ktravula – a travelogue!

Silence

I have nothing to say, so I’m saying nothing.

But, the ingenious gas stations in Lagos now take fifty naira extra if you should dare come there without your car. I still don’t understand the logic. I spend my own efforts to walk about a mile from my house to the station, keg in hand, and I get to pay fifty naira extra? Why? “That’s how it it sir. If you had come with your car, we won’t have asked you for it.”

And, my blog – I hear – has been inaccessible since several hours. Why? Bluehost has gone bollocks for a few hours. Database issues etc. How is that my concern? Yes, I’m contacting my lawyers to sue them for emotional distress and the number of readers lost during the interregnum. Oh, I forgot I’m still in Nigeria. Sigh.

Plus, I’ve written one new poem – after such a long time. It was a needed release.

I’ve also been staring at descending airplanes close to my house. Air France, British Airways, Arik, The Nigerian, KLM etc. They all pass by at thirty minutes intervals during the day, and ten to fifteen minutes interval at night. I kinda like it. It beats bird watching, and I keep imagining who is in each of them, and what is going through their minds, some of them arriving in Nigeria either for the first time, or for the first time in years. So many dreams in the belly of an aircraft.

Plus, all the other pictures from Badagry that I wanted to share with you are still locked in the belly of my Dell. Tomorrow, maybe, and a few other interesting guest-posts. Watch out.

I did tell you I had nothing to say, right? I hope you had a nice day. I did. See you later.

Random Week/Nigeria

Talking with Ben about starting a business in Nigeria has reminded me once again of the problems that mitigate against successful enterprises in Nigeria. The chief is still electricity. Then security. Why do we have guards at our gates in Nigeria? I’ve never asked myself that question. Now, I can answer it. I think it is from the absence of a right to bear arms. If everyone had guns, we won’t need to pay people to watch over our houses. And now I believe that just mentioning to an intending immigrant/visitor to the country the fact that most residential houses in industrial areas of the country have guards that watch over them at night could be a very strong deterrent. In any case, just like the problem of electricity, water or good roads, it is a failure of government.

A second victory was in one moment of magical discovery, that in Nigeria the Press is actually more responsible, and responsive than the police. Maybe a little tyrannical as well at times, but they’re usually on the side of the people. So in a moment of epiphany while reeling out the things to remember if one wants to move to Nigeria as an expatriate, I said to Ben that if an expatriate was to ever be in any kind of trouble while in Nigeria, he should call a journalist first, before calling the police. Thinking about it again now, I’ve discovered that newspapers in Nigeria should actually adopt it as a public brand. Police cars here in the US go around with the large writing on the body of their car “When in trouble, dial 911”. It’s there for everyone to see, and even three year olds in America today know the short code in case any bad thing happens. Think about something like that on the front page of all newspapers in Nigeria every day. “When you’re in trouble, call 419” or any other easily-memorable number. The truth is that the police are held more accountable by the media than by the politicians, and there is a chance of redress if said victim brings a journalist along to the police station while reporting an incident. It works even better for expatriates/foreigners.

Don’t call the police first – they’re not your friend. Call a journalist!

_______________

PS:

I got a mobile phone at last. It is a T-mobile, and it gives me all I want from a phone. So far, so good. The best part of it is the answering machine with which I can receive messages when I’m not in a position to talk – which is like most of the days that I teach.
Western Union has not responded to my request.
I have sent out postcards to all who asked for them, and I will send some more this week.
I’m still seeking more guest-bloggers. I like the exciting idea of sharing and exchanging ideas this way.
The post I made last week about my friends has now been removed, regrettably. Lesson learnt: respect other people’s need for privacy, and never assume anything.
After a lot of fumbling around, and goading from a persistent friend, I have now solved the problem of blog comment editing, thanks to WordPress. Anyone who leaves comments will have up to five minutes after said comment is submitted to edit its content, or request a deletion. I like the idea.