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 :)