Journey Journal 3

6 March 2018

WELCOME TO NIGERIA

This large sign greeted me as I descended the escalator into Passport Control at the Arrivals area of the Lagos Murtala Mohammed Airport. I do not recall ever seeing a "Welcome to Nigeria" sign upon arrival previously when I arrived in Nigeria, but as it turned out this welcome sign was an indication of just how much the traveller's experience at this airport has changed for the better.

Within no more than 15 minutes we and hundreds of others, (three planeloads of people had arrived at this airport on three different flights at approximately the same time), were whisked through passport control by polite very efficient immigration officials. What? This was not the Nigeria I knew.

Apart from the baggage on my flight taking quite a while to emerge from the hole in the wall on to the carousel, the overall experience at this airport was nothing like the unpleasant airport experiences I had had in the past. In fact, this was my first time ever of having something of a pleasant experience at a Nigerian airport, and thus, it was definitely worthy of being acknowledged and reported, although of course the air conditioning in the airport terminal building wasn't working.

But this was a great experience nonetheless.

Going forward, the feeling that things have improved in Lagos grew stronger, this city where I grew up and lived in for most of the first few decades of my life, and about which I have had cause on various occasions to express frustration. The longer I stayed in and wandered through the city, the more the reasons for this feeling became more easily explained.

I wound up on the second evening sitting on the peaceful outdoor terrace of an establishment known as The George Lagos in upmarket Ikoyi, at the pool side, sipping a martini and surrounded on three sides by impeccably manicured gardens stylishly illuminated by mood lighting, with mild music in the background. My only worry in the world at that point in time was this - that had that brick wall at the far end of this magnificent garden been replaced by a view of the lagoon, with reflections of the city’s bright nightlights bouncing off the water's surface, the magic of this beautiful place would be complete. But as this was a location that was nowhere near the lagoon or the ocean, or any water body, there was no possibility of there ever being a waterfront view from The George Lagos. The fact that my mind had even wandered into the realm of fantasy and the surreal at all, speaks only of the enchantment I felt at that moment.

It is now my third day in Lagos, and like yesterday, it's hard to find anything to worry about. My biggest problem this morning was deciding on which FM radio station to tune my earphones into, and how I must go about satisfying this burning craving I'm having for puff-puff and hot buns.

So this is how worry-free and stress-free I am at the moment, and I am delighting in it. I'm enjoying being in Nigeria much more than I thought I would.

The city of Lagos itself does continue to spring surprises even for a hardened Lagosian like yours truly, with credentials as an old hand, and veteran long time resident. Now that my internet connection has been fully established, I expect to come back with more of these musings.

Journey Journal 2

Originally from March 2018

In the few days I have been in Lagos, the one time when there has been an interruption in electricity supply, the power was restored within 15 minutes, which surprised me. I was informed that the supply of power has been more consistent in recent times than it has been in years, including the period during my last visit here just three months ago.

During the drive home from the airport on the evening of my arrival, crossing the Third Mainland Bridge to the Island and Ikoyi, I had also noticed that all the street lights lining the entire route were blazing with light. and traffic flow was smooth and seamless; my thoughts at that moment were that things are now the way they are supposed to be, after having not been quite so for a long time. This trend towards improvement is very welcome, but there are some other things to be said.

Firstly and most importantly, the consequence of the absence of a maintenance culture in Nigeria is becoming increasingly more apparent. The focus seems to be on the construction of new roads, and shiny new buildings, while the already existing roads and structures are subject to neglect and are quietly falling into disrepair. The formerly upscale Onikan area of Lagos Island where the National Museum and the former Police Headquarters are located, and which is close to the former Governor's Mansion of colonial glory on the Marina, has deteriorated to such an extent that it was shocking to see; remembering the area as it was a mere twenty years ago.

On this same theme was my observation of the condition of some structures, in particular, those of historical importance / significance, which now look decrepit, derelict, decayed, abandoned, an eyesore and a cause of sadness to those whom had known those structures in their heyday.

Of particular note was the Independence Building at Tafawa Balewa Square, the 25 storey tower block significant in its historical importance as a structure built to commemorate the very independence of Nigeria itself, an independence won in the year immediately preceding the building's completion in 1961. I was terribly saddened yesterday when confronted with the reality of the appalling condition in which this is building currently.

Just last week, I read that a similar fate has befallen the famous, but now badly dilapidated Cocoa House in Ibadan, which had been built to make a proud statement about a time when Nigeria was the world's leading producer of cocoa. Each of these buildings were at one time or the other known as the 'tallest building in the Nigeria', when they were the pride of the country. Cocoa House in particular, was built entirely from the proceeds of cocoa production and was at the time of its completion in 1965, known as the tallest building in the whole of tropical Africa.

Another noteworthy example is the former Federal Secretariat office complex on Lawal Road, Dolphin Estate, Lagos, which is in a parlous state, with its facia, façade and all of its exterior fixtures and fittings ripped off.

Yes, I am aware that this extensive complex that is now in such a state of dilapidation is currently the subject of litigation, and that this has been so since 2012. But had the careful maintenance of national assets in Nigeria been treated as a matter of great importance as they ought to be, the court in the case might have in the course of the proceedings. made an interlocutory order, even of its own accord, that the maintenance of the premises be continued and sustained, with appropriate supplementary orders and directions as to the apportionment between the parties of the costs of that maintenance, the purpose of the order being to avoid such dilapidations to the premises that have now occurred.

It is incongruous and ironic that immediately surrounding what can fairly be described as the skeleton of the once beautiful Federal Secretariat complex, have been erected several gleaming, brand new, glass covered tower blocks, standing in sharp contrast to the secretariat's skeletal remains.

Then there is the Murtala Mohammed Airport terminal building itself. This is a structure that was modelled after Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands and was commissioned only in 1979; but due to (and because of) this very same lack of a maintenance culture in Nigeria, it is the Murtala Mohammed Airport building that looks and feels like the older of the two airports. Schiphol as an airport has existed for more than a hundred years and the current terminal building was opened as far back as in 1967, but you wouldn't know it, because every aspect of that terminal building still seems new and well maintained. It's all about the maintenance.

I could go on and on citing examples of shiny new towers today, and spanking new roads and highways that seem doomed to become dilapidated wrecks in the not too distant future, but I shall not do so, because this might appear to be too much of a pessimistic view.— in Lagos, Nigeria.