Friday night and the mosque is jumping!
View from the National Christian Center
Women must be veiled in order to enter mosque grounds.
The exterior of the Nigerian National Mosque.
We visited the National Mosque during our last morning in Abuja. It was an amazing sight -- best described through pictures. The women in our group had to veil themselves to enter the grounds of the mosque. It was a hot dusty day. My polyester scarf soon began to feel like a plastic bag entombing my head. I do not mind dressing modestly but veiling is too much. How chauvanistic! How oppressive!
There's a traveler's advisory warning travelers to show extreme caution when traveling in Nigeria (the Delta region is the worst. It's where oil is produced). Lagos has a reputation too for street crime. In my less than 24 hours experiene Lagos is notorious indeed, for its traffic. If Obama thinks we suffer from infrastructure deficiency -- he ain't seen nothing yet! Highways are woefully unsuitable for this bustling urban center. Our host told us that the capital was relocated to Abuja because of the bad traffic. The city is in constant gridlock.
Petrol is cheap. Car dealerships are on every corner (Purchases are on a cash and carry basis. ATMs were introduced less than 3 years ago but the economy is largely based on cash. Hence, we settled our hotel bills in cash). The roads can not acommodate the number of drivers. Corruption has left many roads unfinished and in some cases unstarted. But the industrious Nigerian has developed an entire thriving economy based on stopped traffic.
You can literally set-up house just sitting in traffic. There's the usual fare: gum (orbits), sacks of fruit, bags of water, bootleg CDs and phone cards. More unusual: bathroom accessories, sandals, sunglasses, clothing, live pheasants bound at the feet and mouse glue traps (?). And there are squegee boys too.
Driving, as usual in Africa, is risky business. The road rule: Survival of the fittest. You must wear your seatbelt at all times even as a taxi passenger. Cars are riddled with dings and dents from frequent fender benders. Settlements are negotiated quickly. No one waits for the police because it will only result in both parties being "shaken down". Whatever it costs fo repair damages is settled on the spot. $10,000 naira? $50,000 naira? Bam, cash is rendered on the spot. (1 U.S. dollar = $140 naira)
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