Hello Everyone!
I figured I could introduce myself, share why I joined the local guides program and my dream for tourism in Nigeria all in one go…wish me luck!
My name is Chinazom, I live and work in Abuja, Nigeria. The only thing I love more than visiting new places and learning new things is eating new food. I am happiest when the people around me are happy.
I spent 4 years in the Philippines for University and just before my senior year I bought a map and did some searches on google to have an idea of how to get to places, then I packed a backpack and took a road trip from Iloilo City in the Visayas through Bacolod to Cebu.
I looked on the physical map I had bought, googled and asked people that could communicate with me in English or a mashup of the little Filipino and Ilonggo I knew. The trip required me to take a bus from one point to another, get on a ferry to another point then take another bus to arrive at Cebu.
I had so much fun seeing new sites, eating local delicacies and spending time with my friend that lived in Cebu. The fact that I could find information on hotels, routes, buses, etc. online gave me so much confidence it never crossed my mind that anything could go wrong and thankfully nothing did.
When I returned to Nigeria after graduation in 2013 I wanted to travel across Nigeria and see it all. So I started researching tourist spots and attractions in the different states in Nigeria and though I found some content, a lot of travel advisory information was missing. There wasn’t enough information to inspire the same confidence I had in the Philippines and unfortunately, the Boko Haram insurgency was also at its peak at the time so half the country was already off the list. I clearly couldn’t make the trips I wanted to make but my experience in the Philippines left me with a desire to create the content for Nigeria so that people can find information easily.
I attempted to start a blog but could never sustain it so I kept taking pictures of lovely places I visited and food I ate just for my memories. When I got the google prompt to contribute a picture to the map one day, I was really excited.
Nigeria has so many beautiful sites with tremendous tourism potential that is currently overlooked. I have been privileged to see some of the beauty of Nigeria while hiking with the Abuja Hash House Harriers, Mantrek Hikers Club Abuja and generally trying to live my best life. There is a lot more information and content on the web for Nigeria but it is still lacking a lot.
The Connect Live Abuja reinforced my belief in the good contributing to the map does and has reignited the fire in me to create the content I wanted to create when I first moved back to Nigeria. Perhaps by showcasing some local sites in Nigeria, the right attention can be drawn to the tourism industry and Nigeria.
I’m excited to be part of the Local Guides community and I look forward to learning about the great things fellow local guides are doing in the World.
If anyone has any suggestions or resources that can help me improve my content creation skills and put info such as buses, routes and price suggestions on the map, I would really appreciate that, thank you!
