Lagos to Bayelsa: Two Days Away Goals

by Uche Anyika (Nigeria)

A leap into the unknown Nigeria

Somehow, when I filled Federal University Otuoke as my school of choice, it didn't occur to me that I would have to travel hundreds of miles to nowhere. I did. I was 16, 5 foot 3 and have never travelled that far on my own before. Did I have a choice? Yes, I did. Go or stay at home for one more year. Not much of a choice, right? Funny thing is it didn't bother me. I just had to write the exam and come back home. Where would I stay? I have no idea. How would I locate the school? Still no clue. Who would I meet up with? No one. It was a journey into the unknown. My mom wished me good luck—typical Nigerians. The interstate road decided to toughen me up for whatever reason it deems significant enough. We got hooked in traffic for more than 6 hours. What happened as a result of that? Well, I ended up sleeping on the bus because the driver refused to drive in the night for fear of thieves. I don't blame him. I prayed he didn't keep moving. Here was I going to a place I have never been in my life and everything was going precisely as I didn't plan. Finally, I got to Bayelsa the next morning. Bayelsa is similar to Lagos in landmass and quite the opposite in terms of population. She had the beauty of Lagos without all the rest of the baggage that comes with it_traffic, lawbreakers, rough like and millions of others. It was calm, and somehow, I felt safe. There wasn't anything spectacular about the environment or the people but unlike where I come from there was a sense of i-got-your-back about them. They eat the same food as me. We spoke the same language. Everything was familiar at the same time it wasn't. The environment was especially uncomfortably quiet. Like this is a crime (shaking my head). Bayelsa might have the beauty of Lagos but not it sparks. Somehow, when I looked around, I feel the spark might feel out of place here. It doesn't lack it; it just doesn't need it. It is like trying to fit chaos into a closed bottle. I asked questions until I found my way to Otuoke and then to the school. In school, everyone (lecturers) wore masks. The Ebola epidemic had just been detected in Nigeria. Like I said, everything was going as I didn't plan. I was stuck in Otuoke in the middle of a disease outbreak, and all the faces that stared back at me were foreign. I got a place to stay after roaming about like a chick for food. How this happened was unexpected. I wrote my exams and traced my way quickly back to Lagos. All in all, I meet Bayelsa, and I liked her