A homecoming...

E ku ile o.

A week ago today, we made the 11 hour non-stop trip from Atlanta to Lagos, back home to the land where I was born, the land of our ancestors. My fatherland.

Murtala Mohamed Airport, Lagos, Nigeria.

And what a homecoming it was, both for us and the children, for whom it was only their second time - a return visit for their paternal grandfather's 80th birthday celebration, and an opportunity to see my parents..

Grandpa on his 80th birthday with Tobi & Tomi in Ikirun

Grandma Ibadan (above) and Grandpa Ibadan below with writer 

Writer & kids and brother in law,  Ikirun.  Osun State

Tunde, Tobi, Tunde's Uncle, Dejo and Grandpa Ikirun.

I won't go into all the cliches about Nigeria ( re: water, electricity, transportation, security, etc) - they remain all true and a long discussion for another day. My comment and focus really is on the seemingly indefatigable, optimistic spirit of our people, who soldier on, despite the odds stacked against them, and the odds are legion.

On they go, about the business of existing in a society such as ours. When you ask how long it might be for the traffic to start moving again, they say cheerfully "why, look - it's already showing signs of moving up ahead!" - (not the reality that you are looking at and it does take another hour to move.) Power shortage? " Ah, ko nii pe de ni isin yi" (i.e it won't take long for the power to come on again, meaning anywhere from hours to days - an eternity when you are sweating buckets & mosquitoes are having a feast at your expense.) The car is making an explosive sound and sending out noxious plumes of carbon emissions that put the entire state of california to shame? "A a lo wo ta ba de ile, Ko si ohun to se motor, se bi ohun l'on rin yen. E ma worry"

It is a "glass is half full" view of their current situation, about which they are powerless to change much, at least not in that instant that you are asking the questions. It takes some time & thought to understand why the human spirit sometimes resorts to seeing things in that light. It is one of nature's built-in protective mechanisms. You know why? The alternative view - "the glass is half empty" variety, is a harsh reality that most can not withstand on the daily basis that they have to deal with it, i.e a reality in which the answer to the question "when will traffic start to move again?" is "who knows, we might be here for hours". Who can go on indefinitely against those staggering and depressing odds? i.e without carrying around a heavy bag of optimism, and the prayer that "things will be better in a minute, you wait and see..."

So. I return to my adopted home, glad to be here, yet wistfully longing for the best to come to pass now, for the place I once belonged...



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Funke Abolade

Social/publicity Secretary