images of lagos
Lagos could be the most intense place I’ve ever been. These shots capture a random assortment of experiences.
2 comments February 6th, 2006
images of warri
Here are a few shots of this riverside town, sometimes called the wild west of Nigeria. In marked contrast to the chaotic streets and tangled mass of wires that pass for infrastructure, were our accommodations — the Delta State government put us up at the new, bordering-on-ritzy Wellington hotel. What a trip!
1 comment February 5th, 2006
images of kids
One of the most meaningful, charming and just plain fun parts of my experience in Oporoza was getting to know the children.
Add comment February 4th, 2006
an all-nighter with king robert
After a day-long ceremony to commission the Niger Delta Friendship library — hours of speeches, cultural performances, ribbon cutting, the entire community and multitudes of visitors filing through the reading room…it’s time for the real celebration: an all-nighter with the hottest highlife musician in southern Nigeria.
The sun is setting, the air is heavy with humidity, it’s hot, hot, hot. We’re wearing our by now sweat-soaked African outfits which were hand-made for all 40 of us by the village women for this very special day. Out of nowhere a stage is set up. Hundreds of white plastic chairs and many long tables carried in on the heads of children and young men are placed around the village square. Cold beer miraculously appears in this place without electricity, along with traditional snacks of peanuts packed into wine bottles.
King Robert takes the mike, his band laughing and tuning up around him. The first notes tell me never mind the heat, this is going to be one very cool night. A few hundred villagers gather in a huge circle and start dancing, bending forward from the waist and moving their butts in ways I’ll never fully get and can only vaguely imitate. About a thousand more cram the tables and all available standing room. We are peppered in among them, talking, laughing, dancing, the eighteen of us with white faces punctuating the darkness.
Kids are everywhere, their dance moves fully developed tho their bodies aren’t. The music is repetitive, hypnotic, joyous — and from what I can tell after soaking up this country for a few weeks, aptly embodies the Nigerian spirit. Every so often, a blinding few minutes of light as a journalist grabs some video footage. Flashes pierce the shadows — everyone wants to pose with us, “Snap me, snap me!” No one sleeps on this night.
King Robert and his guys play on and on, they never seem to take a break. In the early morning my roommate and I stumble back to our house to catch a bit of sleep. When I open my eyes, they’re still out there. A few villagers dancing, others stacking chairs. The band is just beginning to pack up as the sun and the heat emerge for another day.
Add comment February 4th, 2006