Nigeria is Closer from a Distance

 By Farooq Kperogi During my recent three-week trip to Nigeria, I found myself in a strange kind of informational blackout. I had no access ...

 By Farooq Kperogi

During my recent three-week trip to Nigeria, I found myself in a strange kind of informational blackout.

I had no access to hardcopy newspapers. No time for social media or news websites. The TV stations where I stayed were tuned to foreign channels.

In a curious but not surprising paradox, I was cut off from Nigeria while physically in it.

Now that I’m back, I’m only just catching up on what transpired while I was there.

How supremely ironic that I’m always better informed about Nigeria from abroad than when I’m within its borders.

I think this encapsulates the enduring truth that absence makes the heart grow fonder and that distance sharpens longing.

When we’re far from home, we search for its signals with greater urgency. But when we’re in it, perhaps we take its rhythms for granted, assuming we already know.

In a way, proximity can blur perception more than it clarifies it.