My Neighborhood Watch #35 - Reporting Events Around us.

Matriculation, the event of the day. Yesterday, the 16th was the 30th/ 31th matriculation Ceremony in University of Uyo. It was such a great day considering the smiles and happiness that comes with the purpose of the day but then, with all the happiness came some frustrating factors which made the day evergreen in my memory.

Traffic

Every matriculation day is always a day of terrible traffic but yesterday took the cup for it. Yesterday's ceremony had two sets in one with a total of 17,550 fresh students. This worsened the state of the traffic, imagine heading somewhere and having to sit over two hours in traffic...that bad. This traffic was even more frustrating to those who had nothing to do with the matriculantion and just needed a road to pass.

I experienced this traffic firsthand yesterday. My sister was one of the matriculant and so I decided to go celebrate her as well. Leaving home by 10:00am, I was delayed in traffic for over one hour and finally got to the venue around 11:54am.

This was no ordinary traffic considering the heat that came with it. So many students only got to take pictures and leave as they couldn't make it to the actual event even after leaving their respective homes early enough.

Transport fare increase.

This traffic also contributed to an increase in the transport fair. The transport fair to and fro which was ₦400 (0.8532 Steems), was increased to double of that, ₦800 (1.7064 Steems). This increase resulted in most people trekking their way instead using a vehicle, others who never planned for such increase trekked half the distance and then used a vehicle for half the way.

The Sun

As if the sun was happy and then sad. The day began with a friendly weather which looked real promising but before 10:am, it became so hot and sunny that I almost stayed back. The sun has been really scorching lately but yesterday again, took the cup.

Insufficient Vehicles

Considering all the issues that came with the matriculation yesterday, this should be the second worst. No vehicles to head back from the venue which was permanent site at Nwaniba. So many people who came from far distance were stranded for a while. The crowd was so much that before the vehicle even got to the actual loading point, it was already full. This also gave the day a touch of frustration.

February 16th, 2024 will always be a memorable day for so many. A day of so much happiness and so much frustration as well.

Thank you, @xkool24 for organizing this contest. I'm inviting my friends @nsijoro, @whizzbro4eva, @uduak01, @uduak3287 and @bossj23 to participate