Prologue: I sincerely apologize for not posting since November, I am sorry.
I pen this firstly to appreciate the patriotic nature of these people. Real country love. The three-coloured-flag waving high in every nook you go, from offices, schools (obviously), hostels, homes, hotels to even public bathrooms. Patriotism which is I see as quite a disrespect because for a country like Nigeria which has little national symbols and the flag partaking as one of it. Most especially, I respect them for the flag being clean.
The differences being experienced are drastic.
1. Commercial buses transporting passengers at an over-affordable price which is generic to all stops. For a Nigerian this is strange because your normal bus conductor won’t give you a normal charge as the person whom he carried from a terminal earlier. Let’s say he won’t charge a person who entered from Wuse 2 to Kubwa same as the person who entered in Jahi.
The little fare for using the tram, subways and trains, all moving at the speed of light is considered a blessing as one can get in even without a ticket and get to the desired place in minutes.
2.People are seen on the streets crossing what we know as ‘may roads’ at ease walking in front of a speeding car, the driver quickly applies brake for the pedestrians. Respect! With this acquainted behavior you surely will possess the phobia that you might walk freely to your death when you get to your country where you have to be an athlete when crossing the road.
3. In grocery stores and supermarkets the cashier discovers at the counter that your cash is incomplete after calculating your stocks and you are politely told to try and bring the balance tomorrow at your convenience, this is a trade center where the prior aim is to gain profit. An Igbo man who just got his provision store open would place an outstanding post on the wall of the shop’s entrance with bold fonts on an A3 paper saying “NO CREDIT, COME TOMORROW.” You begin to wonder what planet these people come from to trust money for goods purchased on the customer until the next day of which there is no surety of the customer coming back.
4. As an internet oriented person you are highly blessed to be here. From the mobile data which drops to unlimited 3G after the normal exhaustion of purchased data to wireless fidelities in schools for academic work and research to easily affordable routers in local distribution stores less the price by 2 for purchase and subscription in your country. The ‘internetic’ part of you is happy. No more network worries.
5. With the low fuel price you wish to own a car here maybe a Mercedes CLA 300. The constant electricity would make you have a shaky reconsideration to stay back after the purpose of your trip. Considering that when you return back to base you would miss all these goodies; with the fuel queues and ‘Up/down NEPAs.’
6. Plus sized people (especially guys) are seen floating around although less than the amount of bacteria, catching a breath to figure if it’s the sharwarmas, pizzas and poulets (roasted chickens) that causes this weight gain. Still at an affordable price you detest these small chops to your much loved akpu, amala, eba and the likes of them. This is the point where you miss the taste of naija; you are basically confined to rice (the world most popular food), beans, macaroni, spaghetti, and couscous. No morning akara and night suya and grilled fish. You search for a Nigerian kitchen and find none; you wish you can begin one.
7. You bet you must have seen a handful of mad people in your country but not here; you are just beginning when you get here, the number keeps multiplying to an extent where you loose count. They are in numbers; they increase day by day that you would think they are prophets spreading the unknown message. Prophets dressed in thicker Yeezys, geeky mad men with technological tools. You don’t know how to start laughing, when you start you don’t know how to end.
8. At this point it feels more like this and all others coming after are things you don’t like especially seeing a guy being too close to his fellow guy, that not being enough they peck: right cheek, left cheek, that not enough they go on a marathon peck of up to 6 rounds. The bond existing between them seems more than metallic with the strange man-man hugs and touches you wonder the use of their women occupying 70% of the human population and beautiful at that.
9. Moving on the streets you get infuriated seeing young boys with elongated mouths from the packaged weed wrapped in their mouths which after much debate with people who don’t know the country better than you do concludes its legal for sake that it’s sold in shops. All these old flip up phones of 2000’s are still used here, you wonder if this place is a dump site for such phones. Considering how affordable life is here.
You walk to the barber shop for your hair cut and he swerves from given instructions putting your looks in shambles, with a poker face you grumbly pay and head to the tailor to adjust your trouser, with all the attitude he gives, he collects it and inscribes a-3-digit number (your pay) and a name on a paper he says “à demain (tomorrow)” with all plea and reason why you need it today he refuses and says Q.E.D.
P.S: After all, home still remains home. There is no place like it because the love abounds the more there.
