Youth Interrupted, episode VI

It’s a nice Sunday afternoon here; I’m at home listening to some nice jazz and chatting to friends via msn a.k.a the modern miracle of technology. I should be content at this stage but I am not. After all, my stomach is full; weather is nice; I don’t have to do much at the moment; so why this disconcertion?
At the beginning of the week just gone by, I finished my exams to my delight and set out on an interesting journey of binge drinking and pulling. Of course this write up isn’t about my pulling (er, alright I didn’t pull the ones I wanted to pull) but I will confess to having a good time. As the night grew old, I suddenly realised that I was the only person of colour left in the pub; save for a black girl who was a member of our party, and an Asian (Indian sub-continent) boy who had brought a Chinese girl on a date…odd eh? I’ll be honest I began to feel uncomfortable, and I think the other girl started to feel this way too. As the pub staff started to herd the revellers to the sitting area on the lower level, the black girl declared that she had had enough and needed to home; naturally my chivalrous nature came to fore when I insisted that I escort her home knowing fully well that I would not be let back in the club. As we walked down the lane, I noticed the Asian boy and Chinese girl walk hand in hand ahead of us. Now I won’t go into details of if I went straight home from there but what struck me at the time was the fact that all the coloured people left. Why?
Later on in the week, I resumed work again and to my chagrin was advised that we (foreigners) were not allowed to work overtime “simply because they could not be bothered to get someone to monitor when people were doing over the hours allowed on their visas”. What a load of tripe!!! Here we have people inciting religious intolerance, sponging off the government and working illegally and you stop people from working? Ludicrous! Naturally, I’ve put in the applications for a new job to begin ASAP…sigh the joys of being a student!!
In the last three days, I have received more information (telephone calls and emails) off my old contacts in Nigeria more than all the while I have been in this country. I found it rather odd to be honest, considering the fact that these people hadn’t as much as written to me in the last two years. Perhaps I’ve been fortunate and have hit the news for some innovation I am yet to know about. Or worse, Madge came to Nigeria and realising I wasn’t in the country; turned right around and left…the outrage!! Anyway, of all the calls I received the most disturbing came from one of the chaps I used to work with in Lagos whom I shall refer to as BH. Now not that BH and I were particularly great friends or not, but after two years he rings me at four am in the morning for a chat, long distance. Even more intriguing was the direction of the conversation which (sparing the gory details) basically indicated that I was lucky to away as “that (this) is the environment that suits me best”! Whatever does that mean?
The events of the last week have caused me to reflect on my journey to this country and the life I once had. Peculiar to most travellers, one tends to question one’s decisions and ask the immortal question, did I make a mistake coming here? I reflect on my life past and the one I live now and I can’t seem to answer that question. I question my disillusionment at what I have found here and subsequently my actions leading up to coming here and even those of now. Why did we all leave the pub that night? Is it so unheard of that overtime will not be given to international students, after all; the proviso for a British student visa remains financial independence? Perhaps paranoia explains my reaction to the sudden contact received from home, after all Nigerians are constantly calling and visiting each other. In the process of living in this country, perhaps I have forgotten already. Anyway, in the next couple of entries of my blog, I am going to visit the events of the last couple of years leading up to how I got here. Perhaps I need to remind myself before I forget!!

Ngozi to the rescue!!!

"To confirm to all and sundry that there was hardly a teacher in sight, the pupils would excitedly rush to their windows (which had no louvers by the way!) On sighting passers-by and whistle loudly or make catcalls as if they were characters from Walt Disney’s “Jungle Book”. And at such moments I would say to myself, “Thank God for the privilege He has provided for our children to attend private schools up to the University level”. Iyabo Ladipo (Genevieve Magazine, May/June '06)
The quote above was Genevieve Magazine columnist Iyabo Ladipo's take on the public school system in Nigeria. What got me in her debatably sensible piece was the last sentence of the quote above. Privilege indeed, what privilege? What a stupid woman I thought. These amongst other things are the root causes of the problems surrounding the Nigerian question. This idea of being removed, dissociated from the rabble and grime of society informs the battered image we suffer in this globalized world we find ourselves nowadays. That silly notion of being able to flee any future difficulties solely on the basis of either owning a British passport, or a house on Sloane square, or both! What makes her different from the arrogant baboon of a vice-president Atiku; who so condescendingly declared that "he wasn't fighting for democracy for himself, after all he had enough to provide for generations of his family” or some other stupidity? Perhaps I am being unfair comparing her to such an extreme case. It is after all common to most societies, this distance between class as can be seen in contemporary affairs here in the UK where most believe that the ruling class; too far removed from society are not listening to their concerns on immigration. Of course they (the masses of the UK) may be right about that, but that doesn't hide or excuse the prevalence of xenophobia in the society. That said my opinion here is one of disgust and annoyance. Disgust at how many Nigerians have lost the plot with reference to the intricacies of the Nigerian question and annoyance at their seeming arrogance towards this problem.
I finished my exams yesterday to my delight and celebrated well with my friends, staying in the student's union den for as long as we could (a record twelve hours we proudly declare); and a well deserved celebration it was considering the amount of work we put into our exams. Waking up this morning to sober reflections, I did feel thankful that I had the opportunity of a proper education and exposure. However, I realised at that point in time that education meant more than just digesting the theories sold to the world by Fukuyama and co. During conversation, one of the girls, slightly drunk decided to go into a monologue about what she had suffered in the hands of a "black” girl in a husband snatching incident; insisting that she meant me and the other black member of the group no offence as we were not like "that". So what were we like, I was tempted to ask. Were we not black? This, I realised is where education comes in. It isn't just about sitting in a class and getting top marks but about being able to decipher what is wrong from right, being able to function in society as a valuable member. Perhaps the girl didn't think all black people were like the girl from her experience but did her words mean anything else?
In 2004, TIME magazine named Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala one of the world's hero's; and rightly so. Not only is she doing the right thing with reference to the country's finances and economic mechanics, she has proved herself a true reformer by extending her influence to other part of the society's mechanics. Recently, Okonjo-Iweala made known her dissatisfaction of the aid process originally agreed at Gleneagles last year. She focused her attention on core factors for development she believes is most important. Education and the image of Nigeria in it's entirety. Unlike some other Nigerians who might look unto state school children with relief at their own luck (Iyabo Ladipo), this woman wants' to do something. As I have always ranted on about, education and youth empowerment is the key to Africa and indeed Nigeria's many issues. Discussing the future with a long lost friend who I’ve just discovered is also here in the UK for university, I declared my future ambition for Nigeria. Perhaps I like Okonjo- Iweala would be a hero to the rescue!!!

Unecessary elation from the tender mind of man!

Relax, it doesn't mean anything! It's just a silly habit I’ve come up with in recent times. I feel elated at the moment; funny thing is I really shouldn’t be considering the awful weather forecast for this weekend. The series of events of the last week or so have done it for me, I suppose!
I’ve just finished a two hour exam I didn’t actually prepare for but I surprisingly feel confident of what I put down. I will admit a certain weakness in contemporary British media (I honestly find the subject rather boring with no offence meant), but I seem to have written a sensible enough essay. I suppose the results at the end of the summer will confirm my input! Of course, it isn’t the exam that’s made me happy, it’s the fact that I only have one more to go and then it’s the summer holidays. Sigh. Paris, the Brecon jazz festival, Shaftsbury Avenue…I can’t wait! Oh and of course there’s Nigeria…hopefully!
I must admit my shame at the outcome of the third term brouhaha and my lack of confidence in the Nigerian system. As it turns out, the third term blunder has been rightly crushed; the Nigerian people around the world can shout hurrah and glimpse the glimmer of hope in the horizon…lord knows we need it! It was most distressing to see those awful photographs of Nigeria in this week’s TIME. As usual it was all woe and dire tidings peculiar to that part of the world, typically portrayed by the western media; but to be fair it did happen, didn’t it? Well perhaps this event of the amendment bill and the advent and passing of this test of democracy signals a positive dream of Nigeria taking its place amongst the developing nations of the world. As I tell my Nigerian friends here, no matter how well spoken you are or anglicized you can never be anything else asides from Nigerian.
Chatted on msn with Eniola and Jide yesterday looks like everyone will be home this year! It was nice to chat to Jide, haven’t spoken in ages…the miracles of modern technology. Funny how everyone seems to live abroad nowadays, terrible shame if you ask me! I wonder what I’ll do when the time comes to act; will I do the right thing or…..
It’s almost the end of term and I still haven’t devised an excuse for bailing out of going out with Liam, James and co. I suppose I’ve got all weekend to cook up an excuse…or just go!! On the other hand, have to see Mike and Rebecca when mike gets back from the download festival as they have a new cat…and home lol!
Must make it a point of duty to flog Ronke’s new venture when we go to Nigeria this year, it really is good work!!!