I could not believe my eyes. There i was, amongst
dignitaries from all works of life.
I must have been the youngest in the bus. I was not sure
how how i found myself there, but i knew that was where i
belonged.
Omotola Jalade had sat behind me, and Chimamanda
Adichie, in front of me.
I sat in awe, gazing at the sun set from behind an acacia
tree.
It seemed surreal, because i had only seen sun sets and
acacia trees in pictures and movies. Never had i thought
that i would gaze upon such a scenery in real life.
Africa was beautiful that evening, the skys reflected shades
of orange, pink and gold.
Throughout the whole tour, i knew that my spirit had been
set free. It was no longer with me in the bus, but was
soaring.
Trees lined up the streets of Enugu as our bus drove past
them. The beautiful black children of the streets ran after
our bus, excitedly screaming ‘Oyinbo people,’ which means
‘white people,’ in the Igbo language. The children had
mistaken us for Americans, probably because our
complexions were light, but we were all Africans. The
voices of the children made my heart tingle with an
unexplainable excitement.
I saw the little girls, playing the game of ‘ten-ten,’ in which
they moved their feet in different directions until one of the
players could predict the next direction of the others feet.
The young women strapped their children to their backs
with pieces of lappas.
Soon, the driver branched into another street with potholes
all over. It was a bumpy ride, but i couldn’t feel it. My mind
was caught up in a group of youngsters, singing and
dancing to their own beats.
My body was eager to jump out of the bus to join in their
gyration. I wish i could had done that.
They all seemed so happy, so nonchalant about life. Even
when the bus had driven past them, i looked back with keen
interest. Soon, i found myself humming the same tune i had
heard them sing. It was incredible how i remembered the
lyrics, which went thus:

Anyi nwe freedom!
Freedom bu nke anyi,
Anyi ga agbara egwu!
Anyi ga agbara egwu!
Maka freedom bu nke anyi!
It meant
‘we have freedom, freedom is ours, we will dance
because freedom is ours.
The song made me feel free.
Soon others in the bus joined
in.
It was as though the spirit of freedom was encompassing
the bus eas each one joined in the singing
That was a tour i would never forget in Nigeria. It made an
imprint in my heart.
The beauty of Africa.