Come Fly Nigeria With Me

March 18, 2019

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Apparently it still needs to be said. Africa is not a country. It is the second largest continent in the world. Europe and the Americas can comfortably fit into its landmass. Simultaneously. Africa is 55 countries and 2 disputed territories (I am counting Somaliland as a country. The whys and wherefores of that are a whole different article. I can’t shout.)

This article is about the most populated African country. Nigeria. The country with the most Black people on this earth. It is often said that 1 in 5 Africans is a Nigerian; 1 in 6 Black people is a Nigerian. Nigeria is home to at least 200 million people (unreliable censuses mean we don’t really know how many Nigerians are in the world; Nigerianism means we don’t really care) For those who think in terms of Black as a homogenic monolith, you have never been to Nigeria. 521 languages are spoken in Nigeria. Think about that for a minute. Five hundred and twenty one indigenous languages in one country!!! And there are as many different cultures and about a million sub-cultures. Nigeria has 36 states and one Federal Capital Territory. She is linguistically, geographically, ethnically and all sorts of other ‘allys’ diverse. The northernmost parts are covered by dry and encroaching desert and the southernmost areas are covered with the thickest and tallest forest you have ever seen. And then you have the mangrove forest. And the middle is all sorts of Savnnah. Tall, sparse, red earth, dry…

I have travelled and lived across Nigeria. I could once see the River Niger (10th longest in the world), from my bedroom window. I climbed 6 out of the 7 waterfalls at Erin-Ijesha. I have eaten dust and breathed humidity along Nigeria’s motorways. I have climbed rocks. I have tasted rain and thunderstorm. Hunted grasshoppers and run from snakes. It is difficult to describe how heartbreakingly beautiful Nigeria is. It is more heartbreaking because of its current vampiric state. (That is whole other post. Read it) Here are 37 pictures to give you an exceedingly brief illustration.

If you have pictures that you think illustrate your state or any state better, please let me know. If any of the pictures are inaccurate, also let me know.

Come fly Nigeria with me…