Tuesday 15 February 2011
After months of preparation, I finally started my journey from Nigeria to Norway this week, together with three friends of mine.
Monday the 14th of February 2011, we arrived at our first destination: Lagos in Southern Nigeria. We first flew from Brussels to Amsterdam and then directly to the Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
The first thing that struck us was the huge crowd of people; it looked as if all the inhabitants of the country were at the same place! But when you know that Lagos is the second biggest city of Africa with about eleven million inhabitants, it’s not so surprising.
Lagos is also the biggest economical centre of Nigeria so you can imagine that there’s a lot of traffic in the city. The vehicles are motorised but they move very slow. And moreover, there are absolutely no rules at all on the roads! From the moment we got into the car to take us away from the airport, the only thing you hear is the klaxon of the car. I don’t think you can call those people drivers; they are just people who shift vehicles from one place to another.
We also saw gun-trotting men in uniforms everywhere in the city. They are there to guarantee your security, which is necessary in a country such as Nigeria. The country is well-known for its insecurity, for example because of the rebels. That’s also the reason why we decided to stay in cheap hotels.
During our preparation of this trip we made a planning of what to visit and when. We decided to stay away from the big, crowded cities but to enjoy the countryside which has a more peaceful atmosphere. That’s also the case with the beaches… there are numerous beaches but we avoided the most popular ones.
Kisses and till soon!
Lieze
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Today we visited the National Theatre and Gallery, the centre for performing arts in Nigeria. This theatre is located at Iganmu, which is about a half hour drive from Lagos. The building is really an architectural delight to the eyes and worthwhile visiting!
Thursday 17 February 2011
At 8 am, we left our hotel and travelled further to the north of Lagos to Abeokuto where we visited the Olumo Rock, one of the most popular tourist destinations of Nigeria. This rock provided sanctuary to the Egba people during an inter-tribal war in the 19th century.
While travelling we could enjoy the beautiful nature of the country. There is a long stretch of natural, tropical and rain forests but at the same time, there’s also a lot of environmental pollution because of the oil recovery. The export of crude oil is the most important economic activity of the country but it has bad consequences for the environment. There are oil leaks everywhere and this is also a threat for the drinking water.
Although Nigeria is a developing country, there are a lot of sophisticated machines to dig up the oil. That’s because Shell, the oil giant, invested a lot in the industry. But the presence of Shell hasn’t been without criticism. According to an article, the company is accused of environmental pollution in the Niger-delta.
Next to the oil recovery is the agriculture very important in Nigeria. Almost 70% of the working population is active in this sector. You can notice this very well when you’re in the country: there are farmers everywhere working very hard. The main reason is the bad education system. The Nigerians are low educated and 1 to 3 Nigerians can’t read or write. The biggest difference between the country and the city is the position of women. In cities, they are quite independent of men and it’s mostly the women who provide an income. They can occupy important functions such as lawyers or ministers. But at the same time, they can’t request their passport themselves; they need a man to do this for them.
Else in the country, women still have the traditional role of housewife and mother and there’s strong poverty. A big problem is the weak governance and corruption in the country. And even thought the government set up a program to reform the situation and the economy grows, the benefits don’t reach the population.
In Nigeria, there are about 375 different nations. They have each their own language and culture but during our trip we noticed that music and dance are very important for each nation. When there’s an event or festivity, it’s celebrated with traditional music and dances.
Another important aspect of the Nigerian culture is the use of your left hand, which they consider to be impure. So when you hand over money or food it’s very important to do it with your right hand, otherwise you may be ignored.
I think you can imagine that all this caused a big culture shock for all four of us but after a few days we got used to it and we really enjoyed our draught through this West African country. I’m already looking forward to next week for the next part of our voyage!
Good night!
Lieze
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