My friend Sharon is a traveller (tourist), and some months back she told me about her trip to Kenya. We talked about it and arrived at her not taking a round trip. I told her since she is a tourist, she needs as many stops as possible so as to capture the moments for her vlog.
She reasoned with me and decided to make a stop at Addis Ababa and then another stop at Mombasa and then continue en route to her destination in Kenya by train. It was all about the adventure, one I hope to embark on with her someday.
While on the trip, she shared every moment with me, from the food to the people she met and the places she visited. The most interesting part about the journey was noticing how most of the food she was served was not edible. I mean, the meals were appetizing and all, but my friend said they tasted horrible, and she just couldn't explain what went on with her taste buds.
I quickly remember one time I bragged about Nigeria having the best sets of food in the whole of Africa, if not the world. Rightfully so, my friend met some Asians who confirmed it. It was a connecting flight, and they all just started talking about the food they were served.
Like my friend, they also felt that most of the meal was horrible, and then they said, "For what it's worth, in all the African countries they've been in, Nigeria serves the best meal."
According to them, all the meals they had while in Nigeria were a hit, back to back. My friend was recording the whole moment for her vlog. And then after talking about how amazing Nigerian meals were, my friend introduced herself as a Nigerian, and they were blown away.
The conversation immediately shifted from how nice our food was to how beautiful we are. Both the Asian men and women admitted that Nigeria is indeed blessed with beautiful people, and my friend is enough evidence to prove that assertion.
As I watched the video and discussed the whole encounter with my friend, I could not help but feel some sense of lightness. At least for once, the opinion about Nigeria is a positive one. No one is viewing us as scammers, nor are they viewing us as poverty-stricken. I remember my cousin visiting Nigeria for the first time.
Before then, when she saw my pictures, she kept questioning if I really lived in Nigeria. When her mom asked her why yhe skepticsm she said she never thought I would be as exposed and good looking as i did in my photos. She had always pictured me like the characters in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy.
When I heard my aunt discuss this with my mom, I wasn't happy at all that she had that impression. Infact she said she wouldn't be surprised if she comes to Nigeria and see that we live in thatch houses. Her opinions were so flawed that I prepared seriously for her coming. I didn't want to start telling her how beautiful my part of the world is; I wanted to show her. So when she landed, we had a lot of adventure, and she sure had a lot to tell her friends when she got back to London.
As much as Nigeria is not perfect as a nation, we are not the worst existing entities out there. If there's one thing that cannot be denied, it's that Nigerians have a lot of energy. Nigerians bring the life to the party, and of course they don't call us the giant of Africa for nothing because we do not just bring the life, we sustain it, and whatever we are involved with keeps afloat due to our dedication and diligence.
Notably, my happiest moment being on Hive is how I don't get to be discriminated against over the actions of a few bad ones.
