Travel content creator Alma Asinobi travelled the world with her Nigerian passport and encountered significant difficulty during the final lap of her journey to all seven continents.
Alma Asinobi had set out to break a Guinness World Record by visiting seven continents in under 60 hours. She planned to achieve this feat by travelling with only her Nigerian passport.
Unfortunately, she was denied boarding on her flight to Perth, Australia due to visa issues. Resolving the problem with her visa and rebooking on another flight to Sydney, Australia made her journey extend over 71 hours.
She started from Antarctica, travelled to South America and then to North America. She continued the journey through airport delays to Europe, Africa, and Asia before finally reaching Australia.
Throughout her journey, Asinobi documented her experiences and challenges in detail on her social media page, including sharing photos at various landmarks. Also, she shared the humiliation she experienced at airports, all because she was travelling with a Nigerian visa.
The cycles of pain and disappointment she went through did not stop her. She was on the verge of giving up on the unprecedented attempt when it seemed bleak that she would achieve her goal, but she pushed on. Even though she couldn’t break the record, her journey was impactful.
As a travel creator and a Nigerian, Asinobi noted the shame and problems Nigerians face when travelling with the Nigerian passport, which is one of the lowest-ranked in the world.
Her Guinness World Record attempt was meant to challenge the concept of passport privilege. Many people have had their dreams thwarted because they possess a low-mobility passport, like the Nigerian one. Alma’s mission was to demonstrate that the colour of one’s passport should not limit one’s aspirations.