Sojourn in Calabar

Recently, I spent two weeks in Calabar, Cross River State, co-facilitating a Communication Planning for Social and behavior Change training for USG implementing partners. The other facilitator at this meeting was Folami Harris- A Jamaican born America who was visiting Calabar for the first time. Out of our impossible schedule, Folami took time to make journal entry about Calabar. I have shared it below here for your enjoyment and reflection. (Italics within the body of the journal are mine)

Cheers,
Thom.


I've been in Calabar for two weeks now, in a hotel still under construction --Monty's Suites. You would not know this from its website which uses an impressive façade to create an illusion of modern, functional luxury. Of course such a destination has internet facilities, sanitary conveniences and business practices consistent with the 21 century …or maybe it has the practical efficiency and regal bearing of the ancient Calabar Kingdom. Neither my friend, we are instead faced with the Nollywood movies set of a hotel  possessing just enough reality to suggest a functioning facility. The saddest part of the illusion is the collective belief in the reality of its grandeur. You have said for us what we would have said all this while. I don’t know why we have not seen this in this light. Perhaps we have, but are limited in our ability to employ the finer descriptive powers of the English language? Or maybe our private homes are so bereft of the basic necessities of regular electricity and tap water, that we appreciate hotels that can provide these! So you see, in Nigeria functioning reality takes on a whole new meaning- security, electricity, running water- any other additions become luxuries that we enjoy transiently knowing that our homes are waiting for us, knowing that it is fool hardy to get used to the ephemeral luxury of the hotel- the failure of the Nigerian state.
Calabar is in Cross River State, “The People’s Paradise” a coastal state in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. It is rooted in the historic Calabar Kingdom which dates back to antiquity. The original town was known as Atakpa. Oral tradition has it that the Calabar Kingdom is the original location of the Biblical Garden of Eden. The people of old Calabar Kingdom had ancient religious practices that the European missionaries and traders who arrived in the early 1400s believed strongly resembled the traditions of the Jewish Torah. According to some historians, in early history of Nigeria, the people of the old Calabar Kingdom – the Efik were often referred to as Efik Eburutu, "Ebrutu" being a corruption of the word "Hebrew". Notions of the Jewish origin of the Efik people (Efik, Ibibio and Annana) was well established in early history.
As early as the 16th century, Calabar had been a recognized international sea port. During the era of the European enslavement of Africans, it replaced the export of palm oil with human cargo and became a major port in the transportation of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. The city once served as the seat of Government of the Niger Coast Protectorate, the Oil River Protectorate, (…the terms the ruling class used/use in their attempt to disguise oppression. What is a “protectorate” oo??) Calabar was effectively the headquarters of modern day Nigeria and has played significant roles in Nigeria’s history:
• the first Nigerian Professor, Professor Eyo Ita who became the champion of Nigeria’s youth movement for independence
• the infamous market women who trumped the British colonials’ effort to extort ‘taxes’ and disrupt traditional trading practices
• the centre of efforts to create a Republic of Biafra Nigerian Civil War (Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun is a must read here)
• ‘home’ to Liberian warlord Charles Taylor who lived in the old colonial palace under an agreement which led to the end of his country's civil war (before fleeing extradition to Liberia)

Today I read about my history from a Jamerican! How sad. I hold a Masters Degree in Communications but can’t tell somebody about my past… how much less my contemporaries and younger ones who have not had an opportunity to get formal education? I am numb from guilt. See how much the grind of life in Nigeria has blinded me to the things that should matter to a people? Every morning I leave home at 6 am to get to work. Every month as I collect my pay cheque, I cry out of happiness and sadness- parallel feelings that shouldn’t happen together. My wife, Nancy is a University graduate but hasn’t got a job- the jobs are just too few for the thousands who graduate every year. Nancy has gone into business- making bed sheets, pillows, duvets, and curtains, but most of the time there is no electricity to operate the machines that cost us a fortune to acquire and most people that buy, do not pay cash. They pay only when they get paid their salary- which in the civil service is irregular. My father is a retired school teacher, but his $140 monthly pensioner’s salary does not even come regularly. I used to have four Kids- Becky(9), Esther(7), Alex(4) Eugenia(late). Now I have 3 and since Eugenia died at 2 and half, I have wondered what exactly the cause of death was. I suspect the hospital is compromised here but It will take a law suit to get a death certificate! Primary education is almost free in public schools, but the public school system is a sorry sight, so Alex, Esther and Becky are in a private school where I pay $2,000 per school term to give them the semblance of an education! I could go on forever…but none can cry my cry for me. And these should not be an excuse for my lack of interest in my history. I believe I heard it somewhere that “those who fail to remember their past are bound to repeat their past mistakes” Maybe Nigeria is where it is today because as Nigerians, we have not shown sufficient interest in our past.

But my story is not of a time past but of present day Calabar of Cross River State. Today’s Calabar boasts of a ‘free trade zone’, something we dwellers of the global ‘South’ know so well, a seaport and an International museum and slave history park, one of the most prominent universities in the country -the University of Calabar and several historical and cultural landmarks.
It sits within a state rich in natural forests, rivers and abundant possibilities, free trade zone notwithstanding. The governor of the state, Liyel Imoke, LLB, PhD, etc., is a graduate of Howard University, some prestigious law school in the UK and American University for a post JD degree.
The biggest boon envisioned for this extremely well endowed state is tourism and so Carnival has been introduced (reintroduced?), patterned on Trinidad's example, complete with floats, costumes and of course, the bacchanal (sp?) of sexual release in the people's paradise. All December. Indeed, enterprising young women here are poised for income generation during this month-long celebration of carnal pleasures. They get plenty of practice "positioning" their products in the marketplace on 'ladies night' at local nightclubs around Calabar. Elaborate head gears, sparkly eyes and lip sheens accent the sturdy temples on display.
So last weekend, I sampled some of Calabar’s attractions with colleagues here. I took a tour of the museum, visited the University of Calabar’s campus and joined a group of adventurous colleagues on a hunt for bush meat and boiled plantains, palm wine, goat head stew and roasted fish. (Sorry, couldn’t share this earlier because there was neither internet service nor ‘network’ to call) but here are some highlights. I am sure I will have access any day soon.

The Museum –a disgraceful semblance of the most pitiful artifacts of the period, delivered by a miseducated, although well meaning 'guide' who tried to walk us through the miserable excuse for a collection. My most gracious thoughts are concerned with how we, the descendants of the enslaved could make this a museum worth the visit and the space it occupies. Yes, we have a role to play. The preservation of this story in all its accuracy and poignancy is important to ensuring it never happens again –not across the ocean, not in the northern Moslem states where women are stoned to death for committing adultery, not here in the southern states where children are trafficked into hard labour on plantations. If Nigeria was poor, I would excuse the museum as a modest but generous offering from impoverished relations. But Nigeria is not poor, it is neglectful of its people and its past. The appetite of the rich and powerful consumes all the harvest with little regard for the welfare of the workers who labour to produce the yield. The museum, despite the players, relayed the story of the hunter; not the prey.

University of Calabar –brought tears to my eyes. Our ancestors will not forgive us for this travesty. Among the mini-market shacks, overgrown lawns or barren patches and general squalor of neglect, just where is there space for learning? What kind of world are we training our best minds to build? State neglect is an underestimation of what I saw …within a state ruled by a governor who knows what inputs are needed for learning, having earned his ABCs at some of the best. We may be conceived in God’s imaginings but are surely aborted in the realm of the state.

The Hunt for bush meat –we will survive. The resilience of spirit to be connected with spirit is what keeps us truly human. So off I went with my Nigerian colleagues in search of palm wine, ‘bush meat’, boiled plantains and other local savories. What a lovely outing it was too –little critters and all. Through roadside food stalls and homes reconverted into cafes and neighbourhood entertainment centres –complete with the characters that make these venues memorable. I found adventure, laughter and affirmation of the positive spirit alive and well …even before losing myself in the rapture of a most delicious engagement with roasted fish, peppe and lime. Yum! And I enjoyed the palm wine too.
So, the whole purpose of this trip was training. The course ended yesterday beautifully, with the participants demonstrating the competencies we set out to build. Each organisation (there were 14 organisations for a group of about 28 total) presented their communication strategy for behaviour change. I was satisfied with the products and even more satisfied with the attitude of the learners and their hard work over an intense two week period. So I am pleased with that and thankful for the outcome. Of course I thank God for this success. We prayed that everyone would be able to follow through in the same fashion and re-examine their existing programmes with the new perspectives and skills imparted. Alas, I know the problem is bigger than a change in sexual behaviours. Nigeria is besieged by myriad developmental challenges -not the least of which is the chasm between rich and poor and the structures of brutality that perpetuates this widening divide. The concentration of power in the hands of so few simply increases the vulnerability of those that don't have access to this power (the poor, women, children, ethnic minorities, ...and so the list goes on). This, unfortunately is the broader context against which all ills prevail.
As for me and my heart, there were little periods of such intense loneliness. I leave Calabar for Abuja tomorrow. Who knows what’s in store there….