I returned home around 11:00am and found a missed call and what appeared to be an urgent text message from the embassy, asking me to log into my email. The person sent the letter, copied their boss and wanted me to acknowledge its receipt
I did that right away.
While this was a relief, it was the hard reality that I faced, traveling to Abuja by road, and by any means, I didn’t want night to have me on the road. It was really a race against time. I sent the paper to a printing guy ahead and collected the printout on my way.
I would go to America light. I often playfully examined the whole of my existence while in ABU Zaria: a bag for my clothes, small packages of cooking ingredients and sundry things. The roots were not deep in the ground. Here, my entire life consisted of three things: my passport, phone and computer. Every other thing was non-essential.
I gathered my belongings and set forth to Abuja. First, I had to stop at Kurmi market, then Bata to round off some issues about my computer that had developed some hiccups in the past few days.
It was 3pm when I was finally at the bus station. 4pm before the car filled up. 4:30pm before they finished the loading and tying goods and the journey began.
Now I had two fears on my mind: the bandits and the road conditions.
The previous week I traveled to Katsina for a wedding. A fatal accident happened on the road before our very eyes, people flying out of the car window, hitting the ground and dying on the spot. I braved this fear and got into the car. But what about the kidnappers?
I was thinking of stopping at Kaduna to spend the night for the onward journey the next day. But there was no initial plan for that.
You know the rule about priority visa appointment. If you missed the appointment the embassy could not schedule another for you. It was my last card. It was Wednesday. The travel was Sunday.
We arrived Kaduna 8:30pm. But that was not the dangerous part of the journey. The second leg was, from Kaduna to Abuja. I quickly developed some security measures. If vehicles from the opposite side were coming, then things were normal.
We set up for the journey again after a short break in Kaduna. I called my host and told him my travel status. We arrived Abuja 11:30pm. But glad there sprinkling of security checkpoints on the road. The first sight of them was a huge relief.
I called the guy to come pick me up. The phone was ringing, but he was not answering. I sent out calls to some friends. They’re all asleep. I actually didn’t have a budget for hotel. I turned left, I turned right. The crowd that we just disembarked with from Kano was thining.
There was this guy who sat near me in the car. I talked to him about my situation. Luckily, he agreed to host me. Early morning the following day the people I called started responding. They started calling after I slept on floor and got shares of mosquito bites.
My friend was first. Initially, he told me he was returning from a day trip to Kaduna. He was back around 9pm. In the intervening hours before my arrival he slept off with the phone in his hand while waiting for me.
But to be fair to all of these people, except this particular friend, hardly any of them had an idea I'd be coming to Abuja.
I collected my bags and went to my friend’s the following morning. It was still dawn. I slept briefly, bathed and ate breakfast and went to the embassy. The other ABU guys had arrived. A few other fellows arrived later, mostly Nigerian students going to the US.
We were then ushered in. Turn by turn. I told the attendant when it was my turn that my travel was Saturday. He promised to especially work on my paper. I was anxious but his word alleviated my fears.
I went to Juma’at mosque early the following day. I needed to be close to the embassy. My phone pinged few minutes before the prayer. A message from the Embassy. Visa was out. I went and collected my document and proceeded directly to a clinic for the Coronavirus test.
I bought a ticket and traveled to Lagos Saturday.
Madison, WI
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