I Finally Met Some Old Bloggers!!!

This post is part of the Verastic In Nigeria series.

Before I traveled to Nigeria, I blogged about the 13 things I had to do in Nigeria. By the way, that list has been updated to 16 things. Anyway, number 7 on that list is meeting the old bloggers.

Just about every chance I get, I complain about how I miss the old bloggers and how they have all stopped blogging. And I have also mentioned the Nigerian Blogger men I used to love. I know our friendship began online, but for some of them, we took our friendship off the internet, and although I have been blogging for 10 long years, I have still maintained my friendship with these wonderful people. I have been promising for the past 10 years to come to Nigeria; I have promised and not delivered for so long that they stopped taking me seriously. Until now, that is.

I met four wonderful old bloggers. I cannot even tell you how good it felt to meet these people. And honestly, it did not feel like I was meeting them for the first time; I guess that’s what happens when you have chatted and talked and seen each other’s pictures for so long. Let me tell you about the four bloggers I met – in the order in which I met them.

Henry AKA 4eyedmonk

I lost my virginity to Henry. No, not that virginity. I mean the meeting-old-bloggers-in-person-in-Nigeria virginity. I met Henry in Abuja, a day before I left Abuja. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend a long time together because it was night and he was just coming from work. In fact, I was so grateful that he even came from work.

We met and hugged and talked for a bit, and it was so nice to see him in person. Henry is always there to answer my random questions whenever I buzz him. Thank you, Henry! He’s one of the bloggers that abandoned Blogville (as we called it then) and started micro-blogging on Twitter. Damn you, Twitter!

But I finally met him. It was so late when we met that I had already washed my face and put on my night gown. I had to change back into regular clothes sans makeup. Thank you for coming, Henry! Next time, we’ll spend more time together, and you’ll show me what makes Abuja tick.

Boorish Male

Yes, my people. I met the naughty Boorish Male – the one who wrote me that hot love post that made me almost commit.  He’s still anonymous, so I can’t show his picture, nor can I mention his real name. But he’s still fine, and he still has a sexy voice, so I don’t know how the Lagos babes are coping.

Boorish Male took me to a nice place (I can’t remember the name!) where I ate nkwobi. It was the first nkwobi I ate in Nigeria, so I lost my nkwobi virginity to him. It was also while with him that I had my first Chapman! Yes, my people, I finally had the Chapman. It was nice; I liked it – although I don’t yet understand the hype. But it was nice sha. So my Chapman virginity was lost to Boorish Male, too! Boorish Male also had a special Chapman recipe, which I tasted (and loved better than the regular chapman), but I’m not allowed to share the recipe or the name.

In case you’re wondering, he’s still as naughty as he was on his blog.

Babs AKA Bab’s House

Babs is the old blogger that I bother the most. He’s the one I bug when I have technical questions about blogging, especially if they have to do with Nigeria. He came to see me one evening and took me to Terra Kulture where I ate jollof rice and goat meat. Sorry, no pictures because it was dark in there, so the picture would have insulted the food. We talked about old bloggers and drama among old bloggers, and it was such a fun conversation and trip down memory lane. Thank you for the treat, Babs!

Chianugo AKA Green-Eyed Dante

Chianugo used to blog as green-eyed Dante, and from the moment I got to know him, I had a special kind of affection for him. I did not have physical proof, but I just knew that Chianugo was one of the good ones, and whoever ended up married to him would be a happy wife. If I had twenty sisters, I would try to hook each and every one of them up with him, until someone hooks. Unfortunately, no sisters for me.

In fact, not only do I not have sisters, but someone has taken my Chianugo. Chianugo came to take me out with his beautiful fiancée, Taye. Taye’s mom is Igbo and her dad is Yoruba. She says she’s Yoruba, but she doesn’t speak a lick of Yoruba; she speaks Igbo. People of Yoruba, come and collect her Yoruba passport. And people of Igbo, please prepare a passport for the coming home of our lost sister.

Chianugo and Taye took me to Farm City where I ate the best grilled catfish and fried yam and peppery thingy. I drank it down with a glass of chapman. Again, it was dark, so no food pictures. But believe me when I say that it was GOOD! Chianugo and Taye even took a takeaway grilled catfish for my mom, and they came in to say hello. When she saw the catfish, she literally started dancing. And when they left, she hummed the whole time she ate the fish. If I was not already married, she might have dashed me to Chianugo that night – on the condition that he always brings her grilled catfish. Chianugo and Taye, una thank you oh! God bless your union.

Funny thing is, looooonnnnnggggggg before I came to Nigeria (I mean years ago), I started threatening these guys to start saving money to take me out to have hot suya and cold Fanta. I even told them to open a bank account for my suya and Fanta because I was going to eat a whole cow and drink twenty-four crates. When I finally landed Naija, I ate suya twice and did not allow any of my old blogger friends to take me to a suya spot. I no do again.

I am beyond grateful for these guys. Honestly, I feel blessed that I made these friends years ago and I we are still friends today. We may have only just met physically, but I believe that there is more to come.

P.S. My mom asked me why all my friends are boys. Ehm, I don’t know. Maybe because the boys know my “value.” Ha!

P.P.S. I joked to Igwe that I wondered what the hotel staff might be saying about me, considering that every other night, a new man in a nice car was coming to pick me up at night. What I would have given to be a fly on the wall in their conversation.

P.P.P.S. I’m still in Nigeria! And yes, still suffering through the slow internet, but I love you so much that I’m willing to suffer for you. But I don’t love you enough to upload videos with this connection, so you’re gonna have to wait!