“Before the total lockdown was announced by the President, Courteville Business Solutions had already but measures in place by executing the work from home approach with a large number of its staff. A few of us were asked to come to work. I was glad I was amongst those expected at the office until the 29th of March when it was announced that there would total lockdown in the F.C.T, Lagos and Ogun States from the 31st of March, 2020.
I have never had a work from home experience and if I had a choice I would have gotten a pass to be able to drive down to the office daily. I just like seeing people but hey glad a little bit of normalcy has been restored with regard to the work place.
I had never had to deal with a compulsory break like this in a while, not since JAMB jammed me at my first attempt or since the lecturers’ strike back when I was in University (O.O.U). This felt super weird and painful because unlike the JAMB time or the strikes where I could at least go out and see family and friends, the COVID-19 pandemic restricted me to my small crib.
Just to make things clear, it was not a break per say as it was a work from home package. I knew it was going to be a tough one, I mean it was always going to be difficult working from home like you are expected to be at the office between 8am and 5pm.
So the total lockdown kicked off at the end of March all through the month of April. It was the most difficult period ever despite being at the comfort of my home. I got work done but it wasn’t like having people around to share ideas or thoughts with by just turning your head clockwise or picking up the intercom to speak with people in other departments.
The beautiful thing about working from home was it was business as usual, majority of us were not just working within the confines our magnificent four story office building but there was no downtime as work went on smoothly.
I went as far as starting a journal, writing about how my day went and the activities embarked on. I had to stop writing on the 16th day when I resigned to my fate that the Corona Virus was not going away, at least not yet.
Before resumption to the office on the 4th of May, 2020 all staff that were asked to resume were subjected to tests before resumption. Which was the way to go, better safe than sorry. All staff were provided with masks and hand sanitizers, visitors were screened before being allowed into the building with soap, water, paper towels and sanitizers in conspicuous places, there was no way you would miss it. The company’s efforts basically helped put this safety measures against the virus in our subconscious.
Personally the pandemic made me take a lot of things I would normally take for granted serious. Eating fruits, vitamins, washing my hands every hour on the hour, going about with a hand sanitizer and having my masks where I can see them. There’s always a mask in the car, office, living room, bedroom and what have you. Safety first as I would like to always say.
It has been tough, I cannot just go to places where I usually go especially visiting family and friends. Things seem to be better now but we still have to be careful and continue to adhere to the safety measures constantly shared by Health officials and the Government.
The pandemic just made me extra careful basically.”
Dipo Ogun
Business Development Executive