Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Travelogue: A View From Outside Nigeria (2) By Jimoh Hamzat
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My decision to move from Frankfurt Germany to Istanbul Turkey was occasioned by my intention to visit my medical friends from Nigeria who were on a conference in Antalya and promote the bond of Africanness and intellectualism. Like Professor Wole Soyinka's "You Must Set Forth At Dawn", I set forth to Istanbul abode Emirate Flight Boeing 707.
The situation was better this time, I had guarded myself with cold "evader" and had began to acclamatize to the 13 degree weather condition in Europe at the moment. The passage at immigration check was fine this time, as I was quick to show my visiting transit visa and the smile that I got at the flap of my Nigeria passport gave me some pride again and my morale became high.
In one hour, I had landed at the Antalya airport. In truth, one would not be wrong to say the problem seems to be in Nigeria. Once you succeed in surviving the harassment at Muritala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, your transit through the air seems to make you wholesomely new. A Nigerian that is respected!
The bus system from Antalya airport to the world class Atlantis Hotel and resort in Antalya was terrific as I rode first time on a WIFI enabled bus with no service interruption throughout the one hour journey to the resort. Did I hear someone echo that Nigeria equally has WIFI enabled buses, well thanks to the effort of Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos, Nigeria, for the BRT WIFI-Lite, though the differences were explicit. One can only hope it would even be as functional as expected given that we are masters in putting the chart before the house.
The speed of the Internet was jet like and the convenience of the bus cannot be compared to whatever I have seen in Nigeria. Now, I know why cars near new can be seconded to Nigeria as tokunbos! Folks here occasionally drive their cars, the public transport system makes using your car luxury. The "potholeless Nigeria" by the end of 2014 which was never achieved may have been modeled after the roads in Istanbul as I watched carefully to see if I would find any pothole, but I found none.
I got to Atlantis Resort and hotel in Antalya, a reformed dude, dropping into one of the best resorts in the world. I commiserate with my royal Elegushi friends on what a death they have caused of the Elegushi beach by selling swathes of their expanse of the beach land to private Estates' investors. Their children's children may curse their forefathers who sold these lands if someday they visit Atlantis Resort. My proud Oniru royal family friends are not exonerated as the long term investment of carving out world class resort centres from these beaches would have been more productive economically than the instant gratification of what is gotten at the sale of these areas to Estate developers and the meagre income that come from the shanties called bars at the beaches now, both of which have become shadows of themselves. Thank God for the newest Lekki Leisure Lake which has found more comfortable visiting than the duo of Elegushi and Oniru. Did I forget to mention the now moribund Eleko beach.
Maybe a private investor will visit Gurara Water fall in Niger state someday and make a good model of Atlantis resort and hotel in Niger State. I visited Gurara in 2013 and left in tears because the whole landscape point clearly to an abandoned money spinner. If adequately developed the tourism potential of the place cannot be quantified. Then one would ask, don't we have a Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation(NTDC)?
I saw nothing that was lacking in Atlantis resort throughout my five days stay. The prompt and courteous room service delivery is indicative of a working system and I was impressed to the foremost.
My zeal to incorporate my pleasurable stay into intellectual engagement got me to enrol in a one week leadership, business development and oratory improvement class. These three-in-one rendezvous later turned out to be a life time laurel as I was to be awarded the Best Speaker in the male category, while the awardee of the female category turned out to be Bakare Mayowa, a UK born Nigerian. We struck a cord immediately and opened a sluice gate to what I believe will be a life time intellectual bond.
For young readers and leaders in all specifics of different platform, let me refer you to websites like www.ted.com and www.edx.com, as these were my class guide websites throughout. Please thank me later for this insightful info.
My quest to see more of my new abode got me to consider a bus ride towards the end of the five days leadership class. You would think this is a risky venture being relatively new in town but not with the made easy Internet facility "everywhere you go". Alas, I found one at a good rate and booked Istanbul bound from Antalya. I have never had such a smooth ride in close to my three decades of existence.
The geographical structural design of the road is enigmatic with inter linking roads paving way for every areas to develop sporadically.
Did I hear someone in Nigeria say that our Malls are beautiful, pardon me to say you will describe them as scanty when compared to the Metro and Romatem Malls, where we had brief stop overs.
My Nigerian friend whom we inquisitively rode together was quick to call my attention to compare the luxury service we were accorded in the bus as we were served light meals three times to the effect of our preference before we disembarked. She said on a lighter mood "Nigerians will be scared and suspicious on a bus ride if they were given this treatment". We seem to have accustomed our show of hospitality to attempt of evil plot against one another. Little wonder how our once indigenous family system is going down the drain.
Where are the worn-out buses and cars causing emission on these roads? I asked myself at a point but cannot find any, maybe, they are in Nigeria as I write, packaged as Belgium Tokunbos! Will my Nigeria forever remain a dumping ground for "tokunbo' cars? Surprisingly I am not exonerated as an end user of these Tokunbo cars as my duo fleet are "tokunbo' since I couldn't afford brand new.
The number of tunnel and trunk road we drove past cannot be indexed again, as I have lost count. I was quick to change in my consciousness my fallacious use of the proverb " there is light at the end of the tunnel" since there were lights even in the tunnels we rode in.
All through my stay, power supply was unapologetically uninterrupted, ousting the need for a generating set anywhere. What is amiss in Nigeria. If the same of the same has not given us anything to go by in development, then it is time to opt for a change. This African giant called Nigeria has a lot to get done.
My decision to move from Frankfurt Germany to Istanbul Turkey was occasioned by my intention to visit my medical friends from Nigeria who were on a conference in Antalya and promote the bond of Africanness and intellectualism. Like Professor Wole Soyinka's "You Must Set Forth At Dawn", I set forth to Istanbul abode Emirate Flight Boeing 707.
The situation was better this time, I had guarded myself with cold "evader" and had began to acclamatize to the 13 degree weather condition in Europe at the moment. The passage at immigration check was fine this time, as I was quick to show my visiting transit visa and the smile that I got at the flap of my Nigeria passport gave me some pride again and my morale became high.
In one hour, I had landed at the Antalya airport. In truth, one would not be wrong to say the problem seems to be in Nigeria. Once you succeed in surviving the harassment at Muritala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, your transit through the air seems to make you wholesomely new. A Nigerian that is respected!
The bus system from Antalya airport to the world class Atlantis Hotel and resort in Antalya was terrific as I rode first time on a WIFI enabled bus with no service interruption throughout the one hour journey to the resort. Did I hear someone echo that Nigeria equally has WIFI enabled buses, well thanks to the effort of Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos, Nigeria, for the BRT WIFI-Lite, though the differences were explicit. One can only hope it would even be as functional as expected given that we are masters in putting the chart before the house.
The speed of the Internet was jet like and the convenience of the bus cannot be compared to whatever I have seen in Nigeria. Now, I know why cars near new can be seconded to Nigeria as tokunbos! Folks here occasionally drive their cars, the public transport system makes using your car luxury. The "potholeless Nigeria" by the end of 2014 which was never achieved may have been modeled after the roads in Istanbul as I watched carefully to see if I would find any pothole, but I found none.
I got to Atlantis Resort and hotel in Antalya, a reformed dude, dropping into one of the best resorts in the world. I commiserate with my royal Elegushi friends on what a death they have caused of the Elegushi beach by selling swathes of their expanse of the beach land to private Estates' investors. Their children's children may curse their forefathers who sold these lands if someday they visit Atlantis Resort. My proud Oniru royal family friends are not exonerated as the long term investment of carving out world class resort centres from these beaches would have been more productive economically than the instant gratification of what is gotten at the sale of these areas to Estate developers and the meagre income that come from the shanties called bars at the beaches now, both of which have become shadows of themselves. Thank God for the newest Lekki Leisure Lake which has found more comfortable visiting than the duo of Elegushi and Oniru. Did I forget to mention the now moribund Eleko beach.
Maybe a private investor will visit Gurara Water fall in Niger state someday and make a good model of Atlantis resort and hotel in Niger State. I visited Gurara in 2013 and left in tears because the whole landscape point clearly to an abandoned money spinner. If adequately developed the tourism potential of the place cannot be quantified. Then one would ask, don't we have a Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation(NTDC)?
I saw nothing that was lacking in Atlantis resort throughout my five days stay. The prompt and courteous room service delivery is indicative of a working system and I was impressed to the foremost.
My zeal to incorporate my pleasurable stay into intellectual engagement got me to enrol in a one week leadership, business development and oratory improvement class. These three-in-one rendezvous later turned out to be a life time laurel as I was to be awarded the Best Speaker in the male category, while the awardee of the female category turned out to be Bakare Mayowa, a UK born Nigerian. We struck a cord immediately and opened a sluice gate to what I believe will be a life time intellectual bond.
For young readers and leaders in all specifics of different platform, let me refer you to websites like www.ted.com and www.edx.com, as these were my class guide websites throughout. Please thank me later for this insightful info.
My quest to see more of my new abode got me to consider a bus ride towards the end of the five days leadership class. You would think this is a risky venture being relatively new in town but not with the made easy Internet facility "everywhere you go". Alas, I found one at a good rate and booked Istanbul bound from Antalya. I have never had such a smooth ride in close to my three decades of existence.
The geographical structural design of the road is enigmatic with inter linking roads paving way for every areas to develop sporadically.
Did I hear someone in Nigeria say that our Malls are beautiful, pardon me to say you will describe them as scanty when compared to the Metro and Romatem Malls, where we had brief stop overs.
My Nigerian friend whom we inquisitively rode together was quick to call my attention to compare the luxury service we were accorded in the bus as we were served light meals three times to the effect of our preference before we disembarked. She said on a lighter mood "Nigerians will be scared and suspicious on a bus ride if they were given this treatment". We seem to have accustomed our show of hospitality to attempt of evil plot against one another. Little wonder how our once indigenous family system is going down the drain.
Where are the worn-out buses and cars causing emission on these roads? I asked myself at a point but cannot find any, maybe, they are in Nigeria as I write, packaged as Belgium Tokunbos! Will my Nigeria forever remain a dumping ground for "tokunbo' cars? Surprisingly I am not exonerated as an end user of these Tokunbo cars as my duo fleet are "tokunbo' since I couldn't afford brand new.
The number of tunnel and trunk road we drove past cannot be indexed again, as I have lost count. I was quick to change in my consciousness my fallacious use of the proverb " there is light at the end of the tunnel" since there were lights even in the tunnels we rode in.
All through my stay, power supply was unapologetically uninterrupted, ousting the need for a generating set anywhere. What is amiss in Nigeria. If the same of the same has not given us anything to go by in development, then it is time to opt for a change. This African giant called Nigeria has a lot to get done.
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