It is a common saying that you do not appreciate what you have until you part with it. This axiom usually becomes reality after we have lost a lucrative opportunity, or something whose value or contribution to our existence we never fully acknowledged. It is only when we find ourselves in desperation that we begin to appreciate the importance, and value of that need.

Some of us experience this desperation immediately we travel away from our loved ones to different countries, or live in different societies. We also experience it when we move away from our primary environment and culture to a different one. The experience becomes even more intense when we encounter death of any member of our families, friends or pets.

The desperation can be very devastating. We some times, call it a cultural shock. It can lead to mood swings or blues in ones life. Some people have experienced trauma, psychological, mental, or physical breakdown because of it.

It will make an interesting study for somebody to conduct a survey, to find out the reasons why people like to live in whatever part of Nigeria they call homes today. It does not matter whether they live in the northern, southern, eastern, or western part of Nigeria.

I have no doubt in my mind that there will be various answers, and very intriguing too. I can only guess from my own narrow perspectives that answers will cover such reasons as follows: work, family, business, opportunities, food, politics, religion, property, weather, schools, marriages, and a host of other things.

Some of the reasons will be more entrenched that it will be almost impossible to uproot us from our present domicile to another place, even if the alternative homes bear promises of better opportunities and lifestyle than our present homes.

You are absolutely entitled to your opinion on this issue, but I will like to share my own with my readers.

After I left Nigeria for USA, and that was many years ago, the first thing that struck me was being separated from my immediate members of my family. I discovered to my greatest surprise that after the many years I had lived with them, I had formed a formidable and subconscious bond or relationship that I was not aware of until I traveled to a foreign country. Even though physically, I felt strong that I could do without them, emotionally, I was a nervous wretch and a crybaby.

I also felt the absence of my friends, schoolmates, my playmates both male and female. These people were the source of the energy that kept me going when I was in Nigeria. I retained indelible mental pictures of all our activities that no amount of sleep or indulgence could replace or erase them. The comradeship that existed among all of us when I was in Nigeria made living in Nigeria enjoyable.

When I arrived in America, it was the peak of winter in Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoyed the sight of snow for a few days. The weather could not compare to all year round hot weather I left behind in Nigeria. I was sick of the cold weather. I started asking myself how long I was going to take it. Unfortunately, I had one-way ticket to hell. Because it was like biblical hell, except that it was cold… MINUS 50 degrees Fahrenheit BELOW ZERO. Yes, I missed Nigeria.

In America, I ate oyibo food hamburger, pasta, hotdogs, sandwich, salad, and drank skim milk etc, for two weeks, and my stomach went into “Cruise control.” Like a car with bad a muffler or exhaust pipe, that needed a good mechanic, my restroom became a good workshop to download some of my problems. Yes, I realized what I was missing. My home foods, eba, egusi and ogbono soup, yam, fried plantain with well-cooked beans, rice with stew, palm wine, etc. I began to appreciate what I missed.

When you do not have health insurance, and you are suffering from curable and minor sickness like malaria, jaundice, headache, cold, or you are planning to raise a family, Nigeria will be your best option. The hospital bills will be cheaper and you can easily access your medications to cure your illness without going bankrupt. You will definitely remember Nigeria when you receive your hospital bills here in America.

The laws in Nigeria are very flexible as they apply to some conducts. For example, In Nigeria, you can raise hell, blow your top, and discipline your children without breaking any law. You can also enjoy adult beverages while under eighteen, get drunk, and walk home safely without getting citations for public intoxication. In America, you will be asking for some trouble with the law if you do not watch your conduct. It is not funny for a Nigerian to get into trouble because of these types of conduct.

I enjoy the flea market or open market environment in Nigeria. Like ogbete market in Enugu, otu market in Onitsha, alaba market in Lagos, where you have the opportunity to haggle for prices of commodities. In USA and most European countries, prices of most commodities are pre-set or fixed. You have to pay these fixed prices with all the embedded taxes. Rarely do you enjoy the privilege to dictate how much to pay for certain goods and services. A customer derives some intrinsic satisfaction by paying negotiated prices for some goods and services.

I enjoy the respect, recognition and the extended family system that exist among Nigerian society. I enjoy the spirit of assistantship that exists among family members, friends, and communities. I enjoy the eagerness and honesty shown by Nigerians to help one another when the opportunity calls.

Many Nigerians will relate to this observation, and it may sound very juvenile. I enjoy the outdoor celebration of festivals like Christmas, New-Year, and Easter in Nigeria. This is in contrast with indoor celebration that is featured here in USA. Cities are like ghost towns during these occasions and as a Nigerian, you cannot help being disappointed on a waste of festivity, spirit, and joy that accompany outdoor celebration of these festivals in Nigeria.

To all Nigerians, especially my readers, there must be one thing or a combination of things that drive your passion about Nigeria. It might be work related, opportunity, politics, religion, loved ones that you do not want to suffer, or be treated unfairly. Let that passion be the burning desire that will motivate you to continue to preach for Nigeria to improve and survive as a proud nation. We want to leave Nigeria a better country for our children and generations to come after us.

Is that passion strong enough to make you cry out for justice when you see an injustice being perpetuated by our leaders and politicians, Nigerian Police Force, judiciary system that are supposed to protect our interests?

As a Nigerian, you cannot afford to sit down, fold your hands and pretend as if it does not concern you.

For those who want to know the reasons why they should be perturbed about the injustices and corrupt activities of our leaders, I will cite the following:

By either design or error, God has created all of us and placed us in a country called Nigeria. It is our moral obligation to join hands and work to the betterment of this country. We can either do the above jointly, or bury our heads in the sand and allow few THIEVES, who call themselves our leaders, and politicians to loot and destroy our country through greed and selfish desires.

The oil revenue, which happens to be our major source of foreign exchange, belongs to all Nigerians. It does not belong to a particular set of people. If the oil revenue is utilized appropriately, your village can be a beneficiary of good roads, electricity supply, good drinking water supply, good hospital and schools. With such improvements, you and your children will directly enjoy a better and more prosperous lifestyle.

The prospects of you and your children getting jobs are high when improvements are taking place in your villages. This will hopefully, reduce migration to metropolitan cities.

When people have gainful employment, crime rate will go down and security will prevail. This would be an ideal Nigeria for my children and all of us.

We can inhabit Nigeria of our dream by doing the following:

1. Cry out and expose injustice when you see it perpetuated by our leaders, politicians, police force, judges, and by refusing to be used as a conduit or thugs to protect them.

2. Refuse to participate in any future elections until an honest and fair Electoral Reforms that will return power in the hands of ordinary citizens, have been approved and implemented by majority of Nigerians.

3. Be prepared to participate in a nationwide massive revolution that will send an unprecedented message to our leaders that we, the ordinary Nigerians, cannot take it any more until we see genuine reforms and transparency in our government.

To whom it may concern, self proclaimed leaders, politicians, EFCC, NPF, attorney general, judges, Yar’Adua, the genesis of internet, in addition to Nigeria Village Square, is one more nail in the coffin of your duplicity and corruption. Now we, the ordinary Nigerians, have more avenues to expose and protest the injustices that are perpetuated by all of you to the citizens of this country.

It will be to your best interest, to shape up and listen to the non-violent voices of the citizens of Nigeria, begging you to implement an acceptable Electoral Reforms that will empower the Nigerian voters rather than you THIEVES. Nigerians deserve better conditions of living than they are experiencing now.

The drumbeats for these changes are going to get louder and louder as you refuse to listen to the voices of the people. Eventually, it will lead to a revolution that will spill from the streets in Washington DC to London, from streets in Lagos, Enugu, Ibadan, Jos, Port-Harcourt, Calabar, Nsukka, Benin, Warri, to streets across the whole of Nigeria. Then you will not be able to find enough darkness to hide your monstrous faces. It will be too late to cry after the head is off.

GOD SAVE NIGERIA FOR WE ARE ALREADY BLESSED.

Robot  # 1 | 11.11.2007 23:49

It is a common saying that you do not appreciate what you have until you part with it. In A...Read the full article.

Adeola Aderounmu  # 2 | 12.11.2007 03:08

Chuks, you have spoken my mind. Last week, I was going to write an article on The Joy of Life using the context of family life in Nigeria as the crux. But I didn't. Instead I went on to finish a passage called life which has been in queue for close to 4 weeks after the first draft. And you wrote here: 3. Be prepared to participate in a nationwide massive revolution that will send an unprecedented message to our leaders that we, the ordinary Nigerians, cannot take it any more until we see genuine reforms and transparency in our government. I am with you here! I wrote an article last night which I will post later today. It's about my decision never to join any protest against no matter what it is about. Anything short of starting or joining a revolution is below my new state of mind. Watch out for the post, I'm working on the title now.

Abujaboy  # 3 | 12.11.2007 06:41

Interesting Post. It's good you're back in Nigeria, as America was wasted on you. It's always nice to see one's love for their own nation; while patriotism is often criticized, it can be the motive for much good. However -- I wonder if you're crazy to praise the "flexibility" of Nigerian law -- isn't that EXACTLY one of Nigeria's biggest problems? I guess Odili joins you in not thinking so. And underage drinking? That's good? What about the ability to "raise hell and blow your top" with no consequences -- that's good? The broken-down health care system? You really prefer that to America, just because you don't have to pay for treatment here (old African proverb: you get the yam you pay for) ... And while I also enjoy aspects of the open air market, I'm not sure Nigeria's citizens are well served by what you describe, especially vis-a-vis the criticisms of America.

Gentle Angel  # 4 | 12.11.2007 09:34

Chukwudi, thanks for this write up, I enjoyed it. Like you, I have had cause to leave Nigeria. Unlike you, it wasn’t a one way ticket and for that I thank God. You wrote When I arrived in America, it was the peak of winter in Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoyed the sight of snow for a few days. The weather could not compare to all year round hot weather I left behind in Nigeria. I was sick of the cold weather. I started asking myself how long I was going to take it. Unfortunately, I had one-way ticket to hell. Because it was like biblical hell, except that it was cold… MINUS 50 degrees Fahrenheit BELOW ZERO. Yes, I missed Nigeria. I spent a month in the UK recently when it was supposed to be summer. The temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius kept me indoors most days, the nights were even colder. I missed the year round average warmth of Nigeria. The Abuja harmattan rarely gets that cold even at night. And the mandatory jacket? Bad fashion if you ask me. In America, I ate oyibo food hamburger, pasta, hotdogs, sandwich, salad, and drank skim milk etc, for two weeks, and my stomach went into “Cruise control.” Like a car with bad a muffler or exhaust pipe, that needed a good mechanic, my restroom became a good workshop to download some of my problems. Yes, I realized what I was missing. My home foods, eba, egusi and ogbono soup, yam, fried plantain with well-cooked beans, rice with stew, palm wine, etc. I began to appreciate what I missed. Luckily, I took some of our foodstuff with me which was a big succour to those I went to visit and myself too. But do you really call those junk oyibo food? I don’t think they really are, oyibos simply don’t have what we call food. I sampled around, the Scottish food was bland and tasteless (their national dish is baked potato and haggis or chips and fish). On the days I visited the Chinese buffet or the Indian curry house, I also knew to find the way to the toilet in the dark. The laws in Nigeria are very flexible as they apply to some conducts. For example, In Nigeria, you can raise hell, blow your top, and discipline your children without breaking any law. You can also enjoy adult beverages while under eighteen, get drunk, and walk home safely without getting citations for public intoxication. In America, you will be asking for some trouble with the law if you do not watch your conduct. It is not funny for a Nigerian to get into trouble because of these types of conduct. While I was there, an acquaintance of my visitors was facing the threat of having her children taken away. It was either her neighbours felt the children weren’t eating ‘proper’ food, or the school felt her methods of disciplining the children wasn’t in the ‘book’ or someone had reported she was working too many hours. These are issues that would have been handled by the extended family in naija in most cases, that is if they were real issues. Some guys were serving weeks of jail sentence or paying off fines for drunk driving, domestic violence, illegal parking etc (Maybe naija can learn a few things from these ones but not too much ooo). My host had his car towed away to a police parking garage, 2hrs drive away from the city for faulty headlights. Abeg there is plenty story. I enjoy the flea market or open market environment in Nigeria. Like ogbete market in Enugu, otu market in Onitsha, alaba market in Lagos, where you have the opportunity to haggle for prices of commodities. In USA and most European countries, prices of most commodities are pre-set or fixed. You have to pay these fixed prices with all the embedded taxes. Rarely do you enjoy the privilege to dictate how much to pay for certain goods and services. A customer derives some intrinsic satisfaction by paying negotiated prices for some goods and services. Ha I missed this satisfaction no be small. I missed haggling with my favourite ‘customers’ in the market for both food and clothing materials. It was cash and carry everywhere; in supermarkets and clothing stores. A few of the salesgirls were nice but most were too frazzled, tired or racist to care. And did I hate the long queues and those stone faced security guards at the doors of most places? Where is that madam in the market that doesn’t mind blowing breeze if I am so inclined? What of that babe that brings stuff to my office and spends an hour jisting me about her jand trip? I enjoy the respect, recognition and the extended family system that exist among Nigerian society. I enjoy the spirit of assistantship that exists among family members, friends, and communities. I enjoy the eagerness and honesty shown by Nigerians to help one another when the opportunity calls. On this I won’t say much, it may result to some name calling or generalisations. I can only say I met a few ignorant, unhelpful, uncaring, heartless strangers. In this regard, it is a great joy living in Nigeria. The people are so friendly, lively and hospitable. And at least, they know the name of their street and the one next to it and how to get from one to the other. Some of the people I met didn’t.

Gentle Angel  # 5 | 12.11.2007 09:42

Chukwudi, thanks for this write up, I enjoyed it. Like you, I have had cause to leave Nigeria. Unlike you, it wasn’t a one way ticket and for that I thank God. You wrote When I arrived in America, it was the peak of winter in Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoyed the sight of snow for a few days. The weather could not compare to all year round hot weather I left behind in Nigeria. I was sick of the cold weather. I started asking myself how long I was going to take it. Unfortunately, I had one-way ticket to hell. Because it was like biblical hell, except that it was cold… MINUS 50 degrees Fahrenheit BELOW ZERO. Yes, I missed Nigeria. I spent a month in the UK recently when it was supposed to be summer. The temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius kept me indoors most days, the nights were even colder. I missed the year round average warmth of Nigeria. The Abuja harmattan rarely gets that cold even at night. And the mandatory jacket? Bad fashion if you ask me. In America, I ate oyibo food hamburger, pasta, hotdogs, sandwich, salad, and drank skim milk etc, for two weeks, and my stomach went into “Cruise control.” Like a car with bad a muffler or exhaust pipe, that needed a good mechanic, my restroom became a good workshop to download some of my problems. Yes, I realized what I was missing. My home foods, eba, egusi and ogbono soup, yam, fried plantain with well-cooked beans, rice with stew, palm wine, etc. I began to appreciate what I missed. Luckily, I took some of our foodstuff with me which was a big succour to those I went to visit and myself too. But do you really call those junk oyibo food? I don’t think they really are, oyibos simply don’t have what we call food. I sampled around, the Scottish food was bland and tasteless (their national dish is baked potato and haggis or chips and fish). On the days I visited the Chinese buffet or the Indian curry house, I also knew to find the way to the toilet in the dark. The laws in Nigeria are very flexible as they apply to some conducts. For example, In Nigeria, you can raise hell, blow your top, and discipline your children without breaking any law. You can also enjoy adult beverages while under eighteen, get drunk, and walk home safely without getting citations for public intoxication. In America, you will be asking for some trouble with the law if you do not watch your conduct. It is not funny for a Nigerian to get into trouble because of these types of conduct. While I was there, an acquaintance of my visitors was facing the threat of having her children taken away. It was either her neighbours felt the children weren’t eating ‘proper’ food, or the school felt her methods of disciplining the children wasn’t in the ‘book’ or someone had reported she was working too many hours. These are issues that would have been handled by the extended family in naija in most cases, that is if they were real issues. Some guys were serving weeks of jail sentence or paying off fines for drunk driving, domestic violence, illegal parking etc (Maybe naija can learn a few things from these ones but not too much sha). My host had his car towed away to a police parking garage, 2hrs drive away from the city for faulty headlights. Abeg there is plenty story. I enjoy the flea market or open market environment in Nigeria. Like ogbete market in Enugu, otu market in Onitsha, alaba market in Lagos, where you have the opportunity to haggle for prices of commodities. In USA and most European countries, prices of most commodities are pre-set or fixed. You have to pay these fixed prices with all the embedded taxes. Rarely do you enjoy the privilege to dictate how much to pay for certain goods and services. A customer derives some intrinsic satisfaction by paying negotiated prices for some goods and services. Ha I missed this satisfaction no be small. I missed haggling with my favourite ‘customers’ in the market for both food and clothing materials. It was cash and carry everywhere; in supermarkets and clothing stores. A few of the salesgirls were nice but most were too frazzled, tired or racist to care. And did I hate the long queues and those stone faced security guards at the doors of most places? Where is that madam in the market that doesn’t mind blowing breeze if I am so inclined? What of that babe that brings stuff to my office and spends an hour jisting me about her jand trip? I enjoy the respect, recognition and the extended family system that exist among Nigerian society. I enjoy the spirit of assistantship that exists among family members, friends, and communities. I enjoy the eagerness and honesty shown by Nigerians to help one another when the opportunity calls. On this I won’t say much, it may result to some name calling or generalisations. I can only say I met a few ignorant, unhelpful, uncaring, heartless strangers. In this regard, it is a great joy living in Nigeria. The people are so friendly, lively and hospitable. And at least, they know the name of their street and the one next to it and how to get from one to the other. Some of the people I met didn’t. Apart from home always being best, there is joy in living in Nigeria as am sure the oyibo living here with us will also testify.

Gentle Angel  # 6 | 12.11.2007 09:53

Chukwudi, thanks for this write up, I enjoyed it. Like you, I have had cause to leave Nigeria. Unlike you, it wasn’t a one way ticket and for that I thank God. You wrote When I arrived in America, it was the peak of winter in Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoyed the sight of snow for a few days. The weather could not compare to all year round hot weather I left behind in Nigeria. I was sick of the cold weather. I started asking myself how long I was going to take it. Unfortunately, I had one-way ticket to hell. Because it was like biblical hell, except that it was cold… MINUS 50 degrees Fahrenheit BELOW ZERO. Yes, I missed Nigeria. I spent a month in the UK recently when it was supposed to be summer. The temperature of about 15 degrees Celsius kept me indoors most days, the nights were even colder. I missed the year round average warmth of Nigeria. The Abuja harmattan rarely gets that cold even at night. And the mandatory jacket? Bad fashion if you ask me In America, I ate oyibo food hamburger, pasta, hotdogs, sandwich, salad, and drank skim milk etc, for two weeks, and my stomach went into “Cruise control.” Like a car with bad a muffler or exhaust pipe, that needed a good mechanic, my restroom became a good workshop to download some of my problems. Yes, I realized what I was missing. My home foods, eba, egusi and ogbono soup, yam, fried plantain with well-cooked beans, rice with stew, palm wine, etc. I began to appreciate what I missed. Luckily, I took some of our foodstuff with me which was a big succour to those I went to visit and myself too. But do you really call those junk oyibo food? I don’t think they really are, oyibos simply don’t have what we call food. I sampled around, the Scottish food was bland and tasteless (their national dish is baked potato and haggis or chips and fish). On the days I visited the Chinese buffet or the Indian curry house, I also knew to find the way to the toilet in the dark. The laws in Nigeria are very flexible as they apply to some conducts. For example, In Nigeria, you can raise hell, blow your top, and discipline your children without breaking any law. You can also enjoy adult beverages while under eighteen, get drunk, and walk home safely without getting citations for public intoxication. In America, you will be asking for some trouble with the law if you do not watch your conduct. It is not funny for a Nigerian to get into trouble because of these types of conduct. While I was there, an acquaintance of my visitors was facing the threat of having her children taken away. It was either her neighbours felt the children weren’t eating ‘proper’ food, or the school felt her methods of disciplining the children wasn’t in the ‘book’ or someone had reported she was working too many hours. These are issues that would have been handled by the extended family in naija in most cases, that is if they were real issues. Some guys were serving weeks of jail sentence or paying off fines for drunk driving, domestic violence, illegal parking etc (Maybe naija can learn a few things from these ones but not too much sha). My host had his car towed away to a police parking garage, 2hrs drive away from the city for faulty headlights. Abeg there is plenty story I enjoy the flea market or open market environment in Nigeria. Like ogbete market in Enugu, otu market in Onitsha, alaba market in Lagos, where you have the opportunity to haggle for prices of commodities. In USA and most European countries, prices of most commodities are pre-set or fixed. You have to pay these fixed prices with all the embedded taxes. Rarely do you enjoy the privilege to dictate how much to pay for certain goods and services. A customer derives some intrinsic satisfaction by paying negotiated prices for some goods and services. Ha I missed this satisfaction no be small. I missed haggling with my favourite ‘customers’ in the market for both food and clothing materials. It was cash and carry everywhere; in supermarkets and clothing stores. A few of the salesgirls were nice but most were too frazzled, tired or racist to care. And did I hate the long queues and those stone faced security guards at the doors of most places? Where is that madam in the market that doesn’t mind blowing breeze if I am so inclined? What of that babe that brings stuff to my office and spends an hour jisting me about her jand trip? I enjoy the respect, recognition and the extended family system that exist among Nigerian society. I enjoy the spirit of assistantship that exists among family members, friends, and communities. I enjoy the eagerness and honesty shown by Nigerians to help one another when the opportunity calls. On this I won’t say much, it may result to some name calling or generalisations. I can only say I met a few ignorant, unhelpful, uncaring, heartless strangers. In this regard, it is a great joy living in Nigeria. The people are so friendly, lively and hospitable. And at least, they know the name of their street and the one next to it and how to get from one to the other. Some of the people I met didn’t. Indeed there is a joy in living in Nigeria which is apart from home being best. This am sure the oyibos living among us will testify to.

ojemba  # 7 | 12.11.2007 11:15

Yeah just like when my uncle moved from the village to Lagos he missed the pit latrine in the village, he missed the smell of his goat pen, worse still he missed the crow of the hen in the morning. Neither the water system toilet, the well mowed backyard nor the electronic alarm clock in his sons house in Victoria Island could replace what he left back in the village. Nigeria is hell and there is little joy in living in hell, not even if it is full of your relatives. Anyone who misses hell is free to go back.

19 guy  # 8 | 12.11.2007 11:39

=ojemba;2091819234> Nigeria is hell and there is little joy in living in hell, not even if it is full of your relatives. Anyone who misses hell is free to go back. This attitude doesn't help though. I agree with you on Nigeria being hell but it's up to us to make it habitable. It is our country after all. I mean if the Brits, Yanks, Canucks etc all abandoned their countries when things weren't so good there'd be no "diaspora" for those of us who've sought solace out there. Saying that I have to admit a certain prejudice here- articles such as this one always strike me as dishonest, like the author is over-compensating for the perception of Nij being such a tough and disorganized place. Well perception in this case is reality- Nigeria is ridiculously difficult for the majority of its inhabitants. I'm pretty certain the average Nigerian (you know, the one struggling without electricity, crappy healthcare, bad and dangerous roads and law enforcement etc..) doesn't feel the same way as the author. Or Gentle Angel. Therein lies the rub. Nigerians who are comfortable never care about those who aren't and would always paint a rosy picture of life back home because they are fortunate enough to have that quality of life:rolleyes:. Totally dismissing, in an insensitive manner, the plight of the majority. It's this selfishness that kills us but of who cares?!

lionking  # 9 | 12.11.2007 12:37

=ojemba;2091819234>Yeah just like when my uncle moved from the village to Lagos he missed the pit latrine in the village, he missed the smell of his goat pen, worse still he missed the crow of the hen in the morning. Neither the water system toilet, the well mowed backyard or the electronic alarm clock in his sons house in Victoria Island could replace what he left back in the village. Nigeria is hell and there is little joy in living in hell, not even if it is full of your relatives. Anyone who misses hell is free to go back. Nwa'nna, Take it easy! You'll blow a gasket at this rate. You don't owe anyone any explanation why you left Nigeria or choose to remain abroad.By the same token, you don't have to pizz on everything naija in order to rationalize your decisions to yourself. There are good and bad things about life in naija - there are good and bad aspects to life abroad. To each man, his own.

ojemba  # 10 | 12.11.2007 14:11

=lionking;2091819277>Nwa'nna, Take it easy! You'll blow a gasket at this rate. You don't owe anyone any explanation why you left Nigeria or choose to remain abroad.By the same token, you don't have to pizz on everything naija in order to rationalize your decisions to yourself. There are good and bad things about life in naija - there are good and bad aspects to life abroad. To each man, his own. When you look at it, there is a good side to every situation in life no matter how miserable so I can understand contentment in the midst of agony. Tell me when did shopping in the crowded filth ridden unhygienic Ochanja or Alaba market become a thing of joy? When did the prospect of dying of malaria due to fake drugs or the absence of even the most basic equipment in the so called cheap hospitals become an alternative to having costly health insurance? When did the prospect of death by a police bullet on account of not paying a N20 bribe on your way to visiting your relatives become a thing of joy? The only man who is going to “blow a gasket” is the fellow who falls for this line of reasoning and relocates to Nigerian just to be with happy but otherwise suffering relatives. To me the truth is not relative, it is a constant and living in Nigeria is nowhere near joyous for the average individual no matter the difficulties associated with daily life in America.

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