Buhari Wins Election

Nigeria’s President Re-elected

Nigeria’s election results are official – President Buhari and his vice-president Osinbajo have won a second term.

Even before official results were announced on Wednesday our older son Chinaku was sure of the outcome, he told us in a phone call on Tuesday evening.

The New York Times wrote about the result in a front-page article on Wednesday.

After the results were announced early Wednesday morning, “Mr. Buhari said he planned to keep working to improve security and the economy, and to fight corruption.”

International observes said the irregularities they observed were not enough to change the outcome, even though the opponent, Atiku Abubakar, said he will challenge the results in court.

Some voters may have been convinced because, “Unlike others in the political establishment, he has not enriched himself with money from the public treasury.”

His opponent Abubakar has a reputation for corruption, and was even denied entry to the US for some years because of charges against him.

I believe he was honored a few years at a reunion of former Peace Corps volunteers. The recognition was for founding a university in northern Nigeria that is modeled on the American style. He recruited an American to head it.

Buhari’s “soft-spoken demeanor stands out among more flashy, blustery politicians,” the NYTimes said. That may have helped him to victory. But 100 Chibok girls are still missing, Boko Haram has not been defeated, and the struggle between the Fulani herders and farmers is ongoing. He has a lot to do!

You can listen to NPR’s report on the election results here.

Exit West

My Bakers’ Dozen book group read Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid, for our discussion last night. It’s a novel published in 2017 and is Hamid’s fourth.

The Westport Library chose it as the “Town Read” this year. Only three of us had read it, and we all loved it.

The author writes about the problems of emigration and refugees’ status.

The story revolves around a young couple whom we first meet in an unidentified city of unrest, with militants gradually taking over. The two decide to flee. They first get to the Greek Island of Mykonos, then to London, and finally to Marin County, California.

We learn no details of their journeys. Instead we are told that they step through a door and find themselves in their new location. The author wrote, “It was said in those days that the passage was both like dying and like being born.”

Each time they are surprised by what they find when they emerge; then they find other refugees, adjust, and get accustomed to the strangeness.

In London they are in a house which eventually is occupied mostly by Nigerians. Nadia discovers that, “there was perhaps no such thing as a Nigerian, or certainly no one common thing, for different Nigerians spoke different tongues among themselves, and belonged to different religions.” That was fun to read, and so true.

The writing is beautiful with vivid descriptions. He writes lengthy sentences that can even be whole paragraphs, but they never seem too long.

The book is free at the Westport Library, and if you’re nearby I’ll be happy to give you my copy, only slightly marked up!

Kola Nuts for Book Launch

Here’s the cover of my book, Breaking Kola, An Inside View of African Customs.

This afternoon I went to the Africana Market in Bridgeport to buy kola nuts. I bought all they had!

With the ones I’d already ordered online, I think I have enough for all the guests at the book launch to take one home.

My husband said, “What will they do with it?”

I said I hope they’ll show it to their friends and encourage them to come to other talks I’ll give!

I’ll also have chinchin, a popular Nigerian snack.

“Hidden Figure” Wins NASA Recognition

Did you see the movie “Hidden Figures“? It’s the story of black female mathematicians at NASA in the 1960s. I loved it.

Katherine Johnson was seen as a leader among the black women at NASA.

According to the book written about the women, by Margot Lee Shetterly, and the movie made from it which was nominated for Academy Awards, Johnson pushed for equality. “Called ‘colored computers,’ she and other black women who worked in NASA’s computing pool more than a half-century ago were separated from their white colleagues while they calculated trajectories for the Apollo missions and other programs.”

On Friday last week NASA officially renamed a facility in West Virginia for her. “I am thrilled we are honoring Katherine Johnson in this way as she is a true American icon who overcame incredible obstacles and inspired so many,” according to Jim Bridenstine, the administrator of NASA.

The New York Times has a lovely picture of Ms. Johnson and another black woman who worked with her. The picture accompanies the article.

Katherine Johnson turned 100 in August. Her daughter says she was honored and humbled by the recognition” though somewhat surprised.

She “can’t imagine why people would want to honor her for just doing a good job,” her daughter said.