“There are three things you need when you travel; paracetamol, Flagyl and the red&yellow capsule. If you na no get those ehn, you no go feel alright at all!”. So yeah, this is how I decided to start this blog everyone has been telling me to get on. I dreaded the writing and I knew I wouldn’t just want to post pictures, I wanted a story to be told as I was living in the moment. I want everyone to see the pictures through my eyes, through my mind. I want to explain how my brain processed the things I see. If you know me pretty well, you know I write, but I write for me and not necessarily for anyone to read. For those who were fortunate…(or unfortunate, really) enough to read some of my stuff, all I ever really heard was you should publish this, or at least put it somewhere. Life and other doctor stuff have captured my fingers and mind elsewhere, but HERE I AM!

If you are reading this, Hello and welcome to my mind. My name is Olatokunbo Fagbohun.  I go by Ola – if you are American, British, Canadian, Mexican, Russian really as long as you’re not Nigerian, call me Ola. But for my brothers and sisters of the GreenWhiteGreen, call me Tokunbo. If you are residents of the latter and want to feel among the former, Tokunbo is pronounced Toe-Kun-buh.

I currently live in Dallas Texas and I recently went back home to Nigeria after 5 years. That may not seem long BUT coming from someone who was brought up in that country through High school (Secondary school), it’s been a while. My trip was primarily for my best friend’s wedding..the now Mrs. Akhere Omosigho; (click her name to watch her vlog)

my heart smiles as I write that name, but that’s a story for another time. You may wonder why I started out this first blog with the first quoted sentence…yes, go back up and read it again; but that statement was made by one aunty that sat across from me on my friend’s traditional wedding day. She was saying that to a nursing mother across from her who seemed really tired and worn out from what I noticed. As a healthcare professional, I immediately noticed she wasn’t looking good so I spoke up, and told her to drink some water, have a little something to eat as she complained of her headache. You would think I would opt for “the meds” right away, but I usually don’t. Especially not to pregnant or nursing moms. Most of the ailments we have can be solved “naturally”- I mean, either with food, water or sleep. Back to aunty red&yellow capsule who also noticed mom was complaining of the headache, she proceeds to say that statement and I laughed inwardly of course because I no wan chop slap. I laughed not because she was wrong, but because of how so many people use medications without the recommendation or the education of a professional. This is particularly true of so many Nigerians. Every corner you turn especially on the mainland is a “chemist” with lots and lots of unbranded medications to cure every sickness one may have. Are you wondering what the red&yellow capsule is?…She was referring to most likely tetracycline or ampicillin, which are what everyone and their mama uses for a cold back home. It’s not their fault that the people they go to have no professional training, it’s just what most of the country has access to and so they have no choice.

I pray I am part of the group who changes the course of that choice for my home in the future. If you want to know how my trip to Nigeria was, read the next post. See ya!