Why I sometimes regret being a Nigerian

I used to be a very patriotic Nigerian up to a few years ago when the state of corruption and lack of development both infrastructurally and intellectually hit me like the gavel on a judge's table at the high court.

As a Nigerian youth who had spent all his years in Nigeria I had been conditioned to some facts that on travelling outside the country was usurped by a totally different mentality. An example of such conditioning that I grew up with include the fact that since I never experienced 24 hours electricity before in my 20+ years on this earth I never actually believed that it could exist until I experience first hand in Malaysia.

I'd want to blame the state of squalor in the Nigerian government which does not encourage development and in which most officials are interested in filling their pockets with cash that most times should be used for the aforementioned development.

That Nigerians all over the world have an infamous reputation for being scam artists

OPINION: The Difference between Lagos and Kuala Lumpur

After coming to Malaysia some five months ago I have to some degree noticed myriad of differences between how it is living in Malaysia and Nigeria. I will break it up into sections so that it is much more easier for you to read as opposed to my other posts which are like dinosaurs in this age of short attention spans especially on the internet.

Note: I'm assuming readers who are reading this post are from Nigeria, if you are not from Nigeria just drop a comment with an enquiry regarding what you do not seem to understand and I'll reply with Superman like speed, Emmanuel.

Look and Feel
The capital city of Kuala Lumpur which I reside is home to skyscrapers, industries, bridges and most of all people (duh, :p). You could argue that Lagos is the same but where you'd be wrong is in the sense that as opposed to Lagos Nigeria, the skyscrapers do not just adorn Victoria Island or CMS. How Kuala Lumpur is different and in fact Malaysia as a whole is that it has the feel of a more advanced country. There are good roads, well planned buildings, parking lots, traffic lights, tunnels to ease traffic off main roads, trains as alternative means of transportation, a well organised bus system and of course traffic e.t.c
Now that beats Lagos hands down in almost all sectors of how the city itself runs on a day to day basis.

Amenities and Social Recreation
In terms of leisure Kuala Lumpur also almost wins hands-down as there are so many activities you as an individual or a family could participate in as opposed to Lagos. There are badminton courts, tennis courts, football/futsal pitches, swimming pools, cinemas, bowling alleys, arcade centre for playing video games and then list just goes on and on.
And do you know the best part of all these?, they do not cost an arm and a leg as opposed to what you'll be paying if you were in Lagos.
Come to think of it apart from the posh places in Lagos, where can you really go to have a nice time or play badminton like me and my friends at 11pm in the night?
Hint( Nowhere!, please do correct me if I'm wrong)

Security
After spending about a month in Malaysia naturally I made some friends. One day one of them calls me up at 2a.m in the morning and tells me to accompany him to get some snack at the McDonald's  near the school residence and my first response was NO, GOD NO.
To those who have ever lived in Nigeria or more specifically Lagos you can attest to the fact that taking a stroll at 2a.m in the morning might equal into you losing your possessions or worse still your life if you are encountered by, erm, robbers who are most times armed with weapons that will make a grown man pee in his pants.
My friend laughs at me and persuades me to follow him. Me in an act of boldness followed him and to my surprise no one or group of people accosted me to take my very lowly price possessions (hey, I'm not rich okay? :)).
Till this day I can confidently say that I've gone out at almost all times of the day and I've never been harassed once from either robbers or the police unlike Lagos where I dare not step out after 10 (in popular areas you could but there is still the danger of getting ganked by men of the night)

24 Hours Service
Another thing which I found puzzling when I first got to Kuala Lumpur is the amount of 24 hour service you can get. Stores that deal with common commodities like food, electricity and even entertainment sometimes have some sort of 24 hour service. Want to play football at 12 midnight?, bam!, there is bound to be a sports store open.
Want to eat out at 3am?, there is probably a restaurant open too and that is so not the case as you can imagine caused by the aforementioned point.

No Power OUTAGES!
Now this is something that KL uses to beat Lagos hands down!. Since I've gotten here never has the power gone out, not once!. In my first month here I was so surprised that for that first full month I kept on waiting for NEPA to "take the light". Indeed it was hilarious

Internet Service
My last and final point is as regards to internet connection and as opposed to Lagos most establishments have Wifi connections. Are you going to eat at a restaurant?, they probably have an internet connection.
Or do you even want to subscribe to an internet package?, it isn't as unreliable and God-awful as you get in Lagos.

Differences between Lagos and KL
As pointed out above there are a lot of things that distinctly separate Kuala Lumpur from Lagos and apart from the part that they are both major cities in their respective countries there is really nothing that qualifies for them to be on the same standing. Oh well, I'll probably still come up with another post with what is lacking in Kuala Lumpur that is abundant in Lagos, cheers!

Don't forget to leave your comments in the comment section below, opinions/criticisms welcome. :)

My 16 Hour Flight Out Of Nigeria

So after the immigration snafu I proceeded to the waiting area about an hour before my flight was scheduled to leave Nigeria. I met some wonderful ladies and also a businessman while waiting and we started a discussion about how screwed up immigration was prior to the waiting area.

I also met a guy who was travelling to Azerbaijan and unlike me he dropped about a total of $500 as bribe to immigration, ouch. The worst part?, he was only visiting for a week. After sitting for like 2 hours we were told that the plane will be late because of weather problems. My lovely mother was still in the airpot calling me about my flight status.

About some 3 hours later and there still no flight in sight. Qatar Airways staff were overly apologetic without any solid explanation as to why our flight was three hours late. My flight was scheduled to take-off at 2'0 clock but the time was about some minutes past 5 and still we were still in Lagos, Nigeria.

Then a Qatar airways staff who I guessed was highly placed came to address us. She apologised (I was already tired of hearing apologies) and she told us that due to a mild storm-inducing rain the plane had to land in a neighbouring African country. She then proceeded to distributed McVities biscuits and canned coke as a sort of snack due to the delay.

The "Refreshment"

At this time I really didn't mind because I realised that perhaps for me the delay was a blessing in disguise as the flight was going to stop in Doha airport Qatar and then I'll need to wait before boarding the flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I eat my snack with ninja like speed as I was already very hungry. We saw other airlines board and take-off and we were still there in the airport trying to remain calm. The people I pitied however were those who due to  the delay by the airline were going to miss some sort of deadline or appointment.

Anyways after waiting for about 30 minues more we finally saw the plane and boarding began. I had flown on an airplane prior to this but I has never flown outside Nigeria before so this was a first for me. We boarded and I found my sit, middle aisle and also near one of the lovely ladies who I met earlier.

On the plane to Doha

The flight took about 6-7hours and I had food in-flight. I thought it would be boring flying that long but there was an in-flight entertainment and I watched movies, listened to music and even watched sports. It was through this media I discovered Hey Jude by The Beetles which I absolutely love now.

We got to Doha International Airport (DIA) and we went past customs to the waiting area where we were going to board for the next flight in about 4 hours time. I also met some Nigerians who were also going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Me At Doha International Airport

I searched for a rest room where I used the toothbrush and toothpaste that was part of what was in a bundle Qatar airways gave passengers like me in-flight. I also connected to the internet via the free wifi service in DIA and I called my friend Niyi on Skype.

In about four hours the plane was already on ground and we even boarded before the allocated time with so similarity to what happened back in Lagos. The flight took about 8-9-10 hours, I'm not really sure of the duration because I slept like 3/4 of the time. We got to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) where I proceeded to register my yellow card before calling the university representative who was going to pick me up.

I see these kinds of buildings and I know I'm FAR from Home!

In about 20 minutes I was through with immigration and I was on my way to my new school in a new country. It was already late in the night but from the kind of buildings I saw while in transit I told myself - Emma, you are FAR from home.

Hope you enjoyed my short story of how  my flying experience was. Do comment and interact, later guys!