Father's Day Celebration

We went to Kiri Dam for a short hike and picnic lunch for Father's Day.  It was a beautiful drive through many villages.

We drove across the dam and parked our car at the base of the mountain (really a hill if you compare it to NH mountains.)

      Emma is doing her Ben 10 pose.

When we were looking through the pictures, Emma said this is her favorite part of the hike...having a swim and coke at the Club afterwards.

Last few weeks in Nigeria

Last week we drove out of Yola into the hills for a happy hour.  We watched a storm roll in.

On the last day of school the girls had a spelling bee and then pool party. Emma was the spelling champ for her class.  She felt quite proud.

Harv helped make pizzas for the classes that won the most books read during the summer session.  Emma's class read over 300 books in 5 weeks!  After pizza, the girls showed off their swimming skills in the big pool.  Everyone can't believe how Addie has no fear and can swim the whole length of the pool.

Here is our Yola grill/fire pit.

Cultural Day at Community School

We had a cultural celebration at the Community School yesterday. It was a day filled with dancing, food, and songs from various cultures.  We discovered that Addie loves to be on stage.  She wouldn't give the microphone up...she loved it!

Emma talked about the British culture...they eat fish and chips and say "Thanks Mate".  We have it all on video to share when we get home.  It was priceless!!

Here is our friend, Maryam representing the Fulani culture with a dance.

Graduate Student Field Study

We had 8 graduate students come to Yola for a field study as part of the course I am teaching at AU.  It was an amazing group of people and we had a great time together.  The students had the opportunity to go out on site visits including the orphanage, several local schools, villages on public health issues, visited AIDS patients, and went on a safari.  

Emma got some alone time with mommy and the group when she went with us to Yankari. She loved sitting in the front next to Dahiru and thoroughly enjoyed the hot springs!

We hiked to some caves on our safari and Emma's favorite animals were the baboons that were everywhere in the camp.  One even got into our safari vehicle.  She also liked the warthog babies.  

Some students enjoyed talking with the teachers at a local village school.  

During our farewell dinner we had great conversation with several inspiring community leaders. 

I hope we can continue this collaboration...it was an amazing experience for all involved! 

Graduation Ceremony at the Community School

We had the Community School graduation last week.  I can't believe that our Emma graduated from kindergarten!  As usual in Nigeria, the ceremony lasted for a few hours.  The girls did some singing and Emma did a ballet dance with her after school group.  Addie got a certificate as well and sang a few songs with her class.  I have been working as the Director for the Community School since November and I am so proud of all that the teachers and staff have done to move the school forward and incorporate hands on learning.  As a school, we have written a new curriculum, started an after school program, and conducted numerous trainings on educational strategies.  The first picture is all the staff at the Community School that I have worked so closely with this year.

Emma's 6th Birthday Party

Emma celebrated her 6th birthday party at the Club yesterday with her friends from school.  She picked Ben 10 as the theme and daddy worked hard at finding materials at the local market to make her cake.  LaLa sent the party plates, napkins, and cups which made it complete.  Emma enjoyed swimming with her friends.  Instead of gifts, she asked for books to donate to her school library.  Besides the 115 degree heat, fun was had by all.

The Easter Bunny Found Us in Nigeria!

 The Easter Bunny left footprints all over the house!  The girls were up at 6am and found the prints and immediately started looking for their baskets.  Luckily for us, the Easter bunny made a trip to PA to pick up some basket treats from LaLa, Pops, and Lauren!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Earth Day and Easter Fun!

In honor of Earth Day, we helped clean up the AUN campus.  Adelyn loved picking up the trash!

We then made a bunny cake and got ready for our Easter Egg Hunt, only made complete with a bunny cake.  The first picture is from our day of travel restriction because of the elections.  The girls enjoyed the sprinkler as temperatures climbed to about 120 degrees....HOT!

They are hoping the Easter Bunny finds them in Nigeria.  Emma is convinced the Easter Bunny has our address...stay tuned to find out :).

Nigerian Presidential Elections

Presidential Elections 2011

      Well I am sure that most of you are aware tomorrow (now today)will be elections for the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  As you also know elections in Nigeria (and sub-Saharan Africa) are typically anything but routine.  Nigeria’s history with respect to elections has been marred by violence, corruption, and massive vote rigging.  In fact, probably the only presidential election that has been considered free and fair in Nigeria was back in 1993.  This being the case, lets take a trip back in time and see what happened then….

      The year is 1993 and Nigerians are anxiously waiting to get to the polls to vote for a new president.  It had been 8 years under General Ibrahim Babangida’s military rule and the world was weary of the International Bad Boy IBB.  There were two main contenders vying for president, M.K.O Abiola a southern Muslim of the Social Democrat Party and Bashir Tofa a northern Muslim of the National Republican Convention.  The circumstances are unique, the candidates are split north/south, but they are both Muslim, which has its own implications in Nigerian politics.  Both are notable businessmen or Ogas, but in the end Abiola wins soundly over Tofa with nearly 59% of the vote including the majority of votes from Tofa’s home state of Kano.

Familiar campaign slogan!

      Now the elections were lauded as free and fair by the international community, which probably caught many off guard considering IBB was at the helm.  Abiola was set to take the reigns, only to be frustrated and eventually hauled off to prison (that’s the bad boy we know).  Initially the results of the election were not released and finally annulled by IBB.  Abiola, however, didn’t give up in 1994 he declared himself president and was quickly rewarded with a jail cell.  I believe he spent 4 to 5 years in prison as president elect, and never relinquished this title, carrying it to his death. 

Bashir Tofa

Ibrahim Babangida (IBB)

      This is a sad end to what is considered Nigeria’s only free and fair presidential elections, only its not the end.  Through the chaos that swept the country as a result of these events IBB was swept aside by a coup d’etat and the late great (sarcasm) Sani Abacha came into power until his death in 1998 (amazing what this guy did in 5 years…sad really).  This is the outcome of that election.

Sani Abacha

      Since Abacha, Nigeria has had three other presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar’Ardua, and the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.  Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency began only last summer as he stepped up from vice-president after Yar’Ardua’s death.  All of these president’s belong to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).  I spoke of some of the dealings with this party in early posts.

      Currently there are three main contenders for tomorrow’s election.  The incumbent Goodluck Jonathan (PDP), Muhammadu Buhari (Congress for Progessive Change), and Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria ACN) are the choices for Nigerians. The contenders both have notable backgrounds.  Buhari is a former military head of state that ruled from ’83 – ’85 when he was ousted by a coup by IBB.  Ribadu was the former head of the EFCC, which I can’t remember what the acronym stands for now, but is the anti-corruption agency of the government (not sure how effective this agency is?).  There are actually a number of other candidates, but they are not expected to really show up in the tallies.  The full list follows (I love some of the party names Fresh Democratic Party…I think it was founded by Grand Master Flash). 

President Goodluck Jonathan (Peoples Democratic Party); 
Muhammadu Buhari (Congress for Progressive Change);
Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN);
Pat Utomi (Social Democratic Mega Party);
Dele Momodu (National Conscience Party);
Ibrahim Shekarau (All Nigeria Peoples Party); (I believe our buddy Bashir Tofa is also on this ticket)
Akpona Solomon (National Majority Democratic Party);
Chris Nwaokobia (Liberal Democratic Party);
Chris Okotie (Fresh Democratic Party);
Ebiti Ndok (United National Party for Development).
Iheanyichukwu Nnaji (Better Nigeria Progressive Party);
John Dara (National Transformation Party);
Mahmud Waziri (People for Democratic Change)
Nwadike Chikezie (Peoples Mandate Party)
Peter Nwangwu (African Democratic Congress);
Rasheed Shitta-Bey (Mega Progressive Peoples Party)
Yahaya Ndu (African Renaissance Party);
and Ambrose Awuru (Hope Democratic Party).

Muhammadu Buhari and one of his posters

            To be be honest, it is hard to believe that anyone will really make a showing against Jonathan (as my friend noted he belongs to the PDP, Pre-Determined President).  Current polls show him wrapping up nearly 60% of the vote while his nearest rival, Buhari, is expected to get somewhere in the realm of 25%.  The only hope for Buhari is for a run-off, which would happen if Jonathan doesn’t get 25% of the vote in at least 2/3s of the countries 36 states.  If this happens, things could get interesting with the run-off.  The two leading challengers were set to increase the likelihood of this during talks this week to unite the two parties (CPC and CAN) behind Buhari.  However, talks broke down and each party is still backing its own candidate.  Most cite Buhari’s ego and uncompromising ways as the cause for failure of this union. 

 

            So I sit here stuck in our house as movement is restricted as elections take place.  Watching the news it appears that things are going smoothly save some violence in the usual places.  Though there have been some hiccups with the earlier National Assembly elections, Nigerians seem to be confident that these elections will be free and fair.  It is something the country needs.  I feel that the world is skeptical and are simply waiting for another uprising on the continent, another Cote d’Ivoire.  I don’t think this is going to happen.  I believe Nigeria, for all its problems, will get this right (mostly).  I further believe that Nigerians should be proud of this and of their example to the region and the world.  My hope is that a sound election will begin to lift the cloud of apathy that sits thick upon this country, which would be a step for this country towards realizing its potential.  (I also hope I am not being naive). 

        As a side note, I hope that this was interesting for you to read, but I must say it does not compare to sitting and talking with Nigerians about their politics and elections.  There are so many stories behind the stories it is no wonder that this is a country that produces scads of epic soap operas.  Such intrigue!  The stories are interesting and endless, but can leave you not knowing how you feel about a particular candidate or party.  I had such an opportunity last night as I sat with my friend Sesugh discussing such matters.  I’d love to retell our conversation, but that won’t do.  You need to speak with a Nigerian!