The More Sibyl Podcast Presents: 고향의 환상| Romanticizing Home: Two Months in Nigeria and What It Taught Me About Belonging — The One with Doc Ayomide | Episode 39 (2025)
In a moment where diaspora conversations often swing between "I miss home" and "I'm never going back," what happens when you actually spend two months living—not visiting—in the place you left behind?
This episode brings Doc Ayomide back to us on The More Siby podcast for an unfiltered conversation about my recent two-month stay in Nigeria. What started as a trip home became a masterclass in adaptation, comparison, and the uncomfortable work of holding two realities at once. We explore why we romanticize past lives from a distance, the classism we have been trained not to notice, and how obtaining a simple passport became a months-long ordeal that cost nearly a million naira and still has not been fully resolved.
We also talk domestic staff, Lagos airport chaos, the five-year-old who is picking up "ọ" faster than expected, and why something about Nigeria's resilience makes American "breaking news" feel a little dramatic. Three weeks, we decided, is probably the sweet spot. Two months will teach you things you did not ask to learn. This episode will not give you closure. But if you have ever been caught between loving a place and being exhausted by it, between the version of home that lives in your chest and the one that charges you 250k for a letter, you will find company here.
PS: Shout out to Nigerian teachers who reminded us what patient, collectivist education actually looks like. And to the government officers charging 250k for letters, we see you, and we are tired.
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