Unpleasant Experience: Nigeria

Traveling is about having fun and learning about new cultures. As such, I have never been disappointed with any of my travels… with one exception. My 2013 trip to Nigeria. I want to make sure I am open with you all and show you both the good and bad, so you know that traveling around the world is not always fun and glory.

This was a business trip that came about rather quickly. We were working with the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). Our contact was a local company that we had worked well with in helping the DPR with training, integration, and other services. The powers to be at the DPR wanted to meet with us, as the local company’s main job was local support rather than the bulk of the work.

On the 15^th of April they called and asked me to fly out there—I was soon flying out there on the 19^th. A rather fast track for sure. The first thing I needed was a Nigerian visa. To receive a Nigerian visa, you need a local sponsor and a guarantee of funds from the local sponsor. Fortunately, our local partner promptly sent a sponsor letter to get a visa for me, and we were able to turn this around within two days from the Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C. (it always helps when your client is the most important ministry in the nation)!

Before flying out, I had done some research and noticed that I did not need a yellow fever vaccine (it was required for all tourists except those who arrive directly from the US and Europe). As a precaution, I went and received my yellow fever vaccine—that is an expensive vaccine as far as vaccines go! I remember paying upwards of $200 for a vaccine at Walgreens.

Oil Flight

Anyway, I was all set to go. My flight was from Denver to Lagos (capital of Nigeria) via Houston. United Airlines has a non-stop flight from Houston to Lagos. This was an interesting flight experience. United had 48 seats in business class and about 110 seats in economy. The entire business class was full on my flight and the economy was hardly 25% full. This was what they call an oil flight. The entire business class was full of oil & gas employees—large guys who spend weeks at a time in the field.

Help your sister

After a really long flight, I arrive in Lagos. I usually don’t check in bags when traveling for business, so I only had a carry-on. After a quick immigration stop, I was walking to get out of the airport. A lady in a police uniform stopped me. She asked me for my yellow card. I showed her my yellow fever card. She said the card was dated only 6 days before and for the yellow fever vaccine to be effective, one needed to travel after 7 days. She was correct. I told her she was correct but a traveler who came directly from the US without a stop did not need the yellow fever vaccine per Nigerian Health Department. She started arguing with me. I had come off a long flight. I did not want to go through the brain damage. So, I told her, I am happy to return on the same plane I came on if this was a problem. She said “who asked you to go back? I am like a sister to you.” I said “OK, I am like a brother to you.” I should not have said that. As soon as I said that, she asked me what I was going to do for my sister. I asked her what she meant, and she said Starbucks or something. Welcome to the corruption capital of the world! I ended up paying her $5 to continue.

I come out of the airport and my local partners were waiting for me. They were very nice people. I was staying at Radisson Blu Victoria Island in Lagos—I try to stay near the US Embassy when given a choice. One of my partners took me straight to the hotel. He had brought so much cash with him to pay for the hotel; I thought was strange. But, cash is how they do business in a lot of these countries. I checked in and went to my room. The hotel was supposed to be upscale, and they were certainly trying. I settled down at the hotel and went for a shower. To my surprise, the water was brown! I called the front desk and asked why the water was brown and the desk clerk told me they were doing some work outside on the water main and I should try again after a few hours! Not a good start to the trip.

The next day was a buffer day for me before I met with the DPR. I had a meeting set up at the US Embassy with their commerce section chief to brief them on our work in Nigeria. My local partners visited to prepare for our meetings with the government. I noticed that it was very difficult to get vegetarian food at the hotel. They could stir up some pasta, but it just was not up to par. So, I decided to talk to the chef during dinner time. I gave him detailed instructions on making a vegetarian club sandwich (this is my go-to food when traveling to a destination where getting vegetarian food is a challenge). Some fries and a bowl of ice cream later and we were good to go!

Around 6pm I asked the front desk to recommend where I could go for a walk. They gave me a long stare and finally said “don’t go for a walk outside the hotel!” Lagos is one of the most crime-ridden cities in Africa. I decided to stay put in the hotel.

The next day, we were off to the government complexes for our meetings. On the way there, I noticed abject poverty. For the richest country in Africa and all the oil money that was flowing in, it was unconscionable to have such poverty. Of course, that is a result of corruption—by one estimate, Nigeria has lost over $500 billion to corruption since their independence in 1960. Reminds me of India unfortunately☹.

After one more day of meetings, I was ready to turn around. My flight back from Lagos was through Frankfurt—United only flew to Lagos two days per week in those days, and I did not want to hang around any longer than necessary. Again, my local partners were kind enough to escort me to the airport. I was on the lookout for my “sister” at the airport😊. The airport lounge was a small 200 sq foot space with a couple of worn-out chairs and some sodas. I was ready to get out fast and was happy when I got on the plane. Maybe it was because of a couple of negative experiences on the first day that threw me off, but the experience stuck with me as the most negative travel experience I ever had.

You may think I am overreacting. But that’s my story and I am sticking to it😊! Did you ever have a negative travel experience? Please do share. Until next time…