ktravula – a travelogue!

Browsing the archives for the Observations category.

How My Bank Lost Me

When I travelled to the US, I left some amount in my bank account that I can’t remember anymore now. I also had a debit card just in case I find myself stranded on returning to the country and I have to use some money. It was a little surprise then to find out on returning to my bank last week that very many changes have taken place. One of them was that old debit cards were no longer tenable and that customers had to get new ones. Now, here’s the snag: you had to pay for the new card.

I have never figured out how financial institutions functioned, but I know that they are supposed to make their money only from trading with the funds we deposit into their care. The rude awakening to me then on return there to the help desk was that not only would they profit from changing my debit cards, but from my monthly use of it.

So here it is: to change my card due to a sudden change in policy which I didn’t authorize or have any voice in formulating, I pay up to 600 naira. And then – the most annoying (fine print) clause in the new debit card application form – I get to pay 105 naira every month for keeping the said debit card.  Access charge, they called it. This part, I really still couldn’t understand. What it means of course is that when next I leave some money in the bank and I travel out of the country, it is possible that by the time I return – depending on how long I spend out of the country – there might not be anything left in the account. The bank would remove it every month to service my unused debit card. So there. This is not just an unfair business practice, and greed, it capitalism at some of its worst.

Needless to say, I went to a branch of the bank yesterday to ask them to close my account, and the staff at the desk responded that I have to go to the branch where I first registered the account before I could close it. But I registered the bank account while I was a Youth Corper in Jos five years ago! She gave me a straight face and a shrug. “That’s the company policy,” she said. “You have to go back to Jos to close it.” While she was saying this, the television flashed an update in the security situation in Jos.  Three Fulani nomad cattle herders had been killed again, and the city would become volatile again from now on.

So here I am, already decided as to what to do next: withdraw everything drawable from my account, and erase the bank from my memory. I’m just another lost customer that can be ignored, I guess, but I at least have a safe haven on the internet where I can vent my anger. Bye bye now UBA. 🙁  Now let’s see what GTB has to offer.

How My Bank Lost Me was published on May 25th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , , under the Observations, Opinion category. There are currently 8 comments on this article so far.

Lagos, Last Week

I managed to capture a little of Lagos on my camera last week.

(Most of the parts captured in this photo post were in the business district of the Island, definitely well managed than many other parts of the mainland that elicited my earlier complaints. In any case, it should be said that the city has greatly improved under a new leadership. I could say the same for my state here. But that’s a story for another day.)

In one of these pictures, you will see the Lagos Lagoon, a pedestrian bridge, commercial motorbikes, plantain chips (snacks), and – in the last shot – the National Theatre.

This is Lagos. Well, some parts of it. Enjoy.

Lagos, Last Week was published on May 24th, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Observations, Travelling category. There are currently 7 comments on this article so far.

Food

Alright, I’ve searched the calendars of all major religions of the world and found that no one is supposed to be fasting right now, so here is one of the major food pictures I’ve taken in the last couple of days. Salivate, then go make your own dinner.

Happy Sunday, and don’t forget to remember those who haven’t eaten.

PS: This post was supposed to have pictures of plenty food, including the very soft pounded yam I had a few hours ago. But my internet is really really not cooperating. What can I do?

Food was published on May 23rd, 2010, with the tags , under the Observations category. There are currently 2 comments on this article so far.

My University

At my alma mater, the University of Ibadan, earlier today…

Unfortunately, my internet is too slow at the moment for me to be able to put up more photos as I’d have wished.

UI, as we fondly call it, was established in 1948 as an outpost of the University of London. It became Nigeria’s first (and as we like to call it – best) university. It has produced Africa’s first Nobel Laureate (Wole Soyinka, author of Death and the King’s Horseman among several works) and many other giants in other areas of life. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart was also an alumnus of the University of Ibadan.

Walking though the campus brought back some good memories of the times we spent there. There are now some visible changes on the campus – a statue in front of Queen Elizabeth Hall, a fountain around Alumni Centre and a few other road construction work all around. The administration has been very busy.

My University was published on May 20th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the Academic, Observations category. There are currently 5 comments on this article so far.

The Best Small Library in America

A few days ago, I visited ‘the best small library in America 2010′, as selected by vote and inspection by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is none other than the Glen Carbon Centennial Library located a few miles away from the Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. The village of Glen Carbon itself is 19.3km square out of which 0.1km square is water. It has a population of about 12,000 people, was voted by CNNMoney.com in 2009 as the No. 91 on its “Best Places to Live” list, and is located 30 minutes by car across the Mississippi River.

Location

Surrounded by oriental artworks and located in a lush area of the quiet residential area, the library, which is actually quite small, stands formidable; and what strikes first as one makes an entrance is the warm glow of lights, and the aesthetics of the structure. At the entrance is a bronze cast of two little children reading a book. A little further in is a fireplace in front of which are two comfortable sofas and a coffee table. Then there is the warm smile of the members of staff at the help desk who are ready to give all necessary assistance to the visitor. “I am from Nigeria,” I said, in response to her almost curious look. “Nice to have you here,” She responded, and proceeded to attend to my co-visitor who had brought me to check out a few books and movies.

For a small library, the Glen Carbon Centennial is in a class of its own. If we do not wrongly assume that the current state of the art design of its interior is because of the cash prize it got from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for being the best small library of 2010, it is easy to see why it would be deserving of such recognition. With a warm staff, a conducive environment, organised shelves and a well-stocked store of books, a children’s playground, nice and spacious reading spaces, and a fireplace, it effortlessly lends itself to inspiration expected from such a reading and studying space. The materials in this small building will run into tens of thousands, but there is no one source of verifying such information immediately. There was however a recently published feature of the library in the Library Journal issue of February 2010. Although meant to be purchased for $2.00 at the desk, the woman at the desk made free colour copies for me.

Humble beginnings

The library started in 1975 as The Glen Carbon Reading Center in the “Hex Building”, and is now housed in a 15,000 square foot facility opened in October 2004, located adjacent to the town’s historic covered bridge. The doorway to the children’s area of the library resembles an entrance to a coal mine, with rough-hewn timbers holding up a corrugated tin roof overhanging the door. Lighting fixtures and other accents, such as exposed wood beams and rafters throughout the building incorporate this theme in a state-of-the art facility that includes glassed-in study rooms, a community room, children’s program room, wireless access, teen area and twenty-three patron access computer workstations.

After less than 30 minutes looking through the facilities and the warm services of its workers, it is easy to see why it was voted the best small library (a distinction that comes with $15,000 cash prize) by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I recommend it any day for anyone who ever finds themselves in Edwardsville, or for writers and researchers looking for where to donate their books, research materials and papers. With a motto of “More than you expect,” the small library has grown in leaps and bounds over the years although the community hasn’t grown much. In the past two years, according to an article in the Library Journal, 2,313 new borrowers have registered, more than 35 percent of the patron total of 6430. Even the door count has risen from 33 percent from 2007. And for a library that runs on only fifteen librarians out of which only five on the management team are full time, it is an impressive feat. The place is open seven days a week for a total of 64 hours.

“Glenn Carbon seems to be doing everything right,” said one of the Best Small Library in America judges. “Glen Carbon has the most going on in every criterion,” said another. “I really tried to keep creativity, replication by other libraries, and innovation foremost. Glen Carbon got the most points,” said a third. The only other libraries in the places surrounding Edwardsville are the Edwardsville Public Library and the Lovejoy Library. The former is one of the oldest libraries in the state (“dedicated” in 1906) located in downtown Edwardsville, while the latter is located on the campus of the Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, established in 1965, and named after the abolitionist newspaper editor, Elijah Lovejoy, who was shot and killed while defending his press from a pro-slavery mob in Alton, Illinois in 1837.

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First Published on 234NEXT on May 1, 2010. Reprinted here for archival purposes. Pictures can be found here.

The Best Small Library in America was published on May 20th, 2010, with the tags , , , , , under the Academic, adventures, Observations category. There are currently 1 comment on this article so far.