The ride back to Lagos was equally
long. We got off to a good start but an oil tanker that had fallen
over caused a big go slow just outside of Lagos. Lagos. If you want
to leave; go-slow. If you want to come; go-slow. If you want to
stay; go-slow. Sigh.
Anyway, we eventually got home and
slept for the night. The next day was new year's eve. We didn't do
much that day either because we needed to recover from our extended
travel from the night before. At midnight, though, we lit fireworks
on the street outside the compound to celebrate 2012. Despite my
firework phobia, I managed to light a few of the fireworks myself!
Many people in the neighbourhood were lighting fireworks but it was
nothing compared to Diwali in India or even New Year's in Gracias,Honduras!
The next day we met with my boyfriend's
brother who took us to drink more Star and eat fish. His brother was very
happy to see him since he'd been away for 2 years and was excited to meet
me too. He told me some family stories and invited us to come and stay
with him and his family for a few days while we were in Lagos. Since
my boyfriend last saw him he's been remarried and has 2 small children.
That night we went out to a club in
Lagos to dance a little. I'm not sure why exactly but the club we
went to wasn't very busy so we didn't do a lot of dancing. After the
club, on the way home, we stopped to buy gas and noticed the original
price of 65 Naira/L had suddenly become 140 Naira/L! More than double over night!!
The next day go-slows were significantly less prevalent!! But the outrage at the fuel subsidy removal was apparent and understandable. During the initial days of the fuel subsidy removal there was a lot of talk about corruption, unhappiness, strike, riots, etc. but everything was still operating as usual. . .which was fortunate for me because I needed to pay for my plane ticket home through the bank. The nationwide strike to protest the fuel subsidy removal started with a small group and continued throughout the week, but it didn't effect most people. To be safe, we didn't move around much during that week, we went to the markets, the bank and park close by but thought it unwise to be traveling throughout the city. By Friday, the Labour Union announced their plans to strike beginning on Monday. On Sunday we shifted to my boyfriend's brother's house. We went to the market and the fuel station on the way and filled up on food, fuel and kerosene. There is a big problem with power (sometimes it doesn't come at all in a day) in Lagos so most people that can afford it also have gasoline powered generators to power their houses during power outs.
We were planning to stay only for 2 or 3 days but when the Labour Union actually went through with the strike on Monday (we weren't sure that they would), our plans began to change. The strike was broadcast on TV and the radio (due to the power, a lot of the time we were only hearing what was happening via radio) but looked like a lot of fun! There were musicians, DJs, dancing and overall merriment. Of course there were a lot of protesters too and people condemning the government's removal of the fuel subsidy. The protest continued to swell for the rest of the week, much to our dismay. The protest also seemed to take on many different forms. It was initially outrage over the fuel subsidy. Then we heard that the protest was hijacked by the opposing political party to the president. Then we heard that most of the protesters were protesting corruption generally and didn't want to stop protesting until justice had been served. Then we heard that it was all a scam determined by the higher-ups of the government and labour union, the end game being that the government would propose a lower increase (like maybe 100 Naira) and then, since it was lower than 140 Naira, people would accept it and it would cause less trouble than if they just raised it to 100 Naira in the first place. . .hmmm
It was recommended that we didn't leave the house until after 5-6pm when the protesters disbanded for the night even though the protest wasn't happening especially close to where we were in Lagos. We weren't able to go anywhere, we weren't able to change money, the trip to Lagos came to a halt. However, other than that, there were no problems at all and we got to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend's brother and his family. It was a bit trying to be stuck inside all day with an attention seeking 4 year old, but it was fun. We managed to still go out to a bar one night, buy material to make clothes, hire a seamstress and eat copious amounts of food! The following Sunday we returned to our previous home while the protesters took the weekend to rest and watch the results of the negotiations between the president and the labour union.
Part 1 Part 3
We were planning to stay only for 2 or 3 days but when the Labour Union actually went through with the strike on Monday (we weren't sure that they would), our plans began to change. The strike was broadcast on TV and the radio (due to the power, a lot of the time we were only hearing what was happening via radio) but looked like a lot of fun! There were musicians, DJs, dancing and overall merriment. Of course there were a lot of protesters too and people condemning the government's removal of the fuel subsidy. The protest continued to swell for the rest of the week, much to our dismay. The protest also seemed to take on many different forms. It was initially outrage over the fuel subsidy. Then we heard that the protest was hijacked by the opposing political party to the president. Then we heard that most of the protesters were protesting corruption generally and didn't want to stop protesting until justice had been served. Then we heard that it was all a scam determined by the higher-ups of the government and labour union, the end game being that the government would propose a lower increase (like maybe 100 Naira) and then, since it was lower than 140 Naira, people would accept it and it would cause less trouble than if they just raised it to 100 Naira in the first place. . .hmmm
It was recommended that we didn't leave the house until after 5-6pm when the protesters disbanded for the night even though the protest wasn't happening especially close to where we were in Lagos. We weren't able to go anywhere, we weren't able to change money, the trip to Lagos came to a halt. However, other than that, there were no problems at all and we got to spend a lot of time with my boyfriend's brother and his family. It was a bit trying to be stuck inside all day with an attention seeking 4 year old, but it was fun. We managed to still go out to a bar one night, buy material to make clothes, hire a seamstress and eat copious amounts of food! The following Sunday we returned to our previous home while the protesters took the weekend to rest and watch the results of the negotiations between the president and the labour union.
Part 1 Part 3
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