Christy Anyanwu
That fateful Sunday, November 2, 2019, I was on board Ethiopian Airline en route Addis Ababa with London as my final destination. I was on my way to attend the World Travel Market (WTM) London 2019. I was excited: It was the 40th anniversary, my second time at the world’s largest exhibition in Europe after first attending six years ago. 
My seat was 50 D. The last row in the aircraft. It came with an advantage: the opportunity of chatting up the cabin crew before we deplaned. I also had a brief tete-a-tete with the pilot, Captain Amha, an Ethiopian who started flying at age 18 and has been flying Ethiopian Airline for twelve years. Thereafter, I faced the Immigration to begin the process that would enable me to check into the hotel for transit passengers in Addis Ababa.
The security officials asked for my passport. I opened the bag and brought out my passport, but lo, it was the old passport (detached by the Immigration officer at the airport in Lagos). Oh my goodness! Where is my second passport with the valid UK visa till 2023? I was shaking. I couldn’t find my passport! Where could it be? I remembered entering the aircraft with my passport in my hand and my ticket tucked inside it.
I ran back to the Departure, to the officials on duty and was told nicely a signal would be sent to the aircraft. “If the passport is there, then no problem.” Two nail-biting hours later, a security officer informed: the aircraft had flown to Guangzhou, China.
Then I had to face the consequence. I missed my flight to London the next morning. It was sad watching my flight climbing into the sky while I sat at the airport still wondering if the guy who sat next to me stole my passport. The young man had confided in me that he lived in one of the African countries and his occupation was Yahoo Yahoo.
The Ethiopian Airline staff on duty tried to cheer me up. She told me not to fret. “We will get back to your country and request for a transit visa for your trip back to Nigeria. Don’t be worried; we are giving you a ticket for dinner.”
My passport surfaced at 3 pm the next day. A miracle. I hugged the officers with tears rolling my cheeks. They found the document inside the aircraft.
“Madam, congratulations. You are lucky. We have a flight to London tonight.” What a pleasant ending.
I had thought missing my flight would cost me at least additional $100. But I ended not paying a dime. I even got a ticket for lunch and dinner from the airline officials on duty.
When we touched down at Heathrow in the afternoon, I took the rest of the day off to rest and prepare for the World Travel Market the next day.
I found the venue of WTM at Excel, London bustling. Like a beehive. At the WTM, people sell their countries, by whatever means that make them unique. Fascinating stands mix with enchanting displays. Countries melt with companies. Foods and drinks go together, creating a bazaar of free gourmet cuisines from all around the world and exotic cocktails. People regale you with exotic details of their countries, like Tamar from Georgia who described her country as “the most beautiful” in the world.
“My country is very interesting and very small. No one forgets it after one visit. Our tradition, nature, people are unforgettable,” she said.
A staff of Reeds Exhibitions, one of the coordinating outfits for the event avowed that setting up the event place with exhibition stands took a whole year.
“We have over 500 stands,” he says. “Many countries are here but I’m sure your country is here.”
“You mean Nigeria is not here?” I asked perplexed. How could Nigeria not be here?
“Nigeria is not here,” he replied firmly. “I have seen Ghana, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Uganda, Togo, Ethiopia, and many African countries, but I haven’t seen Nigeria. I should know if they are here. I’m sure I haven’t come in contact with Nigeria.”
One of the people I met that impressed me was a pretty-looking Polish woman with nice low-cut hair. She represented the government of Poland. Her duty was to showcase the interesting sides of Poland and she was good at it, too.
“Our cuisine and our medical tourism are some of the things we bring here,” she declared. Describing herself as a strategist for international healthcare and tourism, she expressed her bias for medical tourism and pressed home the fact that every destination is unique. “Poland is famous for dentistry; Turkey is renowned for heart transplant, Dubai is synonymous with IVF,” she said.
When I arrived at Abu Dhabi stand, Luma Hamad was on hand to school me on why their stand was very busy from day one of the event. “We are here to promote our culture and tradition and we have some grand prizes and branded giveaways.”
Ghana on the closing day stole the show with a colourful performance by its cultural troupe. Whites and Blacks crowded the stand trying to catch glimpses of the scintillating and energetic dance performance. Thereafter, we all made a beeline for Ghana food –– Waakye, Kenkey, kelewele and what have you –– briskly dished out to the long queue of curious visitors at the stand. Behind me, I heard an enthusiastic Ghana Minister of Tourism gushed: “This year has been the best so far in our participation at the World Travel Market.”
I couldn’t help but wonder: Why did Nigeria miss out on this historic global event? Where is whoever representing our tourism?
Alhaji Rabo Sale, President, Federation of Tourism Association, gave a sad verdict on Nigeria’s absence at the exhibition. “When we don’t come out and promote our country, how do we expect other people to come into Nigeria? You could see countries like Sudan and Egypt are here; it’s not as if they don’t have their challenges. Ministers of other West African countries are present. World Bank and Afreximbank were there on the first day when the theme was “Opportunities for Investment”.
Mr Ikechi Uko, CEO, Akwaaba Travel Market, who commended WTM for sustaining its vision for 40 years, subtly underscored a salient benefit for participating countries. “You could see how businesses are reinforced by person-by-person relationship,” he noted.
Besides the exhibition, I had other engagements in the UK. November 8 is the day fallen heroes are honoured in the UK. I followed Councillor Susan Fajana-Thomas (my host for three days) to church service where I met the current Hackney Speaker, Cllr Kam Adams and I joined his parade.
A military band played outside on the street and people trooped out to watch their display. The road was shut as everyone––priests, politicians, army, boys/girls brigade–– trudged along in a long column on one hour trek, from the town hall of Hackney to the church, and after the open church service and laying of wreaths, back to the town hall.
I moved to Croydon to attend a commemorative service for the 39th birthday of controversial Pastor Tobi Adegboyega of SPAC Nation. It was quite a journey. I was almost frozen to death navigating through the heart of London from one train station to the other. What took me there? Curiosity! I wanted to know what goes on at the SPAC Nation. I must confess I enjoyed the music ministration of the youthful church, ditto the sermon.
Thereafter, I moved outside London to Shoeburyness in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, to spend some few days with my friend, Tina Ugo, the CEO and designer of Didi Creations. Compared to London, the cold at Shoeburyness, a town at the mouth of the Thames estuary, was a different ball game. I had a pleasant memory of my first visit some years ago, forgetting that it was in summer. This last one was in winter. Every morning, I woke up asking myself: “Na who send you message sef? After World Travel Market, what did you stay back for?”
The cold was punishing. And because I love being outdoor and window shopping, I’d defy the cold to go out, only to return home hours later blue and black, freezing cold. For the first time, my fingers wrinkled, despite that I wore hand gloves.
I was relieved when on November 19 I boarded the Ethiopian Airline on a return flight, to the blessed sunshine on Africa.
On the flight from Addis Ababa, I met another IT specialist. This one did not claim to be a Yahoo yahoo operator. His name was Daniel, an IT expert living in the United States and Nigeria and a frequent flier on Ethiopian Airline.
He gave a good rhapsody about the excellent service of the airline: “Flying ET airline is awesome. The experience is very good. Their cabin crew very accommodating. I have been flying on this airline since the past five years to and fro the US. I’m visiting Nigeria but I live in the US. They come straight to Africa.”
Being a first-timer, I asked him for the outstanding features of the airline. “They have good services, including food and wine, and the cost is relatively cheap compared to other airlines,” he said.
He told me about Sheba miles, which he said you could use to get almost a free ticket with the airline. “They calculate the numbers of miles you must have flown and that goes to augment the amount of money you are supposed to pay,” he explained.
So what is his rating of the Ethiopian Airline? “I would give 9 over 10,” he said confidently. “They are best on Africa destination; on board, their service is next to none and thirdly, the cost comparatively compared favourably to other airlines.”
He also made the point that when there is stopover Ethiopia Airline takes its passengers to the best hotels in Addis Ababa. I have been a beneficiary. On my trip, I was bunked in one of Addis Ababa’s four-star hotels. We were not just dumped at the airport to loiter for a number of hours. On some airlines, passengers spend their 12 to 15 hours stopover at the airport. ET lodged me in a hotel and also brought me back the next morning to catch my flight to my destination. They made my life easy during the period of my temporary loss of identity.