My first visit to Nigeria in December 2015 to have my very first Naija Christmas was a bittersweet experience. We arrived in Lagos in November, weeks before our family Christmas getaway in Elekahia, Port Harcourt.
Growing up in Montreal, Canada, I didn’t know what to expect. The knowledge I had of Nigeria or my hometown was what my parents had told me, not to mention the regular insurgency news, the politics: elections, the Biafran battles, power tussles, BVN palava (yay! I’m starting to sound like a Nigerian – Naija Christmas loading). The Super Falcons and Flying Eagles making us proud is also worthy of mention.
While packing our bags for the trip, my parents had a 30-minute disagreement with my grandparents (who had been with us in Canada since 2010), over the size and weight of their luggage. I came across a video online that describes it perfectly, I’ll share it at the end of my story.
We arrived in Nigeria on November 30th because my mum believed that ticket prices would be very high if we waited until December. We arrived at the Lagos MMA 1 and we were first welcomed by some women dancing toward us with a bowl to receive money – one of the first anomaly I noticed as I looked . They claimed to be receiving donations for dead Nigerian soldiers’ widows.
We spent the next few days relaxing before heading to Elakahia, about one week later. Elekahia was super fun! I met the majority of my cousins for the first time and we created sweet memories together. We bought a lot of firecrackers a.k.a “bangers” and they taught me how to light them. Every night, we would tease an old man that lived close to the church down the road with the banger sounds. May the Lord forgive our souls.
It was all sweet as my Naija Christmas progressed positively, from the many adventures to enjoying different native meals and learning about my culture until one day. I had never had to wash all my life. We also had a washing machine in Port Harcourt but there was a power outage and fuel scarcity at the time.
I needed to get my clothes washed by all means. One of my cousins, Melody, was teaching me how to wash clothes with my hands when we heard a scream in our native language. Melody translated it as someone screaming for help and we both rushed to the scene.
Marvelous (Melody’s younger brother) was drowning and their elder sister was screaming for help. I was able to help Marvelous out of the water alive, thanks to several summers working as a lifeguard and regular first aid training back in Canada. For almost the entire week before Christmas, we were all sober and could not come out to play as we used to. The thought of drowning in the river near the house held us back.
Throughout that week, I kept wondering what would have happened if I had not been there, and it struck me that I could share my knowledge with my cousins, at least until they could attend formal first aid training. I taught them everything I knew in two days and we continued to have fun until we parted ways.
That was a very emotional moment for me as I was used to them already. We communicate often and I cannot wait to see them again this December. My parents and I are traveling back to Elakahia soon and I have been planning to surprise them with a special gift, so I have been saving. As much as I enjoyed my stay, I will never forget how afraid we were when my cousin was drowning. I needed to know that my parents would be safe on their next visit, so this gift was a no-brainer. If you want to know what I got, subscribe to ERA’s newsletter below.
Before I forget, this is the video I promised to share. I had a good laugh while we were packing our luggage. Haha!
