I don't think that Shekarau did what he did out of spite. He has no personal beef with me, I'm sure, but I do think that it marks a turning point in my stay here.
I've been here five months now, and I suppose Shekarau thought that meant I could look after myself, or at least he was not going to go out of his way to protect me, because I've been here long enough to look after myself. Which in a way is quite flattering if you look at it like that.
Interestingly enough this kind of thing is coinciding with my itchy feet. I want to travel round the country a bit, get to know it a bit more because I've just been in Abuja for five months.
I'm regretting not starting this blog sooner, as I think it would have been good to capture all the things that I've had to learn as they happened.
But there is still much to learn.
Yesterday Barak Obama said Nigeria was comeng close to collapsing as a failed state. My reaction was "coming close?", but Hameed was quite angered by it.
"He is just one of those close minded people who can't think that Africa is anything but terrible," he said.
"But isn't it a failed state already?" I asked.
"No we are very sucessful. The people are very strong!" Hameed countered.
"But Nigeria has all this oil reserves and yet it cannot provide 24-hour electricity. State failure is about the state's ability to provide services, not about the resilience of the people."
"Yes," Hameed said, "But this man is talking from his own point of view, about America's need for Nigerian oil. His country took a long time to get where they are now. Through a painful process of reform. We are going through that now. It is painful, but it doesn't mean that we are near collapse. It is a process of becoming more developed. We know the need for better discipline in leadership, and it may happen. When Buhari came in with his people they were disciplined, and the people saw that and corruption was stopped."
"But it didn't last long." I said. I have to say I'm a little sceptical of the nostalgia people have for Buhari.
"No but it is a process. Through time we will change and leadership will improve. Even in the developed world, there is corruption, just not so much. It will happen eventually."
"I hope you're right Hameed, I hope you're right."
I've been here five months now, and I suppose Shekarau thought that meant I could look after myself, or at least he was not going to go out of his way to protect me, because I've been here long enough to look after myself. Which in a way is quite flattering if you look at it like that.
Interestingly enough this kind of thing is coinciding with my itchy feet. I want to travel round the country a bit, get to know it a bit more because I've just been in Abuja for five months.
I'm regretting not starting this blog sooner, as I think it would have been good to capture all the things that I've had to learn as they happened.
But there is still much to learn.
Yesterday Barak Obama said Nigeria was comeng close to collapsing as a failed state. My reaction was "coming close?", but Hameed was quite angered by it.
"He is just one of those close minded people who can't think that Africa is anything but terrible," he said.
"But isn't it a failed state already?" I asked.
"No we are very sucessful. The people are very strong!" Hameed countered.
"But Nigeria has all this oil reserves and yet it cannot provide 24-hour electricity. State failure is about the state's ability to provide services, not about the resilience of the people."
"Yes," Hameed said, "But this man is talking from his own point of view, about America's need for Nigerian oil. His country took a long time to get where they are now. Through a painful process of reform. We are going through that now. It is painful, but it doesn't mean that we are near collapse. It is a process of becoming more developed. We know the need for better discipline in leadership, and it may happen. When Buhari came in with his people they were disciplined, and the people saw that and corruption was stopped."
"But it didn't last long." I said. I have to say I'm a little sceptical of the nostalgia people have for Buhari.
"No but it is a process. Through time we will change and leadership will improve. Even in the developed world, there is corruption, just not so much. It will happen eventually."
"I hope you're right Hameed, I hope you're right."
posted by Andrew Walker at 11:54 am
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