Caboose

I got this comment from Adamma:

Kevin, is this my imagination or are all your comments about Nigeria rather scathing? Am yet to read one line that’s postitive from you, the closest you’ve come to that is patronising.

Oh and who says everything about the British wasn’t about the empire and power?i’ll have you know that the Government here is modeled to a large extent after the British, and that includes the eight-car convoy of of the Governors-thanks to Lord Lugard’s similar convoy in the pre-independence days.

How much do you know about Lagos, Nigeria’s military regime and the demolition of the structure in Utako market?perhaps you’ll find time to compare these factors before you pass the bulk to we wives and girlfriends abi???

How about i send you a photo of the master plan of London or perhaps that of Dublin? You know, like a before and after, just so we can compare notes and see how much difference there is these days.

(I’ve reformatted it because my comment form tends to turn everything into one huge paragraph)

I like getting comments from people, it’s useful feedback. Adamma has obviously even read several posts here, unlike some people who accuse me of things based on skimming a few sentences and picking out the bits that annoy them.

One thing I’m often accused of is being negative (in this case scathing). Looking at my recent posts I’d say that they are tending to be a little bit negative, but that just reflects what’s been happening to me and around me recently. It’s difficult to be positive about the general strike, abuse of power (in the form of excessive ‘perks’) and getting electric shocks from my cooker. It’s also related to the fact that I’m most motivated to write about the things that annoy me, that’s just me.

It’s part of life here that the annoying things are big and easy to write about but the nice things tend to just be an accumulation of small kindnesses, moments of humour and shared experiences. For example, occasionally on the buses in Kaduna a random person has paid my fare for me, without even telling me. I get a lot of pleasure from occasionally strolling around town (as I did in Bauchi) just greeting people and chatting to them.

Now to some more specific points:

Oh and who says everything about the British wasn’t about the empire and power?

Not me. Although the Empire was more about commerce than power, the desire for raw materials and new markets to sustain economic growth.

i’ll have you know that the Government here is modeled to a large extent after the British

It was originally, but it’s now more modelled on the American system. Also, just because it started that way doesn’t mean it still has to be the same almost 50 years later. I recognise the need to blame all your country’s problems on an outside force, I’m Scottish after all, but it really doesn’t help.

How much do you know about Lagos, Nigeria’s military regime and the demolition of the structure in Utako market?

I don’t think I ever claimed to be an expert about these things. What exactly are you criticising about my comments on them?

perhaps you’ll find time to compare these factors before you pass the bulk to we wives and girlfriends abi???

Sorry, I don’t quite understand that. Did you think I was blaming the wives and girlfriends for the demolition? I don’t like the “sinecure” shops but I don’t blame the people who run them.

How about i send you a photo of the master plan of London or perhaps that of Dublin?

Good luck finding a master plan for either. There was a master plan for rebuilding London after the Great Fire (and here), but it was almost completely ignored. Most cities never had a master plan, they grew naturally. My problem with the Abuja Master Plan is not the plan itself but its selective implementation. As far as I can work out the original master plan was based on good principles and included public spaces, affordable housing and civic amenities. Even now, with supposedly enlightened government of Abuja, there is a trend towards converting what public spaces there are into private space (the pointless shopping plazas).

An interesting point is that a few hundred years ago London was regarded in much the same way as Lagos is today, overcrowded, insanitary, poverty-ridden but also a centre of culture and commerce.