The 271st good thing about Lagos: A new LDS Stake in Lagos

My regular blog readers know that I am a Mormon, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  My church has many members here in Lagos and it must be growing.   The church has been organized into two Stakes here in Lagos, and last Sunday members of both Stakes gathered for a conference where a third Stake was organized.  (An LDS Stake is like a Catholic diocese -- an administrative unit that consists of a number of congregations which are organized geographically.)

Because the Stake building is full when there is just one stake gathering, we knew it would be stretched to the limit with both stakes in attendance.  The meeting was scheduled to begin at 10, and I heard that people were arriving at 7 AM.  We got there just before 8:30 and the main building was full.

They had set up tents out all over the parking lot with video projections from the podium.  They actually had a good sound system and the video worked.  There were strong fans outside, so actually we ended up being more comfortable outside under the tent than inside the building.  There's no AC in this building, so, with it as packed as it was, it got pretty warm in there.  I don't know why this picture of Brent came out looking so strange -- it's a normal picture, but when I put it into blogger it got all distorted.

We are now members of the new Stake, the Lagos South Stake. 

There were lots of missionaries on hand to hand out pamphlets and answer questions.  When we go to Stake Conference, which is on the mainland, our company requires us to go in the bullet-proof vehicle and with policeman and security detail.  We think this is exercising much more caution than is necessary on a Sunday morning, as the troublemakers are usually sleeping off their Saturday night by then.  But one of our company security guys has come with us before to Stake Conference and, instead of napping in the car with the driver and policemen, he attended the meeting.  He's said before how much he enjoyed our church and after this meeting he had lots of questions and said it was all very interesting.  We told him about how all these new Stake leaders that were put in place had regular jobs and their church responsibilities were taken on as volunteer/lay positions.  They would not receive a salary for their church work.  He thought that was amazing.  There was talk in the meeting about LDS temples and the hope expressed that someday a temple would be built in Lagos.  The security guy asked questions about the temple and said that he thought he would like to join our church so someday he could go to the temple.  So we got his contact information to pass on to the missionaries so he could learn more about it.

We love associating with these Nigerian members of the church.  They have a wonderful spirit and excitement about the gospel.  My American LDS friends may be interested to know that I could almost count on my fingers the number of white people in this gathering of thousands. The reorganization was assisted by two black church authorities, one from Kenya and one from Nigeria.  All the members of Stake presidencies of the three Stakes are black Nigerians.  Though the church may seem awfully white in much of the United States, here it is entirely a different color -- and that's a very great thing!  It was exciting to be here for this evidence of the growth of the LDS Church in Nigeria.

The 270th good thing about Lagos: Celebrating Women's History with the US Ambassador to Nigeria

Women's History Month is in March, but the American Women's Club had a delayed celebration in May this year.  Some dedicated members planned a very nice luncheon with the US Ambassador to Nigeria, the Honorable Terence McCulley.  He gave a nice speech and hosted a question and answer interactive session.

Our Lagos Consul General Joe Stafford offered a toast to the women present.

Recognized Nigerian women were present.  Below is a photo of a new senator-elect, Chief (Mrs.) Oluremi Tinubu.  Her husband is a former governor of Lagos State.  We also recognized the out-going Deputy Governor of Lagos State, H. E. Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan.  Women are making a contribution in the Nigerian political process and I think that's a really good thing. 

We had a nice lunch and, as women will do when they gather, had a nice chat.

There was a changing of the guard this past summer in the US State Dept. representatives to Nigeria.  Our Ambassador and Consul General previously were both represented by black American women.  Now we have white American men in their places, but they still seem to be really great men, good leaders and they know how to appreciate women, so they'll do just fine.

The 269th good thing about Lagos: Royal Wedding celebrations

Aren't these royal wedding cookies beautiful?  Too beautiful to eat, though they were on display this past week at the meeting of my monthly book group.  Our hostess was British and she had just returned from England (where she got the cookies) which was still reeling from the excitement of the wedding of Will and Kate.  Discussing the wedding continues to be a subject of conversation with women here.  It really was fabulous, wasn't it?  We were in Nairobi on wedding day, but I insisted that we return to the hotel at noon so I could watch the festivities live.  Brent watched for a bit before taking a nap, but I reveled in all the celebrations.   There were a number of wedding watching parties here in Lagos, where expat women dressed up for the occasion and had English food, wore tiaras and did many things to really get into the celebration of the big day.  Though Americans and British women were the ones I knew that were most getting into the excitement of the wedding, I think Nigerian women were also interested in the event.  I don't think they hold the years of British colonial rule in Nigeria against this beautiful young couple in love.  I wish Will and Kate a long and joyful future together.   

The 268th good thing about Lagos: African book group

For many years, wherever I've lived, I've been a member of a book group.  I enjoy reading different literature with the intention of discussing it with others.  It impels me to read things that I likely wouldn't pick up on my own and expands my understanding by hearing what others have gleaned from their reading.  I still have a couple of book groups in Houston that I return to when I'm in town for one of their discussions.  Just after I moved here I joined a book group similar in scope to others that I've participated in -- reading a book a month with a broad variety of literature.  It's a great group that I continue to enjoy. 

This past year I joined another book group that operates on a different scale and it's been a rewarding, though sometimes consuming, experience.  The African Book Group has been in existence since 1984.  It's a subscription book group (meaning members pay an annual fee to participate) and maintains its own library.  And it meets weekly, every Thursday afternoon, which is quite a commitment.  We don't read a book each week, sometimes we watch a movie or have a speaker or discuss something that requires less preparation time, as last week when, for the first time, we reviewed a blog about someone's experiences in Lagos.  All the books discussed are either by African authors or about Africa.  The members of the group come from a great variety of experience and background, with Nigerian members as well as expats of many nationalities.  I've enjoyed learning from and hearing of the experiences of the women in this group.  We recently had a luncheon along with an Annual General Meeting, where we discussed the bylaws and organization of the group and had a treasurer's report -- much more official business than I've ever had with a book group before. 

I haven't enjoyed every book we've read this year, but I've always gotten something out of the discussions that we've had on our reading.  And many of the books have given me a greater understanding and insight into African life and experience.  We're currently choosing books for next year's schedule, so if any of my blog readers have suggestions for interesting books about Africa or by African authors, I would welcome your input.

The 267th good thing about Lagos: visiting the other side of the African continent

Africa is a big continent, and I know that one can't generalize about it.  But there's something about this part of the world, this continent,  that can get into your blood and your soul if you'll let it.  It has many challenges, difficulties and troubles, but everywhere I've gone in Africa I've experienced and seen things that have delighted my eyes and my heart and I've made memories that I'll treasure always.  Earlier in my life I never had a goal or great desire to explore Africa -- I was into Western arts and culture and Europe was my utopia.  But, given the opportunity to live here and travel around a bit on this continent, I've been bitten by the Africa bug (thankfully, not yet one giving me malaria or another tropical disease) that makes me want to visit every country on this continent.  Unfortunately, I'm sure I won't have time or money to do that, but I was very glad that on our trip over Easter this year, we were able to travel to Kenya and see a bit of East Africa.  Since we've lived here, we've been to North Africa (Egypt), South Africa, other countries in West Africa (Senegal, Ghana and Benin), but this was our first time in East Africa.  We had a great time in Kenya!

We started by flying to the coast, to Mombasa, and spent Easter weekend at a beach resort there.  The resort was great and very relaxing.

 Mombasa is known for its tusks, which were erected before the 1952 visit of Britain's Princess Elizabeth (now the queen).

 Mombasa also has a great Portuguese fort -- Fort Jesus was founded in 1593 and has some atmospheric views.  The surrounding Old Town has some interesting architecture.

 On our city tour, we visited the Akamba wood carving cooperative, which has around 3000 wood carvers from the Akamba tribe.  Much of the carvings from Kenya come out of this center and there's a shop with pretty good prices where individual carvers get rewarded for their work.

 After 4 nights at the beach near Mombasa, we left for a 3 night safari.  It was very reasonably priced to deal directly with a Kenyan company and it also helped that we were going at low season.  We finalized plans just a few days before we left and we had a great time.  We had this large Toyota land cruiser jeep to ourselves with an experienced driver/guide. 

The roof opened up for the game drives.  Our driver/guide was very proud of his jeep.  He said he gets lots of compliments on it.  "It's styled like a race car," he said proudly.

We soaked up the beautiful scenery -- like this view from our balcony in the Tsavo West game park.

 We saw lots of great birds, like this red-beaked hornbill that came right in to the lodge,

 these beautiful crowned crane beside the road

 and lots of ostrich.

 There were many varities of antelope.  There were klipspringer posing for pictures on a cliff.

 and beautiful gazelle, lots of dainty dik-dik, impala, waterbuck, kudu and eland.

 Lots of animals stared blankly at us, like these buffalo,

 zebra,

 and giraffe.  Much of the landscape reminded me so much of the American West, especially southern Utah, with the red earth and scrubby hills.  Then it would surprise me when giraffe and elephants and zebra would wander into the picture.

We saw lots and lots of elephants.  We visited Tsavo East and West and Amboseli National Parks.  Each one had a different landscape, so there was great variety, and we saw interesting things in each park.

Amboseli is at the foot of the Kenyan side of Kilimanjaro, and we had a great view from the window of our lodge room.  Of course, we had to pose with Kilimanjaro in the background and I had to get pictures of many animals with Kilimanjaro in the background.

Gazelle with Kilimanjaro

 I think if you zoom in, that's a wildebeast with Kilimanjaro.

 

 I can't really tell what animal this is, but that's definitely Kilimanjaro in the background.  I really should get one of those cameras with a really big lens for a trip like this.  My pictures will never win any prizes, but mostly, I just enjoyed the trip without worrying about documenting everything with pictures.

 We had been looking for cats the whole trip and had just missed them in several places.  I told our guide to not worry about it, I was having a great time even if I didn't see lions or leopard.  But it seems like it's every safari guide's goal to help their clients see the great cats.  Just before we left Amboseli, he got a call on his radio (the guides are all connected with radios that help them notify others of a sighting) of some lions.  We first saw a bunch of hyena...

 and then a pride of lions napping in the grass.  We watched for awhile as they would get up and walk around to find a new position.  They definitely were having a lazy day.

 As we were travelling in low season, we usually had lots of space and didn't see many other vehicles around, but for the lions, there was a crowd.  Nobody with a stylin' race car jeep like ours, though.

We ended our trip with a few days in Nairobi.  In town we enjoyed the National Museum, the railroad museum, and a great African art collection on display at the National Archives. (I did have to pause our sightseeing to watch the Royal Wedding. Kenya is where Will and Kate got engaged, you know.  Brent had a royal nap during most of the ceremony.) We got a driver for a day trip out of town and had a fun hour watching baby elephants at the Sheldrick elephant orphanage.  They take care of orphaned elephants that have been found all over the country, babies that have lost their mother to poaching or illness.  When they are old enough, they are brought to their center within the Tsavo East park and transitioned into the wild. 

It was fun to watch the babies be bottlefed,

and I got lots of video and pictures of them rolling around in the mud.  I think my grandkids will enjoy watching them play.  The mud is like sunscreen for the elephants, and they had a great time getting themselves covered with it.

 

 I had been reading "Out of Africa" during the trip, so it was interesting to me to visit Karen Blixsen's house, now a museum, which is the setting of the book.  The movie was also filmed here.  The town is now named Karen, after the writer.

I really loved seeing the other coast of Africa.  I'm hoping for a trip that will include the Masai Mara and Tanzania during the Great Migration.  But that will depend on how long we stay in Africa.  I'm glad that at least we had the chance to visit and see a bit of the beautiful country of Kenya.

The 266th good thing about Lagos: meeting an acclaimed artist

First I'll give an election update:  As expected, Goodluck Jonathan has been declared winner of the Presidential Election.  But some people in the North aren't happy about his win and there has been some after-election violence by supporters of the candidate from the Muslim North.  Here in Lagos, everything is as usual.  We will be out of town for the final elections of the cycle, for State government, rescheduled for the Tuesday after the long Easter weekend.  The Lagos State Governor is quite widely supported here and it's pretty much assured that Fashola will be reelected, so no problems are expected.

When I was in London just over a week ago, I sat and ate a sandwich on a bench in Trafalgar Square just below the "4th Plinth" which has become a showcase for contemporary sculpture.  I admired the Ship in a Bottle and how it complemented the statue of the Admiral Lord Nelson, the great British navy commander.  I noticed the colorful sails, and I knew that the artist had won a competition to have his work displayed on this column, which was vacant of the statuary atop the other columns in the Square.  Little did I know that very soon I would have the opportunity to meet and hear from this artist.  For some reason Blogger won't let me upload pictures to this post right now -- I'll try again later and hopefully will edit this post, but for now I'll just link to some pictures for those that might be  interested.

Yinka Shonibare is one of the best known Nigerian artist that doesn't  live in Nigeria.  He spent some of his childhood here, but went to the UK when he was young to study art and hasn't returned.  He works in London.  About his "Ship in a Bottle" he says:  "For me its a celebration of London’s immense ethnic wealth, giving expression to and honouring the many cultures and ethnicities that are still breathing precious wind into the sails of the United Kingdom. A ship in a bottle is an object of wonder. Adults and children are intrigued by its mystery. How can such towering masts and billowing sails fit inside such a commonplace object? With Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle I want to take this childhood sense of wonder and amplify it to match the monumental scale of Trafalgar Square."  His website says "Tying together historical and global threads, the work considers the legacy of British colonialism and its expansion in trade and Empire, made possible through the freedom of the seas that Nelson’s Victory provided."  I guess it's fitting that a bi-cultural artist would create this work that celebrates the legacy the British colonial empire has given to the world.
Yesterday Yinka spoke at a cultural center here and talked about his art and rambled on about other things.  To explain why he hadn't returned to Nigeria in 30 years, he said that when he was 19 he contracted a virus which attacked his spine and paralyzed him.  He is able to walk now, but is still quite crippled and obviously disabled.  The crowded room of people (though the room didn't fill till an hour after the announced start time and the talk started 1 1/4 hours late -- Africa time can drive a prompt American nuts) was very appreciative of his presence, though some in the Q&A time questioned him what he was doing to support the arts in Nigeria and challenged him to do something more.  He said his art was about revolution, though I didn't see much revolutionary in his work, though he had some pieces that were interesting.  But I really do like his use of Nigerian wax print textiles.  The vibrant fabrics here are one of my favorite things about the visual feast that is West Africa.

The contemporary artist and work I was most enraptured with on my London visit to the Saatchi Gallery has no connection with Nigeria, but her work showed a revolution in the world of insects.  Tessa Farmer's work "Swarm" shows an enclosed clear box filled with insects hanging on nylon lines.  When looking closer, you see tiny crafted skeletons which are riding on or attacking the larger bugs.  The tiny skeletons were made from organic materials -- bug remains and stuff found in the artist's garden.  It was amazing to me the skill and craftsmanship in creating these tiny creatures.  I took a bunch of pictures of them and hopefully sometime I'll be able to upload a few here (even though they have nothing to do with Lagos....).

We're off to Kenya for an Easter get-away.  I wish you all a wonderful Easter and I'm sure I'll soon have a report on our view of the other coast of Africa.  

The 265th good thing about Lagos: Democratic elections, hopefully this time, free, fair and credible

This "Arab spring" as they are calling it has made us all aware of the power of the people, and how people everywhere want to have freedoms and the ability to choose the leaders of their country.   We were here 4 years ago during the last presidential elections and I was confused then about many things, and I can't say that things have been cleared up for me.  Yar'Adua, from the North, was elected, but then he disappeared and then died and the Vice President, from the South, Goodluck Jonathan became President.  This North and South stuff is important (the way I understand it) because the majority party, the PDP, had an arrangement or informal agreement within the party that their candidate would alternate every 8 years between the Muslim North and the Christian South.  They refer to it as "regional power sharing."  When Muslim Yar'Adua died and the Christian Jonathan took over, the North lost some of their "rightful" years of power.  So, when the PDP decided to keep Goodluck Jonathan as their candidate, there was some fear of conflict over this leading up to this month's election process. But, though there are always local uprisings and violence in Nigeria, there, thankfully, haven't been any widespread disruptions.  Goodluck Jonathan is widely expected to win the election and remain as president.

Voter registration was a long and involved affair that was scheduled for January.  It was delayed and extended into February due to problems with the equipment and the process.  There were 70 million people eligible to register to vote and the information on the election commission's website says that the final number registered was 67,764,327. This is an amazing percentage, especially considering many people had to take a day off of work and wait in line for hours to register to vote -- it was not an easy process.

Elections were scheduled for 3 Saturdays in April.  We were expecting to miss the first Saturday of elections while we were in London, scheduled for April 2nd.  That was why Brent got an extra weekend in London, as the company wouldn't do airport runs from Friday through Monday due to election travel restrictions and their own excess caution, so we had to leave on Thursday.  Since it gave us a free weekend in London, we aren't complaining!  But election morning, after some people had already cast their vote, the election was cancelled because many polling stations hadn't received their election materials.  All the votes that had been cast were cancelled and the elections that day were rescheduled for last Saturday, April 9th.  So last Saturday elections for the National Assembly were held, with votes cast for the House of Representatives and Senators.  But voting was just held in about 2/3 of the precincts, as some areas were still not equipped to handle the process.

Today is the presidential election.  The really different thing about the election process here is that this city of 16 million (or who knows how many) comes to a complete halt, and I assume it's the same in other cities throughout the country.  The borders of the country are sealed and there are travel restrictions throughout the nation.  No businesses are open and people are expected to stay home all day except when they walk to their local voting place.  I can't imagine anything like this happening in the States.  We live on a very busy road here and normally get a lot of traffic noise in our flat, so for us election days are quite peaceful and relaxing  (great for catching up on blog posts....).  I'm not minding being restricted to our apartment.  And we have a fairly good view of the election process, as our local polling table is right below our bedroom balcony.  I went out on the balcony when I heard people gathering midday.  At first there was a small crowd gathering as they waited for the polling station to be ready.  Shortly after noon, they were instructed to get in line and soon a poll worker was giving out little slips of paper as she called out numbers, I guess giving people their voting order so they could get out of line while they waited their turn.

 The wooden voting table was under a large tree beside the road, so it's difficult to see in this picture, but someone was sitting at this table, writing something on each ballot to get them ready to hand out to the voters.  Hopefully she wasn't filling out their ballot and marking votes for them!

Since the initial crowd, voters have been coming and going from the polling station.  There are definitely more people voting at this election than there were here last Saturday.  The percentages I heard of votes cast overall last week ranged around 20-30% of voters.  Many Nigerians I talked to said either that they didn't know who to vote for, so they didn't bother, or they were hesitant to go out because there were so many police in the streets and they were nervous to leave their homes.

The final election day, for State offices, was rescheduled for Tuesday, April 26th.  So this will be a day during the work week when the economy will again come to a halt as voters are given the opportunity to go to the polls.  Although I am amazed that they allow 3 days of total non-productivity for this election process, I suppose that it is admirable that the country will put so much emphasis on the importance of voting.  There is great hope that the voting here will be more free, fair and credible than it has been in the past, when the process was full of fraud and corruption.

I don't think our current president needs me to wish him "Goodluck" on his election today.  According to this campaign poster, he also has the good wishes of President Obama, and assures him "Yes we can, sir!"