Electricity, water and plastic money

Last Tuesday morning I got a phone call, which led me to jump on a plane in a hurry, and arrive in the UK.  VSO of course don't encourage this kind of behaviour they focus on "preparing for change" when leaving or returning to your home country, although they and my Nigerian colleagues were very supportive in getting me home on this occasion.

So here are some comments on things that have surprised me on my sudden re-immersion into UK life.

1. Electricity - it hasn't gone off once since I have been back, now 9 days, and I have not come across a noisy smelly generator.  I notice this mostly when I find myself thinking that I should charge my mobile while the power is on! 
2. Water - when I need to brush my teeth, I wonder where to find drinking water, actually it comes out of the tap.
3. Plastic money - after 21 months of living in a  cash only society,  I have rediscovered a plastic card and a secret number, unfortunately I seem to forget it still has to be paid for! 
4. Shops - in particular supermarkets and Boots the chemist, there is so much variety of apparently identical products, a whole aisle full of hair dye for example, a bit different to a recent trip to a shop in Nigeria that only sold make-up, when I told them I was looking for lipstick they said they were out of stock!

Happy Birthday Nigeria 51 today!

Today Nigeria is 51, this time last year I was in a crowd of Nigerians in Eagle Square in Abuja, who were proud of their country and their President; and hopeful for the future, with an election looming.  That day however there was a terrorist attack on Abuja resulting in a number of fatalities, MEND the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta claimed responsibility.

The following day, I went to a Jubilee service at the National Christian Centre where the President spoke, again a great sense of hope for the times ahead.  

12 months on, the election took place in April and was claimed by national and international bodies to be the freest and fairest election ever in Nigeria, but nobody said it was the most peaceful; widespread violence and rioting followed particularly in a number of cities in the North.

 

When I came to Nigeria, I was told Abuja is safe, if there is ever trouble and volunteers are at risk, they are taken to Abuja while things calm down; unfortunately this no longer seems to be the case.  The UN building was bombed in August, causing 23 deaths, in June the Police Headquarters.  This time the group claiming responsibility is Boko Haram, which means Western education is sin, they want Sharia Law to be imposed in the Northern States, and since the election have claimed responsibility for a large number of fatalities mostly in Maiduguiri, situated in Borno State, the Land of Peace, but most recently in Abuja. 

So Nigeria has its new President, or elected President (Goodluck Jonathan was formerly Vice President and became President in 2010 following the death of the Late Yar’Adua), but it also has a lot of conflict, and I think a lot of impatience from Nigerians that the President is not doing enough to address it.  I for one hope they will be patient and give Jonathan time, and that he will have the strength and wisdom to provide the leadership this country needs.  

God bless Nigeria!

Climate Change - North and South

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change defines an extreme weather event as an event that is rare at a particular place and time of year. The frequency of extreme weather events has already increased and is expected to increase further.  Examples of extreme weather events are intense rainfall, and heat-waves.  The UK has experienced extreme rainfall recently in Gloucester, Hull, Lake District as well as Bournemouth and Poole.  There were around 2000 deaths in the UK as a result of the 2003 heat-wave. 

Few British people have however died as a result of flooding, the Department of Health report – Health effects of climate change in the UK, 2008, states 8 deaths from flooding since 2001, it acknowledges an as yet undefined link to disease, indirect mortality, water-borne disease and mental health problems. 

In Bournemouth, my home town, on Thursday 18^th August, a month's rain fell in six hours, resulting in wide spread flooding, disruption of services, water likely contaminated by waste and sewage pouring onto the streets, and the beach and no doubt for a few into their homes.  My Nigerian colleagues were surprised that this could happen in the UK.

Source: Daily Mail

Then just eight days later, Friday 26^th August, heavy rain fell in Ibadan, buildings collapsed, bridges collapsed, a dam overflowed, whole families were swept away the death toll is now 120, the events of Bournemouth seem rather minor.

Source: BBC

Of course, I feel for those in Britain whose homes and gardens have been flooded, but they are alive.  I also am angry about what happened in Ibadan, what is the difference, water is water after all? 

I have discussed this irony with my colleagues, and I believe many things contribute to this circumstance.

1.    Urban migration. 

2.    Poverty – resulting in poorly built buildings, ie people taking short-cuts

3.    Lack of planning – and ability to just put up a building anywhere (bear in mind Ibadan is an enormous densely populated city not a village)

4.    Poor infrastructure and enforcement – therefore lack of implementation of building regulations etc

5.    Blocked drains – plastic, rubbish, what a terrible thing to lead to loss of life.

6.    Corruption of course, contributes to all the above.

This is not an attack on Oyo State government, more an observation, in their defence Ibadan is an enormous city that I imagine is experiencing rapid population growth and inward migration from surrounding rural areas. 

Oyo State government are apparently taking action to clear drains, and properties that have been built in places that water should flow.  Nationally and in Lagos, the organisation I am working for NEST is supporting government to develop Adaptation Strategies.  

Sources

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14735726

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14774793

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2027453/UK-flash-floods-Dorset-monsoon-Bournemouth-coast-gets-fortnights-rain-30-MINS.html

Jesus wept

Last week as I sat in car on a journey to the Sunshine State, I was driven at speeds of up to 140kmph by a Nigerian, who maybe thought he was invincible along roads with the usual obstacles of potholes, goats, children, motorbikes and oncoming traffic.  As I admired the beautiful greenery, of bananas, palms, and mountainous countryside I pondered this rich poor country and I remembered that Jesus wept.

He wept over Jerusalem, and I am sure he is weeping over Nigeria, this country that is full of joy, laughter, noise, vibrancy, enthusiasm, and poverty, this country of potential and poverty, this country where the happiest people in the world live, you don’t have to have Jesus’ compassion to weep over Nigeria.

Nigeria is rumoured to have the highest paid politicians in the world, at least some of whom have private jets, it is the sixth largest exporter of oil, the most populous country of black people, has the 37^th largest economy, and hopes to be in the top 20 economies by 2020. 

Who would wish the burden of oil on a country, one of Nigeria’s poorest areas is known to be the Delta,  which has for years experienced pollution as a result of the oil trade, a recent UN report ordered a clean up by Shell.  Meanwhile this oil rich country has almost no electricity, with only around 40% of people having access to electricity, even those who do have electricity rarely see it, today I have had none for example – in fact official reports describe Nigeria’s electricity supply as “epileptic.”

A quick look at Nigeria’s Millennium Development Goal report 2010, reveals some harsh facts

·         In 2004, 54.4% of people lived on under $1 a day

·         In 2008, 23.1% of children were underweight

·         In 2008, 88.8% of children were enrolled in primary education, but only between 2 and 98% completed depending on the State.

Nigeria also recently earned a new “claim to fame” as the second worse place in the world to be pregnant.  The MDG report states an under-five mortality rate of 157 per 1000 live births and a maternal mortality rate of 750 per 100,000 births.

As if all this wasn’t bad enough, since the election Boko Haram, allegedly responsible for Friday’s bombing in Abuja, have carried out a number of fatal bombings of police stations, markets and churches in their campaign for adoption of Islamic Law in the Northern States.

Sometimes I wish Nigeria’s people would stop being happy, and hold both their political and religious leaders to account, surely if the people in Nigeria are the 25^th poorest in the world, but the economy is the 37^th largest, something is wrong? 

Jesus is weeping and so am I

Some facts above from this interesting article

Nigeria: Rich country, poor people

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigeria-rich-country-poor-people/96703/

OD - Happy Day!

Having promised to tell you more about my work, today I found a message in my inbox from the Chair of the Board congratulating me on leading the Organisational Development plan, saying it is comprehensive, readable, practical and the organisation will do all it can to implement it!  

It has not been easy, actually the doing it wasn't very difficult, the hardest thing was getting the right people together for long enough to discuss it, come up with ideas and make decisions.  The right people being people who were committed and stayed in the meeting room for the duration of the meeting.  They all came with their mobile phones which they also attended to throughout the meetings, but this is Nigeria, I'm getting used to it slowly, at least they didn't bring their laptops and browse or their newspapers and read, which is also common practice in meetings in Nigeria.  Apparently you don't listen with your eyes so you can read the paper and listen at the same time, however I doubt they would do it with their father, or their pastor!

Lagos - Perceptions and Reality

Before I came to Nigeria, I was scared of it, and even more scared of Lagos.  If you are wondering why I am surprised, Nigeria has a reputation for it seems all things bad: crime, corruption, armed robbery, juju, 419 and email scams.  My grandmother told me some friends of hers spent 20 years in Nigeria and hated every minute of it, now I was a little dubious, they could have just flown home!  Another friend who did some consultancy work here told me that she was met at the airport in Lagos by a driver, and an armed guard, somebody else told me not to come at all.  So now I have been to Lagos three times and I rather like it!

So after all these dire warnings I was glad that I was flying into Abuja, a long way from Lagos, and that apart from the intense heat, February is not a good time of year to move from Bournemouth to Abuja, I found Nigeria was surprisingly normal, I could for example walk along the street and use public transport, without the need of an armed guard!  However even in Abuja the tales of Lagos continued to be off-putting, you could waste the whole day in a traffic jam, or go-slow as Nigerians call them, another friend told me she took a UK visitor to a big market in Lagos and she was totally overwhelmed.

So after moving to Ibadan, a mere 128km from Lagos, I finally ventured to Lagos to visit Mike, a British volunteer who is based there.  My journey was a classic example of Nigerian hospitality; first I caught a shared taxi to Iwo Road, a major transport hub in Ibadan.  I asked a fellow passenger to help me find transport to Lagos.  She did, found the vehicle, negotiated the fare, and arranged for someone on the same bus to make sure I got off at the right stop and found connecting local transport. 

Note the bus stop with canopy and name!

One thing that struck me immediately in Lagos were bus lanes, and formal bus stops, almost like a tram or railway station, bus tickets, and buses with destinations on the front.  Na wa o!  This is the BRT or Bus Rapid Transit System brought in by Fashola, the Lagos State Governor who has just been re-elected for his second term.  His campaign slogan was “Lagos is working, Fashola is working”.  Sceptics say it is in the second term you find out if politicians are genuine; currently they can only serve two terms so in the second term they can steal the money!

Lagos is working, Fashola is working

I should add a word of warning here, although I have been from Lagos Mainland onto Lagos Island on a BRT bus and not wasted a whole day in a go-slow, I have only done this journey at the weekend, I cannot vouch for weekdays, when apparently traffic and go-slows are still a big problem!

On my second trip to Lagos, I went to the airport to see off to VSO volunteers and to a wedding, which I have written about here.

On the BRT bus

My third trip to Lagos was just last week, I travelled on Thursday to attend a meal with Lagos volunteers and VSO staff, in particular the new Country Director. The meal was great but we met at 5, and poor Abdul sat politely with us, until sundown around 7, before he could eat (its Ramadam)!  But another reality check, by around 7:30 some of my fellow volunteers started worrying about getting home safely!  Murugan said there were often armed robberies in go-slows at night, Clementina and Rebecca didn’t feel safe it the area they lived in, Mike and I were living the closest but he still said we should really be back by 8pm!

We arrived safely in Mike’s neighbourhood, Mike playing the great host had stocked his fridge with beer and we sat up talking till late.

So on Saturday, I saw another side of Lagos, the one for the rich and privileged, Victoria Island and Bar Beach.  Like a true Brit I paddled in the sea and ate fish and chips, before going off to see Thessa at 1004 estate, see below!

Of course I had to paddle!

To me Lagos is an example of how good leadership can make a difference, Nigeria is an enormous country with big challenges, but it seems that Fashola has really managed to change Lagos, a recent (2008) guidebook makes Lagos sound terrifying, it has clearly changed and other States should learn from what has worked. 

Fish and chips Nigerian style

However it is an enormous densely populated city, with a population of between 8 and 17 million depending on which report you read, and of course it still has many problems including poverty, crime and climate change.  Recently heavy rain caused widespread flooding and a State of Emergency was announced, around 25 lives were lost, a clear example of the challenges that will get worse as climate continues to change.

More Lagos pics

And then the doors closed...

Last Saturday I got in a lift, and pressed number 6, as the doors closed I panicked a little and questioned my sanity.  I can’t even remember when I was last in a lift.  If you have ever been stuck in a lift or lived in a country where electricity may disappear instantly you will I am sure understand where I am coming from.

But there was no problem, I arrived at the sixth floor and visited my friends Thessa and Bash, who have just moved into the famous 1004 estate in Lagos, and very nice it was too!  I didn’t “snap” the inside but here are some views from the window. 

Apparently when the government was based in Lagos, Senators stayed in this estate and it was notorious for having no water or electricity and generally not functioning.  Thessa pointed to the enormous power plant that is feeding the complex, so it is safe to get in the lift at least for now.

So after spending a couple of hours, I left via the lift! 

Last time I saw a lift was in June, I was staying in a very nice hotel in Abuja, I was only on the first floor so didn’t take such a dangerous risk!  That hotel had very good electricity but it wasn’t constant, there was at least a few seconds gap between NEPA (grid electricity) and gen (generator).

My Work

I realise I haven’t written much about my work, maybe because it feels like it is taking me such a long time to achieve anything.  Anyway here goes:

NEST stands for Nigeria Environment Study Action Team, it is situated on Awolowo Avenue, in a lovely house as you will see. 

My official role is Climate Change Technical Writer, NEST is implementing a 5 year project and in the final writing up stage of lots of reports that will be read at national level and beyond.

The project is called Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC).  It aims to enhance Nigeria’s ability to achieve equitable sustainable poverty reduction through more effective governance: by developing policy – a national climate change adaptation strategy and building capacity of government civil society, individuals and networks.  It is doing this by working on socioeconomic research into the impacts of climate change, scenario development, and pilot project adaptation projects which feed into policy and communications work.

So now in English!

I think this project is really exciting, it has done some great things, made two documentaries about climate change in Nigeria, and worked with vulnerable communities to help them to adapt to climate change, and helped to take the learning from these communities to national government level.  The adaptation strategy National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change in Nigeria, is in its final stages, and NEST are working with Federal Ministers to get it finalised and approved.

I have been involved in writing some Executive Summaries of the Pilot Projects so will shortly post a few highlights in order to give you a feel for what is really happening in Nigeria as a result of climate change.  You can watch the videos here

http://www.nigeriaclimatechange.org/

So I have five things to do at NEST

1.       Support writing for final reports from BNRCC

2.       Lead NEST Organisational Development process

3.       Conduct an Energy Audit

4.       Support proposal writing

5.       BNRCC programme evaluation

I’m busy, will give you an update on each of the above shortly!

PS I do have some colleagues, but don't want to post their pictures without their permission!

NEST Organisational Development Plan - almost there

About a month ago I wrote about the challenges of getting from an OD assessment to an OD plan, and how I had just had a week of useful meetings with a small team, but was worried about the next stage.


Well the next stage was good, feedback on the plan was generally supportive, and it is now very close to being finalised.


It sets out a plan of action between now and Dec 2012, of building the capacity of NEST.  The main aims are a new strategic plan, which I will lead, fundraising, HR and IT, all of which  require external support.  This may be provided by future VSO placements.


Last week I also completed six months at NEST and had to report to VSO on whether I had build capacity of individuals or the organisation.  I asked my colleagues, those involved in the OD planning meetings all said that I had built their capacity by improving their knowledge of concepts, increased confidence and team-building skills. 

Being a professional

Earlier today I wrote a blog post, about feeling very small against the big hierarchy that is Nigeria, about how an incident had made me feel, and that depite the fact that I could see that the incident was culturally normal, I was struggling not to take it personally, and felt rejected and undermined.
I know that one of my weaknesses is a tendency to take things too personally, even when I can see the rational argument of why something is as it is.  I hope I am improving. 

I wrote the post very carefully considering who may read it, my blog is very easy to find, even by mistake, and at first was happy that it was an objective report of the incident, and it didn't matter who read it.  I liked what I wrote it and considered it honest and personal but objective.  However on reflection, and an email from a friend, thank you, you know who you are, I changed my mind and removed it.

So I won't display it here, but the jist of it is here, sometimes in another culture, things happen that may be normal in that culture, but to me are not.  Sometimes these things are a challenge, and rather than accepting them as normal, I take them as a personal attack on myself, very unprofessional!

Where are all the children?

Today was a good day, in this case because I chose to speak honestly, this is what happened.

As I was walking to meet one of my colleagues for a drink, I looked at the children I passed on the way;  busy washing clothes, fetching water, or trading, and realised I really miss seeing children being children, to me that means being safe, protected, having fun, not being self-conscious and enjoying their innocence while it lasts.

When I met my colleague, for a drink or two, I mentioned that now I have been there nearly six months, I have to report on my progress and whether I have built capacity of individuals or the organisation.  Now I know I have done lots of small small things, but I didn’t expect anyone to notice them, but he responded that I had built his capacity.

Then I went home, but popped out to my “corner shop” and perhaps emboldened by two beers, told the mama, despite the fact that two of her children aged around 7 and 12 were there, that Nigeria was making me sad because I didn’t see children having fun!  She said it was true, but they do have fun at Christmas, Easter and Eid.  The younger one then told me that she had had fun yesterday at her end of term party.  Somehow this “risky” conversation turned into a much deeper one, about what all their names were and what they meant, and did I know Sarah?  Sarah was here two years ago, but I knew her when I was in Abuja, so I said yes, I was in email contact and tomorrow I would come with a camera and “snap” them and send it to Sarah.

Then when I got home, thanks to the internet, I managed to chat with my good friend Irma, I’m not sure when we last spoke but it’s certainly not since I left the UK early in 2010, I last saw her about a year previously.  Irma is a very great long term friend, but there is an extra connection, her husband Okey is Nigerian, and therefore their children part-Nigerian, but based in the Netherlands!  For me chatting to a friend at the end of the day, particularly a long term friend, with an extra special interest in Nigeria was as the British would call “the icing on the cake!”

More rain

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that the road near my office often floods when it rained, so today, much to my surprise, it only rained gently for a couple of hours, it flooded, and I got some good pictures, enjoy!

Don’t go out there, it’s raining!

When I was first in Ibadan and still staying at the luxury Davies Hotel, one evening Abdul, a member of VSO staff was also staying there, and I had arranged to go and visit Karen and Brent (former volunteers), it was their last evening in Ibadan.  We met at reception as arranged but when we got to the door we found torrential rain.  Like a true Brit, I said, “wait I’ll fetch my umbrella”, I did, but Abdul persuaded me that we couldn’t go.  If I had been alone I probably, would have tried, and got drenched waiting for public transport that never came, and would have either been forced to take an okada (motorbike taxi) and get wetter in the process, or to give up!

Since then there has been heavy rain while I have been at work, fortunately this has stopped by the time I had to leave, but on a number of occasions it has left the nearby river flowing over the road instead of under it, with cars forced to turn around, and people wading through.  Fortunately I live in the opposite direction.

On Sunday, I was enjoying an Indian meal at a fine hotel, two bus / taxi rides away from my house, it was only when we came to leave that we realised it was raining, it was also already around 8pm so pitch dark. Four of us ventured to the main road where we hoped to find a taxi, at one point ankle deep water was flowing across the road. 

We found a taxi going to Mokola or roundabout, a central location in Ibadan, from here we were due to go in different directions me to UI, and them to Bodija.  I was busy negotiating for the guy to take us all the way home, my fellow passengers were complaining, it’s too expensive we’ll just get another shared taxi, look out of the window I said do you want to step out into that lake, don’t worry about the money!   They agreed.

It’s hard to describe it now, but it was hairy, I know that cars can get stuck, float away, and people can get carried away by fast flowing water, and of course, you don’t know what is under the water, or in the water, and it was dark! 

Eventually we got home safely, and I paid the driver and entered my dry house, washed myself with running water, and was able to enjoy electricity.  It made me realise how heavy rain can be dangerous, disruptive, or just unpleasant, and if I like most people, was unable to pay extra, I could have been stranded in pouring rain until the next morning. 

The Educated Elite of Ibadan

Three times in the last couple of months I have flown between Ibadan and Abuja.  Ibadan, is famous for its university, the University of Ibadan, the oldest university in West Africa and locally known as UI, which I must say is a much better name than UNIBAD!  Most Nigerian universities are known as UNI...., it took me a while to realise that UNILAG was not a universal pipe lagging material, and UNIMAID, I thought must be something to do with milk!  Actually they are University of Lagos and University of Maiduguri.

Anyway back to my story, Ibadan is a big city, an endless sprawl, I’ve no idea of the population, but I have read of 2 million and of 5 million.  Many people daily must travel between Ibadan and Abuja, but only a few go my air.

There are two flights on weekdays, one on Saturday and none on Sunday, some planes carry 30 and some 50, its advisable to book in advance and the single fair is ₦18,000 for Overland, and ₦21,000 for Associated (about £80), I am told that both these airlines have a poor safety record, but I’m sure it is many times safer than going by road.  (90% of Nigerians live on less than $2, approx ₦300, so to fly would be 60 days of income, even for me as a VSO volunteer it would be two weeks of income, I only fly when somebody else is paying!)

So both flights leave Ibadan at around 8am, and as I sit in the airport waiting, the atmosphere is a bit like a university common room, or a school reunion, except Nigerians respect hierarchy and titles and you hear people greeting each other, “Good Morning Prof, Good Morning Doc etc”.

Waiting at Abuja airport, with passengers flying all over the country, it is less easy to identify the educated elite of Ibadan, although traditional Yoruba dress of lace, embroidery and funny hats,  is always a clue.   When flying in this direction it is only as I board the plane that I hear the academic greetings. 

Change catalyst???

One of the hardest things about being a VSO volunteer is that your aim is to facilitate change, and change is hard!  However during the last five days I feel like I have achieved more professionally than the whole time I have been in Nigeria, around 16 months.  I am very realistic change is challenging and who knows what is around the corner, so I want to post this before I find out!

Part of my role at NEST is “Organisational Development Advisor”, or OD.  OD is helping an organisation to assess its strengths and weaknesses and make a plan for developing itself, VSO is interested in this as it works through partner organisations, and VSO can more effectively reach its vision of a world without poverty, if the partners it works with have improved capacity.

During my first week at NEST, I co-facilitated an OD workshop, over two days around 20 people, comprising staff, board members and partners, assessed NEST according to about 50 indicators, and made suggestions for improvement.  These indicators covered a range of “capacity areas” such as Strategy and Vision, Board of Trustees, Management, Human Resources, Finance, IT. 

I sensed a sense of excitement to how NEST could improve and a commitment to make it happen.  It was my job to write a report of the workshop and lead the development of a work-plan.  The report was fine;  I could do that alone, but then the work-plan....

Reality was trying to get a small group of people together to turn the findings from the assessment into a plan of action.  Although I was the lead on this it needed to be done in participation with staff, or it was likely to be irrelevant, and with no staff ownership, and confined to the filing cabinet. 

We started with a mix of “big people” and “little people”, but getting the “big people” in one room and focussed on the task was a challenge, so I got permission from the “big people” to work with the “little people” to come up with a draft.  Then I found that “little people” are also difficult to get in a room because “big people” send “little people” on errands.  I became more and more frustrated and got fed up with OD.

Then I was in Abuja for a meeting, and I was chatting with a former Executive Director of NEST, who had been at the OD Workshop, he commended me on the report, and said, “if NEST implement everything in that report, NEST will go far”.  He got me thinking so what is stopping me, how do I make it happen.  The following day there was a board meeting, so I asked the chair of the Board if I could make a presentation about the OD process, he agreed. 

In my presentation, I tried to give members of the board, (some of whom were present at the OD workshop) a sense of the possible future for NEST, and to build ownership to the process, but I told them I was stuck, that the land of milk and honey had been spied, but there were giants in the way, and we didn’t want to wander in the desert for 40 years.  (Numbers 13 ff).  They asked me what I wanted, so I said I wanted my small team for 2 hours a day for a week.  I got it.

So last week, Monday to Thursday, 4 of us developed a Draft Work Plan, and I think its good, and I think that the four of us worked hard, are committed and motivated to make it happen.  Let’s see what comes next!

Give me something

There is a perception that because I am white I must be rich, and therefore I ought to share my riches, this means I frequently am asked to “give me something”.  Mostly I ignore it or laugh it off, but sometimes it really gets to me.

There is a lady in my street, who sells traditional medicine, almost every day when I come home she says “White, what have you brought for me?”  She has two lovely daughters, aged around 7 or 8, who never ask me for anything.  One evening after dark I met one of her daughters crying in the street, when I asked what was wrong she said she had dropped Naira 50.  Clearly she had been sent on an errand and was dreading what her punishment would be.  I gave her Naira 50, wondering if this would be the beginning of a problem, but nothing has changed the daughter continues to greet me happily not demanding anything. 

One day, when I was with my friend Rebecca a fellow Brit, a boy aged around 13 or 14 and carrying a biro, or BIC approached me and said “give me something”.  Our conversation progressed as follows:

Me:  “no, you give me something, how about that pen?”

Him:  “but I only just bought it, give me something”,

Me: Why don’t you ask them (various wealthy looking people) to give you something?

Him: because they are not white

Me: did someone tell you that you should ask white people for things?

Him: Yes, my teacher

Me: My teacher told me to ask black people to give me things, so give me something

At this point he walked off.  Rebecca was trying not to laugh, and asked me which teacher had told me, I replied Geography when we were learning about the world!

A few weeks ago, close to my house the children asked me for moto, (I assumed this meant motor, ie car), since they are all far too young to drive, I jokingly counted seven children and promised seven cars.  I forgot that sarcasm in humour is a purely British thing, now the mother is asking me when I am bringing the motos?!  I told her when I married a rich Nigerian I’d be able to afford it!

I mentioned this to a colleague today, she said maybe they meant toy cars, I’ve never seen one in Nigeria so I didn’t think of that, perhaps I’d better go and look for some, or will I just reinforce the stereotype that you can ask white people for things because they are rich?

Take me to your country

Take me to your country, is a phrase I hear too often for my liking, sometimes I make a joke of it, but often I ask them why, what do they know about my country and why do they want to go there?  Often I find they don't even know which country I am from, but all the same they assume that it is a land of riches, and once there, their problems will be over.

Yesterday, someone from our Internet Service Provider was in the office, he complained that I hadn't accepted his facebook request, so I clicked on it to find he was "in a relationship with" the name and photo provided.  He even bragged about her beauty, so I wandered why he was so worried about my facebook friendship.

He then started telling me how he wanted to go to Canada, when I asked him why, he said because it was quiet there.  Now that makes sense, Nigeria is a noisy place and has a population of around 150 million people.  However he went on to tell me that he needed an invitation to Canada, so I said he'd better ask a Canadian.

Then it became clear that he thought I was a Canadian, I told him I'd never been to Canada, he said but you are still a Canadian, you can still invite me!  I'm still not sure if he believes that I am not Canadian!

My first Nigerian wedding

My friend and former colleague Hamzy, invited me to a wedding; in true African style I had never met the Bride or the Groom but I had met Ismail one of the groom’s brothers. The wedding was in Lagos so I went with Mike, a Lagos based VSO volunteer, and had a wonderful day thanks to Hamzy and Ismail’s family going out of their way to make us welcome and include us in this special day.

Me and Hamzy

All I knew from Hamzy was that the wedding was in Lagos, and it was on Sunday 29th May. So off I went to Lagos, (since this coincided with the day of the Presidential Inauguration the VSO security advice was to “lie low” whatever that means). The previous day, Hamzy  texted me the address of the wedding and told me it started at 9am! I said are you serious Hamzy, 9am, he said yes don’t be late. Mike and I decided to leave his house at 9am and aim to arrive at 10

10 o'clock!

Now we get the programme it says start at 10am, not 9 Hamzy!

Bride

When we finally got the programmes we saw that the official start time was 10am, my learning from this is to arrive at least 90 minutes late to weddings in future.

Groom

So the wedding was an Islamic and Yoruba wedding, my second Islamic wedding and first Nigerian wedding. The Islamic bit was first and to my surprise a lot of the audience / congregation or whatever the term is were chatting while the Imam was officiating, even the Imam received a call on his mobile during the ceremony.

Imam

  Then the Yoruba part, first a change of dress into rather grand costumes, then we (I have become a friend of the bridegroom) had to dance our way into the ceremony. During this we had to produce a lot of money, in fact the whole currency, ie one of every Nigerian note, (fortunately the highest note is Naira 1000, about GBP 4, there are no coins) Mike had a few US dollars which helped. (Being a wedding guest is expensive in Nigeria – go with lots of money!)

Groom and mother dancing

Lots of Naira

 Eventually after dancing a lot and providing the whole currency we “made it” into the room where the groom and his male friends had to beg the bride’s family for the bride.


 








Then greeting the groom’s family and seeking marital blessings!




 Well it looks like it worked as here they are together.

Happy couple

It was wonderful to be a part of this, and to be appreciated for being a part of it. I had phone calls from Hamzy and Ismail afterwards thanking us. A little insight into another culture, and I now know how to dance like a Yoruba man! 


So thank you, Hamzy, Ismail and family, and thank you Nigeria!


More photos here