<div dir="ltr">Daktari,<div><br></div><div>I'm waiting for your blog and book :)</div><div><br></div><div>Josiah</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 3:35 PM, Bitange Ndemo <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bitange@jambo.co.ke" target="_blank">bitange@jambo.co.ke</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">John,<br>
Thanks. Achebe is more significant having been the first African to write<br>
about Africa in English. We should all remember the icon.<br>
<span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br>
<br>
Ndemo.<br>
</font></span><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
> Daktari,<br>
><br>
> This is good prose. You should seriously consider a platform for this kind<br>
> of writing where you weave a narrative with personal observations during<br>
> formal engagements. A welcome break from your usual policy-style writing.<br>
> As<br>
> a parting shot, maybe you should have quoted the more contemporary<br>
> Chimamanda Adichie instead of Achebe. :)<br>
><br>
> John Masiwe<br>
><br>
> -----Original Message-----<br>
> From: kictanet<br>
> [mailto:<a href="mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Bjmasiwe">kictanet-bounces+jmasiwe</a>=<a href="mailto:bluegate.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke">bluegate.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke</a>] On<br>
> Behalf Of Bitange Ndemo<br>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 11:54 PM<br>
> To: <a href="mailto:jmasiwe@bluegate.co.ke">jmasiwe@bluegate.co.ke</a><br>
> Cc: 'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'<br>
> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Three days in Nigeria<br>
><br>
> Three days in Nigeria<br>
> Standing outside Abuja Airport in the soaring temperatures you get amazed<br>
> on how similar to Kenya Nigeria is. This is Africa's most populous<br>
> country. People idling around and women talking animatedly with their<br>
> hands akimbo and they are larger than you can see in Kenya. I had missed<br>
> the person who was to pick me up. Oga! Those who walked by me remarked.<br>
> I assumed it was some greetings to a brother. Colours of their clothing<br>
> is<br>
> similar to ours and perhaps the only difference with Kenya is that more<br>
> men<br>
> wore multi-colour kanzus. Open shoes, Akala type are more prevalent here.<br>
><br>
> I walk towards the taxis. They are gentler than I have read in Nigerian<br>
> literature. They were honest too with the fare to the cities. I had<br>
> begun<br>
> to settle down and give Nigeria the benefit of doubt but my mind takes me<br>
> back to Odili, the narrator in Achebe's 1966 novel, Man of the People.<br>
> Also<br>
> not forgetting the many stories told about Nigerians.<br>
><br>
> For a while I savor the beauty of Abuja scenery. Green everywhere. It<br>
> must<br>
> be within the rain forest. Land is expanse and untilled. I turn my<br>
> attention to my driver Oku Moses. An affable young man perhaps in his<br>
> early<br>
> 30's. I tell him I am from Kenya and in Abuja for the CTO conference. He<br>
> smiles broadly and asked me what I thought of Nigeria as if he had read my<br>
> mind. I said so far so good and immediately I divert his train of thought<br>
> to football. I tell him Nigeria is the main hindrance to Kenya's quest to<br>
> get to World cup. We became friends instantly as he opened up to tell me<br>
> more.<br>
><br>
> You see that road, he says it leads to nowhere. Corruption is the only<br>
> problem here he adds as his tone begin to sound angrier. I calm him down<br>
> and tell him it happens all over Africa. The 50 kilometer super highway<br>
> from the airport to Abuja is as good as it gets, actually better than<br>
> Nairobi Thika highway. The Hotel I am headed to, is called Chelsea, named<br>
> after the English league team Chelsea. Oku is a fan of Arsenal another<br>
> English league team. He knows all the players. He asks which team I<br>
> support and when I tell him none, he then says that is why you will never<br>
> go<br>
> to world cup.<br>
><br>
> At the hotel Oku bids me farewell and hands me his card. Call me he says.<br>
> I will show you the best of Nigeria. It is still hot and my room was<br>
> steaming with heat. This three star hotel does not have a centralized AC<br>
> but I could do with an old cranky stand-alone cooling system. As I<br>
> cranked<br>
> it up, it made more noise that I could not listen to news on TV.<br>
> Then suddenly the lights went off - blackout!!. Outside it was raining<br>
> heavily. I said Geez this is home but soon some generator boomed just<br>
> outside my room to bring light. I wished they had shut it down.<br>
><br>
> Dinner time I joined other colleagues, Sonia, Karin, Robert and John for<br>
> Dinner. Me and Sonia were the vegetarians and so requested for pasta, the<br>
> only vegetarian dish on the menu. Alas! when the food came there was<br>
> chicken on pasta instead of tomato. The young waitress tells me she<br>
> decided on chicken since there were no tomatoes. After a few exchanges<br>
> she seems to remember something and says I can make it vegetarian. Wala!<br>
> like magic she comes back with pasta alone. I said thank you but as I<br>
> start<br>
> to eat, I discover or rather the waitress had forgotten that the base was<br>
> chicken and she had only removed the toppings of chicken. She meant well<br>
> and wanted to do well but she missed the point.<br>
><br>
> As I watched Nigerian channels that evening, I say to myself, Nigeria is<br>
> Kenya and Kenya is Nigeria. We were colonized by the British. We<br>
> attained<br>
> independence at about the same time in the 1960s. We have new<br>
> constitutions<br>
> with devolved powers. Just like Kenya, Nigeria continues to experience<br>
> longstanding ethnic and religious tensions. Although in Kenya's 2008 as<br>
> in<br>
> Nigeria's 2003 and 2007 presidential elections were marred by significant<br>
> irregularities and violence, but both countries are experiencing relative<br>
> peace interrupted by the Al-Shabab and Boka Haram respectively.<br>
><br>
> On Nigerian TV as in Kenya politicians complain that they need more power<br>
> to<br>
> states and counties. They seem not to understand that they are the ones<br>
> with the power to change legislation and so when they complain, the masses<br>
> have no representation. They also need more money yet they are the ones<br>
> who<br>
> appropriate resources. They complain about soaring crime yet they are the<br>
> ones who have the mandate to bring better security legislation.<br>
> On the roads, motor bikes ride on the assumption that every motorist<br>
> should<br>
> watch on them. Careless and dangerous like in Kenya. If you admire the<br>
> cleanliness of Abuja while driving, you will for sure hit one of them.<br>
> Public places including hotels are guarded by armed policemen.<br>
><br>
> In my speech at the conference I said I was glad to visit Nigeria, land of<br>
> Okonkwo from Umuofia (one of a fictional group of nine villages in<br>
> Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo people). Only a handful of the people in<br>
> the audience who knew that I was referring to Achebe's 1958 novel, Things<br>
> Fall Apart. Later Funke, a prominent Nigerian businesswoman and friend<br>
> tells me that intellectualism died in Nigeria. There was a time in<br>
> Nigeria<br>
> prominent writers were the role model of society. These were the people<br>
> who<br>
> put our oral history on paper but we decided to chase them away. It is<br>
> sad<br>
> that Achebe had to die in foreign land alone without his people. I tell<br>
> Funke, it is so strikingly similar to Kenya that our prominent writers are<br>
> getting old and wasted away in foreign lands.<br>
><br>
> Haruna is driving me back to the airport. He like Oku is polite but with<br>
> much better intellect than an ordinary driver. His grasp of African<br>
> matters<br>
> is excellent. Out of the blue he tells me, you worked with government. I<br>
> tell him yes and I quickly ask him why. No I just wanted to know, he<br>
> says.<br>
> Then he tells me that he is driving a car (VX Land<br>
> Cruiser) that he will never afford to buy in his entire life. I note the<br>
> ambition in him and tell him that if you know then you are capable of<br>
> buying<br>
> the car. I am not in government, he says. I tell him you do not need to<br>
> be<br>
> in government to buy the car. You see I was in government but I still<br>
> cannot drive such a thing. He looks at me then he says, it is by choice<br>
> on<br>
> your part. I tipped him $20 and bade him farewell. He was stunned.<br>
><br>
> I leave Nigeria with many fond memories. It was three days but enough to<br>
> grasp the dreams of other people. Their desires. Their hopes. We are<br>
> all<br>
> the same and hopefully one day we shall change the stigma of corruption by<br>
> improving the fortunes of our Africa. God bless Africa.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Ndemo.<br>
><br>
><br>
> University of Nairobi<br>
> Business School, Lower Kabete Campus<br>
><br>
><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br>Josiah Mugambi
</div>