By Lisa Jesudas
After dark, stillness falls over Amsterdam Science Park. The sounds of wind howls on a November evening echoes through the AUC Academic Building (AB). As three students descend the ground floor staircase and approach the revolving doors, the familiar figure of Augustine Okeke manning the reception heartily bids them, “Have a good evening!” A clap rings out as one of the students exchanges a high five with him before leaving. As more people exit, Okeke never fails to acknowledge each one of them with at least a smile.
The warmth of the portable heater installed behind the reception counter is characteristic of Okeke’s disposition. He is oftentimes the first or last person students and staff encounter at the AB each day. This makes him all too perceptive with the look of stress on people’s faces when they pass by the reception desk, whether it be from the intensity of academic or personal life. To help ease some of their worries, Okeke strives to build a positive atmosphere. “If there is any help I can lend, I will do it,” he says.
“Love brought me here”
Having worked as a security guard and receptionist for nine years at AUC with twenty years worth of prior experience, 53-year-old Okeke is a veteran. He knows Science Park like the back of his hand. While safety is the number one priority, his job is to also make sure that everything in the AB runs smoothly. This is not always easy. Okeke mentions how the recent student protests during the lunch hours have been a major disruption. Despite the challenges of the profession, he says, “this is still where I feel comfortable”.
And yet, Okeke is defined by so much more than his occupation in security. To describe himself, he exclaims, “Adventure! That’s me!” Ever since his adolescence, he was eager to explore the world outside of his native village in Anambra State, Nigeria. Throughout his early twenties, Okeke lived in Japan and worked various jobs there. First, as a waiter at the Seabornia Men’s Club in Tokyo, then, as a manufacturer of bicycle parts with the Sinwa company in Osaka. However, it was not the strive for adventure that eventually led him to the Netherlands. “Love brought me here,” Okeke says, when he married his first wife.
Okeke has now lived in the Netherlands for over 28 years and holds a Dutch passport. Yet, he emphasises that he is still “100 percent Nigerian”. Someday he hopes to return to his home country. He leans back into his chair and stares past his monitor, describing the warm climate and the rhythmic music he associates with his village. “It’s a lovely place. Home sweet home,” he says. Feeling nostalgic, Okeke starts to show photos and videos of Anambra. All the while, however, he regularly glances at the monitor displaying the building’s security footage and surveys everyone passing through the revolving doors.
Family. It is everything to Okeke, a father of two children from his first marriage and five children from his second marriage. His oldest is 26 years old and his youngest is six years old. He lights up at the chance to talk about them while showing photos of each one as babies and how they grew older overtime. He starts to chuckle to himself before narrating a funny quirk about each of them when he pulls up a new picture from his Photos app. As one of nine siblings himself, a large family is Okeke’s biggest pride.
His love for a great family extends to AUC as well. The sense of family and the closeness of the community is Okeke’s favourite thing about AUC. From behind the reception monitor, he observes the communality in the AB on a daily basis.
“As a father figure, I treat all the students like my own children”
Okeke’s welcoming nature rarely goes unnoticed. In fact, he says that one AUC graduate from the Class of 2023 visited AUC for no other reason than to see him recently. He last saw her over a year ago and recounts the moment of surprise by her kind gesture. With an elation, Okeke begins to fondly describe the developments of her career. “I want to see them become established,” pumping both his fists in the air, Okeke cheers, “That’s why I stimulate them a lot and say ‘you can do it!’”
Upon witnessing the personal and academic progression of AUC students, Okeke cannot help but feel proud of them: “I’ve worked here for nine years and I see that they are really special kids, but the only thing is that they smoke a lot,” he chortles. “As a father figure, I treat all the students like my own children”.
As the clock ticks towards 21:45, Okeke conducts his routine procedures for the end of the day. His voice resounds on the loudspeaker when he announces that the building is closing in 15 minutes and students steadily usher out. After a final check of all the rooms, he remains as the last person in the AB. At last, he switches the lights off and heads home.
The Herring 