I did not want to press Michael for more details. If you’re interested, google Liberian Civil War.

Everybody has a story. Some are tragic. All are interesting.

These are a few men of that Nigerian army. Michael is not in the picture.

“The lies we tell ourselves are always the worst lies of all” – Hurt Machine by Reed Farrel Coleman