[00:07] Um, I’ve lived in Nigeria, in Tunisia. I’ve lived in Abidjan and I’m currently in the UK.

[00:24] When I left Nigeria, I was 17 and I’m 26 now so you can do the math. ​(She doesn’t want us
to put this in.)

[00:34] Um, 2009. We left Nigeria in 2009 and from Nigeria we went straight down to Tunisia, and
we lived there till 2012, yeah we lived there till 2012 but while we were there, I and my sister were
schooling in the UK so it was sort of, um, home for us during holidays.

[01:13] Um, leaving Nigeria, um, to be honest it was a bit of mixed emotions because I was very
happy to be, you know, traveling abroad as well I was worried about losing friends and you know,
being far away from family, so, um, it wasn’t a simple thing, but yes I was eager to move, I was,
um…. But then it wasn’t too bad because I had my immediate family with me, I was moving with
them so… It wasn’t too bad but then, like I said, I’m leaving a life I’m used to, I was used to and um…
you know the things I was used to, I was sort of, I had to leave those behind so I wasn’t really sure
what I was coming down here to meet, so, it was a bit daunting as well as interesting and I was
curious as well

[02:19] Visually, I would say…. Being dropped in an ocean…..yeah I think that’s the best way I can
visualize it. Being dropped in an ocean where you don’t know where to go it’s just endless water. So
you just sort of, have to find your way around and see thing and yeah just figure out things as you go
along.

[02:55] Leaving Nigeria, we went through, we came through Dubai and I remember our flight was
overbooked so we had to stay down in Dubai for a night, and um…. I mean I liked it obviously, it’s
another night of exploring, so it was good, but yeah. It was alright

[03:29] To be very honest, I liked Tunis but then I had my reservations about the place, and I say that
in terms of the language barrier, you know coming into a country where you don’t understand the
language, it’s like, um…. Where you don’t understand the language, it’s a very big challenge, you
know, trying to get… get along with people and communicate with people, especially if you’re trying
to find your way around or purchase things and you’re not able to communicate effectively it’s a
huge barrier to effective communication and it does become frustrating, for you and the other
person…..so being there, I felt like it was… To be honest I always wanted to leave when I went there
but then again it was just family, because of family that, you know you go back to see mum….and
dad and …yeah… The language barrier was a huge thing. And then, the food wasn’t too bad, to be
honest, the food we could manage and obviously we could cook had at home so, the food wasn’t too
bad.. and um, well, church, we had translators so most of the message was translated into English
so, yeah that wasn’t too bad as well, and most of our friends were English speakers so aside from our
circle, if we went out of our circle then we would find it difficult communicating. Sometimes we had
to, um, use sign language, I remember if we travelled from, if I and my sister travelled from one
friend’s house to another and we had to take a taxi, we learn how to say or ‘right’, ‘straight’ and ‘left’
in French, and those were the only things we kept saying, erm…erm…. I can’t.. (laugh*) (laugh*) we
kept (breath*) if we’re going right, no, if we’re going forward, straight forward , it’s like ‘Tout Droit’,
and then if you’re going left it’s like ‘a droite’ or ‘a gouche’, so its left or right, and those were the
only words we actually knew initially, so we always used those to get around and it was so funny
sometimes it’ll take them forever to understand what we’re saying, but then at the same time it was
very interesting and yeah…

[06:17] uh, where I’ve been in Tunis, I can’t remember…

[06:25] Um, did anything happen..?

[06:39] I think…. It was…. 4 to 6 years? Yeah, I think around 4 years there about we lived in Tunis

[07:09] No, the…going into Tunis it was, I mean, majority of the people there were white and um…
you found a few blacks, but then Tunisians do not see themselves as Africans, so they would
normally not be happy with you if you refer to them as Africans, they saw themselves more of
Arabs? So yeah, and majority of them were French-speakers as well, Arabic speakers, so yeah they
didn’t look like me or where people from back home or anything neither did they behave like us back
there and um, sometimes they would insult us in French or Arabic and initially I didn’t really
understand what they would say because sometimes we’ll walk pass and they will say some words
which we didn’t really understand what they meant, but then a friend of mine picked it up and he…
actually said most of them were called blacks, monkeys, and it was just not, it was disgusting that
they would think of people like that, as monkeys or just to even call somebody an animal was…you
know….it wasn’t very…nice, so….no, ‘they weren’t like us’ anyway. They didn’t speak the same
language, they didn’t look the same as us.

[08:44] The only similarities was we came from the same continent and yeah we are human beings
and that’s it.

[08:57] Well, mum got transferred so we had to leave, we’re mainly there for work……. mum, yeah
mum got transferred.

[09:17] Yeah, mum got transferred and erm, she had to move to another country, um, so we
couldn’t stay there any further, so that’s why we had to move.

[09:30] no, Jesus I forgot that part, no Tunis was always, there was always something going on in
Tunis, always something and it left a lot of us in fear because sometimes we went back for holidays
and you could just hear funny sounds, people running and shouting and stuff, we got so scared
because sometimes mum was still at the office, so we were scared for her as well, just calling to
make sure she was fine. Sometimes we’re in a friend’s house and, you know, people screaming on
the streets, rioting up and down. It was, I wouldn’t say it was safe but then at the same time we
were okay, it’s not like any of us got hurt but a lot of people got hurt in the process. So, not overly
safe but then no country is hundred percent safe, there’s always one thing on the other, threatening
to people so, I guess that’s just normal, I don’t know.

[10:41] Yeah well, church is always been, is always been, um, a part of, it’s always been, well,
growing up we always went to church as children and it’s just a family thing, we grew up with god
and even as an adult, it’s a principle that was still kept very close to me, it’s something that I, God is
someone that I hold very close to my heart so, yeah and my family does the same so, yeah.

[11:39] To be totally honest, I don’t think I ever came across a Christian Tunisian, I didn’t see one, all
of, every Tunisian I came across was a Muslim, and um, in terms of Muslim, Christian rivalry, um I m
not sure of any. Um I mean maybe the rioting that went on, maybe it was the result of that but I
don’t know, I can’t particularly say okay yeah this happen because of this, but then, it just happened.
So I m not sure what lead to that.

[12:24] Yeah, well there’s always that and, um, yeah in Nigeria, a lot, a lot is going in Nigeria, and um,
especially amongst the Christian and the Muslims, um, in Nigeria, every Fridays the Muslims will
gather at the mosque to pray, and I think, while growing up we had to, when our driver picked us up
from school because me and my sister and cousin we all went to three different schools, so he had
to pick each of us, you know pick me up and go to my brother’s school and my sister’s school, while
we all…on our way to my sister’s school, yeah her school was very close to the mosque and there
was always something going on that road, always and sometimes the Muslims would just park their
cars right in the middle of the road and they will literally start praying right there, and obviously
that’s gonna cause a lot of problems with the other people who are trying to go pass, so they took
things like that, you know, just got people frustrated and then unnecessary fights, and yeah between
Christians and Muslims there’s always something they’re always fighting, against each other,
especially in Nigeria with the Boko Haram thing is, you know, it brought a lot of adversaries to
families and Muslim families and Christian families, so yeah, there’s always one thing on the other
going on between the Christians and the Muslims

[14:30] Um, not directly, not directly oh goodness, but um, I know that it’s come, I know that you
know that they carried out a lot of things in Benue state which is quite, which is where we have
extended families, and a lot of farmers, they suffer the lose, in terms of the animal rearing business
and their farms, you know, their farms get destroyed and the animals get killed, so at the end of the
day, in as much as it’s not directly affecting us, it is affecting us in a, in a different way, maybe not
directly but it does still affect us because people still lived in fear, and um, our families are still
scared of going out or going to the farm and stuff like that so, at the end of the day, even though it’s
not affecting us directly it’s still affecting us, even if we know it or not.

[15:54] Yes, yes now I remember, um, one of our uncle works at, well he used to work at, united
nations in Abuja and um, those incidents that, I mean, I don’t know if this is directly linked with Boko
Haram, but maybe it is, maybe it’s not, there was an incident there, where um, I think the top
building, there was a fire or something, there was a bomb in the building, and some people….there
was a bomb in the building and it went off and some people actually died and that day, my uncle was
at the office, but then thank god he went for lunch, he wasn’t at the premises at that point of, you
know the bombing, he was actually okay but then it was so sad that people who went to work,
leaving their family back home could not actually get to see them again, that was like, the last day
they ever see their loved ones because you know. So yeah that actually came quite close to home,
but yeah, still grateful to God that, you know, he wasn’t there, but still some other people got hurt,
which is still not good.

[17:51] Um, no, not really I don’t really know much about Tunis, I just knew it was a country from
Africa, I didn’t know anything personally about the country, but then um, I was quite open mind
about the whole trip, I was hopeful, I think that’s the word, I was hopeful, and um, I actually
remember when my mum got this job, she also got a job in the US, and I think, I and my siblings
really wanted her to choose the US, the job in the US, but she oppose to it and went for the Tunis
but then at the end of the day I guess she had her reasons for choosing Tunis, and yeah looking back
it’s actually been a good journey so yeah.

[18:58] I think this goes back to the language barrier I talked about earlier, and um, also the fact that
there was just one American school in Tunis and obviously after that I have to, after high school I had
to go to university, and um, it was just a schooling system, it wasn’t really ideal, it was sort of
different to what I wanted and, you know, I rather be in an English speaking school where I m quite
fluent and consent with the environment and the language and everything. So yeah I think the
choice of coming to the UK over Tunis was just because of the language and the culture, I know the
cultures are different but then Tunis is extreme, so yeah.

[20:16] Um, describing Tunis and Nigeria with colours, these colours by no means what I’m gonna
say they mean but to me, I see them as quite warm or maybe the other one not too warm, I would
describe Nigeria using White, and that’s because I feel white is warm, it’s welcoming, it’s peace, and
this might come in with a bit of bias and that’s because maybe Nigeria is my home and I m use to
whatever happens back there, so I’m comfortable with it. But then Tunis, you have to acclimatize to
the environment, I just feel I need more effort, I need to study the language, I need to, you know just
force myself to do things then going back home, you know, there are things I grew up with, I don’t
need to put so much effort into, you know, getting things done or anything so, I use white to
describe Nigeria and um, Tunis, I’ll say, um maybe grey? I don’t wanna say red or anything because
red is dangerous and all that, it’s not that, grey might mean something different but I feel its not
white, but then it’s, they signify different things, grey in a sense that it’s still home to a lot of people
and a lot of people would actually, maybe give it white, but because it’s not my home, I’m
comfortable giving my home white and then grey to the other place because I had to go through a
lot, to be comfortable in it, if that makes sense.

[22:24] The UK has practically become home now in a way, but obviously not home as Nigeria but
now it’s close to home, um, well yeah still living in the UK I still feel like a nomadic farmer because I
know that yes if I m not studying then yes I’ll have to move away from it, you don’t think like that
when you’re in your home, your home country, you won’t think like that, you’re not worried about
packing up and leaving all or if my visa expires their gonna to chase me out. So, at the end of the day,
you’ll still have those thoughts running through your mind because it’s not your home, yet. So um,
colour wise, maybe green? Green yeah…I think green yeah because I’ve come to, and to be honest
there’s not a lot of difference in the UK and Nigeria, we do have a lot in common, and yeah I think
that’s why I’d say it’s close to home because here I’m able to communicate effectively with people, I
m able to understand things and obviously Nigeria and the UK has a lot of history, so bringing those
together there’s a lot of sense in it, so yeah UK, I would say green.

[24:09] Okay between Tunis and Nigeria, I think I’ll put them on the same scale. But then Tunis with
an exception, Tunis has a funny weather. I think all year round it's hot, but there's a specific period. I
think harmattan, there's a time the weather you couldn't even touch the floor with your bare foot.
Do you remember? Um, so Tunis and Nigeria they're pretty, very hot countries and maybe that's
because they're quite close to the equator, close to the sun and maybe that's a reason for that. But
the U.K. as you know is very different to these other two countries. The U.K. has a very, the weather
is unpredictable even in summers you can have very cold weathers and yes so it fluctuates. It's not
really stable. Yeah. So there's a lot of difference in you know in comparison with Tunis and Nigeria. In
Nigeria we do have harmattan but it’s nothing close to the weather we have in the UK. It’s not as
bad, yeah.

[25:42] Like I said the food wasn't bad. I think I liked the food and some of the people were actually
quite friendly, so I wouldn't say they were all bad.
There were actually a few friendly people, Tunis is not a country I would voluntarily choose to go and
live in. To be honest. So at the end of the day I liked it because my family lived there, so. I don't think
I have any personal attachments to the country.

[26:39] Yeah. Actually I and my sister actually came to the UK in 2009 and when we got into the
country we went straight to school and it was a boarding school. So yeah we had to go you know. I
mean maybe for my sister it was but for me I had already been to a boarding school before so, I was
later be sort of familiar with the boarding environment. But then with the UK there was a huge
difference because we struggled quite a lot in terms of food. Yeah I remember it took us a long while
before we actually managed to actually go down to the dining hall to eat. And I think it was close to
the first three months or so. We wouldn't eat in school. We actually spent so much money on
takeout, there was a Chinese shop closer to school and a kebab shop and Dominos. We were always
ordering takeout. And I remember mom visits. She came around during one of the half terms and we
had to travel down to Liverpool to visit one of our aunties and she made food from back home and
we literally rushed it because it was we missed it so much. So yeah in terms of food yeah it was way
way different we felt like the food was unspiced, there was no no taste to it whatsoever so it was
just ridiculous. Cause, I remember sometimes we sit on the dining table cause at some point because
of worrying come for food you know to the dining hall. It became a problem for the school because
they felt like we were paying money for it but weren't there and obviously they needed to make sure
that we were eating and you know we were okay and stuff like that.
So sometimes we just go down to just show appearance and not necessarily eat but just sit down
there so they think we're eating but then we're actually not eating and there was a day when we had
fish and it was so tasteless, it basically was just white fish on a plate and you could see the water.
And I was just thinking to myself, oh Lord like do we have to eat this? Can you guys put some
peppers on here or some salt or something. And then my friend actually stood up to, cause there
was salt and pepper on the teachers table but obviously the students didn't have any so my friend
actually stood up and went to the teachers table, where the principal was seated. And she's like 'oh
can I have the salt please' and he said to her to go get it in her home. That she should go home and
get hers and it was so funny because obviously they said it was a school policy. Oh I don't know. He
was just talking loads of rubbish.
But yeah it was just really funny it was really torturous as well, because it wasn't funny. I mean we
wanted to eat and one day I actually said to the cook can you allow us to go into the kitchen and just
make something small and he said no for safety purposes. And I said well that's fair enough but
yeah.
Food, food wasn't. It was bad it was really bad. But then we got over that I don't I can't explain how
but eventually we did but most of our pocket money went on food we'll literally go to Tesco, the
Chinese shop, every Sunday serve lunch in town with my friend because I couldn't stand the school
food. I think the only times we had maybe something small to eat was when we had the Chinese
New Year buffet and then sometimes just, just random stuff. Obviously that was once in a blue
moon. It wasn't a frequent thing.

[31:00] So yeah that's that in terms of food and yeah in terms of maybe social mannerisms, the one I
remember vividly is back home now this is a big contrast because back home if you're speaking to an
elder you don't look them in the eye, but then coming here is the opposite. Back home if look an
elder in the eye it is a sign of disrespect but then here if you if you don't look them, it's a sign of
disrespect. So you're struggling because when I'm here every time I'm talking to my teachers I'm
always looking down, they're like why are you looking down. I'm just like well I'm not really meant to
be looking at you like that and then, when I went to uni one of my lectures actually called my
attention. He's like all this and that you know when speaking to somebody and you're not looking at
them issues you are disrespectful and I say well my country it's reversed, it's the reversed. But then
obviously I made a conscious effort to change that. Now if I go home I'm going to struggle with that,
do you understand so there's that switch to and fro just you know it's ridiculous. But yeah. That's,
that's a cultural thing I guess. So that's that with that and what else. What was the question?

[32:37] Oh wait wait, I forgot to say something, school in general. I remember the first few times I
and my sister went. No actually this happened while we were waiting outside, we queued outside
for food, lunch, and the students wouldn't stop looking at our hair, do you remember, they wouldn't
stop looking at our hair cause we had braids and I think prior to I and my sister attending the school I
think there was only one other black girl who had been there before and was she wasn't completely
black she was mixed. But then we were like the first proper black people to attend the school so it
was really weird for them. The little girls, everyone just kept looking at, some actually came to touch
our hair and I just felt like okay well. Initially I didn't really mind, but I just you know as time went on
they kept doing it just I just felt okay like this is getting too much and should be used to us by now.
It's been like a week or two. But yeah. They, it took them a while to actually. You know get maybe
not comfortable but, what was the word, just to get used to us I guess because obviously the area
we lived in was quite a small town so you wouldn't on a normal day see a black person walking
around or anything like that. So yeah the hair stuff and every time we went home changed our hair
they would react. Oh my god did you cut your hair oh my God your hair is so long stuff like that. If
you took out your brains and maybe you made short weave-on. Yeah, you get a reaction. So it was it
was interesting as well as annoying sometimes I guess yeah. So.

[35:03] I guess it made me feel like an artwork. You know like when you put maybe an unusual
painting I guess or. It just, I really don't know how to describe it. It just made me feel like oh I was
there, they could look at me anytime they wanted and think oh gosh this.

[35:57] Personally I didn't care. I mean even the staring went on for too long it got me annoyed but
away from that I wasn't really bothered, and I guess that goes back to having an open mind and you
know just adjusting to your environment. I guess. I'm not one to hold things or so. Yeah I just I didn't
really hold on to things that happened. I just moved on, you know. So yeah I didn't, it didn't really
bother me like that.

[36:55] No I can't, can't really think of anything.

[37:04] Yeah it wasn't too bad. But obviously I knew that the friends I was making it's not obviously
it's not the same thing as back home. I knew that maybe beyond high school we wouldn't be friends.
So they're not. I knew they weren't friends that I could go on with in life, maybe just friends because
obviously we attend the same school and that was about it. So yeah I was OK with my mates and
everything but not friends friends. I didn't really have. Speaking today, looking back I don't really I'm
not in touch with all the people I called my friends back then, which I already knew anyway you
know. So it wasn't hard. But yeah it was hard because obviously, I don't want make friends just
because yeah they're with me I want to make friends because I care about them and I want them to
be friends with me or I want us to be friends for life. But I knew it wasn't that that I had with them.
So yeah I guess that's a big difference compared to Nigeria, because obviously because the friends I
left back in Nigeria we're still friends so that's why I call friendship. It's not just because we're in the
same class we have to be friends or we have to speak to one another. So yes maybe I did find it
difficult to make true friends you know or to keep up with friendships and all that, but it is what it is.

[38:39] No we just communicate virtually so.

[38:56] Obviously I have people I speak to and other friends. But I'm just saying now, I'm just going
back to college. Now I have colleagues and other things have kept me busy so I wouldn't say oh. I'm
not entirely lonely or anything but I've got people I speak to I've got some friends. There's internet,
our phones, communication is not really a problem.

[40:00] Nothing I can, no not that I can think of. I don't think you can completely change a person
because they left one country to another. I think, I think in terms of maybe prospects different, you
know perspective to life or education, career. You know those sort of perceptions might change or a
new path might be open to them. But that's about it. I don't think I don't think it necessarily changed
anything, to be honest. Because today I still did what I wanted to do in school. I'm still the person
I've wanted to be. So I don't think they changed anything. But I'll say is, this sort of shaped me and
enhanced me in a better way.

[41:21] Almost 10.

[41:41] Of course not. That's never going to be the same. Because you see sometimes when I speak
to people back home, sometimes I really don't understand the things they say or when they speak in
a certain way. I don't really understand and I guess that's because of the difference in, I don't know. I
don't know what it is, maybe because I'm just used to the English way now that I've sort of forgotten
something's back home. But sometimes and there's some mentalities that people have ideologies
that I don't really agree with. But then obviously these are things that are OK back home. For
example I used to believe this but now I've got a total different approach to it of you know. Maybe a
lady cooking or doing the cleaning and all that back home maybe I was a little bit lenient. But now
I've got a total different approach to it. Maybe, I think now that anybody can cook anybody can
clean. It doesn't have to be the lady to do it. So I guess yeah those have changed. You know, coming
from Nigeria where obviously tradition and all that plays a very strong role in people's lives. Where
the man is the head of the house and all that stuff. I'm not saying he isn't. You know he sort of brings
down his. I'm not saying it sort of changes anything he stands for. But I just feel you know, he should
be more involved or just guys or boys in general. Back in Africa, you there's that mentality the boy is
the golden child. But, I don't believe in that anymore. Anybody can learn anything. A boy can learn
how to cook. It doesn't matter. You know he doesn't need to sit and watch TV while the girl's in the
kitchen. Everyone is equal. So yeah a few things have changed. I look at things differently now and
sometimes when I speak to people and I see that we're not really on the same page, I sort of you
know try to put my point across. This is what I believe if you believe that, that's fine with you. But
personally, yeah.

[44:12] Yeah I guess, I guess yeah. Because obviously, when I left Nigeria I was still a child and now
I've sort of grown up and now I speak more for myself and I, I've got a different view to life. So yeah I
think, I think if I go back home I'll struggle a bit. Even now I struggle because I know back home
you're meant to call people uncles and all that and some people. Yes I do call them uncle back home
but, thinking about it now they're not that older than me. So I feel weird calling them that, even
though you know it's something they've been brought up with. So yeah I guess you can say I'm more
western than yeah I guess.

[45:10] Yeah. Sometimes I do sometimes I don't.

[45:23] Yeah yeah yeah there's definitely that identity crisis there yeah. In terms of obviously
difficulty in placing myself if I found out that I'm not able to relate with a Nigerian on a certain level
then obviously I fall back to the British side and if I find out that okay this person's not really
understanding me as much as they should. You know I'm going back to the Nigerian, so there's that
difficulty in placing myself where. So yeah identity crisis is definitely there. It comes out strong on
different occasions. But yeah.

[46:07] Yeah of course it does because, for example if I say, if I speak to somebody in a certain way
or maybe I'll use a slang to my British friend and I'm expecting you, to sort of be on the same level as
me or understand. Or if I show you a message written in, a message that maybe a Nigerian reading it
would just understand and get the humour in it, but you don’t get it and I’m frustrated because then
i have to explain to you, yeah it's exhausting sometimes its frustrating and then sometimes obviously
it's reverse for the other person as well. A nigerian person doesn't really understand what our trying
to say so, yeah it does get frustrating in situations like that.

[47:09] I did sat family and i did say mum..well. I kept saying my sister because, my sister and i
moved around together quite a lot. Going to school we went together and all that so that's why i
kept saying my sister. We came with my elder sister as well, but then she was more stationary so she
didn't really move around like that with us so that's why i sort of didn't say a lot, And my dad was
also around. But yeah with him he was also working and mum was working as well so everybody was
sort of doing their own thing but then schoolwise moving around i was always with my sister so
always with my younger sister so yeah.

[48:04] well yeah it was good because obviously you know that someone has your back and you're
not alone you know. So it made me feel safer knowing that i have somebody has your back and
you're not alone, you know so it made me feel safer and knowing that i had somebody to speak with
or you know just having that feeling that there's somebody else there that's familiar with family that
give that reassurance that you know everything will be fine.

[48:34] talking down. I don't remember such an occasion, i don't remember such happening.

[49:08] (no dialogue for question)

[49:26] I think one thing that stand out or is clear, maybe it's not definite but i think if i had lived in
nigeria for my first degree after my bachelors i think i would’ve just gone into the industry to work
but being here, you know i felt the need to forge ahead and you know go do a masters and currently
doing my PHD. so i don't think i would've been able to you know do this, do the extras the masters
and then the PHD if i was in nigeria because honestly i’d be hungry for something else if that makes
sense. so yeah it's something i'm grateful for at least you know i'm gonna get it done and once i get
into the industry i'm not gonna start thinking about school or anything obviously trainings and all
that is very important but school wise going back to the classroom and stuff i know that. So yeah i've
gained that in terms of education.

[51:29] i have not been to nigeria since i left nigeria.

[51:37] i have no idea, i don't know what to expect. i'm excited and i'm looking to visit nigeria soon,
im looking forward, im hopeful and i'm going there to conduct a study and to also spend some time
with family so, it's been almost 10 years so i'm actually looking forward to it. i don't know what i'll be
meeting down there, i don't know but like i said i'm hopeful.

[52:16] no i dont think i’ll ever really relate to that country. That sounds really bad but it's just my
personal experiences, i've been there just once and when i went there it was a really bad experience
once or twice i don't remember. that's how bad it is, i really don't like that country, i don't even
remember my experience there.

[53:01] i was there well the last time i travelled was in 2014 and while i was there i had a really
terrible accident that almost got me killed and i feel like that has sort of scared me in terms of the
country. i don't like that country, i’m always saying that to mum i really don't like that country. But
obviously that doesnt, its just my own personal opinion. but i don't think i wanna relate with it in
anyway. either way i don't even want to live there.

[53:45] no i don't feel like it's similar to nigeria in anyway actually, it might be close yes and its in
africa but i dont think its similar to nigeria or tunis. i think that place is, when i was there i felt like i
was in a jungle honestly and sorry to use this but there is just the way i felt i felt like there was just
so much going on. you know animals in the jungle running to different places it was just too much
going on in the same place. literally you could turn and before you know it something has hit you like
it's madness, i can't it's just too much i can't deal with it. so yeah there is no similarity whatsoever
compared to the other place.

[54:55] Yeah sure i mean its past and i'm grateful to be alive so i'm always glad to talk about it. So
basically went back home, well i went back to abajan in 2014 and when i'm back in africa i really like
fresh peanuts so when i was back there it was sort of the season for the fresh peanuts and
sometimes when mum comes from work and she sees them she’ll buy them or sometimes the maid
gets them because when i'm around because she knows that i like them. But then, that fateful day
we were home and mum came from work and she told the maid to go get some water, some
drinking water because we had ran out, we just had a few bottles left. So she was gonna go and i
decided to go with her you know because obviously the water was going to be heavy so i was just
gonna help her carry some. And before we went to get the water we decided to get some peanuts
before we went. So Tunis roads they're quite broad but then honestly cars are going to and fro and
in the middle you have a pedestrian stand because honestly the roads are quite broad, so you cross
halfway and then you wait in the middle for the otherside to clear before you can go. So we crossed
halfway and we were in the middle the pedestrian pavement and we were standing there, honestly i
was standing maybe right and the middle so i was first and she was just standing next to me. We
were looking down because obviously the traffic was coming that way so we could cross when it was
clear and before i couldn't even remember what happened you know. I woke up i was literally in a
pool of my own blood, i was hit by a taxi so bad literally my hair was soaked in blood. I had a massive
cut on my head and i couldn't understand because when i woke up the maid was by my side and she
was crying really bad and i was so confused, i was like what is happening am i on earth? what the
hell is going on?. So i was trying to stand up and everyone was trying to press me down and that
even got me more scared, why are you guys pressing me down? i need to stand up. But obviously
they were speaking french i couldn't really understand, the maid doesn't speak english but when she
speaks i understand so we communicate quite okay. Sometimes if there's need for it then i use sign
language and whatever. Yeah so they sort of pressed me to stay down on the floor and then a few
minutes later mums friend came over, a family friend they made her use my phone to call her
because she was the last person i had spoken to, my phone was in english so obviously she couldn't
read it so she just called whoever you know, she didn't bring out her phone so she couldn't call mum
straight away. So she called a family friend and the lady rang, well she took the car and in a few
minutes she was there and then she whilst she was coming she called mum and in a few minutes
mum was there and then called the police, well the police came and the ambulance took forever,
honestly maybe time just went by so slowly but i felt like i was on the floor for more than two three
hours. But then i just wanted to stand up but i couldnt and then i couldn't even move my legs
because i was scared that i could not work so i just did not want to move them and then mum came
and she was running up and down trying to get the ambulance to come, it took forever and
eventually they came. And then they took us to, they took me to a hospital, they took me to three
different hospitals for some reason the first two they had no empty beds so they couldn't admit me
and then we went to another one still the same thing and then we went to another one and then
eventually i got admitted. They had to like shave off one side of my head to stitch the wound and
clean it up. And yeah well they were going to arrest the taxi guy that hit me but obviously you can't,
what are gunna arrest him for? at the end of the day he's just gonna be there but then mum told
them to just leave him to go. And yeah i was in the hospital for about two weeks. Yeah the maid she
wasnt injured becuase obsivilosuly i was hit first before she so the impact was more me than her and
then she was also admitted because she was traumatized by the whole incident because she thought
i had died so she was just in a very bad state, she was so shaken up it was terrible and in the morning
she came to my room and she hugged me so tight and i was wondering. And then she said to me you
passed away and i was like well i didnt, i guess thank god for that. yeah and then, it happened so fast
everyone then came asking me, but then the irony of the whole thing is before we came out from
the house mum sort of um she's the leader of the women's fellowship in the church so she had a
conference coming up, so she had printed this shirts you know shirts for the conference women and
everything. So before we came out there's one of the white shirts that i really wanted to try on but i
didnt, i wasn't going anywhere so i didn't try it on so, when we decided to go out i said lemme put it
on since this is an opportunity to actually wear it and try it on. So i wore one of the shirts and it
actually had a scripture behind it i don't remember what it was but it was psalms scripture, so i wore
the shirt and we left and when that thing happened you know i was just reflecting on everything that
had happened and then mums friend another friend of mum more like a colleague they sort of go to
the same church so she said that they had a prayer meeting but in her house. While this accident
happened she and her other colleagues were praying and they were actually praying for the children
so everybody's children. It was just, i mean sometimes you know thinking back i just like everything
just worked in a different way but obviously everything played in good time and everything you
know one sort of, i don't know, it's still a mystery to me but at the end of the day it's an experience
and i'm grateful that i'm still here, little things happen to people and they're not, they just pass out
and that's it. But then yeah, so i guess that's one main reason i really don't like that place but i just
feel its too busy and it's too congested.

[1:03:30] You see a lot of people would say home is where the heart is, but then to me home is
where my family is and when i say family that includes my extended family, cousins, nephews
everybody. So that's a tough one but then i'd say home is always going to be Nigeria no matter
where maybe if i become a british citizen, home is still going to be Nigeria.

[1:04:34] Yeah yes if i was to retire i would still go back to Nigeria that’s where home is.

[1:04:48] Definitely. yeah

END