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Nigeria
April 2002 and December 2004
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Lagos    
    
Arriving in Lagos, leaving the airconditionned airport the heat
takes your breath. Groovy .... to me at least.
But I've skipped to talk about the difficult path between the
airplane and actually being able to leave the airport. The - Nigerian!
- passport of my husband did not look right to the authorities.
The first one wanted $ 20 ....... the next one $ 10 ....... you
learn very fast: The only thing you must fear in Nigeria is the
authorities!
Lagos looks like the second world war
has ended only yesterday. It is difficult to make out which houses
are about to fall apart and which ones are not yet finished building.
But the colors and activity make up for it. This city is awake
24 hours a day. Nothing special, you'll say, so is New York. But
this is different as the streets are just as crowded as during
daytime and you can shop anywhere and anything even while being
stuck in the - almost constant - traffic-jam. They come to the
window and offer you anything from bread to handychargers - from
yam to underwear. You name it - they've got it! 
Import became more difficult (time-consuming) since the governement
decided to do 100% check of all ships coming in! That control
does not mean, you won't be able to import but you have to bribe
for each thing now. On one of the photos above I wanted
to show the boats queuing up at the horizon, unfortunately you
can hardly see it!
Heading to Orlu to see the family we took an ABC-Bus. A very
comfortable way to travel, in airconditioned buses with toilets.
The only place I can actually live with airconditions as anywhere
else turning them off is the first thing I do.
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It was Iyke's first time back to
Nigeria after four years. As the family has moved house since then,
home to him was like to me: New.
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 I
received a warm welcome by the Moneke-family who had to wait a long
time to finally meet me, although we got to know each other by writing
letters over the years. 
I got six brothers in law now, all of them charming, fun, caring
and helpful.
In a family without daughers, sons are able and used to cook
. . . for example my favorite Nigerian dish: Moimoi (black-eyed
beans-cakes). . . |
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. . . to iron, to clean . . .  |
. . . correct, good reason
to envy me for my husband :-) |
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| Water is not scarce
in Nigeria, only the government is not capable to deliver it. |
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The solution is a water-tank behind - or on top - of the house, water
is being supplied by truck:
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Although it doesn't look it, the
water IS clean  |
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| Talking about supply by the governement: Looking
at the wiring, are you suprised that phone-connections are unreliable
. . . often impossible? |
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Not to mention NEPA, who is not capable to keep up the electricity-supply
for one day at least. Interesting enough: When the governor
travels to Orlu - Orlu has electricity. Just like before the
governor arrives, the roads are fixed - OVER NIGHT! I've seen
it happen, it is true!
Corruption and nepotism is what
keeps Nigeria from developping into a secure and comfortable
state. They lack nothing - except decent politicians!
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Streets can look like this:   or like this: 
Travelling to Kaduna where we meet the Igwe  a man of many words yet limited tolerance who will give his blessings
even to those who don't want it 
The Ibos are proud of not having a king. In spite of that in Kaduna
they have chosen an Igwe. This might have to do with the fact, that
Kaduna - in the north of Nigeria - is an area ruled by fundamentalist
Moslems (applying Sharia-law, although it is against the Nigerian
constitution). Although the Ibo-community is not a religious but
a tribal one (Biafra), as most Ibos are Christians, the religion
plays a big role as well.
 Back
to the food-subject: Freshly pounded yam is the best |
 and you shouldn't miss the suya: Beef or Lamb bits turned
in a hot spice-mix and grilled on the fire, served with onions.
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| On the way from Kaduna to Abuja you can buy vegetables,
most beautifully presented in the middle of nowhere . . . |
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 Abuja,
the new capital of Nigeria is - unlike Lagos - all neat and proper. We shall
see how long for. There is a lot of building-activity going on and living-costs
are high. |
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The land is mostly flat in Nigeria,
which makes the Zuma Rock very special: |
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 The
school also runs a farm. This teacher is posing for the photo only though
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Every age-group finds it's
place in the classroom... |
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Whether teacher or student .... everybody wants
to be on a picture |
. . . what would they think of being on the internet? |
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Boy, going to church makes you hungry: My little
niece taking a break. |
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Paying respect to the Bishop of the Christ church, unlike
the Igwe he is a modest and very tolerant man. |
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Although people move away,
they always stay attached to the village they originally come from and return
to gather at times like Easter.  |
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Grandma's house is being kept as a memorial of the way houses used to be
built. |
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If kolanuts are not handy, the ceremony is done with a fruit
called garden-egg. |
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Our present to the village-people:
The poor goat did not live much longer, I'm afraid, as this was two days
before Easter. |
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| In return we received a white turkey. I named it Snowflake
and set it free to round around the compound. |
 Snowflake
is probably the first and only turkey in Nigeria that has a name and is
kept like a pet!
Only as long as it was under my protection though, after I left, it too ended in the pot.
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A traffic-jam in Nigeria is - to Europeans - almost an event: |
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Note: This is not a one-way-street
.... somewhere ahead there is a mass of cars facing the other direction. |
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If necessary the police will smash
car windows and beat up drivers who keep closing up the left lane ... it
was not possible to take pictures of those sceens though (!) |
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| The wonders of nature: |
red dragonfly:  |
Red and green lizards:  |
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Nigeria is a colorful country and worth a visit. "Your are free
- this is Africa" is what you are told constantly - yet African freedom
is not like European freedom, remember that at all times! I hope you enjoyed
the little insight I tried to give you here. |
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| This country is so multifaceted, If you have an open mind you will have a swell time there! |
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