WHY I LOVE TO TRAVEL AROUND NIGERIA

Pelu Awofeso

Awofeso is a winner of the CNN/ Multichoice Africa Journalists Awards in the tourism category. He is also the publisher of waka-about, an online travel platform.


"Traveling around Nigeria is a lifelong lessons no-one can pick up in the classrooms or from reading books." 

 I have been asked 101 times in recent years why I travel around Nigeria so frequently. On the surface, I travel because my job as a travel journalist demands it—in much the same way that a trader must go to the market. But the truth is that beneath the surface, there is a different force at work. I should say that I have been on a learning quest over the last 15 years and the journey continues.

 Many years ago, I realized that I didn’t really know much about Nigeria, my home country, and I thought it be quite a shame. I was a graduate trained in the sciences; I had only a slight understanding of the history and socio-cultural aspects of Nigerian life. So I made the decision to re-educate myself through traveling, to expose myself to as many Nigerian lifestyles and traditions as I could manage.

 By and large, I have been the better for it. I trace my wandering ways to the one year I spent in Jos (Plateau State) in 1998/99 as a corps member and an extra year spent there afterwards as a guidebook researcher. Jos at the time was a beauty to behold—the physical setting, the tidy environment, and its easy going indigenes and residents all added up to make Jos an attractive city. In Jos it was that I started off as a travel journalist, and it launched me into a career that has spanned nearly 15 years and taken me to 30 states of the federation.

Travelling so widely in the country has opened my eyes to the innumerable beauties of Nigeria and Nigerians. I have been warmly received and feted by complete strangers in cities I was visiting as a stranger; I have learned lots of local customs by interacting with indigenes of the states I have visited—from Argungu to Abeokuta to Akwa Ibom; I have interviewed royal fathers and covered dozens of local festivals; I have climbed hills and walked in underground fortresses; I have collected films, music and souvenirs from different cultures nationwide, all of which help to preserve my memories of those places.

The fascinating thing about my experiences is that I know more about the Nigeria than the average Nigerian who hasn’t travelled as widely as I have. I am writing this after a week spent sightseeing in towns situated in Ijebuland, Ogun State—Ikenne, Ososa, Ilisan-Remo, Idowa and Omu to mention a few. While there, I visited the Awolowo museum/mausoleum as well as the country home of Hubert Ogunde, both accomplished Nigerians in their lifetime. I was also privileged to witness a rare traditional festival.

These are lifelong lessons no-one can pick up in the classrooms or from reading books.Beyond travelling extensively in Nigeria on assignment and self-sponsored trips, I have also had the privilege of living and working in cities like Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos. These have given me added knowledge of the people of those places, knowledge I wouldn’t have had if I had not lived in those places.

And having benefited immensely from my travels, I am now trying to inspire Nigerians to do as I have done. In January 2014, I launched a project called @TravelNextDoor (www.travelnextdoor.com) with the aim to reach one million Nigerians (via social media) with the message of domestic tourism and to help them see that traveling within one’s country can be both fun and fulfilling. So far we have reached a quarter of the target we set ourselves and I am quite certain that we will hit the mark by year’s end.