The first Nigerian to embark on a journey to space, Owolabi Salis, says he embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime experience for spiritual reasons.
Speaking from his base on AriseNews on Saturday, the US-based Nigerian lawyer described the experience as exciting and refreshing, saying he felt his soul was leaving his body when he got to space.
Space in Africa reported that the crew’s 10-minute suborbital journey reached an altitude of 105.2 kilometres, crossing the Kármán line, the recognised boundary of space., The former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwarts added that two of the civilian astronauts could not cope with life in space immediately and had to leave quickly.
” I think I’m ok right now. There are two of us who felt somehow, and they had to leave very quickly, immediately we landed, but I’m ok. Immediately we entered the space, I felt like a soul was leaving the body, and when you unstrapped, you start floating like a bird. The videos have not been released yet. But it feels so exciting.
” It was an exciting moment. Something just pushes off, and when you untie your belt, yourself, you start floating, flying as though you were in the prayer realm.
If you look at the window from where you are sitting, you will see the planet Earth suspended by the sunbeam, and you will see the whole dark mass with no end.,
‘I had to do all the special assignments that I went for, which were more spiritual. They gave us three minutes or so to get back to the seat, and the capsule found its way back to the planet where we live,” he said.
Owolabi Salis becomes the first Nigerian in space, joining Blue Origin’s NS-33 mission alongside five other civilian astronauts, which successfully lifted off from West Texas on June 29,
It would be recalled that he contested for the Lagos State governorship on several occasions: under the Peoples Democratic Party, in 2003 and 2007, the Action Party of Nigeria in 2007, and the Alliance for Democracy in 2019. After the 2019 elections, he challenged the victory of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in court, though the tribunal dismissed his petition, 2025
