In Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s once kicking, now wilting oil town, I found an outstanding hotel. Besides having a very tasteful name, they also promise that Your Satisfaction is Their Pleasure, and that they can Make Real Your Fantasy in Hospitality.
The Ilasan Housing Estate, Lekki Peninsula, Lagos. Construction of the complex was begun by the government two decades ago, never completed, and since it’s surrounded by multi-million dollar properties, probably never will be.
LAGOS, Nigeria — After fifteen years of political debate and periodic violence, the Nigerian government officially handed over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon on Thursday, in a ceremony overseen by senior politicians, United Nations officials and a heavy military presence.
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Here’s a piece that was, admittedly, pretty fun to write (NYTimes).
LAGOS, Nigeria — The governor’s son sits hunched at the bar, contemplating his nearly empty bottle of Hennessy. On the dance floor, the airline director’s daughter sways back and forth to a hip-hop beat. Nearby, the star soccer player, just in from London, tries to squeeze past his growing circle of fans and hangers-on. In the center of the club, the oil magnate’s son gets on top of a table and takes a swig from a bottle of Dom Pérignon.
At the match between Portsmouth and Manchester United in Abuja two weeks ago, which allegedly netted each player a multi-million dollar bonus, some fans were (justifiably) angry about $20 tickets. So they started to throw rocks. Some policemen threw rocks back. Tear gas was used. A mini stampede began and a tall, somewhat gangly British reporter scaled a fence as if he were Jason Bourne. One civil defense guard was hit in the head with a rock and may have died. Then all the miscreants were inside the stadium, the frenzy was over, and the surprisingly small crowd sat back and enjoyed a poorly played match between two teams looking to collect their cash and get the hell out of there.
I recently spent a day in the stilt village of Iwaya, which is smack dab in the middle of Lagos. Cosseted by densely packed roads and the imposing Third Mainland Bridge, Iwaya is a surreal, labyrinthine neighborhood entirely separate from the rest of Lagos’ chaos.
Ahh, the State Department. What can you say?
Samaritan’s Feet spokesman Todd Melloh said Tuesday that the State Department contacted the charity to say the trip might be a bad idea.
The State Department website has a travel warning against going to the West African nation, saying unusually high levels of violence and crimes are committed there by police, militias and ordinary citizens.
“Nigeria has an unsettled situation,” Melloh said. “They (the State Department) intercepted communication that it was not going to be positive for our trip. It was almost like they were waiting for us.”