Journeying home to Nigeria

To go with our China bureau, WORLD has opened an Africa bureau staffed by a Nigerian reporter, Onize Ohikere. Onize went to college in Minnesota from 2012 through December 2015. She also graduated from the World Journalism Institute last year, became a WORLD intern, and while still in Minnesota wrote for WNG.ORG. She returned to Nigeria last week and writes here about going home. —Marvin Olasky

I had visited my home in Abuja, Nigeria, twice since leaving to pursue my undergraduate degree. The trip promised a familiar route: the United States to France and then to Abuja. But the journey felt different this time: I was returning permanently after four years in the United States.

I said teary goodbyes to friends as we promised to keep in touch. So many people had helped me feel at home in America. I called and visited, thanking them for their kindness that will always be engraved in my heart.

Thoughts of the scorching 90-degree weather awaiting me in Nigeria, along with moments without electricity, made me worry about my ability to readjust. But my impending task to write and share stories of my home and other neighboring countries—stories people may never otherwise hear—filled me with a renewed purpose.

The humid air welcomed me to Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport as I struggled down the crowded and only escalator for all arrivals. After a long wait in the immigration queue and at baggage claim, I fell into my family’s welcoming embrace.

The clouds darkened as we rode past familiar roads on the drive home. Then there was a downpour—but also a rainbow. Hard work is coming, but I smiled at the greatest welcome I could ever receive, preparing my eager mind for a new journey.