An Ode To Nigeria

BOBBY MOROE 

As I bid farewell to Nigeria after nine unforgettable years, my heart is full — heavy with goodbye, yet light with gratitude.

 

To the Government of South Africa, I extend my deepest appreciation for entrusting me with the honour of serving our nation in Nigeria for almost a decade. To the Executive, I pay my sincere gratitude for the confidence you bestowed upon me. Representing our country in Nigeria has been the privilege of my life, and i believe I have carried that trust as a sacred duty each day.

 

To the people and the Government of Nigeria: Thank you for the hospitality that never felt like protocol, but like home. You welcomed a stranger from Pretoria with jollof on his plate, music in his ears, and warmth in every handshake, greeting all the way…how far………how you dey…i dey fine…..well done……. These pigging expressions I have learned and embraced with gratitude and affinity. From the buzz of Lagos traffic to the quiet dignity of Abuja’s sunsets, from Kano’s ancient walls to Calabar’s carnival colors, you showed me a nation that dances through storms and laughs with its whole chest.

 

In the halls of diplomacy I found partners. In your markets, churches, mosques, and boardrooms I found teachers. But in your homes, around late-night pepper soup without pepper and shared stories, I found family. Friends became brothers and sisters. Your children called me “Uncle Bobby,” “Oga on Top”, or sometimes, “Oga Kpatakpata” and I wore these names with pride. You taught me that Ubuntu lives here too — “I am because we are” — spoken in a hundred languages, but felt the same.

These nine years were not just a posting; they were a love story. Nigeria tested me, stretched me, and ultimately transformed me. You showed me resilience that does not bend, faith that does not break, and joy that refuses to be silenced. I leave as a better diplomat, a better man, and forever a son of this soil by affection, if not by birth.

Though my SAA flight carries me back home across the Atlantic, a piece of my spirit remains on the Lekki Bridge at sunrise, in the drums of Durbar, in the laughter of colleagues at the South African Consulate General in Lagos, and in the countless hands that held mine when duty was heavy.

Nigeria, thank you for letting me serve alongside you.

Thank you for the trust, the lessons, and the love.

This is not goodbye — it is a short break, for the world is round.

Until we meet again.

With deepest respect.

 

 

 

– Moroe is a diplomat, and until recently, the Consul-General of South Africa to Nigeria