Overseas travel of
Malcolm Archbald SMITH
[Ref. S.1]
| Overseas |  |
Travel | |
Work | |
Roadside scenes | |
Flowers |
Having arrived at Lagos Airport on 4 March, Malcolm managed to work his way through the immigration procedures successfully, having been warned by his colleagues about the custom of "Dash". Basically, this is where any official expects a payment for their services. He took a taxi to the address of his company flat on the outskirts of town. It was a large building in a commercial area and it was not clear which was the correct flat. Anyhow, Malcolm found it but it was empty so he made himself at home, taking food from the 'fridge then selecting a room with a bed already made up. Later, the housekeeper arrived and complained that Malcolm had taked food for the regular occupant. Malcolm suggested that it was always possible to buy some more.
The next day he met his contact from STC and they travelled by car up country to the ITT house in Enugu. STC were a subsiduary of ITT. The following day he started the daily journey to the site at Lafia.
Malcolm had been allocated to advise STC on the erection of Supacom buildings on a construction camp for staff installing a telephone system. As Malcolm found out later, the telephone system was doomed from the start as the electricity supply was unreliable, hardly anybody had a phone, and the towns were not linked together. An example of the problems was illustrated by one exchange where the electricity went off as it did every day. It became too hot inside so the staff opened the windows which let in dust and jammed the equipment.
Malcolm's arrival was calculated by STC to co-incide with the arrival at port of the Supacom buildings. However, the ship was delayed, firstly by storms and then by engine trouble off Lagos which lost it it's berth in Port Harcourt. Malcolm went with A Osborne to Port Harcourt on 11 March and the ship finally berthed on 16 March. Malcolm kept notes on the unloading procedure and transport to site. On the way back, the car that Malcolm was in was involved in a serious crash, something not uncommon on Nigerian roads.
The day after the convoy had arrived at Lafia with all the buildings, preparation started for the unloading. Malcolm decided to get up on top of the first pack to organise the slings for lifting. Unfortunately, the ladder he used was poorly made and one of the rungs broke, letting him fall head first to the ground. In putting his hand out to save himself, Malcolm dislocated his left elbow. Events thereafter were not ideal as the site was located out of town in the bush. Afterwards, Malcolm wrote an account of the event which was published in his company's house magazine.
Malcolm managed to continue his work on site for a few days but he became concerned about the painful swelling of his arm and decided to return home. He was driven up country to Jos from where he was able to fly directly back to London. Because of his condition, he was escorted onto the plane before the other passengers and had his baggage carried for him. Back in London, he managed to travel home unaided. Despite subsequent treatment of his arm, Malcolm was never able to fully straighten it again. Some time later, he looked into the possibility of legal compensation but that came to nothing.
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