Good evening Sweetlings,

Hope your week got to a lovely start. I am still giving updates of my trip in Nigeria where I have been visiting 6 states. I have already shared about my trip to Ibadan and the epilepsy awareness session there plus chronicles from Keffi and Abuja where I shared 10 things to do in Abuja and its environs  as well as my meetings with mental health service providers in Abuja . Today I want to share about my visit to Benin City where I did a pidgin radio interview and got a Nigerian name. I have a confession though - when I saw Benin on the itinerary, I thought of Benin the country and I was embarrassed that I didn't know much about it. Since Google is my friend, I went online to check it out as I also checked if Kenyans need visas to go to Benin. After my research, I thought to myself, no I don't want to go to Benin for just one day and as I was working out a speech for my partners for the trip on how and why I would like to extend my visit to Benin, my bubble burst when I got to learn that Nigeria has a Benin, Benin City which happens to be among the most ancient cities.

Heading to Benin City

After another amazing morning run in Abuja and a wonderful breakfast by Oluchi, Dayo took me to the airport and I landed in Benin City from Abuja in the afternoon. The JCI Benin City members received me and after a photo session that made me look like an international musician or something by the stares of those at the airport, I checked into my hotel. We took a lap round the town - because I am all about absorbing spaces - where I learnt a lot more about Benin City including the fact that there was a palace in the town that hosts one of the active kings in Nigeria - y'all know I made a mental note of visiting the palace before I left. 

During our rounds, I was introduced to garden eggs - which I didn't like, they are the most bitter fruits ever...they don't even deserve to be called fruits. When we got back, I had a briefing meeting of the packed day ahead that included a radio interview, visiting the state hospital and the ministry of health. It is from this conversation that I got my Nigerian name Evie which means precious beads that kings gifted...for I am a precious gift to the world with the work I do in mental health (y'all know I loved that name and it just makes me blush)

At 8a the next day, I had some bean cakes for breakfast which I absolutely loved (and forgot to take a picture of because my hands were busy). We then headed out to Edo Broadcasting Service - Benin City is in Edo State and this is the main radio station in the state - for a 30 minute radio interview. It wasn't until we got to the station that I was informed that I would be on pidgin program hosted by Wakabout and Helicopter - they explained their names to mean walk about, walks about - around for news and information which in pidgin is Wakabout and well Helicopter flies around for the same.

Our show started with a fela kuti song and we discussed epilepsy - the causes, symptoms, self management - with a lot of emphasis on it being a medical condition and asking people to seek medical support. We also mentioned the need for government intervention in form of policy, funding and filling the treatment gap as well as my Non Communicable Disease champion recognition by the Ministry of Health, Kenya when we talked about stigma and the role of champions in the sector. The team from JCI Benin, gave out their numbers for further conversations and as soon as the show was over, calls started coming in which made me glad that the message was passed even though my pidgin was not all that...ok let me be sincere, even though my pidgin dictionary has two or three lines.

 We had late lunch and I slept the evening away before flying back to Lagos the next day.

 I definitely have that palace on my bucketlist just as I want to go back to Abuja to see the Zuma rock (and hang out with Oluchi some more...and eat her amaaaazing throw downs)