There are plenty of things Nigerians complain about every day.
The traffic.
The noise.
The constant “how are you doing?” from people who somehow know your entire business.
But sometimes, you need to leave the country before you realise that some of the things you thought were normal were actually things you were going to miss badly.
From smoky jollof at an owambe to the akara woman at your junction, here are 6 things you’ll probably never appreciate properly until you leave Nigeria.
1. A Sense of Community
Here, when people put their mouth in your business, you get very offended.
That nosy neighbor that always comes to check up on you. The estate security guard who somehow knows when you travelled. The woman down the street who will ask why she hasn’t seen you in three days.
At the time, you’re thinking, “Please, face your own life.”
But leave Nigeria and you’ll realize that over there, dem no send your papa.
Nobody is checking if you got home safely. Nobody is randomly asking how you’re doing. Nobody cares that you haven’t been seen around the neighborhood.
Suddenly, that neighbor you thought was too nosy starts looking like someone you’d actually love to hear from.
2. Owambe Parties
You see that banging, smoky jollof rice you’ve gotten so used to eating that you now sometimes choose swallow at parties?
Leave Nigeria first.
You will start craving it.
Because tell me, where exactly are you going to get that authentic Nigerian party jollof?
Not the one you cook yourself.
Not the one from a fancy Nigerian restaurant.
We’re talking about that proper owambe rice, cooked in a giant pot, with that smoky taste that somehow makes you go back for another scoop even when you promised yourself you were done.
Suddenly, you’ll realize you took Nigerian party food for granted.
3. Street Food
From the akara woman at your junction to hot buns, puff-puff, roasted corn and suya, Nigerian street food is something you don’t fully appreciate until you can no longer get it so easily.
You can try making akara yourself.
You can follow a YouTube recipe.
You can even find a Nigerian restaurant.
But somehow, it’s not the same.
There’s something about buying hot akara from the woman who has been making it at that exact spot for years.
Or buying buns straight from the woman frying them by the roadside.
Even if you recreate the recipe perfectly, nothing beats getting it fresh, hot and wrapped in that familiar nylon and newspaper.
4. Family and Friends
Relocation can make you realize just how much of your life was built around simply having your people nearby.
You leave Nigeria thinking, “I’ll come back soon.”
Then one year passes.
Then two.
Then five years later, you’re finally seeing some of your people again.
And in between those years, you’ve missed birthdays, weddings, graduations, random hangouts, family gist and all those little moments you never thought were important.
You can call and video call, but it’s not quite the same as sitting in the same room, eating together and hearing someone say:
“Abeg, come and see what happened.”
5. Nigerian Weather
You might complain about the heat every other day, but leave Nigeria and you’ll start appreciating how much you took our familiar weather for granted.
That random rain that ruins your plans?
You’ll miss it.
That hot afternoon that makes you question every decision that brought you outside?
Somehow, you’ll miss that too.
Because imagine explaining to someone abroad that you can leave your house under full sunshine and return looking like you survived a swimming competition because rain decided to fall for 10 minutes.
Nigerian weather is chaotic, but it’s our chaos.
6. The Convenience of Knowing Your Way Around
In Nigeria, you can leave your house and somehow know where to get almost anything.
Need to fix your phone?
There’s one guy.
Need food at midnight?
Someone knows somewhere.
Need to braid your hair tomorrow?
Call your stylist.
You might complain about Lagos traffic, roadside sellers and the general madness, but once you relocate, you realize how comforting it is to know where to go and who to call without having to Google everything.
There’s a certain comfort in having your people, your spots and your shortcuts.
And you don’t realise how valuable that is until you have to start figuring everything out from scratch.
Sometimes, Home Is the Little Things
Leaving Nigeria can make you appreciate the little things you barely noticed when you were here.
The food tastes different when you can’t easily find it. Family feels even more important when they’re thousands of kilometres away. And suddenly, that neighbour who used to ask too many questions becomes someone you wish would just knock on your door again.
Because sometimes, you don’t realize something is home until you’re far away from it.
What Nigerian thing would you miss the most if you relocated?
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