Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from August, 2016

on the road again

no one is perfect, obviously Trucks ply every main road in Nigeria and they rival with originality. They all have their own style, the style of the driver. This is obviously a habit worldwide to customize your own truck in your own way, your own taxi. Express yourself, tell about yourself, preach: that is the way to do it.   remember you last day The interesting part is that the statements reflect about local concerns or ideas. In Nigeria, religion is a winner. Hope is also a good challenger and then philosophy comes about. The Nigerian way is colourful and painted on the frame of the truck. Safety is also a repeated item “Horn before overtaking”, “Go slow”, etc…   highly inflammable: one love! Then safety is localized in its application, transport is about maximizing the load, so be prepared for a good load with a few extras on top! cows and bosses one with GOD

Kwara State: green and mysterious

game hunter in Kwara state Kwara State is located half-way between Lagos and Abuja. Ilorin is the next big town. The area is largely covered with forest and still offers pristine nature beside agricultural land. A mostly agricultural state where deliciously pure honey can be bought on the roadside without fearing it is cut with sugar or other substances. It is part of Yoruba land. local delight in Kwara I stayed at the "Top-most Hotel" of the fringe of Oro town. Basically a compound with light colour - painted bungalows, in good shape. I was the only visitor but could have dinner at the restaurant served by two teenaged-girls very excited about my presence and very talkative too. A boy also joined them in the conversation at the end of my chicken and chips dinner washed down with some german-named not so good beer. The most talkative waitress had been living in Lagos before. She was forced to come to Kwara state after her father died. She came back to live with her

Kaduna, the place to fish on a calabash

calabash fishing, never without my umbrella in the rainy season Kaduna is the largest city, roughly 2 million inhabitants, after Kano. It is essentially a trading hub for agricultural products. In the past there was a bit of industry. Peugeot had a factory up until a few years back. As a result there was a french international school, which still exists but has ceased to teach french at all. It is two and half hour drive north of Abuja. A very smooth road at the moment which stretches past the Aso Rock where the presidential palace is located. But road is not the only way to come to Kaduna. There is a small airport served by a few airlines, punctuality aside. And there is also a railway and rumours of a high-speed train between Abuja and Kaduna. Kaduna State House of Assembly It has a renown university as a result of Kaduna's position as the capital of the north of Nigeria for a large part of the 20th century. The city is also crossed by the Kaduna river where fishermen

Eid el Fitr Durbar in Zaria

saluting the Emir with a handkerchief The new moon has finally been sighted, this closes the month of Ramadan and marks the first day of Eid el Fitr celebrations. On that day a durbar took place in Zaria. After the morning prayers, a huge procession of thousands of richly clad horse-men is coming to pay hommage to the Emir of Zazzau . when acrobats compete with traditional horsemen at the Durbar The men are dressed with elaborate turbans and several layers of richly embroidered clothes. It is a day of celebration and the crowd is immense to witness this parade. Every balcon, roof, tree and street light is crowded people. on the way to the morning prayer before the Durbar under his orange-embroidered hood, the Emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idriss, arrives at the Palace The procession is 2 or 3 km long and ends on the square facing the palace of the Emir. Each group of horse-men represent a different clan or family. The head of the clan is usually wearing a white head gear, but