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Aba, Nigeria
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This place was Poor
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When I went to Aba I was traveling there for family. My fiancee' was born and raised in Aba. THe city is very poor. Their are people everywhere, slum shacks, no trash system, no traffic lights nor signs to direct or guide traffic. People drive where they can fit in...it is very loud. You can imagine the honked horns every second of the day. The electricity is not steady. Meaning that the electric company turns on electricity in residence's, for maybe 5 minutes..then shuts it off. For the next couple of days..maybe a week without electricity. Expect to get your feet dirty. The polution from cars and trucks..is heavy in the air. The smell of exhaust gave me a headache for the first 3 days I was there. THeir electricity is minimal. Maybe a couple of light bulbs sticking out of the walls or ceilings and one window unit for air conditioning. WHen we were at the hotel, i tried to plug in my hot rollers, and sparks went flying! It can not accomadate such things as blow dryers or such. ON the up note, the people were very welcoming...very nice and friendly. The children were wonderful, and very intrigued to see a white woman in their presence. Travel was frustrating. The roads have HUGE pot holes...more like CHUNKS of road missing. VERY dangerous...not to mention the patrol set points that the police set up every 10 or so miles. THey drag tree trunks, and tires and whatever they can find into the middle of the road, so as to slow you down, so they can wave you over to the side of the road to be stopped. Most of them just want you to give them money in order to pass freely. Did I mention they carry huge guns over their shoulders? Pretty intimidating, but from the local people, they take the police as a joke. They fight their police in Nigeria. And rarely do they use their weapons, though their have been some cases of them killing people. To get gas, people line up their cars, in no orderly fashion, for blocks and blocks the day before the gas pumps open. We had to buy most of our gas black market to avoid the hours we would have spent waiting to get a little gas from the gas pump attendants. Be prepared to see people yelling and fighting each other. On a daily basis. It is more like brotherly fighting, because once its over..they can go get a beer together. It is very odd. THe culture, the economy...is very sad. Their government officials are stealing the money and the food right from their peoples mouths. Nigerians have no other choice but to engage in criminal activity in order to survive. THe jobs are minimal, almost non-existant. Unless you own your own business you must depend on other people, or selling drinks or bananas or small food on the side of the road to passerbys. THe other's set up at the market in hopes of selling their food or product. And mind you, this is all day, with no electricity! THose people that DO have electricity, in thier businesses, have their own generator. LIke wise, the hotel we stayed at, kept electricity by a generator. WHen the lights would shut off, we wait a couple of minutes while they got the generator up and running, and then we had electricity again. It is very sad, but I like the people, ALOT! They are very family oriented.
Posted
Jan 21, 2008
by judynrs
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