Lagos

Pop.
The fan whirrs slower, slower; the metal sounds flimsy as lifeblood drains from wires and momentum dies.
I open my eyes as little as possible pretending that I am still asleep and unaware that the power is gone. . .again.
The sun shines bright yellow through the lower panel of our east facing window.  Slowly its devastating heat will hit all the panels and sweat will seep out of our pores attempting transcendence.  Somehow this loss of moisture intensifies immobility as if water has been neutralizing stickiness.  All movement feels like walking against a strong current in a large hot tub placed in the middle of a forest fire.
It is still early, but the north window brings the hum of morning to my ears.  The go-slows and horns haven't begun and no one has come outside to start their generators to counter the power outage, but people are moving about preparing for the day on the street below the apartment. The clink of metal on metal, the timbre of laughter and language I can't quite hear but likely couldn't understand anyway. Trees rustle in the breeze, an unfamiliar species of bird sings a tune.
At the end of the bed, he is already awake. His skin reflects some of the bright yellow filtering in through the window to his right. Shining.  His phone is at his ear and Igbo pours from his lips like water rushing over rocky rapids. A few words jump from the stream of sound carried by the power of recognition. They sound warm, like memories of my terrible pronunciation and his laughter, that accompany them. What he has not taught me, I can guess. Something in the tone or timbre, the turning of his hand in a particular way paired with pillow conversations the night before gives me all the information I need. He doesn't notice that I'm awake yet.

Ogba, Lagos

I watch for a few minutes and then turn towards the north facing window. The sounds of this morning surround me and I let all of them penetrate deeply into my ears, trying to hear all simultaneously. There is a hot, heavy feeling in the middle of my abdomen that will likely be a problem for later. Now though, I embrace this symphony and smile a morning greeting to Lagos.

First Visit to Nigeria: Part 2

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

First visit to Nigeria: Part 1

I guess I was in Nigeria at a pretty interesting time.

It was December-January so the Christian community who are generally Igbo and Yoruba were busy preparing for the celebrations. The roads were full of more "go-slow"s than normal as Igbo people generally flock to Igboland in the East of the country to visit their families and homes and Yoruba people to the West I guess.

Most of the people who wanted to meet me, were living in the East.  However, there have been a number kidnappings of foreign nationals in many areas.  It seems that this tactic has been adopted by some groups in the Delta states due to residents being enraged by the destruction of their land and livelihoods by oil companies.  Kidnapping for ransom not only brings international attention to the problem but also pays pretty well.  That doesn't mean that I condone kidnapping, but I can understand the people's resentment of oil companies at least.  Unfortunately, it seems that others have followed suit for less political and more financial reasons; seeing an easy way to get rich quick.  It seems unlikely that a kidnapping would be possible though, if I was only there for a short time and moved around a lot.  It seems to me (and others that wanted me to go to the East) that something like that would take a bit more organization and planning to be carried out effectively. . .but oh well, hopefully next time it will work out.

We ran away from Lagos on the 24^th by bus to Abuja to escape the festivities.  Very few people were going to Abuja so we couldn't get a coach bus, only a small van-bus thing.  There was a lot of traffic leaving Lagos;  we were stuck in a “go-slow” for 4 hours before even getting out of Lagos!  We left around 7am and didn't get to Abuja until 10pm.  Interesting note about buses in Lagos (and Abuja and maybe many Christian dominant parts of Nigeria), just as the bus begins to depart someone in the bus will begin a group prayer complete with singing, making sure to pray for our safety and security throughout the trip.  Road accidents and robberies aren't uncommon, so it's understandable that people like to ask for a little more insurance.

The next day we woke up in my boyfriend's brother's house in Abuja.  We went to visit one of their friend's and went to a small outdoor shop to have some Star beer.  The shop was in a market area and there weren't many people around.  It was sunny, dry and dusty, chickens were wandering around and some people were tending to cars or their businesses.  I hadn't heard the news yet, but the atmosphere was tense.  Abuja has a larger proportion of Huasa (who are usually Muslim) people than Lagos and, it being my first time in the country, I wasn't sure how tense the relationship was between Huasa and Igbo people.  Apparently it differs depending on the area, but I had no idea at this point.   It didn't help that I was reading Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel depicting the civil war.  At one point a Muslim man came over to our table and started talking to the guys in another language that I couldn't understand (they were speaking Igbo before).  When he left I asked them what he said and they told me he had asked if he could join us for lunch.  I knew they were lying.  Their insistence that everything was fine and safe and that Nigeria had no problems, made me uneasy.  We stopped at another house on the way back home where I heard the radio announcer mention a "tragic incident" and "prayers for the families of the victims". . .I asked what was going on, but no one was ready to tell me.  Finally when we got home I asked my boyfriend to tell me the truth and he confessed that they knew that there had been bombings at a church in the neighbouring state.  No one felt that it was anything to worry about for the time being but I preferred to know the truth at least, so I could act appropriately and understand the situation.  The tenseness I felt earlier in the day made sense and I believed that we would be safe for the time in Abuja and have a few days to monitor the situation before heading back.  In fact I was half expecting there to be an attack of some kind on or around Xmas day due to the rising presence of the Boko Haram in the country and the recently elected Igbo president who they seem to be upset by.  It's horrible that so many innocent people are being killed senselessly for their religious beliefs.  I think though that if you look at the pattern of the Boko Haram and their beliefs, one could have easily predicted that something like the Xmas bombings would happen.  It's horrible, but not surprising.

The next day my boyfriend's brother had to leave for a business trip so we had the house to ourselves for a few days.  Since we had had a very stressful week with very little sleep and way too much movement/travel, we took a much needed rest and recovery period.  We watched Nollywood movies, Avatar the last airbender, read books, slept, cooked and washed clothes.  We left the house a few times to visit people and buy groceries from the market but otherwise we just rested.  On January 30th we went back to Lagos for the next great adventure!  Fuel Subsidy Strike!

Part 2                                                                                                                                            Part 3