African Hair

I was walking through Tooting (a London suburb) yesterday, and walked past a young woman with an Afro. She looked great; is the Afro making a come-back?

healthy, wealthy, wise?

One of the images of Africa in the Western media is showing unhealthy people: either mal-nourished or dying of aids.
LIke most of the images that we see in the West this is based on truth, but only shows a small part of the big picture.
One of my strongest impressions of Nigeria is that the typical Nigerian is healthier than the most Europeans, both physically and mentally.
In fact my own health improved considerably in the two years that I lived in Abuja. I practice martials arts (Shorinji Kempo) and had a major problem with my back.
While in Nigeria I started daily exercises to improve my lower back strength and found a big improvement.
Living in a warm climate made a big difference, but I think that the major factor that helped me was the quality of the food.
Most of the food that we eat in the UK is processed, and not very nutrious, whereas food grown in Nigeria is generally organic and probably a lot healthier.
I also found that my mental attitude improved a lot when I was in Nigeria, perhaps partly due to the weather, (although I actually like the variety of having four seasons).
People living in a big city like London tend to be withdrawn and isolated, which can lead to depression and other mental health problems.
In contrast, I never felt lonely in Nigeria; there is always some-one to talk to or give you a friendly smile and a welcome.

Thinking about these health issues, I came across an article on the web about human organs for sale:
I find this to be very worrying, especially having experienced the attitude of some Westerners who see Nigeria as a major market opportunity.
I think that countries like Nigeria have to be very careful about opening up their markets, and to make sure that they are not a target for this kind of exploitation.

Open Source

The "consultants" spoof on the previous blog was from Tech Republic.
This is an excellent source of IT information and resources.

Before coming to work in Nigeria I completed an MSc in Internet Engineering at the University of East London. My dissertation was on the use of open source software in developing countries: if anyone would like a copy please email me.

Most of the copies of Microsoft Windows being used in Nigeria are pirate versions (including organisations such as GTZ). This is understandable in most cases: a licensed copy of Windows XP costs about 20,000 Naira, i.e. 1 - 2 months salary for an office worker. Microsoft charge the same prices in Nigeria and other developing countries as they do in Europe and the United States, although the cost of Windows XP in the UK equals about one days work for an office worker. This is understandable because it's so easy to arbitrage software, i.e. buy it where it's cheap and sell it where it's expensive.

A lot of big companies are turning to Linux and other open-source software as an alternative to Microsoft. The downside is that there is a steep learning curve, although it is getting to be more user friendly. Linux is an excellent way to learn about computers and operating systems. I predict that it's going to take off in the future, as Microsoft start to protect their property rights in countries like Nigeria, therefore I would recommend budding IT entrepreneurs to get a copy and start playing with it.

consulting

accountability

While I was working at the GTZ office in Abuja, the office decided to purchase some new computers. The Nigerian IT Officer and myself both recommended that these should be mid-range models, which would be "fit-for-purpose", i.e. email, browsing, word processing and spreadsheets. This advice was over-ruled by Ed ("International Consultant") who determined that top-of-the-range PC's should be purchased, each PC costing about 1,000 Euros more than the standard model. There are about 20 PC's in the office in total.

Ed is an IT wannabe, the sort of person who always upgrades to the latest model of mobile phone. etc. Maybe that's why he need to get paid so much.

1,000 Euros is not much in terms of GTZs' budget (one days "work" from a consultant), but when you realise that this money is paid by German Taxpayers intending it to help poor Nigerians then it's not hard to imagine how this money could be used more constructively.

I'm planning to visit the GTZ Head Office in Eschborn in a couple of weeks to discuss the workings of their Abuja Office. I'll keep you informed.

A little light relief

One of the best things about working in Nigeria is peoples sense of humour; strange that we never hear about this in the West when reading media reports about Africa.

Anyway, here's a link to a post on a site called E-Budo.

This is a discussion site for people involved in martial arts. The first time that I visited Africa was almost by accident. My Shorinji Kempo teacher is a WSKO (World Shorinji Kempo Organisation) instructor, which means that he is sent to various countries to teach seminars. On this occasion the venues were in Kenya and Tanzania. He invited me to accompany him to "carry his bags".
I've travelled a lot in Europe and to Japan and the U.S.A. and Canada, but never had a desire to go to Africa; however I found something there that really attracted me. It's hard to quantify, but was really concerned with the spirit of the people; somehow I felt a real connection.
History tells us that Africa is the Motherland for us all; where humanity originated.

Authenticity and credibility

There’s an article in todays’ UK Guardian Newspaper about the inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee. The article states “He singles out the rise of blogging as one of the most difficult areas for the continuing development of the web, because of the risks associated with inaccurate, defamatory and uncheckable information.”

A very important point, and relevant to some of the issues that I’ve raised here.

The question of authenticity and credibility is crucial: I’m happy to send a copy of my resume to any-one interested in checking this out (as long as you promise not to use it to 419 anyone).

I’ve worked as an IT consultant in London for companies including Sony, Texaco, Polygram, Morgan Stanley, and EDS, which I feel gives me a valid basis to comment on the activities within the EoPSD project. Before coming to Nigeria I also completed an MSc in Internet Engineering at the University of East London; coincidently a college with a lot of Nigerian students.

It’s interesting to see that the EoPSD website has now been tidied up, including the removal of the C.V. of one of the consultants acting as “project advisor

People are listening ?

This morning I checked the EoPSD website and see that there have been some significant changes; a lot of the marketing bullshit has disappeared.

Perhaps the managers at GTZ are responsive to constructive criticism?

International Development is a complicated area; there are no easy solutions. As well as the money-grabbing consultants I did meet people at GTZ who seemed to be genuine in their desire to work side-by-side with Nigerians, not try to impose a foreign ideology on them from a position of supposed superiority.

Since returning to London I find that I miss Nigeria more and more; the kindness, good humour, love of children, and respect for older people that we seem to be losing in the so-called “developed” countries.

more about EoPSD/EaGPP

Thanks to Jeremy who mentions this blog at his own naijablog (linked at the right).
I've been reading his blog for a while, and find it interesting to keep in touch with what is happening in Naija. Nigeria has huge potential, which is why organisations such as GTZ are looking for influence there. GTZ is a limited company which usually takes on projects for the German Government, although it also works for other organisations.
The finance behind EoPSD is interesting: 60% is from the German Government and 40% from other sources, although it's not clear who these are.
This is reflected in the management of the EoPSD project which is controlled by the two "project consultants". If I were a senior manager at GTZ I should be very concerned about the effect that this is having on GTZs' image internationally.

VSO have now terminated their contract to supply people to GTZ due to the attitude of the EoPSD managers. The final straw was when GTZ were offered the services of a Nigerian living in London who has a lot of experience in minerals (rocks, not soft drinks).

GTZ complained about paying for a Nigerian specialist; they also complained about paying for the Kenyan specialists also supplied by VSO.

It is always east to make accusations of racism, but the attitude shown here by the "project consultants" raises some serious questions.