Where are you worshipping tomorrow?’ my friend asked me as he left my hotel room that night in Abuja.

‘I will pray here in my room,’ I said.

‘Come worship with us at the Aso Rock chapel,’ he invited.

My first impulse was to say ‘no thank you’ but then I realised that there could be a story there so I said yes.

Now, I have been labelled anti-APC on account of my interventions on www.sabinews.com and other platforms. The charge is wrong and false but protesting will only suggest guilt even though my interventions are always driven by the exigencies of the situation and context.

Now, I had an ulterior motive in saying yes that night. My intention was to carry out a very ‘anti-APC act’; look around and find out whether Mrs. Aisha Buhari, wife of the President had really turned the Aso Rock chapel into a spa or store as I had read on many social media platforms.

I, like many others had read the report and was affronted. How dare she turn a place of worship into a beauty salon? No one asked whether the rumor was true or not, Mrs. Buhari was guilty by reason of past conduct; once a spa owner always a spa owner.

So, there I was at the Aso Rock pilot gate at 7.43am where I joined the throng of people I saw on their way to worship at the chapel situated right inside the seat of power. My friend had come down with diarrhea and couldn’t make it after inviting me.

There were perfunctory questions at the Pilot gate but because it was Sunday and we were going to church, there wasn’t much scrutiny. I showed my phone, my tape recorder and my camera and then was cleared after my details had been taken down.

Outside, I looked up at the bright sun and long walk and baulked. I was still limping from a healing fracture and had not factored in the long walk but I was in luck, a couple driving by saw me limping and offered me a lift to the main gate where there was another perfunctory check.

Once inside the compound that houses the residence and offices of the first lady, you will find a winding tree lined pave-locked drive way bordered on both sides by masquerade trees.

There are green well-tended lawns and flower hedges on both sides of the ten feet wide driveway. The lawns on the right lead up to a cluster of white buildings which are clearly demarcated by a metal fence.

To the left is a heart shaped flower hedge which leads to the offices of the First Lady which must no longer be officially in use since there is no office of the First Lady in the present administration.

There is no fence to your left but worshippers arriving on foot, have to ease off the driveway and walk down a winding corridor for about 40 meters to the entrance of the chapel.

If you walk all the way to the end of the driveway, you will arrive at the First Lady’s kitchen and pantry. Beyond that and to your left is a tennis court complete with seats and further beyond is a mini zoo with giraffes and zebras and peacocks enjoying the sun. To the right of the mini zoo is a small mosque with a loud speaker to your right on the roof. The mosque a guard, I spoke with, told me was used for storage under the GEJ administration.

Retracing your steps from the mosque to the chapel, you will find a line of cars from pick-up vans marked Catering to those emblazoned with Police but there are also regular looking cars parked by worshippers all the way from the chapel to the end of the driveway.

I hobbled around, phone to my ear, as I took surreptitious shots, while I waited for the service to begin.

Read the concluding part here http://eraveng.com/2015/10/10/aisha-buhari-and-the-aso-rock-chapel-toni-kan/