When daddy informed us that we will be taking a road trip to Ghana for a week long vacation, I was not at all excited reason being that I thought of the condition of Nigerian roads, reckless drivers and insecurity and coupled with my recent accident (alhamdullilahi, I lived to tell the story). My attempt to excuse myself fell on my daddy’s left ear has he insisted that it is a family vacation and no one will be left out. I accepted my fate and silently watched as the preparation continues.
10th Sept, 2010
Eid Mubarak!!! Sallah day proper. The men went out for eid prayer while we gals were left at home preparing the meal. The day was also meant for our departure.
We had our meal, got into the car and embarked on the first lap of our journey.
Ø I was impressed with the new Ogbomosho Express road. Such roads are not very common in Nigeria. Even the Kaduna Express road is beginning to wear out and I seriously hope our dear governments will quickly tend to it before the road turn to a gully of death. Those who ply the Northern states road will understand my point (especially the Mokwe/jebba road).
The road is beautifully laid out with no bump or ditch which made driving fun and less stressful. I can’t however help thinking of two things;
· How durable is the road? Let say in the next 10 to 15 years, what will the road look like…?
· What maintenance policy has being put in place to be able to get the answer to the question 1? Well like we all know the maintenance culture in Nigeria is…?
Back on track, we arrived the Centre of Excellence that same evening and checked into a hotel.
11th Sept, 2010
Waking up was not easy this morning because I stayed up late the previous night. We observed our Salat, few minutes later our guide arrived. We took our breakfast of tea and headed out.
Since we wet out early, we were able to beat Lagos traffic and in less than an hour we were leaving Badagry behind and headed towards Seme Border. I noticed there were no Police Check point on the road but I honestly attributed this to the heavy downpour.
At Seme Border, the first thing I saw was a cluster of human being (civilians and uniform), people carrying goods on their head in small bits to smuggle into Nigeria.
Ø The Immigration Officers attached to the Nigerian side of the border were hostile and corrupted. They took money from us at every opportunity, it got to a stage we don’t know the actual people in charge the border because several people collected money from us. We just thought no problem since they will not allow us to move or delay us we tried our best to meet their demands. I remember someone telling us that what we experienced is minute thanks to the person who lead us had it been we are complete JJCs with no person to guide us, they would have put us through hell.
Ø We drove to the Benin Republic side of the border hoping to get better reception but to my dismay they appear worst then their Nigerian counterparts. You hear tales of how better some African Countries are compared to my Country but am happy to say I see no different between Benin Republic and Nigeria.” You may think what is she talking about after all she did not tour the whole of Benin”, but I believe that the image of a Country starts from what you see or how you were received at the entrance.
Ø Well we drove through Cotonou and it appear to be a beautiful place; the roads are tarred (some with interlocking blocks) dual carriage and very wide which allow free flow of traffic. It will however be unfair to compare the infrastructures in my Country with that of Benin based on what I saw in Cotonou (after all what will a visitor visiting Nigeria for the first time say if he see Abuja Metropolis or Ikoyi in Lagos) or (what will a foreign student posted to Abuja Campus say about Nigerian Law School Structures and accommodation). The deal is enter town and see the rest then you can Judge.
Ø One other thing about this Country is their food, I can only say "gross" which made me realize what wonderful cook Nigerians are and what beautiful delicacies we are blessed with in Nigeria.
We left Cotonue and headed towards the Illancondji which is the Togo border (pronounce “Illancondi”), I was glad to leave Benin republic behind because we got no better treatment at their farewell border.
Ø If I call what we receive at the Benin Republic Boarder an insult, then I should call that of Togo an insult coupled with a slap on the face. I was furious, how can I be insulted in a small country like Togo. For God sake am a citizen of one of the biggest Nation in Africa, I am a NIGERIAN (well that’s a story for another day). Imagine Africans to Africans then why do we complain of being treated with disdain at foreign Airports.
Ø Nothing impressed me about Togo so the idea of comparison did not crop into my mind.
Ø I saw a gigantic building which we were told belong to our one time Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon. The building we were informed used to be a hotel but have now been abandoned. I wonder how many of such buildings our dear former Head of State has around the world which he acquired at the expense of the Tax Payers money and how many have gone to waste.
Ø They have it all, bad roads, corrupt and unfriendly uniform Officers and citizens. Where the Custom officers are to check our luggage, they requested for money etc.
Ø Oops… I forget, I saw the Atlantic Ocean at a closer range in Togo, I think that is the only beautiful thing there (guess that is because it is God made and not man made)
Boy was I glad when we left Togo behind and set out for Aflao (Ghana Border). At this juncture, I was already expecting the worst from anybody. At Togo farewell border we experienced another episode of hostility. We parked on the wrong side instead of the officer to politely ask us to re park after we explained to him that we are Visitors, he insulted us and refuse to let us go until he was given a token. The same scenario repeated itself with his colleagues.
Funny enough the moment we crossed over to the Ghana side of the border, the reception changed.
Ø We were greeted with smiles and attended to promptly. The Officers are humane and formal.
Ø Whatever money we paid was deposited directly into the bank. They did not request for any extra money neither did they delay us nor show any laziness in carrying out their duties.
Ø When we parked at the wrong parking space, an officer came to us and said “ Please sir, kindly park properly”
Ø Under 40minutes we were free to go and explore the Gold Coast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ø Apart from the politeness of the Officers, one other thing that struck me is neatness which is also absent at the other borders. The border area is so neat that to throw anything on the ground seem shameful.
Ø As we drove through Aflao, the attitude continues. We stopped over to eat and as usual I appreciate our mothers cooking in Nigeria.
Ø The Policemen are too impressive, they will stop you politely ask for your particulars and simply ask you to drive on. I also noticed that they were not armed with weapons.
Ø I also observe the presence of electricity even in places that can be liken to Villages, this electricity extended to the road side as street light could be seen in VILLAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was thinking in my mind “let wait till we see the rest of the Ghana.” I later slept off and hours later found myself in Accra (the capital city of Ghana). We got to Accra around 1.00am.
12th Sept, 2010
Accra is such a beautiful place at night. It looks like day at that time of the night. Light every where, well laid out roads, law abiding drivers (I noticed this at each traffic road signs) and to cap it all, there is security. Despite the time of the day, we felt at ease driving around. At exactly 2.00am, we found a very good hotel and checked into it. We observed our prayers and went to bed.
There was no much activity this day, we ate our breakfast and went back to sleep. We however went out in the evening to see Accra by the day. It still looks beautiful and everything looks orderly. Another thing I noticed is neatness, Ghanaians are neat and organized. Unfortunately when we visited the area occupied by Nigerians we saw NIGERIA again. Pure water nylons littered the whole street, the area is smelly and disgusting, I can’t help but compare this with other areas majorly populated by Ghanaians, the Yoruba people will say “isele lon ba omo data” (i.e a child’s behavior at home will be reflected when such child get outside).
13th Sept, 2010
We left Accra very early in the morning for Kumasi. I was opportune to see more of Accra.
Ø We passed in front of the Kwame Nkrumah house which he built on top of a mountain. Driving up was a bit scary but fun.
Ø We drove through some small towns and villages and I noticed the same constant things: Good roads, electricity and wonderful peoples.
Ø If we park our car to eat or ease ourselves any attempt to take out our bags, phones or any other valuables were laughed at, we were simply told not to worry that our things are safe.
Ø We wanted to sleep over at Koforidua (another big city in Ghana) because of the fear of travelling in the night, we however changed our mind after we were told we have nothing to worry about because the roads are good and there is sufficient security.
Ø As we drove toward Kumasi around 10pm (11pm Nigerian time) we came across lots of trucks and to my surprise they drove in lawful manners unlike Nigerian truck drivers that have turn themselves into King of the highway.
We arrive Kumasi at midnight and checked into a hotel. One other funny thing I noticed is that though Ghanaians have gate but they don’t bother to lock it at night in fact in some places they did not even close it at all.
14th Sept, 2010
We drove around Kumasi then went back to Accra. On our way to Accra we encounter a serious traffic hold up which lasted for almost 3hours because they were blasting rocks thus they had to block the road. In spite of this terrible hold up, the moment the road was cleared every motorist went back to their normal lane and within 30seconds we were on our way. At this stage I could not help imagining a similar situation in my dear Country (am pretty sure apart from the 3hours spent waiting for the road to open, we will spend another 2hours struggling to drive out because Nigerian drivers are not train to be patient).
We finally got to Accra by midnight.
15th Sept, 2010
Wake up late again but could not dilly-dally cos we have another stressful day ahead of us. We went to a market called Makola in Accra, it is a very big market where they sells several items ranging from clothing materials to shoes, slippers etc.
We bought things for our loved ones.
Despite the value of cedi (N91= 1000 cedi), things are still very cheap in Ghana compare to what we get in Nigeria.
Lessons
I learnt one very common but important lesson during my visitation to Ghana, ie, determination.
Ghanaians have been through worst situations than we Nigerians. At a stage they left their Country in search of greener pastures and came down to Nigeria, but when the Nigerian government forced them to leave in 1983, they went back to the pieces left and with determination made their country a comfortable home again.
Ghana as a country can boost of three important things which a Nation need to build itself:
· Electricity
· Good roads
· Security
I met a man at the hotel we stayed at Kumasi when he saw our Nigeria Plate Number, he smiled and said he has heard a lot about Nigeria but will rather stay put in Ghana because in Ghana you can sleep on the street, go out anytime of the day and even sleep without locking your door. You can argue with a Policeman without fear because they don’t even carry guns, can you try that in Nigeria? (Lots of innocent lives have been lost because of this).
People talk about UK, USA and all other super Countries of the world and the peace of mind you get from residing there.
I have not been to any of these Countries so I can’t say much about them apart from what I read from books and magazines (you can add the internet too), however, I can boldly say that here in our own dear Africa, land of the black people with the great heroes we have our own role model.
I as a person will not compare Nigeria with America but I will compare my Country with Ghana another Africa Country like it. Lots of Nigerians don’t see the blow it meant to us when Obama visited Ghana instead of our Country.
We call ourselves "Giant of Africa." Normally when we talk about a giant person, it mean someone who is huge in stature, however, the same thing can't be said about a Nation. For a Country to be called a giant, it Government must be able to provide all the necessary provisions for its Citizens and should be able to show the outside Community the stuff it is made of but we the "Giant of Africa" have nothing to be proud of even in football we rot.
He sent his Secretary (Hillary Clinton) to Nigeria but all she said was thrown to the wind as if they were lies.
If Ghana can do it, why can’t we?
Nigeria is a great and blessed Nation, but Nigerians are the problem of Nigeria. From Nigerians we get our leaders, who are merciless and undedicated. An average Nigerian on the street is so corrupted that if you give him/her an opportunity to rule the Nation, they see it as an opportunity to enrich their pockets (not to talk of other horrible things they do do).
Corruption has became our daily meal which we eat and digest with ease.
Home sweet Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We left Ghana back for Nigeria on the 16th day of September, 2010. We came across the same scenario we encountered when we were coming into Ghana, same problem at the Togo and Benin Border. At Cotonue, we were in an hold up for close to two hours because some Tokunbo drivers decided to take over the road.
By the time we got to Badagry my blood pressure was already on the verge of hitting 100 degree, lots of traffic delay caused by truck drivers, innumerable Police Check Points just to mention a few. In as much as I miss Amala, I was not too pleased with what we experienced that night.
17th Sept, 2010
We wake up late again!!!!!!!!!!! (That has become a tradition during our one week vacation). As we prepared to leave Lagos for Ilorin, we receive a call from Ibadan that members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) are fighting. This is another menace in our Country. These people are used by Politicians to kill and maim their opponents, they in turn have become Kings that nobody dare question (they are above the law).
Where are we going??????????????????
Well back home, back to my dear old Country where we have it all: Natural Resources, Beautiful Cultures etc but we lack one important machinery, ie, good leadership. May the Good Lord touch the hearts of our merciless, greedy and power drunk leaders... (somebody should join to say "amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!")
