Against All Odds, there is this vibe that attracts Foreigners to Nigeria – CEO Wazobia FM, Tatiana 

As bad as some Nigerian citizens presumed the country to be being political and economic wise, yet multiple generations of Lebanese and other countries had found solace in living and raise their generations in Nigeria. 

Some are the descendants of migrants who arrived in West Africa as early as the 19th century, leaving behind their small Middle Eastern nation in search of opportunities elsewhere.

Members of this Lebanese diaspora – from fourth-generation Nigerian nationals to recent arrivals – share their experiences of life in Africa’s most populous nation. 

Tatiana Mousalli Nouri, is a fourth-generation Lebanese, raised in Nigeria. She is the deputy group managing director for Aim Group, a family-run conglomerate with offices across the country, which includes broadcasters Cool FM and Wazobia FM.

She also heads Wazobia TV, which is the only Nigerian channel to broadcast exclusively in pidgin English. Tatiana is married with three children.

According to her, “I was born in London, in the UK, but was conceived and raised in Nigeria. I have been here all of my life because my mum’s family has been in Nigeria for a very long time, since 1886. My great grandfather, Michael Lelias, left Lebanon in 1886 on his way to Brazil.

“The boat stopped by Nigeria before heading to Brazil. Back then I think it was fashionable to go to Brazil.

“The story goes that he did not have enough money to make the trip to Brazil, so he basically stopped in Nigeria and made it home. He worked for many years as a cattle trader. Then he went back to Lebanon, got married and brought back his wife. That’s how my grandfather was born here.

“My grandmother on my mother’s side of the family was born in the Republic of Benin, in Porto-Novo. My mother grew up here when she was a child as well, left for secondary school and then came back.

“My father always says that we are civilised nomads because of his and my mother’s heritage. We’ve always been nomads, going from one place to another.

“I’m Lebanese maybe by blood, if I can use that word. When people ask me, “Where are you from?” I will say Nigerian, because this is what I know, this is where I grew up, this is where my memories are.

We are not “real” Nigerians, according to some people. When people tell me, “No, you are not Nigerian,” I can defend my Nigerian roots more than everyone. But we’re usually embraced.”

Speaking about how she was able to secure license for her radio station, “In Nigeria there is a code that says all media owners must be Nigerian. We are Nigerian, meaning my parents are Nigerian, my sister and I are Nigerian. My brother-in-law is Nigerian – he was born and raised in Kano, a city in the north of the country. We feel very much Nigerian. However, the colour of our skin is very different.

“When we launched Wazobia FM, in 2007, and it was in pidgin English, no presenter out there wanted to audition to be a pidgin English presenter, because it was not done in Nigeria. 

“We used cleaners and cooks from our cafe, Chocolat Royal. We said, “Just go and talk.”

“We still have some of the cleaners that have grown with the station. It’s gone further than we expected.

“Everybody has embraced it. Even though we still get some criticism, by a small amount of people that tell us that we are teaching pidgin English to the future generations. If you want to be educated, put your kids in school. 

“Wazobia is really a medium; it’s just a language that we use to communicate a message.”

Acknowledging Nigeria friendly atmosphere, 

Tatiana said, “Nigeria has this vibe, this thing that when you come here there is something that hooks you to the country. I don’t know what it is.

A lot of my friends that live here feel the same way. The potential that there is in this country, there is nowhere else. There is this dynamism, and there is hope. There is a very bright future for the generations ahead,”she concluded.