New beginnings

 My goodness!

At this point, i can't even claim that it's being busy that's kept me from posting on here.

I have just resigned myself to the fact that if I can actually go more than two years between posts on this "blog"...then so be it. No more apologies, no backward glances, no beating myself up...just accept it and move on. (Minions be damned) and well...so should you, dear reader.

There's so much to update on that i don't even know where to start. 

So, I'm currently writing this draft early, wrapped in a quilt, on a freakishly cold December morning in.....(drumroll).....LONDON!!!

Yeah, so first and most important update...we took the plunge and decided to "Japa" from Nigeria and all its wahala. No need to linger on how stressful the relocation journey can be. See ehn.. i just know that this was one of the hardest decisions we've had to make. Chioma and i sat down one day and had a conversation about how the direction of our lives would go...despite a couple of absolutely great breaks on our parts..(My brilliant wife landed a series of well-paid jobs) the outlook on staying in Naija was still very bleak. Factoring in the current disastrous economy, oncoming recessions, tribalism-laden political climate and to put it simply, the planlessness of the Government, it was a no-brainer.

Naija 1-0 Okechukwu

We started planning on how to make this happen and again, all credit to Chioma. My wife has this uncanny knack of fixating on things and making them happen. Great stuff because, if i'm being honest, except for vacationing and infrequent trips, the attraction of actually living "in the abroad" has never appealed too much for me. (I'm not sure why. Maybe, we've all just assumed its a Cosmas Ibemere thing).

We researched emigration routes, destinations and plans. Eventually, the option of schooling abroad made the most sense. Since Chioma's job was remote (little blessings), paid so much better, is time zone favorable and could be translocated, we decided that i would be the one doing the schooling and she'd be my "dependent". In all these, the UK held the most appeal and so our japa journey commenced.

 Getting admission to schools here was the easiest part. Everybody and their third cousin were all applying and getting admission. The major problem was funding. How the fuck would we make this work? You see, when people achieve something and then attribute it all to luck and "na God do am o"...best believe that's all bull crap.

It was tough.

We started trying to save money and even at that, still had to take substantial loans to make everything work. In our case, Chioma's salary was a lifesaver and enabled us to achieve a lot of the requirements without running mad from worry. Family, good friends, and my input from NB salary also had to be put to work. From traveling to Abuja for a TB test to paying insane IHS and Visa fees at UKVI, from trying to convert Naira to pounds and buy relocation stuff, from putting money aside for accommodation to researching cheaper plane tickets to buy, it was all just a very big financial headache.

 Again, special thanks to family and friends who helped out in so many ways....Uncle John, Uche, Mom, Nnamdi, Sandra, Emeka, Ugo, Ify, IK and Aunty Ngozi. All the moral support was equally as necessary as the financial support which these fantastic people all rallied around to give us and make the whole endeavor a success.

Now, sitting here in our studio apartment in Wembley (mentally urging this room heater to "gbera"), i look back and give thanks for everything we have accomplished so far and can only see it as the beginning of so much greatness ahead for us!

Naija 1-2 Okechukwu!

p.s: A lot of the oncoming posts will be backdated stuff which I feel are necessary, random, and too important not to put down for posterity.