'RETURN TO ENGLAND'

I guess a return to the land of my birth was always on the agenda and almost inevitable you might say.  I had dreamt for so many years of what it would be like to savour and saunter down the fabled paved streets of London. But I never once believed the myth that it had paving made of gold and opportunities which were littered all through along the paths.  Months of correspondence with my cousin had made me more circumspect about the reality.  I was impatient to complete the Youth Service Corp programme in Abeokuta, a mandatory service year all Nigerian graduates had to be enrolled on and they were posted to various work establishments.  During my law school years after much toil, much going back and forwards I had obtained a black coloured British passport, to ensure I was allowed entry into the shores of the United Kingdom without a visa.  Yes I had enjoyed my time work as a prosecutor at the State Ministry of Justice, I appreciated serving God as an executive of the Christian Corpers Fellowship but above all I was seriously in love with Olajumoke, the beautiful, dark enameled lady with elegantly sculptured body and perfectly shaped almond eyes, who was to become my wife.  None of these, however, were enough to mitigate the draw of England at the time.

However, a few obstacles stood in the way of my ambition, the finances needed to acquire an air ticket, accommodation on arrival, the imminent possibility of my twin sister’s wedding and the thought of leaving my fiancé on her own whilst I returned to England.  I had approached my uncle, Dr. Adigun for a soft loan to buy a ticket, and he agreed.  My terms were simple I would pay him back within a year once I got to England.  However, my uncle reconsidered his promise and decided rather than offer a loan he would advance me a significant gift.  The gift, however, still left me significantly short, my mother then decided to part with her savings and pay the difference for the cost of my ticket.  She had been saving for the raining day and my travel back to UK was considered such.

In 1990, I attended my twin’s introduction held at my uncle, Mr. Oladejo Ojedele’s Ibadan home, but no dates were fixed for the wedding.  Introduction was customary in Nigeria where the families of prospective bride and groom got to know each other over the informality of food and drinks.  I had sketched out plans with ’Jumoke deciding that I would go ahead and settle down to a job in England and then return to marry her once it was feasible.  With her agreement secured and with financial support from Dr. Adigun and my mother I booked a Nigerian Airways one-way ticket to Heathrow Airport in London. 

I made arrangements with ‘Ranti Oguntokun nee Lawunmi my cousin to arrive and stay in their home whilst I sorted myself out.    I enjoyed the last moments of my time with Olajumoke, who prepared a delicacy of coconut rice, said my goodbyes to friends and relatives and then on an Harmattan filled evening in October 1990 made my way through the cluttered roads of Lagos and I flew out from Murtala Mohammed Airport Ikeja on a Nigerian Airways DC 10 flight.  On the way through the mist of traffic, I saw the legendary Akintunde Asalu, the President of the Shareholder’s Solidarity Association he had abandoned his car because it had broken down. I waved him goodbye, reminiscing about his unremitting kindness to me in times past.  I thought my return to the United Kingdom would only be for a few years but remained in England for more than two decades.

My arrival at Heathrow Airport early on Saturday morning and was shaken by the sudden cold blast of autumn air that rushed through from outside, my jacket and coat, ‘a pass me down’ from Uncle Ayo Akinsonmi, offered little in the place of warmth, I was shivering to the marrow.   I was armed with forty pounds and expended half of it on my taxi fare to Ponyders Court in South Clapham.  I returned to the exact area where in 1966 we were born as twins.  ’Ranti and ’Yinka welcomed me by establishing a few ground rules, it was clear my stay there would be very temporary for my cousin was now heavily pregnant with her first son.  She navigated me through the cultural issues of my new country, took me to my first church Bonneville Christian Centre where I met Pastor Les Ball and she ensured I went to the Department of Social Security office to sign on for dole, the government’s handout to the unemployed.  In no time through Threshold Housing, I acquired accommodation on 26 Montrose Gardens, Mitcham, Surrey in a small box room, big enough to contain a wardrobe and a chest of drawers but it suited my finances. 

My first night in the room was intolerable, it seemed the cold sneaked up on me, I came with a blanket and wore thick clothing to bed, but these were no match for the unrelenting and unremitting cold that seeped through the crevices and gaps into my tiny room.  I lay shivering in bed, wondering why I had decided to leave the warm shores of Lagos to subject myself to torture of this kind. 

Ian, a young Caribbean boy became my closest mate in the house, introduced me to all the cheap shops, and gave me a crash course on life in the UK.  I settled down, savoured my new reality and began to think about securing a job.  Macdonald Restaurant came calling in the meantime, but after only three days, I gave it up.  I reckoned that losing my entitlement to unemployment benefits and housing benefits for a low paid job was not my best option.  I needed to devote my time to securing a well-paid job and being unemployed offered me the space and time to do that.  I linked up with ’Dele Olawoye my old friend and over a weekend we reminisced over our past.  With time, it became apparent that my search for a job would be much harder and more frustrating than imagined. I joined the Job Club at Bonneville Christian Centre in Clapham South, where I was put through my paces in the search for a job and where I had the opportunity to volunteer.  

I became re-acquainted with Morounke Jacobs, a niece of Professor Wole Soyinka. We became like brother and sister quite inseparable; my name for her was ‘Aburo’, which meant younger sibling.  She had returned to England to study for her Master of Arts in International Relations at University of Leeds.  It was because of her that I ventured up to Leeds and the City of York.  Through her I was introduced to her uncle, Pastor ‘Kayode Soyinka to whom my wife and I became very close. I was privileged to travel with her to attend her wedding to Mr. Akin Somorin in Lagos, Nigeria in 1994 and by mere coincidence we were on the same flight with her uncle, the Nobel Laureate Professor ‘Wole Soyinka. 

In the end after two hundred and seventy applications, visits as far as Liverpool and eighteen months of uncertainty I received the offer of three jobs, Administrative Officer at the Home Office, Prison Officer and Executive Officer at the Inland Revenue.  The Prison Officer job was a very well paid position and the security checks took over 12 months to complete, but with an eye on the Nigerian scene I could not see any transferability of skills.   After much careful consideration, I settled for the Inland Revenue job in Thames Ditton, Surrey, a position that would later take me to Nottingham in the Midlands.  It was at the Revenue I was reunited with Sheyi Oriade for a period and met ‘Banjo Aromolaran an Ijesha Prince and Brother ’Tunde Jayeibo a minister of the gospel.