My Holiday In Nigeria
I've just returned from vacation in Nigeria, the most populous African nation. Nigeria is African's biggest petroleum producer. Apart from the oil, Nigeria is, in addition, blessed with great weather. The weather is really great it is possible all year round, to farm. The weather potential is so enormous that if exploited, Nigeria could make all the food it needs for local consumption as well as for export. Nigeria's placed on the earth makes it possible to have exactly twelve hours of day and twelve hours of nighttime. This remains the same round. The abundant solar energy is able to light up power other industrial equipments as well as the whole country. I really could not but admire this populous nation using its natural endowment.
I loved my interaction with nature as balmy wind lightly caressed past my body in constant rhythm as I sat down in the cool of the evening at the balcony of my house. The evening sky was very bright as I could make out the contours of the twinkling stars. I started to think back in the UK, the past time that I sat in the open weather free of top but just my boxer slacks. After I went swimming in an indoor pool, that has been lately. I gently looked down to the newspaper within my hand as I admired the sky. As Nigeria was only preparing to go into general election for its political leaders, all of the pages were talking about politics. Nigerian politics has come to say the least. Politics is a very profitable job in Nigeria. It is often said that a Nigerian lawmaker brings in about twice the salary of the American President. I have no evidence of this but it's generally considered to be true from records that are available. It is nearly impossible for anybody to inhabit a political standing in Nigeria and to remain poor. This can be the reason why many people perpetrate all kinds of atrocities to be in political power or office.
I made a decision to go back to Port Harcourt. It enabled me to see more of the countryside and also gave me greater knowledge of the living state of a typical Nigerian although it turned out to be a choice that is silly. My bus to Port Harcourt left Jos by 7.00am. The road journey was bumpy, to say the least. I was amazed at the state of disrepair of some expanses of the federal trunk roads. I detected the rate of vehicles is determined by desire of the motorist to get to destination as fastest as the driver could. Consequently speed limits signs were never noticed, or to be unfair obeyed. I had been eager to see our bus driver kept a maximum rate of 120km per hour on the good stretches of the trail. I really believe the speed limit could have become the instruction from the bus company. On the poor stretches of the road, the bus crawled. Because Nigeria is blessed with weather that is favorable, most vehicle owners do not ensure that the air-conditioning systems of these vehicles have been in good working order as the standard thing could be to roll down the wind screens for fresh air to flow to the vehicles. That was the situation in our bus. However, I made sure to roll the wind screens up on the dusty, earthy expanses of the road. That wasn't enough as I found when we stopped to stretch our legs and also to have a rest. I was scared at what I saw on the kerchief and wiped my face with my white handkerchief. My face had been covered with brownish-black dust. I thought that was insane. Well, there's nothing I could do they don't whine and as this can be the life of all Nigerians.
I noticed that vehicles would cross into the lanes of oncoming vehicles as a way to avoid some poor part of road as we advanced on our journey. It was a routine scene on all the roads, even on important all Naijanews motorways (expressways) with median barriers dividing oncoming from ongoing vehicles. In doing this, the vehicles did not even use the head light to warn oncoming vehicles of the hazard it posed. It was a standard scene to determine vehicles swerve from one lane to another so that you can avoid some pot-holes. I had been so frightened and prayed to God to take me home safely. I wondered if other passengers felt like me as they appear to be relaxed with all Naija breaking news the driving pattern.
We discovered some assembly of people traveling median ahead of us as I got nearer to my destination. Someone in our bus indicated that the injury could have occurred. He was right. I discovered that a bus only like ours had merely somersaulted into the median as our driver slowed to a creep on the scene. Some volunteers had managed to bring out the occupants of the bus and placed them on the ground. While these volunteers were trained on emergency first aid nor the way to deal with accident casualties, in the event of spinal cord injuries they were not unwilling to assist.
As I sat down at my balcony, my eyes suddenly opened and found out that I'd dozed off momentarily. It was now dark as I really could see the bright skies with its half moon and the stars that are great and small adding colour to its flamboyance. One thing that was obvious was the sound of electrical generating sets in virtually every compound. So individuals had to improvise their own electricity using generators, like normal, there is no electricity. As a result, I also pictured the upsurge in carbon footprint besides the intolerable noise pollution due to these generating sets. It is obvious the noise pollution raising the mortality rate and thereby also raises the stress levels in individuals. I wondered why a nation like Nigeria should be struggling with providing electricity that was stable for its citizens. I recall a one time Nigerian head of state being quoted as saying that the issue with Nigeria is not cash, but what to do with the cash it's. Nigeria has so much money that it doesn't have the knowledge of what to do with the cash. Is this statement still the case today Naija news paper? Well, when it is, then Nigerians need electricity. But how can this feat be recognized for Nigerians, when some Nigerian businessmen make a lot of bundle from the importation of power generators? The long nights of darkness of the common Nigerian is the bundle of the Nigerian businessman. This just means the long nights of captivity will continue.
It is now 6.00am in the morning and the sun is just rising as usual. Some kids from the neighbouring compounds have merely come to my compound to fetch some water from my water tap. These neighbours are the ones that could not afford to drill treatment and their own water borehole and so have to depend at the mercy of other great neighbours. It is because the government has failed to supply the citizens with water that is portable. Every individual must sort out her or his very own water conditions. As I looked out through the open glass of my window, I wondered the aftereffect of the numerous water boreholes scattered throughout the town. news on Naija Would these boreholes lead to collapse or subsidence? No one has given some serious consideration to the after effect of this phenomenon. The responsibility of the after effect would for sure remainder on the shoulders of the government for the failure to supply pipe borne water to the citizens.
I travelled to the previous capital of Nigeria Lagos and its commercial nerve center. Lagos is densely populated. In order to avoid the traffic jam in Lagos, commuters and motorists get up as early as 4.00am to leave for their office. I had a meeting in a location called Ikoyi in Lagos. From my hotel room, it should take a mean of thirty minutes if there clearly was no traffic jam. To be sure I meet my meeting schedule, I requested my driver to pick me up by 6.00am for the meeting. Despite my precaution, I spent two hours on the road and got to my meeting venue by 8.05am. I wondered to myself how individuals could live this way: going to work by 4.00am and returning by 10.00am all in a bid to prevent traffic jam. My thoughts went back to London, where the transport system is very well organized despite the quite high variety of commuters. So what is the problem with Lagos Nigerian commercial center, and many other cities in Nigeria Punch Newspaper/?
It's extremely simple to see in Nigeria that the private sector drives the transportation business. Train transport in Nigeria has crippled to some dead end. The primary sources of transportation are the cabs as well as the buses. These are all owned by private people. To make use of a cab or the bus to work means that someone's shirt might get torn or stained with dirt by the time the one gets to the office. Therefore, folks choose to drive to the office. Imagine to driving to work in precisely the same peak period where every person in a thickly inhabited city revert. The end result would be traffic jam. This is the situation in Lagos and many cities in Nigeria. The government's failure to offer way and transport infrastructure of transportation means that each person would own a car. The result: wear and tear of traffic jam that is eternal and roads.
I left Lagos. My going to Abuja was just incidental because I did not get a flight to Jos, where I'd intended to visit with some family members. I needed to fly to Abuja and link Jos from there. It gave me the ability to look around the capital scene, which is stunning by all standards.
Jos is to the Nigerian central belt hillside situated on the Jos Plateau remaining at about 1,200 meters above sea level. The Jos weather somehow resembles a European summer that is mild. The elements is wonderful and wonderful. Besides the recent spiritual clashes in the area, Jos had remained a haven for visitors and foreign tourists. As a consequence of the prevalent religious clashes, the region has been militarised with military check points at every 1km. The enjoyment of holiday was quickly replaced with apprehension. I enjoyed some local delicacy and managed to catch fun looking at the country side.
Many of these accident victims were still moving their bodies and some were entirely motionless. I automatically said these individuals need to be evacuated promptly to the hospital. A voice from our bus said, 'who will do this? No body is going to get ready to utilize her or his vehicle to take the casualties.' I inquired if there were any numbers to emergency ambulance service. No body seemed to be aware of such a emergency number. The driver of our bus suggested that we might see some staff of the Federal Road Safety Corps on the road along our destination to notify of the injury. So, we drove off slowly trusting that we find help for the casualties along our way. That wasn't to be as we didn't find any help on our way.