Day 30 – Goodbye Calabar (Sep 26)

Sadly this trip has come to an end … I accompanied Lindsey, Michelle and Cynthia to the airport for their morning to Abuja, and I will be leaving after lunch to Lagos. Kish, Juan Pablo, Ron, Hermann and Jenni left over the last few days and most should be home by now.

All project teams are meant to go through what Tuckman described as ‘forming, storming, norming and performing’ but interestingly enough in team discussions we realised the second stage did not stand out at all … storming does not always involved conflict though, I guess all team members were mature in their approach towards the CSC assignment and open to each other’s perspectives and ideas. All I am saying is that I feel privileged to have worked with such a team of IBM professionals who may have joined the program as colleagues but whom I consider now as friends above all.

I believe that at one point the team development model above was updated to include a mourning phase … to account for the sense of loss and separation at the end of a project when everyone moves on, in our case back to Australia, Finland, India, Ireland, Venezuela and the US … I am not looking forward to that phase at all !

Before I close out I would recommend you read the following blogs for another angle to this adventure … everyone sees things in a different light and I hope you will enjoy views from some of my travelling companions:

www.favali.net
http://jenninigeriassa.blogspot.com
http://lindseynigeria.blogspot.com/
http://hermannnigeria.blogspot.com/
http://michellekelfkens.blogspot.com/

Day 29 – Farewell ICT (Sep 25)

Project work is wrapped up and Jenni flew home to Finland this morning. So it is now time to go around town one last time to bid everyone farewell.
Lindsey was kind enough to be my photographer and here are a few shots from my last visit at the Information, Communication and Technology Development Department of the Cross River State Government (should I refer to is as the ICTDD of the CRSG?):

Day 27 – Executive Council Presentation (Sep 23)

Bid day today, the IBM team is presenting its findings and recommendations to the Cross River State Executive Council, chaired by the Governor – Senator Liyel Imoke. I’d say the ExCo is about 50-strong and we may have had an additional 30 people sitting at the back.
Most important meetings start with a prayer but official ones actually run the Cross River anthem, Nigerian anthem, and then the prayer told by a member of staff… quite a protocol that surely reminds everyone that they are working towards the greater good of the State and its people.

IBM and CDS focused their efforts on the following projects:
- Tinapa: strategy and roadmap for a Management Information System
- Enterprise Architecture for the Cross River State government
- Planning support for the Calabar Data Center with the Department of Special Projects
- Strategic assessment for the Ministry of Social Welfare and Community Development
- Tempo: Tourism Supply Chain development

The presentations were well received, it was rewarding to hear the governor articulate the value that he thought his State had received and exciting to hear other ministries requesting IBM support!

Day 26 – Radioactive Periwinkle (Sep 22)

Brrr … even as a French man who enjoy snails, frogs and all good things in live I have chills going down my spine just thinking about this …
Periwinkles are local snails found in thin black conic spiky shells … they actually sell at the Watt and Marian markets I described earlier though I never came across them in a local dish … until today.
Our protocol officer Jane took Lindsey and I out on a lunch expedition at House 4, a local restaurant where we order banga soup with goat meat. The soup is made from grinded palm fruits, and the goat meat usually has as much meat as skin which helps digestion. Ten little periwinkles also found their way in the soup …
Always up for trying new things I tried to suck the snail out of its shell, got the bitter juice out, but couldn’t get the little sucker out. On the second attempt I managed to bite a bit of flesh and pulled the rest out … at which point I had a temporary loss of hearing thanks to Lindsey’s master scream :) I spat it out on my plate and realised the rest of the snail was a mix of fluorescent green and turquoise blue … oh wow wow as the hotel front desk boy would say … was I just holding this between my teeth. It took a few minutes for both of us to settle back down and proceed with the rest of the meal. Minus the rest of the periwinkles :)

Day 24 – Boat trip to Akwa Ibom (Sep 20)

Apologies for the lack of updates … I shall blame it in the lack of internet access, though I am also partly to blame for enjoying being offline for a little while. It helps me enjoy the moment and be more aware of all that’s happening around me.

One of our project sponsors offered to arrange a boat ride to Akwa Ibom for the day and the whole IBM team (minus Jenni unfortunately as she wasn’t feeling well) jumped on a police boat at the Calabar marina.

We mingled with the rich and famous as we were accompanied by a few VIPs on jetskis and speedboats … quite exhilarating as we picked up speed and rain hit us hard, though it seemed a bit out of place as we zigzagged through a pristine jungle speckled with fishermen huts.

Akwa Ibom is the neighbouring state to the south west of Cross River, it was hard to tell its level of economic development compared to Cross River given the little we saw but my understanding from official publications is that they derive serious money from oil revenue allocations.

Day 20 – Time for a feast (Sep 16)

Memories of Tinapa are that of sunburns at the moment but the drawing power of good food and shopping for fabrics is irresistible! So on this fine day Jenni and I joined Kish and Juan Pablo in their Tinapa offices, headquarters of the Management Information Systems project they are looking after.

Tinapa is a free trade zone and a major investment for Cross River State … it includes emporiums (large shopping complexes), movie theatres, a hotel, a casino, many more shops, a water park and the Nollywood movie studio. Unfortunately at the moment not much if it is under operation, only the water park, hotel, and 4 shops seem to be running. The ‘build it and they will come’ approach seems to fall short of expectations and business tourists are yet to invade the place. Nevertheless it is a flagship project, has great facilities and great potential.

Now on to the best part of the day … lunch at the Amber Sun hotel! Alright I’ll tell you what was on the menu but please understand this was a reward and not our every day meal :) Mushroom cream soup, grilled prawns and chocolate mousse. Yummy.

Day 18 – I would give anything for Biafine (Sep 14)

Sunburns hurt even more today … aaargh ! I tried a few pharmacies in Calabar but couldn’t find Biafine, so I’ll have to stick to the second treatment option which is moisturiser and ice :(

Day 17 – Tinapa (Sep 13)

Sundays are usually fairly quiet in Calabar, most people go to church in the morning and spend the rest of the day with family. All shops are closed.

Thankfully Juan Pablo and Kish pulled a couple of strings to get us access into the Tinapa Water Park in the Tinapa Free Trade Zone and we spent a couple of hours running down water slides, enjoying the wave pool and the Jacuzzi, or doing a couple of laps.
To put things into context, it has been grey and rainy for the last 2 weeks, so we all got excited when the sun came out. We were already in the water without sun screen, and we didn’t feel how strong the Nigerian sun was at mid-day … I got pretty impressive sunburns on my face, shoulders and upped back, and I hate myself for not having thought of applying the basic slip, slap, slop rule I told you about.

Day 16 – Deeper in the Watt Market (Sep 12)

Today is Saturday so the IBM team is in full exploration mode … unfortunely the Cultural centre was closed so we headed to the Calabar Museum which was next on the list. We learnt about the first interactions between Europeans and Calabar residents which led to the establishment of trading ports for British ships en-route for India. The museum provided great insights, many pictures and a few artefacts of the triangle of trade between Europe, Africa and the New World, slavery, colonialism and the Berlin conference where European countries agreed on territory allocation in the African continent.

I then spent two hours roaming around the Watt market looking for ready-made Nigerian clothing and wax fabrics … I didn’t find any of the former and there was too much of the latter to choose from ! The main highlight for me was to walk through the central part of the market where all things edible are traded: nuts, vegetables, fruits, palm oil, fish and meat in a suffocating mix of heat, smells and humidity. Meat, tripes, stomachs and intestines were particularly appetizing lying raw on wooden plancks … we were told by a couple of stalls attendants that they were all cow products, not entirely convincing if you saw the donkey head that was smiling at us nearby !

Another important discovery ... what I thought was chargrilled black fish is actually the smoked catfish we have in edikang ikong and other soups. Doesn't look too appetizing in a ratan basket but it's actually very tasty once at the table !

Day 14 – Watt Market (Sep 10)

No power in the office today, the national power grid is down and the backup generator is playing tricks on the maintenance team. The main generator apparently isn’t working either as an unscrupulous civil servant borrowed core parts and never returned. Jenni and I couldn’t bear the heat in our upstairs closet so we setup temporary desks in the main hall.
We had a good workshop and awareness session today on Enterprise Architecture, our purpose was to introduce key concepts and establish a framework that will make a real difference on how the Information, Communication and Technology department and the Cross River State Ministries, Departments and Agencies will work on their IT roadmap and technology decisions together.

Ended the workday earlier than usual with a long nap, the IBM team is constantly solicited and we have very little time for ourselves… after two weeks here I am pretty exhausted.

This was then followed by a quick visit to the Watt market where I came across a packed liquor stores (see top left) and a couple more smily kids :)

Day 13 – Marian Market (Sep 9)

Second round of exploration at Marian Market, down the road from the hotel, but this time with my colleague Jenni only so as not to scare the crowds with too large a group. We were looking for african fabric and handicrafts, and as I am a demanding shopper so I went through (possibly) every fabric store in the market to figure out what quality was available and at what price. No handicrafts to be found however nor bangles or necklaces, it is a shame the African market is being inundated with cheap chinese goods and plastic jewellery.

I brought a couple of small koalas bears from Australia to give to children along my Nigerian journey and started handing them out today, the first few attempts were quite interesting to say the least … the first little boy ran away screaming seeing the koala bear as a threat to the bunny he was holding in his hand. The second was in his mother’s arms and erupted in tears afraid of the tall white man! Ooops. Eventually I figured I should really just give them to slightly older children and I got very very big smiles in return :)

Day 12 – Staples & CDs (Sep 8)

The department stapler only has 5 staples in it, I guess we need to go back to Marian market to stock up!

Jenni and I took advantage of lunch break to venture around the Women Development Centre, we found a small CD shop and got a couple of traditional, Christian, or Nigerian rap music … the thing is though that each CD has one long track including all songs, or a few clusters of songs, not particularly user friendly for navigating tracks. I should have remembered the China days when I listened first and bought second!

Day 11 – Shake, Shake, Snap (Sep 7)

In Australia we have Slip Slap Slop motto to protect ourselves against the sun, and here in Calabar it is Shake Shake Snap! I have been shaking hands a thousand times with a thousand people and have now mastered the local technique of sliding hands apart and snapping fingers :)

The Internet is back on after a 4-5 day drought … actually it is back on and off but mostly off! I haven’t been really able to keep up with emails as I lose connectivity while I respond to messages. Actually most of this blog is written in Word and posted whenever possible.

Our second workshop was scheduled today with the client management team, we managed to start on time and go through our whole agenda that was a mix of change management education and brainstorming around stakeholder management. Minor hiccup, I found out 20 minutes before the meeting that none of the stationery we needed had been purchased so I got the driver to take me to Marian market to buy them myself! All we needed was whiteboard markers, post-it notes and scotch tape. And we also needed electricity for the projector … minor detail.

Another hiccup for lunch … we were told Driver 1 was going to pick us up so we could grab a bite… it so happened that he was driving someone else at the exact same time so he told us to call Driver 2 who pointed us back to Driver 1. Thankfully the IBM team from Tinapa picked us up on the way into town so we could fill our hungry stomachs.

The team went back to the canteen next door for dinner. They make a great grilled fish for 1,100 naira or about US$7. Reasonably spicy to clear sinuses but not enough to make one drool without knowing :)

Day 10 – Afi Mountain (Sept 6)

The Afi Moutain Wildlife Sanctuary is where the Nigerian government and NGOs are implementing a protection program for drill monkeys and other endangered wildlife. Only 3,000 drills remain worldwide and they can only be found in Cross River State – Nigeria, south western Cameroon, and Bioko island – Equatorial Guinea.

Rain had made a section of the trail leading to the Sanctuary impassable so we got off the bus and walked a bit before we got onto the escort’s pick up truck. One of the armed guards hopped on next to me after asking me “can you hold this for me?”. I help up his AK-47 for him, carefully I might add, and handed it back to him after taking a couple of pictures for the record!

We drove through a village on the way back to the main road, at a time when all kids where bathing in the river. I am glad I managed to get a few pictures as they could not contain their excitement at the sight of a bus full of white people.

Day 9 – Obudu Cattle Ranch (Sept 5)

I wondered what was happening when I stepped out of the hotel on Saturday morning and saw armed forces in the hotel compound. I quickly found out that the Governor had detached some of his personal escorts to accompany us on our journey out of Calabar! I sat on the bus right behind their leader and his AK-47 with double magazines taped to one another in a colourful yellow and green, the colours of Nigeria.

The IBM team left at 7.30am for a long drive to the Obudu Cattle Ranch (OCR) north east of Calabar. The road is paved pretty much all the way with the exception of a couple of sections, but it must have been sprinkled with asteroid dust because it is just a succession of potholes of varying sizes. Our driver must have practiced his driving skills over many years as he was zigzagging between holes and oncoming traffic at around 120km/h!

We stopped on the way at the Agbokim waterfalls to take a few pictures and have a nature break, always in the company of our faithful protectors. The next stop was a refuelling one at Ikom where we were quickly surrounded by local kids selling cashew nuts, roasted plantain, bananas and other snacks. It is just incredible to see the way they balance their load on their head as they walk about doing their business. I even saw a few ladies coming back from work in the fields carrying their machete on their head. Now my ignorant mind tells me it would also make sense to hold the machete though this would come across as a lot more threatening … I guess they just keep their hands available for other things, such as shaking hands five hundred times a day like we do in the office!

We arrived at the Obudu Cattle Ranch about mid-afternoon and hopped on the Austrian-made cable car to go up to the hotel resort. Now this place is out of this world, or at least it feels like it is out of Nigeria! It is actually only a few kilometres away from Cameroon. What a haven of fresh air, peace and quiet. I didn’t quite know what to expect and the Ranch was a very pleasant surprise. Our accommodation was in prefabricated chalets designed in Finland, surrounded by mist and a temperature below 20C. Very serene.

After a tour of the facilities, including the presidential suite and the governor’s lodge we made our way to the canopy walk, cattle ranch and yogurt factory, restaurant and quickly found the path to the bar. Actually we were chauffeured all the way, how sad.

Question: how do you light a fire at the OCR lodge ? Answer: what else but diesel fuel?! We heard a big whoosh, the hotel staff almost managed to get rid of all of his facial hair.

Day 8 – First workshop (Sept 4)

It took about 3 hours to rustle up participants, a whiteboard and a projector. We still fell short of post-it notes and whiteboard markers … the marker we were given ended up being a permanent one, which we obviously found out too late.

I felt bad keeping everyone in the office until 3pm on a Friday afternoon, but at least we had a successful session on structured thinking and problem solving on how to best align the ICT with the Government.

Day 7 – Saint Gregoire (Sept 3)

Each day has a saint in the roman calendar and in France today is St Gregoire … this did not give me biblical powers and my stomach is still digesting Garri from yesterday ! This was my first experience with the African super-foods, those that sustain the masses that live under US$1 per day, that is 70% of the Nigerian population. Light breakfast, light lunch and no dinner for me today.

IBM and CDC in the news: http://crossriverstate.gov.ng/portal/modules/news/article.php?storyid=94

Day 6 - Settling down in the office (Sept 2)

Great night away from the power generator, heavy rains made for a relaxing soundtrack that put me to sleep in no time.

Wednesday was our first full day in the office, Jenni and I were introduced to just about everyone we came across and decided we should get our hands on the department’s organisation structure to remember who is who.

The highlight of the way was dinner … the team headed to what will most likely be our canteen next door to the hotel and I got my hands dirty in Edikang Ikong soup and Garri. Edikang Ikong is a type of vegetable that grows very rough but is softened by being boiled and pounded, and Garri is pounded cassava. This is the first of a long list of typical dishes that I will taste over the days, for example Afang, Agusi or Goat pepper soup, and carbs such as pounded yam and moi moi (semolina).

Day 5 - Meeting with the Governor (Sept 1)

Unfortunately this morning the power generator kicked in at 3.30am and kept me awake for most of what remained of the night. I woke up with a bad headache, it is time I asked to change room.

It is not particularly hot at this time of the year but as we are nearing the end of the wet season humidity stays between 90 and 100%. It may have been a bit uncomfortable to put on my French cuffs, tie and suit this morning but it turned out to be a great day in the presence of Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of the Cross River State.

The IBM Volunteering – CDS kick off event took place at the Tinapa resort about 20 minutes out of town. Tinapa is a Free Trade Zone that includes a hotel, commercial centre, movie studios (Nollywood), and a host of other facilites under construction or at various stages of planning.

The Governor chaired the high table, surrounded by representatives from IBM and CDS. A specific protocol was followed, starting with a prayer, the Cross River State anthem and Nigerian anthem, then speeches. This must have been a first for a lot of us as meetings preparations don’t tend to be that elaborate in the West. I also discovered it is a unique skill to thank each and every one of the guests before starting a speech, for example with Your Excellency, IBM and CDS representatives, […] members of the press, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen …

For your reference you can find more details on the IBM Corporate Services Corps at www.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps as well as information on CDS at http://www.cdcdevelopmentsolutions.org/

Jenni and I will be working on the same project at the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Development Department, so we then made our way to the office within the Women Development Centre on Marian road. The building wasn’t built for its current purpose, it actually served as a wedding hall amongst other thing! This means the layout isn’t particularly suited for hosting a team of professionals in charge of looking after all IT matters for the government. Nevertheless no one is put down by the lack of infrastructure and everyone moves on with their job with or without desk, computer, let alone Internet access.

The team then drive to South Calabar to enjoy (quite literally) finger-licking-good fish at Aqua Vista, and toast with cold beer, and fresher than fresh coconuts. My coconut must have seem paradise to some, two mosquitoes figured it’s be a nice romantic spot but they ending up drowning themselves. Sad end but made for a terribly good laugh :)

Tummy is happy, time for a good sleep,

- Greg

Picture Post until words come next

Day 4 – Security and Health Briefings

Happy birthday Camille! It’s my sister’s birthday today which makes for a good start :) Other than this recurring annual celebration, today saw the beginning of a new development in the shower department … after three days of cold showers (most likely due to my inability to operate the water heater) I finally just couldn’t take one this morning. Turn the tap right, nothing. Turn the tap left, nothing. I found out later that hotel was switching from the city water network to a bore hole – and not the other way around.

This morning was dedicated to a security briefing by the Head of the Special Services Office for the Cross River State, and a Health Briefing.
It was reassuring to hear about all that had been put in place to make Cross River State the safest state in Nigeria and we were encouraged to test the Security Plan by exploring the State without police escort! With a crime rate of 16 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants the local government is targeting single digits by 2011, which will greatly support the development of this part of Nigeria as a prime business and tourist destination.

The security briefing was followed by the health briefing, delivered by a highly respected Dr. and special advisor. A key focus was obviously Malaria which is omni-present and contributes to up to 75% of all out-patient consultations. We also learnt about the Nigerian Health System and plans for a National Insurance Scheme to address the current medical coverage and welfare gap – it seems that at the moment all medical services are provided on a pay-first get-served basis.

Afternoon browse at the local markets in search of a well needed umbrella, and most importantly fruits as it seems I’ve only had chicken and rice since I landed, apart from breakfast. The local market is a 10-min walk away from the Vanel hotel where we are staying and is pretty much a whole block of ground level wooden structures. It is fairly large with intricate alleys where shops and stalls sell anything from basic homeware to CDs, food and fruits. Having navigated local markets in developing countries before I wasn’t particularly surprised by what was on display but I must say that charcoaled cat fish and goat skin stood out from the rest. I shall return with a smaller group so as not to intrude too much in people’s lives and hopefully take pictures.

Water is back on, had a cold shower tonight … things are looking up :)

- Greg

Edikang Ikong Soup & Garri (pounded cassava) - for the record it takes two days to digest Garri :)

Day 3 – Sunday Run

As planned the day started at 6.30am with a 30-40 min run with my project sponsor and 3 other colleagues. The light to heavy rain did not deter the valiant team from jogging through a residential neighbourhood near our base, great opportunity to discover the area on foot at a time when traffic is low.

A hearty breakfast followed, with a gentle slide into lunch … it seems we’re a never ending feeding spiral. Grilled chicken with fried rice and plantain, delicious and too generous a portion.

Our hosts had organised a tour of Calabar so the team jumped into the minibus and drove around town. There is no defined city centre, rather landmarks scattered through the area. A couple points of interest:

First, the largest flag in Africa is in Calabar. We hopped off the minibus and started applying Pythagoras’s theorem, to various levels of precision.
Long story short Lindsey and I bet as to the size of the flag … the independent judge / tour guide declared the flag was 100 by 120 metres. From where I was standing though (which was probably only 2 metres away from Lindsey and our guide) I had a slightly different perspective and thought there was no way Usain Bolt needed 9.58s to run down that flag.
For the record the largest flag in Africa is indeed in Calabar, it is 14 by 20 metres long and hangs from a 60-metre flag pole :)

Second, Calabar as setup a museum dedicated to the story of slaves traded from Africa to the New World. The numbers are staggering: 20 million slaves were sold as trading goods, and these were the ones that survived the gruelling journey from remote locations to the port of Calabar, only 1 out 7 made it. Do the math and it is incredible to think 140 million people were abducted and displaced to be traded.
Sad story which deserves to be told. The museum was a good first attempt at telling this story and it will grow and evolve with Calabar.

All is well,

Day 2 – Calabar – Come And Live And Be At Rest

I emerged from my first night in Calabar fairly well rested, despite having spent the night in room 301 between the power generator and the Friday night disco.

Nigeria is a major oil producer with about 80% of GDP generated by black gold. Unfortunately all of it is exported to be refined overseas as there is no refinery in the country, so Nigeria imports diesel fuel.
And diesel fuel they do consume. It is difficult to imagine the country without diesel power generators as the national power grid goes down fairly frequently and for long periods of time (last night the hotel generator ran until 2am and started again at 5.30am) - see picture. Without diesel though sound systems wouldn’t run and discos wouldn’t operate and we may get more sleep. Maybe.

The Drill Ranch is headquartered about 5 minutes away from the Vanel hotel where I am staying so we dropped by to learn about their primate rehabilitation program. While they hold a few chimpanzees their focus is mainly on gathering orphan drill monkeys and rebuilding social groups before releasing them in the wild. Drill monkeys are an endangered species and the Drill Ranch manages about 10% of the total world population in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary. Releasing them prematurely would as the matriarchal and group structure must be recreated to ensure survival. On the other hand chimpanzees at the Ranch have become to attached to men and will not be released as they would naively head back towards civilisation and their main predator.

First foray in the local market with Jenni, Lindsey and Juan Pablo, cut short by heavy rain which led us to seek refuge in a local bar to watch the Manchester United – Arsenal football game.

Our host had organised a gathering at her place, where we got to meet our local partners and politicians. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to hear views from senior members of the community on the geo-political situation that led to the Nigeria we know today, and initiatives put in place to achieve the country’s 2020 roadmap.
This evening was a very warm welcome from our hosts and a great demonstration of the Nigerian hospitality.

- Greg

Day 1 – Arrival in Lagos, then Calabar

After 23 hours sitting on a plane I finally arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, via Dubai (see picture of arrival attached). Though it was a long journey I was lucky to be bumped up to Business class from Dubai to Lagos, not sure how that happened though as I am not an Emirates frequent flyer. Anyway with noise cancelling headphones I made the most of the experience, especially when it came to enjoying the flat bed with an in-built massage function.

I was welcomed by Walli, our friendly driver, and driven to the domestic terminal with two colleagues from India and Venezuela respectively. Walli took good care of us and made us feel safe and welcome, couldn’t ask for a better first contact.

It wasn’t a surprise when the first request for dash came. Three of us checked in at the domestic terminal and sent our bags off … the luggage handler asked us to wait for our bags to clear security and told us he would personally make sure this happened. Surely enough he came back with a smile on his face that said it all, sorry mate but you didn’t add value in the process and you’re not getting a cent.

We travelled on to the Calabar International Airport and arrived safely with the rest of the IBM team at the Vanel hotel. 100% humidity and a constant drizzle, but a very reasonable 26C.

Now in what will be home for the next four weeks, accommodation is very decent with air conditioning. I couldn’t get the hot water to work though so I went for a cold shower.

- Greg

Packing

First post on packing day, getting ready for the 23+ hours journey to Calabar, Nigeria. And most importantly getting ready for an exciting 1-month assignment with the IBM Corporate Services Corps !

Bright blue skies in Sydney, and a nice 16C morning, looking forward to fly with Emirates and try out the new A380 tonight !

Stay tuned for more news on arrival, either from Lagos or Calabar depending on connectivity !