The Harmattan Hits Nigeria

The Harmattan Hits Nigeria
Originally uploaded by tuckergurl.

The Harmattan cover the sky in Nigeria with a thick haze. It is bad in Lagos but worse in Abuja, the capital city. I have not seen the sky in days. I miss it.

We spent two days in the capital city of Abuja. Seke thought it would be a good idea for me to see a part of Nigeria completely different from the craziness of Lagos. It seems that Lagos became too hectic and it was decided that Abuja should be the capital of Nigeria. Abuja is further North and appears to be more conservative. There is a larger Muslim community.  The traffic is a lot less crazy.

I have been writing a lot outside of my blog and it has made thinking of things to write here more difficult than usual. Not sure why.  People keep asking me what I have learned about myself on this journey and honestly, I am still on it so I can't really say. 

While here:

We went to a film conference in Abuja that was sort of lame. It is interesting though that black filmmakers are fighting for the same things all over the world. Though the Nigerian film scene is hot right now, the Nollywood scene is not filmmaking at it best. People make movies in a week, put them out, make a profit and turn around and do it all again. It is controlled by a small group of people. Filmmakers here want to make better films and want more money to do so. They want respect from the peers and respect from the world at large.  They want to be taken seriously and I for one can understand that one.

We had dinner with some ex-pats living in Abuja, friends of Seke. (I am so into the word ex-patriate. I am not sure why. It fascinates me.) We had really good red wine, the best I think I've had. Some of them have been in Nigeria waay too long and had a lot of criticisms. A lot. I later mentioned to Seke on the way home that one of his friends had a bit of an edge to them. It is one thing to criticize a country in a loving way but this guy clearly hated it and just would not admit it to himself.

To his defense, one woman did talk about how hard it can be to live in Nigeria. The corruption is every where. Cops stop you for no money and you know they want money. Everything is about money. The power goes out all the time. Some folks have regular water, a lot of people do not. These things are true. 

A random thought:  When I got back to Lagos I realized how much I had missed Seke's driver and his Phil Collins tape that he played over and over.

Tomorrow I leave for Ghana. I am there for a few days before I go back to New York. This is my last week away. In some ways it has gone by so fast. South Africa feels like months ago!

Comments

[beebs]

I cannot believe you are coming home in a little bit! Time flies too fast. Its funny what you wrote about personal writing vs. blogging and how sometimes the public foray can feel weird after having an intimate relationship with your writing. I go through huge vats of time where I only want to write to myself and the very thought of another human being seeing it seems dirty. These times are usually times of huge processing. It makes sense to me then that this trip would afford you a much more up close and personal dynamic with your own thoughts. BTW, I think the idea of you publishing a memoir is the best idea you have ever had- seriously! It would sell like hotcakes it would be prize worthy! ( I know I know that stuff is not suppose to matter but...)

much love and peace to you on your final days journeying. Enjoy your return to Ghana!

[sokari]

Hi Angela - I am the other half of the Mentoring project which Ore mentioned. I love your site and it would be great to have you on board

cheers

[jolayemi temitope]

please Nigerians i will like to know the name of the harmattan in nigeria