I Am Not Lost, I Am Becoming [Prologue]

It’s a story of silence, memory, and what it means to return to yourself. Just like Zainab, the main character, many of us are also trying to find where we belong — softly, quietly, but surely. After her father’s death in Zaria, Zainab Usman is pulled into a life she doesn’t want — a marriage arranged, a city that suffocates. So she leaves. In Istanbul, she finds Yusuf, the boy who left first. Together, in ferry rides and quiet rooms, they confront old griefs, unfinished words, and the aching weight of the homes they can’t quite leave behind. Back in Lagos, Mama Aishatu wrestles with absence, silence, and the cost of loving too tightly. I Am Not Lost, I Am Becoming is a story about faith, mothers, longing, and the quiet, necessary courage of choosing yourself.