I've just returned from holiday in Nigeria, the most populous African nation. Nigeria is African's biggest oil producer. Aside from the petroleum, Nigeria is also blessed with excellent weather. The weather is so great it is not impossible throughout the year to farm. The weather potential is really huge that if harnessed, all the food it needs for export as well as for local consumption could be produced by Nigeria. The positioned on the world in Nigeria makes it possible to have exactly twelve hours of day and twelve hours of night. This remains the same round. The solar energy that is ample is able to light up power other industrial equipments as well as the whole state. I really could not but respect this populous country with its natural endowment.
As I sat down at the balcony of my house I enjoyed my interaction as balmy wind gently caressed past my body in constant rhythm. The evening sky was quite bright as I could make out the shapes of the twinkling stars. I started to think back the past time that I sat with no top but merely my boxer trousers, in the United Kingdom. After I went swimming in a indoor pool, that has been recently. I softly looked down into the paper in my hand as I respected the sky. As Nigeria was only preparing to go into general election for its political leaders the majority of the pages were talking about politics. Nigerian politics has come to say the least. Politics is an incredibly rewarding occupation in Nigeria. It is commonly said a Nigerian lawmaker earns about twice the salary of the American President. I have no evidence of this but it's usually believed to be accurate from records that are available. It is extremely difficult for anyone to inhabit a political standing in Nigeria and to stay poor. This can be the main reason a lot of people commit all kinds of atrocities to be in political power or office.
As I sat down at my balcony, I suddenly opened my eyes and found out that I'd dozed off momentarily. It was dark as I could start to see the glowing heavens with its half moon and the great and small stars adding colour. Something which was clear was the sound of electric generating sets in virtually every compound. So individuals had to improvise their own electricity using generators like usual, there is no electricity. Besides the intolerable noise pollution due to these generating sets, I also imagined the upsurge in carbon footprint because of this. It's obvious that the noise pollution raising the mortality rate and thereby also raises the stress levels in people. I wondered why a state like
Nigeria should still be fighting with supplying electricity that was stable for its citizens. I remember a one time Nigerian head of state being quoted as saying that the problem with Nigeria isn't cash, but what things to do with the cash it's.
Nigeria has so much money that it does not understand what to do with the amount of money. Is this statement still the case today? Well, if it is, then Nigerians need electricity. But how can this accomplishment be understood for Nigerians, when some Nigerian businessmen make a lot of bundle from the importation of electricity generators? The long nights of darkness of the common Nigerian is the bundle of the
Nigerian businessman. This only ensures the long nights of captivity will continue.
It is now 6.00am in the morning and the sun is just rising as usual. Some children in the neighbouring compounds have only come to my compound to fetch some water from my water tap. These neighbours are the ones that couldn't afford to drill their very own water borehole and treatment and so have to depend at the mercy of other neighbours that are good. This is only because the government has neglected to supply portable water. Every person has to sort out his or her own water conditions. I wondered the effect of the various water boreholes scattered all over the town, as I looked out through the open glass of my window. Would these boreholes lead to subsidence or fall? No one has given some serious consideration to the after effect of the phenomenon. The responsibility of the after effect would for sure rest on the shoulders of the government for the failure to supply pipe borne water to the citizens.
I travelled to the former capital of Nigeria Lagos and its commercial nerve center. Lagos is thickly populated. To get around the traffic jam in Lagos, commuters and drivers get up as early as 4.00am to leave for their office. I had a meeting in a place called Ikoyi in Lagos. If there clearly was no traffic jam, from my hotel room, it will take an average of thirty minutes. To be certain I match my meeting program, I requested my driver to pick me up by 6.00am for the assembly. Despite my precaution, I spent two hours traveling and got to my meeting venue by 8.05am. I wondered to myself how individuals could live this manner: going to work by 4.00am and returning by 10.00am all in a play to avert traffic jam. My thoughts went back to London, where the transport system is well organized despite the quite high variety of commuters. So what exactly is the issue with Lagos,
Nigerian commercial centre, and several other cities in Nigeria?
It is hardly difficult to see in Nigeria that the private sector drives the transport business. Train transportation in Nigeria has crippled into a dead end. The primary sources of transport are the cabs along with the buses. These are all owned by
private individuals. To use the bus or a taxi to work means that the top of someone might get ripped or stained with dirt by the time the one gets to the office. Hence, individuals choose to drive to the office. Imagine to driving to work in precisely the same peak period where every person in a thickly populated city revert. The end result would be traffic jam. That's the situation in Lagos and many cities in Nigeria. The failure to provide transport infrastructure and means of transfer of the government means that every person would possess an automobile. The result: tear and wear of roads and perpetual traffic jam.
I left at Lagos. Where I'd intended to see some family members because I did not get a flight to Jos my going to Abuja was merely related. Join Jos from there and I needed to fly to Abuja. It gave me the chance to look across the capital scenery, which is magnificent by all standards.
Jos is around the Nigerian central belt hillside located on the Jos Plateau staying at about 1,200 meters above sea level. The Jos weather resembles a European summer that is balmy. The elements is lovely and wonderful. Besides the recent spiritual clashes in the region, Jos had remained a haven for visitors and foreign tourists. With military check-points at every 1km, the place has been militarised as an effect of the prevalent religious clashes. The enjoyment of holiday was rapidly replaced with apprehension. I managed to catch pleasure taking a look at the country side and loved some local delicacy.
I decided to return to Port Harcourt by road. It allowed me to see more of the countryside and also gave me greater comprehension of the living condition of a typical Nigerian although it was a selection that is crazy. My bus to Port Harcourt left Jos by 7.00am. The road journey was bumpy, to say the least. I was amazed at the state of disrepair of some stretches of the federal trunk roads. I discovered that want of the motorist determines the rate of vehicles to get to destination as fastest as the driver could. Consequently speed limits signs were never detected, or to be unfair minded. I had been eager to detect our bus driver kept a maximum rate of 120km per hour on the good stretches of the road. I really believe that the speed limit could have become the instruction from the bus company. On the poor stretches of the trail, the bus crawled. Because Nigeria is blessed with favorable weather, most vehicle owners don't ensure that the air-conditioning systems of their vehicles are in excellent working order as the standard thing will be to roll down the wind screens for fresh air to flow to the vehicles. That has been the scenario in our bus. However, I made sure to roll up the wind screens on the dusty, earthy stretches of the street. When we stopped to stretch our legs and also to have a break, as I discovered, that wasn't enough. I wiped my face with my white handkerchief and was scared at what I saw on the kerchief. My face had been covered with brownish-black dust. I thought that was crazy. Well, there's nothing I could do as that is the life of most Nigerians plus they do not complain.
I noticed that vehicles would cross into the lanes of oncoming vehicles to be able to prevent some awful part of road, as we advanced on our journey. It was a routine scene on many of the roads, even on important motorways (expressways) with median barriers separating oncoming from on-going vehicles. In doing this, the vehicles didn't even use the head light to warn oncoming
vehicles of the danger it posed. It was a typical scene to view vehicles swerve from one lane to another as a way to prevent some potholes. I had been so scared and prayed to God to take me home safely. I wondered as they appear to be relaxed with all the driving routine, if other passengers felt like me.
As I got closer to my destination, we discovered some gathering of men and women traveling median ahead of us. Someone in our bus suggested that the injury could have happened. He was appropriate. I found a bus just like ours had just somersaulted to the median, as our driver slowed to a crawl on the scene. Some volunteers had managed to bring the occupants of the bus out and put them on the ground. Although these volunteers were trained on emergency first-aid nor the best way to deal with injury casualties, in the event of spinal cord injuries they were willing to assist.
Their bodies were moving and some were totally motionless. I automatically said these people have to be evacuated promptly to the hospital. A voice from our bus said, 'who will do this? No body will soon get ready to utilize her or his vehicle to take the victims.' If there have been any numbers to emergency ambulance service, I asked. No body appeared to be conscious of such a emergency number. The driver of our bus suggested that we may see some staff of the Federal Road Safety Corps traveling along our destination to advise of the accident. We drove off slowly towards our destination expecting that we locate help for the victims along our way. As we failed to find any help on our way that was not to be.
The Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, Michel Sidibe, who is in Nigeria on a three day visit, spoke on Monday night in Abuja during a courtesy call on the Director General of the National Agency for the Constraint of AIDS, Prof. John Idoko.
Standard Nigerian craft continues to be old as far again as 2000 decades. You can find samples of paintings, this work in figurine, as well as the renowned goggles. Many common samples of components used in these old items are coppers and lumber. Luckily for the modern world portions is seen around the globe in many galleries. Conventional music and dance can be noticed and observed in societal and spiritual functions throughout every season.
