I Moved to Nigeria… Then This Happened!

Huge greetings to all my family, friends, followers old, who have stuck with me through the years, and new followers. As they say (very often) in Nigeria, “You are welcome!” I am Freda, the author of this blog, which has been running since June 2011. I have recently taken my entire site through a complete cleanse, facelift and revamp. In fact, the old site with all my recipes has completely disappeared and has been replaced by this new, fun and fresh site. Do not be alarmed, I have all my recipes stored in a catalogue, ready to be improved and released as I go along.

I have experienced so much positivity since embarking on my journey as a food blogger dedicated to all things African cuisine. You will find a great summary of this in my “About Freda” page, including a video profile and interview produced over a series of 4 months. 2015 was an amazing year for me. I got interviewed in magazines, on radio and on live TV and to top it off, I got featured by CNN as 1 of 5 African food bloggers to follow. The last 3 months of 2015 were truly incredible, I say again. I grew in confidence and  energy that I even saw myself as a guest “Chef” (I am not a chef) at one of London’s most popular African food and entertainment establishments, Mama Jumbe’s. I grew in my excitement about the possibilities for growing my brand and presence as the expert and authority in African cuisine. I even began the process of registering my kitchen in order to cook for a wider audience and have my home cooked food delivered in various homes across Wandsworth. But then I moved.

I had suddenly found myself contending with one of the most major changes my family of 5 would face… and a whole heap of boxes. I halted everything! We were to pack up all our belongings into a container, ship our worldly possessions and lift ourselves off to Lagos, Nigeria for a period of anywhere from 3 to 5 years. Everything stopped. I had to halt everything and shift my focus to our impending transition. I left my job on a 5 year career break. Nearly 10 years of  hard graft in London’s rail and power engineering scene. I hung up my boots and walked in a direction which… truth be told… I honestly do not know how it will eventuate. But here I am. I jumped in with both feet, moved to Lagos in February 2016 and I have to say I absolutely love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lagos is an incredible city. Despite its environmental issues, it well and truly is a beautiful city where its beauty lies in the Lagos lagoon and various water ways. My kids have all settled very well into their new schools and routines. I have settled very well into my own routine. I promised myself that I would think of nothing else but looking after number 1 for the first 6 months in Lagos. I would like to think it is paying off and wonder where my next 6 months will take me.

You may be in a similar position, perhaps on a larger or smaller scale, but you still relate to how daunting it must be to make a major change in your life and that of your family. How have you coped with it? I would love to hear your story so please do hit me up with a comment or two below. In the meantime, if you would like to enjoy the highlights of my Lagos adventure, please follow me on Instagram.