A Girl From Delta Who Learned To Build Her Own Door -By Udoh Precious Innocent

“I remember standing at Jibowu motor park with one tired Ghana-Must-Go bag and a backpack full of documents I had photocopied too many times” and my parents looking at me like they were trying to memorise my face before I disappeared into the world.

I was twenty-three fresh out of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, with a Biochemistry degree and no real idea what my life was supposed to look like. All I knew was that I was leaving Nigeria not directly though, Direct flights were too expensive.

So my journey looked like one of those routes people only take when money is involved: Lagos to Cotonou, then Marseille, then finally Tbilisi, Georgia. Every time I told people I was moving to Georgia they would pause and ask “The one in America?”

No the country.

“It is the small country between Europe and Asia that most people around me had never heard of until I got a scholarship there to study Digital Marketing”. It was only a partial scholarship, but honestly at that point, partial felt like a miracle.

What has stayed with me from that day is not even the fear of leaving home it is my younger sister face. She looked at me with this strange expression, like she had suddenly realised the world was bigger than our compound in Delta State.

“Not sadness”. Something closer to hunger”. Like she wanted more for herself too. I still think about that face on difficult days here in Tbilisi, when the cold feels aggressive and the language around me sounds like somebody scribbled curves onto paper and called it an alphabet some nights, I sit in my tiny room eating khachapuri because it is the cheapest hot thing I can buy, and I wonder if I made the right decision. Then I remember her face. And somehow, that answers the question. 

WHO I AM (THE VERSION NOBODY PUT ON A CV)

My name is Tega Esi I am from Warri, Delta State. Loud place, funny people, where everybody has confidence whether life gives them a reason to or not. I grew up in a family where hard work was normal. My father used to be a fashion designer before moving into transportation because daily income felt more reliable. But even now, fashion is still the thing he truly loves. You can hear it anytime he talks about clothes. My mother cook for a living. Proper cooking, big contracts, wedding events. The kind of food that makes people keep talking long after the plates are empty. Meanwhile, their daughter cannot cook to save her life. Unless it is Indomie. Indomie and I have a serious relationship.

I studied Biochemistry because I thought I wanted to become a pharmacist, but somewhere along the line I realised what actually interested me was understanding why things work Not just in science, but in life.

Why do people pay attention to some things and ignore others? Why do certain brands grow? Why do some idea spread everywhere while others disappear quietly?. I did not know it then, but I was already interested in marketing. 

Back then, I just did not have the language for it yet.

THE TREND THAT DEFINES OUR GENERATION 

There is this word everybody in Nigeria knows now:Japa. At first it sounded funny, almost unserious, but now it carries the weight of an entire generation. Everybody is leaving or trying to leave and i understand why. People think the hardest part is getting out of Nigeria, but honestly, I think the hardest part is arriving somewhere else and starting from zero. Starting life in a place where nobody knows your name, where you cannot  read signboard, where you suddenly miss small things you never appreciated before like roadside suya, hearing slang in street along the road, your mother shouting from another room. Loneliness abroad is strange because it sneaks up on you. One random evening you hear a song from home and suddenly your chest feels tight nobody really talks about that part online. Social media only shows airport pictures and nice outfits in snow. It rarely shows the crying.

HOW I ACTUALLY DID IT (A BRUTALLY HONEST GUIDE)

People message me sometimes asking how I managed to move abroad, expecting one secret trick but the answer is there is none. Mostly, it was research and stubbornness. I chose Georgia because it made financial sense. Tuition was cheaper than many countries in Europe, the cost of living was manageable, and the visa process was straightforward enough. I compared different countries like somebody preparing for a business presentation “There was nothing romantic about it, Just spreadsheets and calculations”. I also learned very quickly that if you are a Nigerian trying to relocate, documents become your entire personality. Passport, Transcript, Birth certificate, Certified copies, Notarized copies, Photocopies of photocopies like your entire existence inside one folder.

TBILISI: THE CITY THAT ADOPTED ME.

Tbilisi surprised me, I expected to tolerate it. I did not expect it to slowly become important to me. The city feels old and modern at the same time,there are tiny streets with wooden balconies hanging over them, churches beside glass buildings, old women selling bread, and mountains watching everything quietly from far away. And the food. Khachapuri alone deserves international recognition. The first time I ate it, I understood why people write emotional poetry about carbohydrates. But what really made this place softer for me was the kindness. My landlady, Nino barely speaks English and I barely speak Georgian still, every Sunday she leaves food outside my door like clockwork. No long conversations no big speeches, Just quick kindness sometimes that is enough to save a person.

DIGITAL MARKETING IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.

“Studying Digital Marketing has changed the way I see the internet and, honestly, the way I see people too”. Most people think marketing is just posting online or running ads, but it is deeper than that It is understanding attention, Understanding behaviour. Why scrolling for certain posts? why do some stories stay in our heads? why do people trust some brands and ignore others?.

“The internet is quietly reshaping the world” Quietly and I think many young Nigerians still underestimate how powerful digital skills can be. A smart phone today is not just for entertainment anymore. For many people, it is a business tool, a classroom, a portfolio, sometimes even a lifeline.

WHAT I ACTUALLY THINK (THE UNFILTERED VERSION).

One thing living abroad taught me is that Nigerians are incredibly resourceful people. I have met students from different countries, and honestly, nobody adapts like Nigerians do. “Nigerians know how to survive uncomfortable situations and create opportunities from almost nothing”. The problem has never really been talent i believe that strongly. Sometimes the problem is simply environment, Sometimes people just need space.

Space to try, Space to fail,

Space to become, for me strangely enough, I found that space in Georgia. I still do not have everything figured out, 

Some days I feel confident about my future and other days I feel completely lost but I think that is normal. Right now, I am writing this from my small room in Tbilisi with unfinished assignment open on my laptop and too many ideas fighting for space inside my head. Maybe some of those ideas will fail, maybe some will work beautifully either way, I am learning something important: people rarely feel fully ready for the lives they want, most of us are just moving forward afraid, hopeful, confused, and trying our best. Sometimes building your own door means leaving everything familiar behind and trusting yourself enough to keep walking.

Udoh Precious Innocent
The subject’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.