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By Christy Anyanwu
Minette Barnett, a Jamaican and UK citizen, who visited Nigeria for five days recently, is thrilled with excitement about the country and promised to return next year unfailingly.
She said before her arrival, she was very scared, but her thoughts drastically changed few minutes of her arrival right from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos. She shared with Sunday Sun her experience in Nigeria and more.
What is your perception about Nigeria?
Well, my experience in Nigeria is very good. I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed the place.
It’s a good experience and you know, my mindset is different now coming to Nigeria. Because, at first when I was coming to Nigeria, I was a bit scared. I was worried but when I arrived, everybody was so welcoming. The way they welcomed me, ‘good afternoon ma, good morning ma, you’re welcome.’
In Nigeria, I feel at home. I visited some places, I went to Lekki, to Oshodi, to Lagos Island. I stayed in Bode Thomas area of Surulere, Lagos. You know, I went to the markets. Oh God! The market is an experience. I enjoyed myself. The experience is brilliant. I give it 100 out of 100. Excellent!
Which of the markets did you visit?
I went to Oshodi market and Lagos Island market (Balogun and Idumota). I enjoyed myself. It was really a good experience for me. Being here is a different ball game; it’s mind changing. I was scared before. Even when I was coming, my friends said, go to Nigeria? Don’t think about it, but when I came and I look at the country I was like you’re not getting to know everything by not moving around.
It is a nice place and Lekki, Victoria Island is a nice place and very good, very good. My experience is brilliant. I didn’t know Nigerian people were so nice.
My colleague, Yemisi, is so nice, she takes care of me, she treats me well. Oh God, this was very nice, very nice, very nice, very good experience, very nice and I thank Yemisi very much for the experience.
Will you come back again?
Of course, I’m coming next year. I also had experience of going to church. I’ve never been in a church like that. It was TREM Kingdom Life Conference.
I go to different conferences but this one is very big and I really enjoy it. I enjoy the conference, the choir, music. It was lovely going to different places to see what Nigeria is all about and also thanks to my supervisor who invited me here so that I can come to experience what Nigeria is all about. Now, I can tell anyone that if you have any bad thinking or anything that will not make you come to Nigeria, change your mindset.
Change your mindset because it’s a beautiful place. It’s something to experience. I forgot to tell you about Keke. I said to myself, I must enter Keke before I go to the UK and I did. I love the POS, inside the market, you hear POS, POS. Everything in the market is thousand naira. Most items are priced from N1,000.
What about the food?
I tried some of the food. I tried the chicken. I tried the jollof rice. I tried the vegetable one with the sweet corns and stuff like that and I enjoyed it. It was really good.
The pizza is nice. The chicken is nice with chips that they do on the grill. I tried some of the food.
It was really nice because before I embarked on the journey I was afraid of the kind of food to expect, because I don’t eat so many food and I don’t know what the food is like in Nigeria. I’ve never tried different food out of my culture.
So, coming here is different. You know, it’s good to experience another country and to understand the culture of the country and what it’s like. I wore Aso- Ebi and tied gele for the first time.
It’s good. I enjoyed myself and I will come again and I thank each and every one that makes it possible for me to be here and I thank everybody that welcomed me to Nigeria.
So, why are you in Nigeria?
I came to Nigeria because of a wedding of my supervisor, Victor. My colleague and friend, Yemi, who is a Nigerian was elated to come for the wedding to rejoice with him. I indicated interest also but I was afraid of Nigeria because of so many things I have heard about the country and what we watched on the television and social media.
It’s my first time to Nigeria. I’m a Jamaican living in the UK as a British citizen but it’s my first time coming to Nigeria.
I came because of a wedding and I also came for the experience and to see what Nigeria is all about.
What do you do in the UK?
Well, I am a support worker in the UK.
You boarded a British Airways aircraft. When the plane was landing in Nigeria, how did you feel?
Well, I was excited and at the same time nervous, but when I come to the airport and I came outside and I saw the environment, I said, wow, this feels like I am home. It feels like I’m in Jamaica.
The place is just similar to Jamaica. So, when I get down at the airport, I feel at home. I wasn’t scared anymore. I wasn’t worried anymore.
So now, you have a good perception of Nigeria?
Yes, yes and I can tell anyone, come and have the experience. Don’t listen to what anyone has to say. Come and experience for yourself because I enjoyed Nigeria.
How was the wedding party you attended?
Oh, the party was brilliant. I loved the party. The party was brilliant. I attended the traditional and the white wedding.
You know, I’ve never experienced traditional wedding before and the experience was really good and all the experience and again, the wedding was good. In my culture, there is nothing like bride price, or giving people money like you guys do. Nigerian wedding is really brilliant. It’s really nice. I love it.
In your culture, you don’t do bride price?
No, we don’t do bride price.
What do you do?
Just married, just meet the person and introduce the family and then start our wedding outright. No exchange of anything. No, no exchange of anything.
When I was coming to the traditional wedding, I didn’t understand. I knew about the white wedding because we do white weddings but my friend said to me, go and see the experience of the traditional wedding, they are different. It’s different from what we do back home in Jamaica. She said to me, the traditional wedding, you dress up in traditional clothes, I really enjoy it because you just see the unity, you understand and how everything has been done differently.
Everybody needs that experience. Think out of the box, go somewhere beyond your country and enjoy and I really enjoyed Nigeria.
The fashion aspect of it, how did you see that?
The fashion is good. I like the clothes. I like the native clothes. The Nigerian fashion is nice. I like the decoration of the wedding hall. I like everything. It’s just different. It was just a different experience. I love it. I wore Aso-Ebi and tied gele for the first time.
I’m looking forward to come back again because I know there’s more places for me to go that I haven’t been to yet. So, I’m looking forward to come back again.
Next time, hopefully, I can bring my husband to come and see the country and its culture.
Is your husband a Jamaican too?
My husband is a Jamaican too, but he’s living in the UK as well.
How long have you been in the UK?
I’ve been in the UK going nearly 30 years.
How was it like 30 years ago in the UK when you came from Jamaica?
Oh, God almighty, 30 years ago was horrible, but now it’s changed. The UK has changed. Thirty years ago, you know, it was cold. It was different from now. Totally different. It was more snow. It was more cold. It was more dark. It was more, you know, but now, we have less snow. Thirty years ago, there were too much immigration officers on the road. Now, there’s no immigration officers on the road anymore, because then immigration used to let people run and jump and do all sorts of things to themselves, so much injury trying to escape the officers.
But now, it’s alright. You don’t run from immigration. Everything has changed and different.
What advice do you have for intending travellers?
Well, my advice to travellers; do not carry anything for nobody. Don’t trust nobody. Don’t trust no friend. Anything they ask you not to carry, make sure you buy it yourself or you open it in front of them or they buy it and give it to you .
I am saying all these, because I was set up in 2021 and it’s from my friend of 16 years. They asked me to carry bun, cheese, rum.
And they opened the cheese and put drugs inside and I found out. That’s the way I would have ended in prison because I found out before I even left my house to the airport that there was drugs in what she brought.
How did you find out?
I serve God and you know, I have God with me and when they handed me the cheese, there was just some different feelings about it and something inside of me said I should open it, I just know that something was wrong with that tin of cheese and I asked my husband to cut the cheese. When I cut the cheese, it was something different.
It was drugs inside but unfortunately, I couldn’t call the police. I couldn’t do anything because it was delivered at my house and Jamaica is a serious place. If I call the police or anything and leave for the UK, police will go for my family. So, I have to give them back their rubbish and tell them to go with it. I have to protect my family, that’s why I didn’t involve the police
So, my advice to travellers, don’t trust no one. Don’t carry nothing at all for no one. If you’re even carrying something for somebody, let them buy it in your presence or they give you the money to buy it.
Don’t carry anything for no one. That’s my advice to travellers. Be very careful because now, modern time, you can’t go through the airport with nonsense because everything is scanned, they see everything that is inside your bag, you understand?
So, my advice, don’t carry anything for anybody. That incident happened in Jamaica. I was travelling from Jamaica back to England and that happened to me in Jamaica before leaving my house. My close friend brought it.
