A quick stop at LOME

My phone rings and it’s Annie calling.

‘Babe, where have you been? I was so worried, your numbers were off and I could not even reach you on social media’ she said quickly in a worried tone.

‘Am so sorry dear, I have been away. I made a quick trip to Lome’ I replied.

‘Lome? Of all places. Neeways, welcome back’.

‘Welcome back ooo. Ina tsaraba?’ Zee said bursting into the room.

‘Ahh! You no dey use ear hear say person return from journey. I am on the phone with Annie please. Can you be civil and keep quiet?’ I was trying to sound serious.

‘Annie darling, sorry for that rude interruption, twas Zee’

‘That babe still dey Naija so?

‘She dey oooo’

‘Ehen! Gist me. What is Lome like? It’s the capital of Togo right?’ Annie asked eagerly.

‘Yes. Lome is a beautiful and attractive city. It is small though, with a population less than that of Lasgidi, but it is a captivating city. The most fascinating thing for me was the beach that stretched from the entry of its border to the end of the country’.

‘You don’t mean it’.

‘No kidding’.

‘As you cross the border from Benin republic into Togo at La Condji and enter the city of Lome, you will begin to see the beach with Coconut trees and fishing boats. It is where the popular Palm Beach Hotel gets its name, so I was told’.

‘Wow!’

‘That was what I exclaimed on entering the city. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was amazed. I immediately took pictures on the beach before exploring the city’.

‘Mmmhhhh. I trust you na. But apart from the beach, what else is there to like about Lome?’

‘For me, there are several things I like about Lome. Like the fact that the country is organized and planned. During my stay, I noticed a level of organization and proper record keeping in their system. Though the currency is lower than the Naira and some things are more expensive, I marveled at the quality of their products. It is one thing to pay exorbitantly for a product or service, but it is another to get quality equivalent to what you have spent in Nigeria’.

‘Do you mean their products have better quality?’

‘Yes, especially for products that are not imported from Nigeria. They do not have many manufacturing companies, as such they depend on importation. In general, they ensure that the quality and price of products are stable’.

‘My eyes were opened to the things we are missing out on due to the so-called development and advancement’.

‘How do you mean?’

‘In Nigeria, we have gradually become removed from nature. I remember telling someone that “the green-house effect would not affect Togo so much because so much has been done to preserve their natural resources so far”. I think that apart from the effort that might have been invested in resource preservation, the population size means less pressure on the resources, unlike Nigeria’.

‘Hmmmm. Wetin come make you come back Madam-close-to-nature?’

‘Babe, e no easy abeg. I don’t understand French. Unlike us, Francophones try to learn and speak English. I no sabi kpikim for French. I was struggling and wishing I had paid more attention to the French teacher back in Secondary school’.

‘But if I remember clearly, you were the best student in French in the class one year like that’.

‘Annie, abeg forget that one. That one was crammed French. You know most of the French teachers in Nigeria just cram the French and pour it. We will be conjugating till thy kingdom come’.

‘Na true you talk. From Primary school, all the French teachers I had were just ehhh…..’

‘Aside the language, is there anything else?’

‘Forget everything that we don’t have or don’t do right, Naija is a sweet country. From our food, which is the best in the world (for me), to our disposition to life, creativity, business acumen, just name it’.

‘Hmmmm. O yeah? Naija isn’t all bad after all’.

‘Naija is awesome my dear. But there is still alot to be done’.

The phone beeps

‘Omg! I can’t believe we have been on the phone this long. Abeg bye bye, this MTN done warn me. Let’s hook up this weekend’.

‘Sure thing. Nice to have you back babe’.

‘Thanks plenty’.

‘Ehen! Zee are you still here?’

Zee eyed and punched me playfully.