I have been told by some friends that they miss my periodic updates from Nigeria. I told them that we have been insanely busy with work and school and unfortunately, the blog has taken a back seat. Anyway, while life will only get busier as Nigeria prepares for its 2019 General Elections, I will try my best to highlight the fun, interesting, shocking, disappointing, etc. moments from our time in Nigeria.

This past week, Sheila and I had two black tie events. On Wednesday, November 7, I was the keynote speaker at the NCMG Peace Awards in Lagos, Nigeria. The event was a black tie event so it was an opportunity to get dressed up and strut our stuff. During my keynote, I talked about the work IRI is doing in Nigeria and around the continent and what we should be looking out for in 2019. It was a fun opportunity to share my political analysis, my knowledge of the African continent and really talk about the good work IRI is doing in Nigeria. I tried to tell a few jokes about how I am often mistaken for a Nigeria. Recently I was told that the shape of my head and the gap in my teeth make people think I am Igbo brother from Imo State. The Igbo tribe is one of the tribes in the southern part of Nigeria.  I was told at the end of the awards dinner that I would get an Igbo name! I told them that an Igbo driver once called me Onyedikachukwu, which means ‘who is like God!’ You can call me Chuks for short!

On Saturday night, we attended the 243rd birthday celebration of the United States Marine Corps. This was the second time that Sheila and I attended the birthday celebration…also known as the Marine Ball. We attended the 2015 birthday celebration, just two weeks before we became engaged. Somehow, it was a topic of conversation at our table. https://fredayinafrica.com/2015/11/15/dancing-the-night-away-at-the-2015-marine-corps-birthday-ball/ My dinner jacket and Sheila’s dress was the talk of the table and the ball. I picked up my jacket in Thailand last year during our anniversary trip. Sheila has an amazing dress designer here in Abuja that designed both the dress for the Marine Ball and the dress for the NCMG Peace Awards. You should check her out @WoorahCreations on Instagram.