Mercy Johnson: why I had to board the train with odinary people

Article written by actress Mercy Johnson Okojie…
My picture and that of my daughter, Purity in a Lagos train has
surfaced online and quite a number of people have asked me what I
was doing in a train and in Lagos for that matter; not Paris or
London.
I was around Iddo at Ebute Metta when my Range Rover developed
a mechanical fault and I had to make a very important appointment
in Ikeja regardless of the usual traffic congestion in Lagos.
Luckily, a member of my management team was around, he
suggested a train ride and we were in Ikeja in less than 30 minutes
but that is not the crux of this statement.
Like I mentioned earlier, I have had to answer questions in private
and public as to why I would board a train because trains in Nigeria
are considered a means of transportation for the ordinary and not-
so-rich people.
A friend called and said I just devalued my brand by being on the
train with ordinary people. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Are we extra ordinary people because we are celebrities?
In as much as I understand the concept of branding, packaging and
exclusiveness, I will never trade the experience to sit, interact and
feel the pulse of so-called ordinary people.
By the way, I am part of the ordinary people. I grew up as an
ordinary person among ordinary people.
Why would I avoid them now? Would that be because I am now
famous?
Without these ordinary people, how would I have been famous in the
first place?
Without the so called ordinary people, where would Nigeria’s
growing population of so-called well packaged celebrities be today?
For the purpose of clarification, I was not on that train due to lack of
money to get a well packaged cab or to get somebody to bring
another car from the house but, my car developed an unforeseen
fault and I needed a fast , reliable and convenient alternative
immediately as there was urgent business to be attended to and I
respect time a lot.
The train was available where I was; most importantly, I did not
want to turn down the opportunity to be with the people who would
ordinarily not have access to me so I grabbed the opportunity with
both hands and here we are.
I want to thank my co-passengers, officials of the train for treating
me with absolute respect and courtesy, I am indeed, very grateful.

Posted by Donatus Joshua at 08:30