By Our Reporter
For Azubuike Ishiekwene, the Vice Chairman and Group Editor-in-chief of the LEADERSHIP Newspapers, his weekend has been quite eventful. He finally got his long-sought vacation. Everything he did in the days leading up to it was in joy, discounting the inconvenience.
And so it was that on Tuesday night, he headed to the airport with one thing in his mind - thoughts of reuniting with his children and grandchildren after months of filing the gap with weekly video calls that bridge the distance, but hardly replace the warmth of physical presence.
From his keen observation, some things have changed for good at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, in the capital, Abuja.
He used the airport three times in the last year, and it's apparently improving all the time. Gone are the days of grubby-looking security officials who can extract a bribe from the mouth of a lion without a care in the world. On Azu's trip, the airport officials all seemed so courteous and professional that the traveller kept nursing a feeling that a nasty surprise party would snag him, until he crossed the final checkpoint intact.
A lot has happened since Azu visited the US last year - from the crackdown on immigrants to racial tensions and significant cutbacks in US Consular Service in many African Countries including Nigeria. From a once-open, inviting country, the US now evokes a wide range of negative emotions among many, even citizens, from resentment and uncertainty to dread and avoidance.
On Azu's trip, he wasn't quite sure what to expect, especially given his very strong views on some of President Donald Trump's actions. Will it still be the same America that is warm to visitors, friendly to strangers and generous in spirit? Or is the country now overcome by ferocious meanness, fear of otherness and narrow-minded insularity?
After a 10-hour 35-minute flight from Frankfurt, Azu walked off the Lufthansa plane at Houston International Airport on Wednesday morning towards border security, not knowing what to expect. The border police surprised him. They were warm, courteous and professional. He has encountered a couple of other police officers in Houston and Florida who gave him the feeling that perhaps, just perhaps, there's a redeeming hope.
He acknowledged he only been visiting for a few days, and perhaps the spirit of the World Cup (the Us being one of the three host countries) may also account for the cordiality, especially with hundreds of tourists visiting at this time.
Whatever is responsible, long may the warmth, friendliness and humanity outside the present White House last! That's not too much to ask of a country founded on exceptionalism! NNL.
