₦airaland Forum

Greetings!
My name is Oyin and I am a Nigerian-American nurse who just loves to travel. I would say I’ve always had that itinerant streak running through my veins, although I have not always embraced it wholeheartedly. I country-hopped quite a bit as a child and I admit that I hated it at the time. It was hard to nurture and build cross-border friendships in that pre-email, pre-mobile phone age. Letter writing, via air-letter cards, was paramount in those days and the trajectory of those missives took soooo long. Thank God for Facebook, otherwise some of the great friends I’ve made along the course of my travel adventures would have been perpetually lost to me.
Well, as an adult, I began to miss that itinerant lifestyle and longed to travel again. I spent the better part of last year traveling in East Africa: Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. But of course, there is no place like home and Nigeria had to be next on my itinerary. Prior to this, I was so afraid to even venture home, I won't lie. Apart from the fact that my Nigerian passport expired in 2017, I've heard so many horror stories of airport harassment and kidnappings here and there…..But I longed for home….The Nollywood movies and the second-class Naija food here in the US could not assuage that longing for home. Even the WhatsApp group of Nigerians I joined last year could not completely do that and eventually I decided to take the plunge and venture back to my Fatherland.
I landed at MM Airport 11 days ago and it has been amazing in some ways and enlightening in others.

Lemme gist you guys about the experience so far…..

Please stay tuned….

FTC, To God be the glory. Ok, OyinNurse I don carry chair sit down dey read with my kpoli in my left hand. Welcome to 9ja.

OyinNurse:
Greetings!
My name is Oyin and I am a Nigerian-American nurse who just loves to travel. I would say I’ve always had that itinerant streak running through my veins, although I have not always embraced it wholeheartedly. I country-hopped quite a bit as a child and I admit that I hated it at the time. It was hard to nurture and build cross-border friendships in that pre-email, pre-mobile phone age. Letter writing, via air-letter cards, was paramount in those days and the trajectory of those missives took soooo long. Thank God for Facebook, otherwise some of the great friends I’ve made along the course of my travel adventures would have been perpetually lost to me.
Well, as an adult, I began to miss that itinerant lifestyle and longed to travel again. I spent the better part of last year traveling in East Africa: Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. But of course, there is no place like home and Nigeria had to be next on my itinerary. Prior to this, I was so afraid to even venture home, I won't lie. Apart from the fact that my Nigerian passport expired in 2017, I've heard so many horror stories of airport harassment and kidnappings here and there…..But I longed for home….The Nollywood movies and the second-class Naija food here in the US could not assuage that longing for home. Even the WhatsApp group of Nigerians I joined last year could not completely do that and eventually I decided to take the plunge and venture back to my Fatherland.
I landed at MM Airport 11 days ago and it has been amazing in some ways and enlightening in others.

Lemme gist you guys about the experience so far…..

Please stay tuned….

You are back to Nigeria?? For holiday ??

Stargangz:
FTC, To God be the glory. Ok, OyinNurse I don carry chair sit down dey read with my kpoli in my left hand. Welcome to 9ja.

Stargangz, thank you, so very much ooooo. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of utter pride I felt landing in that Delta aircraft and hearing “Welcome to Lagos, Nigeria”, but I will try……

Pls stay tuned….

Savage8563:
You are back to Nigeria?? For holiday ??

Savage8563, I’m back on holiday. Lagos is so vibrant! The food, the people, the energy……! Wow! It’s been too long, I swear. I would honestly stay if I could hahaha

You're welcome my dear. If you need someone to be your guide all through your stay here don't hesitate to call me.

Make i book space first

OyinNurse when take me to America?

Mide3367:
OyinNurse when take me to America?

Me self no go mind tag along.

Mide3367:
OyinNurse when take me to America?

You go fit leave Naija excitement? US seems very full compared to the energy I'm experiencing here at home oooooo

OyinNurse:
Stargangz, thank you, so very much ooooo. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of utter pride I felt landing in that Delta aircraft and hearing “Welcome to Lagos, Nigeria”, but I will try……

Pls stay tuned….

I bet you will be singing a different song in two weeks time . Enjoy your stay while the euphoria lasts. I felt that way too but couldn't stay past two weeks.

OyinNurse:
Stargangz, thank you, so very much ooooo. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of utter pride I felt landing in that Delta aircraft and hearing “Welcome to Lagos, Nigeria”, but I will try……

Pls stay tuned….

You're welcome, but no 4get to add quality pics join make e dey interesting o. I siddon gidigba dey tag along.

So the two major mountains that loomed ahead that could possibly impede my travel plans to Nigeria were:

Full COVID Vaccination:
I must admit that when the first wave of COVID vaccines emerged I was skeptical about receiving it, even as a nurse. The reason was simple: the speed with which it was developed was unprecedented for any vaccine and that was alarming. Myself and many of my colleagues opted to pass on the vaccine at that initial stage.
Soon after the vaccine came out, I travelled to East Africa on an extended holiday and only just returned from Kenya in March of this year. As of then, all Kenyan citizens traveling in or out of Kenya needed to be fully vaccinated, but thankfully, I wasn't questioned about my vaccination status upon leaving Kenya or arriving in the US; my negative PCR test sufficed at that point. However, Nigeria does require vaccination and, honestly, at this point the anxiety surrounding the possible side effects of the vaccine had subsided on my part. And so, subsequently, I submitted the first and second doses and became fully vaccinated.

Travel Document:
I've always said that airports are like purgatories and travel documents are needed to enter and emerge. Unfortunately, however, my beloved green passport had expired in 2017. I tried to renew it in Washington DC in 2020. I even went so far as to schedule the Biometric Capturing appointment. Unfortunately, this appointment was cancelled when the consulate was shut down due to COVID precautions. Rescheduling the appointments became quite a Herculean affair and I ended up requesting a refund.
I have also attempted to renew it in Nairobi, Kenya. I went to the consulate there and faced a lot of reprimands for allowing my Nigerian passport to expire for so long. Unfortunately, the Kenyan consulate was out of booklets, so I was not able to renew there either.
There is a consulate in Atlanta, Georgia and they confirmed they did have booklets but the entire process would take 2-3 months and I was so eager to travel.....hmmmm....

So if I wished to travel to Nigeria, I was faced with three options:
1. Acquire a Nigerian Visa in my US Passport
2. Wait 2-3 months for a renewed Nigerian Passport
3. Apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETC)

I eventually settled for the ETC, which is a document that permits Nigerian citizens abroad with expired, stolen or missing passports to travel home. The document is valid for only one month and the turn around time to receive it is 48hours.

I was also required to register my intention to travel home on the Nigeria International Travel Portal. A QR code is received which is associated with a Permit to Travel Certificate which must be presented prior to boarding the aircraft and at the port of entry upon reaching Nigeria.

As I saw myself ticking off my To Do List for my travel documents, it occurred to me that a journey of a thousand miles indeed begins with a single step. Every seemingly insurmountable hurdle can be scaled eventually with determination and patience.

Sooooooooo.........

My flight was booked…Check
ETC was in hand…Check
Permit to Travel received and printed out…Check
Vaccine certificate uploaded to the travel portal…Check

The excitement now began to build in earnest to an overwhelming crescendo until COVID came knocking a few days to Travel Day ......

Owopariola1:
Me self no go mind tag along.

Notin you need in that country joor…. Naija be the enjoyment destination

Stargangz:
You're welcome, but no 4get to add quality pics join make e dey interesting o. I siddon gidigba dey tag along.

.
Thanks so much for the support……..

int0x80:
I bet you will be singing a different song in two weeks time . Enjoy your stay while the euphoria lasts. I felt that way too but couldn't stay past two weeks.

Hahaha

The euphoria is still intact for now sha, we will see…...

OyinNurse:
Notin you need in that country joor…. Naija be the enjoyment destination

Really, this is how many NLers will tell us, and before you know it, they've japa, leaving us behind.
Tell us what we don't know. Nurse_Oyin.

OyinNurse:
You go fit leave Naija excitement? US seems very full compared to the energy I'm experiencing here at home oooooo

you are right sha. I am a globe THROTER too and I have visited 8 countries. Honestly, no place like home

Just came back from Nigeria last week. Nigeria is very sweet when you have money.

Enjoy to the fullest and have fun

lionlee216:
Just came back from Nigeria last week. Nigeria is very sweet when you have money.

Enjoy to the fullest and have fun

Are you still doing your uber work in the US ??

aidameoryou:
Are you still doing your uber work in the US ??

Nope

lionlee216:
Nope

OK why tho?
If you don't mind

I love threads like this