Nigeria - civilized or not?
in response to the post on the ghana section, i felt it necessary to make a few comments.
firstly, i've lived in nigeria for most of the last 12 years, i'm married to a nigerian girl so i'd consider myself reasonably well qualified to comment on the country.
nigeria unfortunately didn't have the best start after independence from great britain in october 1960. the british (for numerous reasons) supported the northerners, who were a backward, corrupt but power-hungry ethnic group who believed they had a devine right to govern the whole country. in 1967, following what can only be described as genocide, the hard working and entreprenurial easterners (mainly the igbo) declared independence of their homeland of biafra. not wanting to lose control of nigeria's blossoming oil industry (and associated dollars), the ferderal troops attacked biafra.
despite having few arms and munitions, the biafrans held the federal troops for almost three years until they were starved into submission in early 1970.
threafter, nigerian has been controlled by a sucession of stupid, corrupt and politically inept northern dictators who have had little interest in the development of nigeria into a truely pan-african force, have had more interest in [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord125][CodeWord125][/url] the nation of it's wealth and filling their swiss bank accounts.
of these so called 'leaders', the democratically elected olusegun obasanjo, who was military dictator in the 1970's and also ran two terms as the appaling post-military years has been the most blatant thief. although obasanjo is a yoruba (from the south-west area, around lagos), he fought on the side of the northerners in the civil war and is widely disliked by yorubas and igbos.
the common man on the woman in the street has had no role model to learn from, all they have seen for over 40 years are the liars and thieves who have purported to govern the country.
nigeria today depends on it's oil and gas revenues for more than 90% of gdp, despite having many millions of hectares of fertile land available for cultivation and a manufacturing base which has never realised anywhere close to it's potential. nigeria is incapable of ensuring anywhere close to a basic electrical supply and businesses (and individuals who can afford them) are reliant on generator sets.
nigeria currently stands at no. 19 on the index of failed states. corruption is widespread, as is violent crime including kidnapping, poverty and economic malaise. so, in this respect nigeria certainly would appear to anyone not familiar with the country to be uncivilized.
however, talk to any man or woman on the street, and you will get a different impression entirely, nigerians are among the happiest people on earth. despite the day-to-day struggle to survive, your average nigerian will grumble and moan a little and then just get on with providing for his family and living his life. this attitude i have rarely observed in any other west african nation (with the exception of some ghanaians and anglophone cameroonians), and it is this attitude that helps nigeria stand out from the rest.
anyone wanting a better idea on life in nigeria is advised to checkout the
site [url]www.oyibosonline.com[/url]
Request for Mongering Info
From all of you highly experienced Lagos mongering experts I would greatly appreciate specific advice on the best spot (s) for mongering, groping, lechering, voyeurism, paricipation et al in Lagos. Limited please to VI- I've heard of Miichaels, Pats, Club 21, Ynot, Sandras, Tricks, Step Inn, Piccolo Mundo and others. Any comment on any of these and or others that may be better would greatly appreciated as well as comments on the strip bar that I believe is called Wall Street-and or other strip bars.
I will be arriving in Lagos for long term assignment next Friday. Would love the chance to discuss the above over a beer or several Sat Apr 4th. Hope to hear from any of you.