Citizens Of The World

I was chatting with my friend and colleague Ola the other day and happened to ask him if he went back home often. It turns out that he sees less of his native land than I do of mine. It was particularly striking that his two daughters, around ten to thirteen years old, I think, have hardly been in Nigeria at all. The younger one doesn't remember anything about it at all, though they do, as a family, talk about life there.

What must it be like to be the citizen of a land you have never really lived in, and may never do so in the future? It suddenly struck me that Ola's girls were probably not all that unusual in their experience, and may represent a considerable portion of a generation growing up 'globalised' in quite a new sense. Someone who sees patriotism as one of the great virtues might find this notion disturbing. But I'm not that someone, and I see it as exciting.