Nigeria Arising

Abuja at Sun Down

If you’ve been following this blog you know that in June of 2014 I traveled to Nigeria. The trip, which I wrote a lot of blog post about, was absolutely incredible and is still the peak of my life so far.

It has been almost a year since I was in Nigeria and since then, I have been working on the documentary about Nigeria, which I filmed while I was there. And now (drumroll please) it is finally complete!

What inspired the creation of this film started with the innate need to discover a part of me that I proudly claimed but did not fully understand, that being the Nigerian side of me. I knew from experiences such as meeting fellow Nigerian Americans, interacting with my Nigerian family, and even seeing Nigerians like Chimamanda Adichie, David Oyelowo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor rise in America, that there was something special about the culture I was from. But at the same time I was being bombarded by conflicting images of Nigeria; the ones I saw in the news of the slums, terrorist attacks, corruption, and chaos! I knew that I was making a judgment about Nigeria based on fragmented pieces of knowledge but I wanted the full picture so that I could fully understand the place and culture I was from. To do that, I needed to go to Nigeria…and when I did, I found so much more than I could have imagined.

I shot over 100hrs of footage while in Nigeria and I wish my documentary could elucidate every piece of my trip, but a 100hr documentary is not possible (sorry!)…I do hope however, that this 10min documentary allows you to catch a glimpse of the people and country I claim so proudly to be a part of.

Check out my mini documentary called “Nigeria Arising”

 

THANK YOU to all the interviewees, sponsors, friends, and family who made this project possible and have taught me little about NIGERIAN PRIDE. My wish is that you learn something from this film and feel compelled to share it with others.

*Because I had to limit this film to 10min unfortunately not all of the interviews could be included! I do hope to make short follow up videos featuring some of my experiences in Nigeria not shown in this documentary.

Texaaaas

Spring break 2k15 lead me and my family to Houston, Texas! *said with a southern drawl* 

I’ve never been to the south so, in the past,  whenever I pictured Texas, my mind filled with images of cowboys, cacti and the desert. Although, I did see a few cowboy hats and cactus house plants but, for the most part, the Texas I saw reminded me of Florida while Houston itself was just like any other American city (it's actually the 4th largest city in the US). 

Why Texas? Well I have a whole lot of family that has been migrating there over the past few years, so we went to see all of them. It’s easy to see why my family is there... Houston is like a firkin’ mini Nigeria! There are parts of the city that resemble Nigeria exactly! Streets filled with African immigrants, African groceries and restaurants, add the hot sun and BAM your in Nigeria. 

I was in Texas for a week (Saturday to Saturday) during this time, as well as visiting family, I went to Kemah Boardwalk, The Museum of Fine Art, The Museum of Natural Science, and the aquarium. I swam and ate steak and enjoyed the warm weather; it was a pretty chill week. Texas was fun!!! I hope to be going back soon...

Kemah, TX

Houston Sunset

They have white tigers at their aquarium...

Museum of Natural Science

Throwback to Spring Break 2k14 in Flordaaa > Click Here 

Because I am Eighteen

It's quite a beautiful thing to be eighteen. Eighteen is a number of progress, intuition, and self discovery.  I now have the freedom to buy cigarettes, win the lottery, purchase sex toys and rent my own porter-potty if my heart so desires. I couldn't do these things just a week ago when I was seventeen but because of the magical number eighteen, the world suddenly sees me as grown. Friends "introduce" me to twenty-something year old guys, my parents don't seem so surprised when I stay out late, and people now ask how I plan to support  myself (?!?!)...but I  feel like a little girl playing a grown-up role! I may strut around with a cute purse yet still,  my instinct is to run to mommy to fill my purse will bills. 

Because I am eighteen I feel the need to explore, and rebel, maybe get a tattoo, but more than ever,  I feel this innate drive to take ownership of my life and take responsibility of the direction it is going. This week that direction led me to the local Walmart to get my cartilage pierced , and the local pet smart to get a job (baby steps ok!) but who knows where I will be lead a week or a month from now.  I fucking* own the words independence, freedom, experimentation and growth  because I am eighteen!!!

*I can say fucking now b/c I'm eighteen