Some days to the Easter celebration… I received a call from an unknown number.
When I picked up, the person (a man) at the other end was busy telling whoever he thought he was speaking to that he had been waiting at the airport for hours.
He was speaking Igbo.
I calmly waited for him to finish talking before informing him that he had called a wrong number and proceeded to tell him my name…in case, he’s a friend who has dialled my number in error.
He did apologise.
About two days later.
I received another call…from an unknown number.
When I picked up …it was the same man (that was stranded at the airport).
He claimed that he called to apologise for what he called “disturbing you the other day.”
I knew there was more to his reason for calling.
And I waited for him to TALK…after saying “no wahala at all” to his apology.
Then, he added “I also wanted to hear that voice again”.
I perked up.
He had said the truth.
So, I asked how he made it out of the airport the other day.
He told me that his folks (cousins) eventually came for him but that was after keeping him (waiting) for HOURS.
My curiosity got the better of me and I asked WHERE he came in from.
I suspected right!
He came in from ABROAD quite alright but not the kind of ABROAD that we ‘regard’ here.
He came in from Ghana!
As we said our ‘goodbyes’,
I thought to myself…
If that guy had come in from the US, CANADA, UK, GERMANY, FRANCE, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA, etc…
I swear to God, those his cousins would not have minded spending a night at the airport – waiting for his arrival.
Those countries (and a few more) are just the kind of ABROAD that makes sense to us – in this part of the world.
To us, OBODO OYIBO (abroad) has grades o.
It just seems no longer a case of “if you are in the village, Lagos is abroad”.
Some kinds of ABROAD just don’t cut it with most people here.
…especially the ones that are next door to us here in Africa.
To a lot of people, the kind of VIP treatment that a returnee relative/friend receives actually depends on WHERE he/she has sojourned.
Some of them will not bother if the kind of ‘abroad’ that you are returning from is ‘some kind’ in the continent.
Some relatives (those people ehn!) will even prefer you do NORTH KOREA!
…at least, it sounds far enough.
Poverty or Ignorance, which to blame?
I don’t know anymore, frankly.
What I do know is that whoever that is worth belonging in this century should also understand that IT IS NOT (often) WHERE YOU COME IN FROM that should matter but WHAT YOU DO WHEREVER YOU ARE COMING IN FROM.
I have seen someone who came in from one of those ‘proper abroad’ for his dad’s funeral and his siblings(back home) had to let him keep all the money realised from condolence visits…because he needed it more.
Sometimes, WHERE one lives isn’t as important as WHAT they do for a living and how fulfilled they are…wherever.
A friend would say that “it’s not location but vocation that matters” but I will readily add that it’s your fulfilment/happiness that matters more…wherever you find yourself.
After all, as challenging as things have been here in the past few years…most people still would not think of leaving Nigeria for any reason.
In the words of a girlfriend…
“Having dealt with someone who only calculates life by converting dollar to Naira… I really think it’s more about who you are and what you do – not where you are.”
END
This is a brilliant piece and it’s deep.. I guess it’s a reflection of our state of mind.. We definitely place more value on anything western and this is why the Westerners will continue to see us as stooges..