MY TEN KOBO; THE ADVERT WAGON

in the late 90s, at the dawn of the emergence of Punch as an advertisement powerhouse, there were very few cars in the Punch premises, and even fewer owned by the staff of the advert department.

Apart from Mrs. Yetunde Atilade's 504, Mr.Muyiwa Obe's beetle, and Mrs. Bimbo Sanyaolu's beetle, there were no other cars, apart from the pool car, available for advert runs.

Enter the Advert Wagon.
From the day I brought the car to work, it became the staff car, the agency runs car, the special projects car, and the client service car.

Because back in the day, advert production, especially the classified ads, commenced only when all stories had been put to bed, we would, most often than not, leave the office around midnight.

So on those days, we would pack ourselves in like sardines, and transverse Lagos at that odd hour.
Drop Mama in Surulere, Siji at Ojota, Bode and Dare at Dopemu junction, and Bakare at Isolo, before heading home to Oshodi around 2am.

And the next day we would do it all over again.

Ah, those were good times.

Even after the advert explosion, and with cars in abundance, we still use the pool car template, especially on those days of bumper editions, whereby we all park our cars on the premises, and use only one car to drop off all those who worked late before heading home.

As I remember the old reliable today, I also pray for the souls of Mrs. Sanyaolu
, who left us almost six years to the day, and Shakiru Bakare, who left us a few months ago.
May their souls continue to rest in peace.

My Ten Kobo.