In 2003, I was part of a team of BBC journalists sent to Iraq after the war that ended the regime of Saddam Hussein. The group includes some of the most experienced BBC correspondents like Barbara Plett, Claire Marshall and Stephen Sackur, the current presenter of Hard Talk.
The road to Baghdad wasn’t straight forward because of the high level of insecurity. So we were initially deployed to Jordan and took the road to Baghdad via Kuwait, going through Rutba-Ramadi, Nasiriya, Najaf then Kharbala and finally Baghdad.
Though we hardly knew ourselves and never traveled together before, but within a short time we broke the barrier of being mere colleagues to friends. We worked and ate together, sharing not only our evenings but even our bedrooms.
In Baghdad we lived in a villa that the BBC had rented just outside the embassy of France. We had chosen our home the day after our arrival in Baghdad, as the Palestine Hotel was becoming increasingly the target of attacks by soldiers still loyal to Saddam Hussein who did not want to leave the capital.
It wasn’t easy to house and feed a team of over 20 journalists, in a villa in the heart of a ravaged capital which had no other authority than that of a U.S. governor, Paul Bremner.
I and Stephen Sackur shared an en-suite bedroom divided into two compartments located on the second floor. At dinner we will all gather around the typical dishes from Iraq.
Throughout our journey, in a brotherly manner, Stephen insisted that the youngest of the group receives more attention. When there were only three bottles of water or a packet of biscuits to share, Stephen will turn to me and say in an authoritative voice but with humor: “Here Venuste, you’re the youngest.” I kept telling them that I was not the youngest, but the boys were convinced they had to protect me.
This was despite a constant reminder from our Scottish colleague who kept telling them that it is difficult to accurately guess the age of an African. Nay, had they believed him, I wouldn’t have enjoyed that much privilege. I enjoyed it while it lasted.
Towards the end of April 2003, Stephen and I went to Hilla, a town not far from Babylon; where mass graves containing the remains of victims of repression by Saddam against the Shiites in 1991 was discovered.
It was extremely hot, even for an African like me, as the temperature was constantly hitting 45 on the Mercury scale. When our water ran out to the last bottle, the gentleman Stephan was, left it to me, but I had to pretend that I have had enough, because I could visibly see that he was thirsty. That was my way of paying back for the fatherly care I enjoyed through out the journey.
The journey back was as difficult too. It was an eight hours drive to the Kuwait border. Halfway through, we stopped for our lunch. We had nothing more than the food rations given to us by the British and American soldiers we left behind. As usual, sharing was the rule and good humor was also at the rendezvous.
The corn beef was very good, I guess anything would at that time, but there was not enough for everyone. It was then I sprung my surprise. I suggested that we give the remaining box to the oldest person amongst us. Since there wasn’t any consensus on who was the oldest, like there was on who was the youngest, I said we should check our identity cards, to make sure there was no mistake. After a few seconds of investigation, I officially became the undisputed oldest man in the group.
Stephen could not believe it. He thought he was older than me. I was born on the 12th of January while he was born on the 9th a year after me. However Stephen started working for the Beeb 11 years before me. He has 30 years to his tally, against the 19 that I just clocked at our iconic building New Broadcasting House. So if it is any consolation, I still regard Stephen as my big brother.
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