on the Flight back to nigeria
By: Isioma Ononye
She was seated at the rear stage of seat 202 on Row 4 at the Barclays Centre when Chris Martin brought out his guitar and started playing.
“Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you and everything you do and they were all Yellow. I came along and I wrote a song for you and all the things you do and it was called Yellow. So then I took my turn and all the things I’ve done and it was all Yellow.”
Chris waved his hands in the air and the crowd joined along to sing with him.
After the concert was over, Ngozi left the stadium with everyone departing from the venue while still singing along.
“Look how they shine for you. Look at the stars. Look how they shine for you and all the things you do.”
As Ngozi sang along, she felt such joy and unity and it was one of her favourite days in New York City.
It was a Sunday night, December 30th at around 10 pm when she arrived home.
The day after, Ngozi opened up her journal and she wrote…
December 30th was the greatest day of my life. I can’t believe that I got to go to a Coldplay concert. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and the fact that I got to go makes my freshman year amazing.
I feel so blessed because God gave me everything I wanted. Good friends, people that I cherish so much and also good experiences. This year, I have gone out, had fun and learned things about myself.
I have a long way to go but for now, I accept the fact that I’m getting there and I am proud of myself for how far I’ve come. I just pray that many more blessings await me next year.
I’ll end this by saying that Coldplay is the greatest band that ever existed and 2012 was an awesome year because of them.
Ngozi ponders these reflections at 9 am while sipping a cup of tea at her study desk as she flips through old diaries and begins to reminisce about her flight back to Nigeria.
Before she got on the flight to leave New York, her mind was racing with all she felt about leaving New York. In a diary entry, she wrote…
I can’t believe I’m leaving New York. College went by quickly. I wanted it to be so different and better than highschool.
I know I am 23 and there is still so much more ahead of me but sometimes, I wonder when things will change.
In another entry, she wrote…
I woke up late
And I wanted my day to go by
Yet, I was also afraid of my day going by because it would mean that I suddenly would leave New York.
And I don’t want to leave.
But I have to leave.
I try to accept it but thoughts of me being away from here make me sad.
I didn’t get a chance to begin, I’m walking away.
Once I arrive in Nigeria, then I will have to accept it.
Ngozi was set to leave New York on a Wednesday morning of March as she was on her way to the JFK Airport and she passed by residents of Hollis, Queens shovelling snow around their houses and cars.
There was a snowstorm the night before which made her anxious about her flight for the following day.
She had a right to be a bit anxious because she hadn’t flown anywhere away from New York since the moment she arrived to study at college.
Yet here she was getting ready to go back to Nigeria.
On the day of her flight, Ngozi’s brothers took her to the airport in a taxi.
When they arrived at the airport, she said her goodbyes to her brothers who appeared to be a bit worried about her navigating the multiple flights.
“I don’t want you to get stranded at the airport. Make sure you ask for help,” they said.
“I’ll be fine,” she affirmed.
She hugged her brothers goodbye while feeling sad she couldn’t stay longer with them as she had fallen in love with New York. New York was her dream but it was time for her to return home.
Ngozi’s flight back to Abuja, Nigeria was an evening flight and the first flight was to Atlanta.
The duration of the flight was three hours and it went by quickly as she spent the flight watching the movie “The Meddler,” which made her laugh.
When the plane arrived in Atlanta, Ngozi had ten minutes to get on her connecting flight to Lagos, Nigeria.
With her handbag to the right and her laptop bag to the left of her shoulder, she powerwalked to Gate 14 where a bulletin read Lagos and she sighed in relief that she made it on time.
When she boarded the plane, her seat was 34D and the plane had a mixed and diverse group of people.
To her right sat an elderly man in a tracksuit.
During the eleven-hour flight, he would sleep or watch the map of the flight status.
When a passenger would open the windowpane, the elderly man would peek at the windows.
To her left sat an elderly woman.
The elderly woman would get up every twenty to thirty minutes to use the bathroom and she always appeared uncomfortable, turning around and dropping her pillow.
Ngozi also noticed that the elderly woman would get her meals before everyone else.
Then to her back, she could hear a child and a man speaking friendly:
“How are you doing?” said the man.
The child responds “Fine.”
The man asks: “Do you know where you are going?”
The child responds eagerly “I am going to Nigeria.”
“That is good. That is good” says the man as he laughs.
The child’s response makes her smile.
The child eagerly states where he is going with such joy and ease.
Ngozi on the other hand is filled with much fear and anxiety of what’s to come because it’s been over eight years since she’s lived in Nigeria.
Three years spent in highschool in Mexico City and a total of five years in New York with four years spent in college and one year work experience right after.
Ngozi didn’t know what to expect of Nigeria but while on the plane, she watched movies, ate, slept and wrote.
Amidst a movie, she fell asleep and woke up.
Then, when it was time for the plane to land in Lagos, she said to herself “Finally.”
Though she knew that Lagos was not the destination but just a stop on the way to Abuja.
Then as the plane was about to land, a child in the back said: “Mommy, I want to jump in the sky.”
“Ahh you want to skydive?” the father says laughing.
The child says again “Mommy, I want to jump in the sky.”
The plane lands. Some people clap and others use their hands to make the sign of the cross.
This response to a landing is common in Nigeria because to arrive safely from a plane is a moment to thank God.
When Ngozi gets off the plane, it’s around 3 pm on a Thursday afternoon and she’s in Lagos where her father meets her at the airport to help her retrieve her bags.
When Ngozi sees her father, she’s a bit taken aback as she can tell he is ageing.
He smiles, hugs her and she recalls memories of travelling together as a family.
The first posting to America was when her mother and father were unpacking and removing clothes from one suitcase to another in the airport.
She then thinks about her highschool experience in Mexico, that graduation day where she hugged teachers and friends.
Then, she recalls being in college and how nervous she was on her first night out.
“I’m back,” Ngozi says to herself.
This is where it all started. Here in Nigeria.
As Ngozi walks through the airport, she takes off her long brown winter jacket as the weather feels very hot.
When they drive past the airport, she begins to stare at the window and as she does, she doesn’t feel like a stranger in her home country.
She recognizes the different languages spoken around her.
Also, she enjoys watching the people pass in multicoloured traditional wear: the Ankara attire.
It all feels familiar to her. It all feels Nigerian.
Ngozi’s father and her spent Thursday night in Lagos and Friday morning, they boarded a 50-minute flight to Kaduna and after, it was a three-hour drive to Abuja.
On the drive through Kaduna, she notices children in uniform playing in a field and she sees women in white and brown hijabs walking, some with bowls on their heads.
Ngozi then falls asleep as they leave Kaduna and drive through Abuja.
When she opens her eyes, she’s reminded of a dream she had in New York where she stood on the threshold of a door she didn’t enter.
To her right, she saw her childhood friends from school in Abuja. They stood in line wearing the school uniform: red checkered blouses and blue skirts.
To her left, she saw men in African traditional wear dancing.
Also, in that dream, she saw herself picking up a Nigerian flag.
Then, she woke up feeling confused about the possibility of returning to a country she hadn’t lived in years.
But now, the driver drives straight to Kado Estate, makes a turn from the left to the right and straight down.
When he stops, she sees a brownish gate with the number 56 written on it and she’s home.
Isioma Ngozi Ononye is a personal development writer. She writes about mindset, career development, women's empowerment, mental health and faith.
She has published on She Leads Africa, Yahoo Lifestyle News, Medium and Marie Claire Nigeria.
When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, sleeping, watching comedies and being around nature.
The creative non-fiction piece is about the writer’s experience on her flight from New York to Abuja, Nigeria. In it, she reminisces on her favourite experiences, her reflections in her diaries and her observations on her environment.