Conflicted

A week or so ago Lagos showed another facet of its personality. It was a British Council film screening and it showcased the outcome of a project bringing West African amateur documentary makers together with UK film makers. They all made documentaries about aspects of African or UK life.

The one that struck me the most was a beautiful short film about a young man and a 101-year old in Sierra Leone, the poorest country in the world. A simple story, two main characters, stills of Freetown, accompanied by soulful tunes and stunning scenery, the way poverty and decay can look scenic [only] on camera. The protagonists told touching tales in pigeon of the hardships they experienced during the civil war that tore up their nation. They had both lost their loved ones – the old man was looking for support from the wall he always sat by, it had become his only companion and family; and the young man, intelligent and ambitious but unemployed and without any possibilities to get work, told of the desire of many of his countrymen to go abroad. He himself was conflicted about the prospects of a better life in the west: “Who would take care of my country if everyone left to go to another man’s land?”

There was another interesting film about a young inventor in Kano who worked on developing technologies that utilize solar energy, but lack of funds had put his project on hold. Those that did approach him were all interested in getting the blueprint of his invention, not to contribute investment so that he could develop his ideas. He highlighted the huge impact of no electricity on people’s productivity and ultimately their way of life. And it is true: the power goes (several times a day) and at once all industries come to a standstill. Machines will not work, computers stop functioning and people, for lack of options, just go to sleep in their shops or offices or loiter around to pass time. Once you get into the habit, it is hard to get out of it. Amidst these conditions there is so much talent that gets wasted. It may be a development agency slogan, but capacity building and funding really is key, we are just so privileged in our well-organised North, never having to battle against institutional and infrastructural barriers of such magnitude.

I have a thing for outdoor cinema and the fact that the films were shown outside, in the shady garden of the British Council, far away from the smells and sounds of the street made it a very relaxing evening… But I think I was getting ahead of myself! Later I found out that both CFC’s drivers were rounded up by the police when they were on their way home after having driven us back to the office. Emanuel, the poor thing, was even arrested, for no reason whatsoever and Chichi, one of my colleagues at the office, was woken up at 5am in the morning by the police saying “Madame, we need money.”. It is that blatant - when they are running low on cash, they just detain as many people as they can and hold them till they pay up! Outrageous! And Yemisi had a few stories to add about police corruption. When one of her security guards drowned in their pool, the police came out to investigate and tried every trick in the book to squeeze money out of them, upon seeing their big house. They even had her husband, who is a lawyer, and her 60-year old mother in-law locked up in a cell, on the grounds of suspicion of murder. It is only after a few phone calls to various high officials the family knew, that they got released without having to pay bail!

Connections is a must to get anything done in Nigeria. Getting a land line installed or a new electricity meter from NEPA can go in a blink of an eye, but only if you make the right phone calls. Otherwise they ‘419’ you, as they say – an expression for cheating and scamming. And this cuts across all segments of society. We recently found out, the mechanic CFC always has used, has for years charged triple the actual price of some car spare part. Well, he was not in my good books anyway since the clutch story but apparently they are all the same, so the attitude is ‘better the devil you know’.

I have just returned from a lavish holiday to the Niger Delta. 5 days of relaxation while Nigeria was counted… I went with Temi, a cool girl who’s lived all over the world and has been travelling in Central America for the past few months. We swam in the river, had good food, chilled on the grounds, rode bikes and visited some of my friends from VSO, Roseanne and Simon, in Umutu, a nearby village. The trip showed the Africa I had dreamt of: lush scenery, crystal waters, the sounds of nature surrounding you. But it is only granted for a precious few, those who can afford it. Generally Nigeria is full of noise and people and the notion of privacy is non-existent. For example when we visited Roseanne, we found out that the other neighbours of her compound just come and gather round her telly every day, 4-5 people popping in and out, they make themselves comfortable and keep her company whether she needs it or not. One of the guys in fact diverted all his calls to her phone because his was charging and he expected to be in her place anyway. I think I am lucky to live alone, even if it does get quiet at times.

Speaking of the sounds and creatures of nature – Nigeria may not have the zebra herds or buffaloes of Kenya, but it certainly is not lacking in wildlife! I have seen the largest cockroaches ever... unfortunately a bit too close… one was on my skirt, and I lost my cool and spilled all the wine I had out onto the tablecloth trying to shake it off. And just the night before I got a proper scare. We were sitting by the riverside and Roseanne said “Don’t move, there is a big black spider near you” I froze and imagined it crawling somewhere on my body. Then she said “It’s got black fangs, maybe it is poisonous” In my head I could already see the headlines ‘Girl stung by lethal spider in the delta, ends up dead’. As it turned out, the ‘spider’ was a black scorpion, so certainly poisonous, but at least it was not on my body, just crawling under my chair. The gate man at the river resort killed it with a stick and the next morning I took a close look at it once I was sure it was dead. I told the story to some of Roseanne’s musketeers and they laughed it off saying, it will only swell a little if they sting you. I think not! But there is a laissez fair attitude to personal safety on all levels. Like when someone just left their luggage in the waiting lounge and wandered off at the airport in Warri yesterday. As Warri is a hotspot for kidnappings, rebel activity etc. it is not all too impossible to imagine that someone would like to blow up the airport, where a lot of oil execs transit, into bits. But the security guards were not fazed by our request to locate the owner of the bags and even other passengers thought we were ridiculous because held our ground. Eventually a very frustrated lady appeared to claim her bags - she could not believe why the oyibo was stressing. But little by little I will change Nigeria, believe you me :)