Charles and Veronica Adetokunbo – a Nigerian Odyssey

The story of young Nigerians deciding to take their fortunes in their own hands and seek new horizons, whether they sink or swim, did not start with the inclement political, security and economic realities of recent times, though it has certainly gathered momentum in that time.

In 1991, Charles Adetokunbo, a young Lagos boy who loved to play football, took a harsh look at his life, and decided to leave Nigeria. His wife Veronica was nursing their first baby, who was barely one year old.

At 28, Charles’ early childhood dreams of becoming a professional footballer had long since gone into abeyance, and what he saw in front was not the future he wanted for himself or his family. Veronica felt the same. Both Charles, a Yoruba, and Veronica – an Igbo girl from the South-East of the country, had shown their independence of spirit by defying advice of family members and deciding to make a life together.

She alone is able to reflect first in her private moments on a titanic decision she and her husband made in 1991 to give up their Nigerian lives, and embark on an adventurous quest into the unknown

Once the young couple’s minds were made up, they were faced with the touchy challenge of persuading Charles’ mother to agree to look after little Francis, at least until they were able to settle in their new country.

Charles’ destination was Athens, Greece. It was off the beaten track as a destination for economic migrants, compared to London and Frankfurt.

There is a certain logic and process to becoming a migrant in a European country. The desperate immigrant may tear up his original passport, destroying any evidence of his origins and throwing himself entirely on the mercies of his new country.

The Adetokunbos were able to get into Greece. They settled in the Athens suburb known as Sepolia. Though they were allowed to stay in the country, they were not permitted to do regular jobs that could have earned them a decent living. They would only be eligible for that if, and when, their applications for Greek citizenship were approved. To cap their desperate situation, they could not now leave Greece, even if they changed their minds.

They hunkered down, determined to make a go of their new life.

One year after they landed in Athens, Veronica gave birth to a second boy. They named him Thanasis. Two years later, another boy followed. He was named Giannis. He was also named Sina, in belated recognition of his father’s Yoruba origin, and Ugo – in deference to Veronica’s Igbo antecedents. The name Sina, with its meaning of ‘the opener of new doors, new possibilities,’ would prove prophetic.

Kostas, the family’s fourth boy, was born in November 1997. And Alex, the fifth, was born four years later, in August 2001. Francis, the first born, meanwhile remained with his grandparents in Lagos.

There is a population of black people in Athens who make a hazardous, irregular living selling goods to tourists and Greeks on the streets. They are regularly harassed by Greek police. The Adetokunbos had blended into this population, and the children joined their parents in hawking handbags, watches and sunglasses on the streets.