Still in Lagos!

Still in Lagos

Beth left yesterday morning, Saturday, on the US evacuation flight. And I didn’t leave with her!

I appreciated your comments a lot! They helped me clarify my own thinking. I’ll stay in Lagos for at least another two weeks.

Beth is now back in the US. Her flight stopped in Las Palmas. Then they flew near the Island of Madeira and she snapped a photo.

During part of the Biafran War, from September 1968 to May 1969, we stayed with my parents who had retired on the island. She was one year old then. But we visited every summer for many years after that.

I was last there in 1998. My sister Beth and I took our dad’s ashes to bury beside my mother in the cemetery attached to the English Church.

Racism Against Africans in China

Africans have been traveling in and trading with China for decades. The usual pattern is for the Nigerian or other African to go to China to buy goods at low prices. He or she then returns home to resell to wholesalers.

Many Africans have settled in China to become conversant with the supply chains. They then serve their countrymen or women who travel back and forth.

“According to the BBC, Guangzhou is a hub for African traders and is home to one of China’s largest African communities,” I read in Essence online.

Harmful Rumors

“Last week, hundreds of Africans in Guangzhou were evicted from hotels and apartments after online rumours that coronavirus was spreading among African people,” the BBC article said.

At a McDonald’s in Guangzhou a sign posted on the door said, “Notice: We’ve been informed that from now on black people are not allowed to enter the restaurant.”

The notice went viral, McDonald’s apologized and briefly closed the restaurant. They are promising to use this as a “teachable moment.” Their values include serving all members of their communities, they say.

“The Guangdong provincial government has responded to concerns about discrimination by calling China and Africa good friends, partners and brothers,” the article says.

Will relations improve? Let me know if you see news about this.

Zoom Calls

Have you seen the video of a conference call that’s been making the rounds? I found it hilarious!

On Thursday evening I had a Zoom call with the Finance Committee of my Unitarian Church. I am the treasurer and chair of the committee. But given that I’m in Nigeria, the call was at 10 pm my time, and the internet is somewhat unreliable, I asked the assistant treasurer to chair the meeting.

Yet I interjected more than once to move the meeting along! My connection sometimes faded though, and when the meeting finished, I was still a little confused about the conclusions!

Still, our meeting was certainly better than the one in the video!

Response to Corona Virus by Boko Haram

Nigeria is calling for social distancing. Many religious leaders, Christian and Muslim, have stopped holding services.

One Boko Haram leader has a different view.

“AbubaAkar Shekau, the factional leader of Boko Haram . . . blamed the current coronavirus pandemic across the world on the evil deeds of people,” I read on a website called HumAngle.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations blog, Shekau “characterizes international measures to address the . . . pandemic as part of the war on Islam by evil forces.”

Ambassador Campbell who wrote the CfR post says, “While mainstream Islamic figures have endorsed the government’s public health measures, their credibility among many of the marginalized in the north is low.”

Let’s hope the virus does not take hold where people are convinced they’re safe because they pray five times a day and practice Shekau’s extreme brand of Salafi Islam.

Nigerwives Update

A few days ago I found a message on my Academia account from Solange Mbanefo. She had read my paper about Nigerwives and hoped to connect.

In 1980 or ’81 her Swiss grandmother was working at SwissAir in Onitsha, eastern Nigeria. She had heard about Nigerwives and contacted me. I went to Onitsha, met with her, and encouraged her to start an Onitsha branch of Nigerwives. That led us to being a national organization instead of just Lagos-focused.

I said this in my paper. The granddaughter Solange was interested in learning more about my experience.

I contacted her and we agreed on a phone call yesterday afternoon. She added her grandma to the call.

Solange got on first so I was able to ask her for her grandma’s name. (I was sure of an A, but couldn’t remember fully.) She is Alice! It was just lovely to talk to her. She is a few years older than me and lives happily in a senior residence in Montreaux. She has family nearby.

She reminded me that after my two years as the first national president of Nigerwives I was followed by Joyce Imodu, a good friend of hers. Alice became the third national president.

Solange is writing an article about architectural space and design intersecting with feminism among women of color in Africa. I told her about my second book Breaking Kola that has some info on women’s traditional roles.

We agreed to stay in touch. She and her grandma will buy my second book. I agreed to look for any sections that might be useful for her article since she’s facing a deadline to submit. I look forward to reading what she’s writing.