In brief, I am enjoying my stay in Nigeria. Akwanga, Nasarawa State, Nigeria is very different from my last position in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, Ghana. I thought that weather would be very similar because the latitude is much the same. However, I have found that it is very different - it is more humid, greener, cooler. The rainy seasons follow similar patterns, but the storms don't seem to be as severe here. When it rains, it seems to be a more steady rain that lasts longer though.
Outside of my house in Akwanga, which is on the College of Education campus, there are fields that were cultivated as soon as the rains started. Now there is corn (maize) taller than me with lovely ears ripening on each plant. The maize is interspersed in the field with yam, a tuber, with lots of green leaves showing above ground. Nearby are groundnuts (peanuts), beans, and all the other things that are grown here. With all this growth taking place, there is hope that prices will drop at the market soon. However, right now, the old crops are nearing the end so prices are very high. We used to buy three yams for N 500 - now the same yams cost N 750 or more. We were told the other day that the new yams are hitting the market soon and that will bring the prices down as there will be a glut on the market. Eriye says that that new yams are not as sweet though because they contain too much water.
Work is keeping me busy. We had a major struggle getting an internet service here on the campus. The internet was provided originally by a company that seemed to be cheating the College of funds in the student registration process they were providing. There are legal implications to what happened, but the result for me was the loss of the internet. The ICT Unit started sourcing for a replacement, but unfortunately just about the time that I thought the other service would end. As a result we spent almost a month without any access while the new ISP was paid and the new service was installed. There were a couple of problems encountered during the installation that slowed the process. But finally, on 01 July, we came back online. Unfortunately, there is hardly anyone on the campus right now to make use of the service - a good thing for me because I am able to make use of almost all the bandwidth myself.
The campus is empty because all of the students were sent home about three weeks ago. A female student was hit by a motorcycle and then killed by a car on the highway outside the campus. There have been too many deaths on that stretch of road but nothing seems to move the government to install speed bumps or some other safety measure to protect pedestrians. This particular death for some reason caused the entire student body to riot. They started on the street by burning the car that had killed the student. They also burned a tree across the road to block traffic. Police were called. Things seemed to quiet some but then started over again. The students attacked the Provost, vandalized his house and property and burned 7 vehicles in front of his house. Everything seemed to be directed at the Provost, though, so I didn't feel threatened at all. During the rioting two students were shot and wounded, though I suspect that they just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and were not the specific targets of any shooting by the police. By the end of the day all the students were sent home and cleared out of the hostels by the police. And from then until now, Akwanga has been the calmest place that I can imagine. There has been no projection yet of when classes will resume. By now I suspect that this term will be cancelled, meaning that the serious students have lost quite a bit because of this action.
On a more personal note, in April I renewed the acquaintance of a young lady that I had met when I was first working in Port Harcourt, Nigeria back in 2002. After spending some time together, we decided that we wanted to marry and set the wedding date for 13 June. The day before we went to the courthouse to ensure that everything was in order and to meet the magistrate who would conduct our court wedding. When we met him, we found out that he was travelling to Jos on 13 June and that he had no knowledge that a wedding was scheduled for that day. He asked if we could move the wedding ahead to that afternoon. Luckily, Eryie's maid of honour had already left her home in Makurdi to join us so we were able to proceed that afternoon. There were the four of us in the wedding party, with about 30 viewers from those that just hang around the courthouse hoping for something to happen. So we were actually married on 12 June and had a celebration at our house on 13 June instead.A funny thing about the change in plans affected the Director of my department. He is a very good man for making social visits and providing that sort of support. On Friday morning he went to the courthouse and waited for us. He stayed there for about an hour before finding out that there was no wedding that day. We really appreciated his effort, and in retrospect wish that we had told more people about what had happened. We were trying to keep things quiet and private - partly because I could not afford to feed all the people that might have come if a broader invitation had been issued. The funny part of it all is that if we had not gone to check on things the day before, we would have been sitting there with the Director waiting for a magistrate who would not be coming.
And that is life in Akwanga for now. You will notice that my writing is more about "we" than about "me" now - the change that comes with having someone with whom to share life again.
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