On Sunday night the nation was waiting by their TVs as the president was expected to make an address at 9:00pm to reveal the result of negotiations with the Labour union. We were hoping and expecting that the strike would be called off. We had been stuck inside for a week and the next day was my birthday! Aside from purely selfish concerns, an ongoing strike could also mean food and fuel shortages, cancelled flights, and lack of medical care for another week. . .or more.
At 9 o'clock the power was cut. Everyone rushed to their generators to try to get their TVs working in time for the speech. 5 minutes later, the familiar “brrrrrrrrrrrr” of generators outside, droned in the background of our auditory cortices. Tvs back on, we saw that the presiden't's speech had been post-poned as he had finished only one set of conversations and had now entered into talks with another group. Hmmm.
We waited until 12am and the president still hadn't come on, so we gave up and went to bed. It seemed like a pretty hopeless situation. Without the president's address the labour union would continue their strike. Everything became uncertain. What would we do about our already depleted monetary resources? How would I get home? What about food? What about fuel? How was the government going to react to civil disobedience for another week? And our problems, I'm sure, were minimal compared to a vast number of Nigerians. It seemed like a pretty hopeless situation none-the-less. I wrote a rap about it. Happy Birthday to me.
When we woke up and checked the news the next day it was confirmed that the strike was continuing. The president had addressed the nation around 12:30am and had resolved to reduce the fuel price to 96 Naira which the labour union had thus far, rejected. The strike was continuing as a stay-at-home strike and the military was occupying the space previously used by the protestors. Flights within, into and out of Nigeria were cancelled. Feeling defeated my boyfriend and I decided to make breakfast, wash our clothes and hide in our bedroom for the rest of the day.
When we finished washing our clothes though, my boyfriend got a call from one of his friends who was traveling into Lagos that day. Not only was he only a few minute away but he informed us that the strike had been called off! We rushed to the Tv to confirm the news and sure enough, he was right! The labour union accepted the 96 Naira increase in the fuel price and had called off the strike! This (and my birthday!) was a means for celebration!
We met up with my boyfriend's friend, got dressed and went to Ikeja with him and his friend for dinner. We then went to Afrika Shrine to celebrate! Afrika Shrine was erected by the famous Afrobeat pioneer and social activist Fela Kuti's son Femi Kuti in tribute to his father.
For anyone who doesn't know the iconic Fela Kuti, you can watch the documentary “Music is the Weapon”.
It was a pretty cool place. There were murals of Fela and his band and other memorabilia from their group. Not very many people were there that night though. The strike had just finished and apparently Femi Kuti was calling out the government for corruption and so there was some fear that people at Afrika shrine may be seen as supporters of Femi Kuti and so it may not be a wise place to be. It wasn't the case for us at least though.
That night we stayed in a hotel and the next day we went to Lagos island. I was able to buy some nice fabric, music (like Sunny Bobo!), get my hair plaited and see another part of Lagos. Lagos island was nice but we didn't have too much time to look around unfortunately.
The next day we just stayed in Lagos and traveled around to get some errands done with our host before my flight home the following day.
I visited my boyfriend's brother's family once again and picked up the clothes that the seamstress had finished sewing. They were almost perfect! A few adjustments and I had 2 dresses, 2 skirts and 1 blouse that fit perfectly! It was hard to say goodbye to my boyfriend's brother's family and their 2 adorable children. We had to tell his 4 year old daughter that we were going to go to the store to buy her things and come back. . .of course she didn't believe us. . .which resulted in tears.
I said goodbye to our host and his family and we left for the airport around 5:30pm although my flight wasn't until 9:30pm. We wanted to make sure that go-slows didn't make me late.
Saying goodbye to my boyfriend was really hard. We had 5 months of everyday together. Cooking together, eating together, sleeping together, traveling together and it was wonderful. . .and suddenly it felt like I was losing my left arm. E no easy. We're still not sure exactly when the next time we're going to see each other is, which doesn't make it any easier but we're hopeful and working on a plan to be together.
Anyway, I really liked Nigeria and was sad to leave. I know there are a lot of things that would deter a lot of people from going, even a lot of the things that happened to me or happened while I was there. There are certainly some dangerous things, terrorist attacks, safety was a constant worry, some people seemed to expect financial help after greeting me and a lot of the comforts that I enjoy in Canada were not there. Eating was a bit of a problem also since I don't eat meat. Even though all of that is true, I still want to go back. The people were very friendly and welcoming and there are still a lot more people that I need to meet in the east of the country. I didn't get to try any of the good fruits or food in the east or see any live music!!! We'll see what the future holds I guess.
Part 2 Part 1
At 9 o'clock the power was cut. Everyone rushed to their generators to try to get their TVs working in time for the speech. 5 minutes later, the familiar “brrrrrrrrrrrr” of generators outside, droned in the background of our auditory cortices. Tvs back on, we saw that the presiden't's speech had been post-poned as he had finished only one set of conversations and had now entered into talks with another group. Hmmm.
We waited until 12am and the president still hadn't come on, so we gave up and went to bed. It seemed like a pretty hopeless situation. Without the president's address the labour union would continue their strike. Everything became uncertain. What would we do about our already depleted monetary resources? How would I get home? What about food? What about fuel? How was the government going to react to civil disobedience for another week? And our problems, I'm sure, were minimal compared to a vast number of Nigerians. It seemed like a pretty hopeless situation none-the-less. I wrote a rap about it. Happy Birthday to me.
When we woke up and checked the news the next day it was confirmed that the strike was continuing. The president had addressed the nation around 12:30am and had resolved to reduce the fuel price to 96 Naira which the labour union had thus far, rejected. The strike was continuing as a stay-at-home strike and the military was occupying the space previously used by the protestors. Flights within, into and out of Nigeria were cancelled. Feeling defeated my boyfriend and I decided to make breakfast, wash our clothes and hide in our bedroom for the rest of the day.
When we finished washing our clothes though, my boyfriend got a call from one of his friends who was traveling into Lagos that day. Not only was he only a few minute away but he informed us that the strike had been called off! We rushed to the Tv to confirm the news and sure enough, he was right! The labour union accepted the 96 Naira increase in the fuel price and had called off the strike! This (and my birthday!) was a means for celebration!
We met up with my boyfriend's friend, got dressed and went to Ikeja with him and his friend for dinner. We then went to Afrika Shrine to celebrate! Afrika Shrine was erected by the famous Afrobeat pioneer and social activist Fela Kuti's son Femi Kuti in tribute to his father.
For anyone who doesn't know the iconic Fela Kuti, you can watch the documentary “Music is the Weapon”.
It was a pretty cool place. There were murals of Fela and his band and other memorabilia from their group. Not very many people were there that night though. The strike had just finished and apparently Femi Kuti was calling out the government for corruption and so there was some fear that people at Afrika shrine may be seen as supporters of Femi Kuti and so it may not be a wise place to be. It wasn't the case for us at least though.
That night we stayed in a hotel and the next day we went to Lagos island. I was able to buy some nice fabric, music (like Sunny Bobo!), get my hair plaited and see another part of Lagos. Lagos island was nice but we didn't have too much time to look around unfortunately.
The next day we just stayed in Lagos and traveled around to get some errands done with our host before my flight home the following day.
I visited my boyfriend's brother's family once again and picked up the clothes that the seamstress had finished sewing. They were almost perfect! A few adjustments and I had 2 dresses, 2 skirts and 1 blouse that fit perfectly! It was hard to say goodbye to my boyfriend's brother's family and their 2 adorable children. We had to tell his 4 year old daughter that we were going to go to the store to buy her things and come back. . .of course she didn't believe us. . .which resulted in tears.
I said goodbye to our host and his family and we left for the airport around 5:30pm although my flight wasn't until 9:30pm. We wanted to make sure that go-slows didn't make me late.
Saying goodbye to my boyfriend was really hard. We had 5 months of everyday together. Cooking together, eating together, sleeping together, traveling together and it was wonderful. . .and suddenly it felt like I was losing my left arm. E no easy. We're still not sure exactly when the next time we're going to see each other is, which doesn't make it any easier but we're hopeful and working on a plan to be together.
Anyway, I really liked Nigeria and was sad to leave. I know there are a lot of things that would deter a lot of people from going, even a lot of the things that happened to me or happened while I was there. There are certainly some dangerous things, terrorist attacks, safety was a constant worry, some people seemed to expect financial help after greeting me and a lot of the comforts that I enjoy in Canada were not there. Eating was a bit of a problem also since I don't eat meat. Even though all of that is true, I still want to go back. The people were very friendly and welcoming and there are still a lot more people that I need to meet in the east of the country. I didn't get to try any of the good fruits or food in the east or see any live music!!! We'll see what the future holds I guess.
Part 2 Part 1
