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My name is Ilerioluwa Chukwuemeka Babalobi, a 31-year-old Nigerian Adventurer, and sometime last year I decided to visit all 54 African countries without using a plane. When I looked up the process I was surprised to discover that I would be the first African to attempt such a feat, and nobody else had specifically made a trip around Africa. I proceeded to apply officially for Several Guinness world records about this trip. At first, I wanted to go by motorbike, but I shelved that plan after calculating the costs involved – I also concluded it would leave me too tired to enjoy my trips. By the way, I didn’t even know how to ride a bike and I still do not, but that’s the way I think. I would have spent 4 months learning and zoomed off. The plan was simple – tour the entirety of Africa by Road or by sea- because there are six islands unaccessible by Road. In each country, I would spend an average of five days exploring the culture and Tourist areas, as well as writing/talking about them.
I am not new to travel. I like to say that I already have an unofficial world record of my own- I am the only person who has visited all the 36 states of Nigeria and all the 16 regions of Ghana. In addition, I have visited over a dozen African countries in the past, the majority by road. I also did not come up with my plan out of the blues- I had long had the dream of visiting every African country, but I did not know I would do it this way.
I applied for the records in early June 2023 and it took about 23 weeks to get the first one approved. In the meantime I approached the Nigerian Red Cross to collaborate with them, intending to raise funds for them and promote them throughout the trip. They were, and are still very nice, and are helping me on this journey. Without their support, it would be several times more difficult to complete it – you would come to understand why later on. I then spent the early part of 2024 applying for visas, with limited success, and applying for several sponsorships with even more limited success.
I will give a breakdown of most visa costs and procedures along the way. By April 2024, I was becoming impatient. Visas to some central African countries were proving difficult to obtain. I had been on the case for months and it was one story after another. I decided to commence my journey, visiting most of West Africa first and then returning to Nigeria for a few weeks to pick up other visas. I always knew I would not be able to get all my visas before leaving. Because the journey was unpredictable and some visas expired and also because some countries would not issue visas several months away, I would have had to get many of my visas on the go. That presented its challenge because some countries made it difficult to obtain visas outside your own home country or country of residence. I would have to find a way to circumvent that restriction. I like to think I’m a very resolute person so that didn’t bother me.
I finally left Nigeria on April 18 2024 to Bénin Republic through the Semé Border. The details of that and my time in Bénin Republic will be in the next article. I would also discuss the food, culture and peculiarities of the Bénin Republic. I hope to project every country I visit in a positive light, to tell the story of the Migration experience and if possible to discuss the experiences of Nigerians living there. Additionally, I have named this trip ” Naija To The World”, for in the end I am proudly Nigerian, and very patriotic and I hope to project a positive image of Nigerians wherever I go. My collaboration with the Nigerian Red Cross was specifically because I wanted to do something for my country, and which better way to do that than with the Nigerian Red Cross? At each border, I will take a picture where possible holding the Nigerian Flag.
I sat on the idea of Traveling Africa by road for several months before sharing it with friends and family. My closest friends were overwhelmingly supportive. Some even contributed to the Trip financially. Several people have asked me if I intend to visit every country, including countries that are perceived as unsafe. The answer is Yes, I am visiting all of them. As long as it’s a UN-recognized African country, I am going to be there, God willing.
If you’ve come this far, thank you for reading. I hope you will come along with me on this unique Journey and I trust you will learn a lot. I expect to be travelling for about a year in total and I have no doubt it would throw up a lot of challenges on the way- just as I do not doubt my ability to take them in stride. As much as possible I would share those challenges here while being mindful of security and privacy concerns.
Thank you once more and Au revoir for now
P:s Multiple people have visited every country in Africa over time, as part of Trips around the world, but nobody has done it as part of a challenge to specifically visit only African countries. Additionally, somebody has visited every country in the world before without flying before, a European by the name of Thor Pedersen, but if completed I would be the first and only African to do so.
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