Angela Ukomadu's Blog

 I spent the first 21 years of my life in Port Harcourt, Rivers state...I mean "RIVERS" state, so you would think I should know how to swim with all of that water body surrounding me? Naaaaa, I cannot even stand in a gutter.    Then I had my son, he is all daring and ready to go. At 7 or 8, he said he wanted to join the swimming class in his school. Trust me to say a big NO. But hubby felt and my sister Ruth said if he really wanted to do it, I should let him and not use my own fears to overshadow him. Reluctantly, I agreed.      So when I came across this Kayak story via the #NothingToDoInLagos Instagram handle, I temporarily forgot my fears and could not wait to tell the story. Hahahahha, your guess is as good as mine. I flopped big time. Now, the plan was to use the double kayak. That way I will do the paddling while my colleague films the other kayakers. I spent less than 20 seconds in the water and I was screaming to leave. The kind-hearted Kayak o...

I asked him why he decided to leave for Europe through the desert. He responded in the local Nigerian pidgin parlance: "I learn carpenter work for here, no body gree help me start up my own place, my oga pursue me, my people no gree help. My friend tell me say make I come make we commot this country, I no even know were we dey go until we reach desert and I no fit turn back again. Na only ghost I dey see for road. The thing wey I suffer for Libya nko? Two whole years! From one prison to another, from one slave master to another. My mouth no fit talk am." Since February 2017, more than five thousand Nigerian migrants have been repatriated from Libya. These are our brothers and sisters who left the country mostly by road, hoping to get to Libya, and cross over to Europe through the Mediterranean. However, they got stuck. Several of them faced exploitation and abuse, some were sold into slavery, some were kept in prison for months, living on water and little or no food.  ...