From this side of the world

While a suicide bomber from a terrorist group set himself and a handful of empty cars ablaze in Nigeria, Canadians took to the streets and set cars and shops ablaze over…hockey.  Really, that happened? Now, I might expect that kind of behavior from LA Laker or Dodger fans, but Canadians?

As my former coworker would often say, “It’s not that serious.”  I would say this to both sports fans and religious zealots alike, since sports fans often seem to treat sport as a religion, and religious zealots have yet to grasp the concept of “to each their own” in this world of 6 billion plus.

But really, isn’t there enough violence in this world already? Why must one destroy the clean, safe, well-functioning public services that some governments actually provide? If you don’t want those services, we’ll take them here in Nigeria where the life expectancy is 47 years, where only half of the population has access to potable water and sanitation, where 1 in 10 infants die at birth, and where polio has yet to be eradicated (Nigeria is the only nation in Africa that has never eradicated the disease).

The monument pictured above stands at the entrance of the city. It says "You Are Welcome" which is a common Nigerian greeting. There is construction going on in the background, which is common in this new capital city, but sadly, many constructions projects appear as though they were started a long time ago and abandoned never to be completed. 

On a more positive note, Sumit and I finalized our list of deliverables and will present it to the FCT UBEB Chairman for his sign-off this afternoon. This project is exactly what I wanted and envisioned from an international development assignment, and I couldn’t be working with nicer people. In the office, we are brought coffee and crackers every day by a nice young woman, and when I complemented her dress, she offered to buy me one. I told her I would obviously pay for a dress.  

Despite not having much, Nigerians always appear well dressed. The men are in pants and collared shirts or robes if they are Muslim, and the women wear bright colorful dresses. The money they do have seems to be spent on things, namely clothing, electronics, and cars as opposed to infrastructure (i.e. their house or office).

Yesterday we drove almost two hours to a town called Kuje where we visited another "model"  school with an e-learning center. The school was not as developed as the Jabi school we visited the day before. The town lacks paved roads and the school has no internet connection whatsoever. Sumit and I also saw 60 children crowded together in one classroom. They were nearly sitting on top of one another. When the students attend computer class five of them must share one laptop. Divide this by their 40 minute class and each child has at most 8 minutes of hands on laptop use. I asked our client whether the length of the school day could be extended, especially since the children enjoy learning on the computer. Currently, the school day runs from 8am to 2pm. Our client replied that the length of school is set by the government and cannot be changed, at least not without going through a lot of bureaucracy.  

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