A Very African Problem

Pilar had been quite stressed at work and was looking forward to getting away from her life in Bangui, Central African Republic. It had increasingly become unsafe with more and more car jackings taking place. The curfew constantly made her feel imprisoned, it was midnight at first, then it moved to 11pm but was recently changed to 9:30pm. What could anyone possibly do before 9:30pm? The only time to socialise was during weekends, people from different organisations organised barbecues and house parties during the day. From 8pm, one by one, everyone would start to jump into their cars, contacting their various radio rooms to announce their return home, not to contravene security rules. The country was known for its constant conflicts. Rock club was always full during the weekend, of those wanting to swim, to play tennis or to just sit out in the sun. Hôtel Ledger was known for their Sunday brunch and also had a nice pool, then hôtel Oubangui, not the fanciest but had good massages. These were some of the things that helped Pilar decompress during weekends.

A Day at the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters in Abuja

My sister and I set out for the immigration office early, hoping to finish in good time, before there would be a rush. On what seemed like a normal work day, the officers attitudes and behaviour was far from normal.

On arrival at the gate, this conversation took place:

Officer - what are you here for?

Us - passport renewal

Officer - who are you going to see?

Us - we are going to renew a passport

Officer - one of my officers will join you so he can help.

We stared at each other blankly while the officer was waiting at the door. I unlocked it and he got into the car. It really was not a request, the senior officer was informing us. As we drove to the car park with the officer, he asked whether we had made the payment online for the passport renewal and if we had the print out. We didn't, with the assumption that we could pay there. He confirmed we could, so there was no issue. However, with the ongoing National Identity Number (NIN) registration, an extra layer of hassle had been added for those who did not have their NIN. My sister was in that category.

It's a question of identity

I was travelling in Europe recently and in one of the countries where I was, my host asked me if I could speak "South African". Before that question, she had spoken extensively about how she was in love with Africa and how when she was younger, she used to perform African songs as she was in a band. She has never visited and hopes to someday. It might sound like a cliché but she spoke about Africa like it was a country.  I indulged her and listened, before I could answer, she went on anyway. She mentioned that she had never visited Africa but was keen to do so. The next question, I can't remember how exactly she framed it but it came across like Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana were all cities that were next to each other. At this point, I told her to give me a minute then I pulled up this map of Africa.